"Harry adopts Luna as a sister, while Archer adopts me as a brother. Then it can go either way. Fred and Harry or Luna and me. Not even Mum can argue that." Ron explained.
Draco was quietly thumping his head on the table and while Lucius watched, his son lifted his head just a fraction and winked at him. The older man blinked and swallowed a laugh.
The Raiders stood together, their trunks shrunken and tucked into their pockets. Each had a satchel slung over their shoulders and most had a pet, either at their feet or sitting on a shoulder.
"I take it, you are all ready to go?" Remus said as he entered the conservatory.
"Yes, Remus."
"Yes, Moony."
"Yeah, Dad."
The answers came from different people.
"Glad to hear it, kiddos. A quick update for you. Aunt Minnie says that St Mungo's have finished and will be handing down their reports and recommendations today. We don't know what's going to happen, but you can be fairly certain that some people are going to be asked to leave Hogwarts."
"With Severus' change in attitude since the removal of his DarkMark, he's been an excellent teacher." Hermione said. "I know that many of the upper years are now speculating that the DarkMark was responsible and are using his current attitude and teaching methods as supporting evidence."
"Yes, Moody wrote that Snape's turn-around has been noticed and that OWL and NEWT students' grades have already increased. So, the chances are, he's safe, but let's not rule anything out. Yes?" Remus raised an eyebrow.
"If they try and remove Snape from Hogwarts, they'll find out just how powerful Houses Black and Potter are, when they work together." Harry snarled.
"We got this, Harry." Archer tapped his friend on the nose. "Worst come to worst, we'll hire him for private study on the weekends."
Harry looked at Archer and huffed a laugh. "Right. We can do this." His fingers tightened around the strap of his satchel and he took a deep breath. "Let's get going, before I change my mind."
The other children and Remus laughed and nodded, the children and adults reaching out to take hold of the length of silk ribbon that Remus held out.
"Hogwarts' Express." The two words activated the portkey and deposited the five children and three adults on the platform.
"Ooh, I hope you've got some other way of getting us home, Remus, that was dreadful." Juliet Granger groaned.
"If we wait until the majority of parents have left, we can floo home." Remus answered.
"What about apparating them?" Hermione asked.
"Nope, I never got the hang of multi-person apparition. I can take one person side-along, but not two." Remus informed her.
"And, honey? I prefer the floo to side-along, any day." Oberon Granger added, wrapping an arm around his shaky wife.
"Floo it is, then." Hermione laughed.
"Alright, everyone on the train. With no classes tomorrow, you should know what's happening by midnight, try not to get into too much trouble before the weekend." Remus huffed.
"There you are, why did I think you lot would be early?" Bill exclaimed, as he emerged from the throng of parents and children.
"No idea, Bill." Dean laughed.
"I've news." Bill bounced on his toes. "The guardianship papers are done and approved, both muggle and magical. I lodged Archer's request to adopt me, with the Wizarding Family Services Department and they see no reason it will get knocked back, but we still have to allow five working days for people to lodge their objections. And… I told Mum and Dad…"
"Ooh ouch…" Harry winced.
"Eh… not so bad. I pointed out that I was sort of a Black, anyway, via Cedrella and Lucretia. Mum wasn't too pleased, but I played the 'he's an orphan and wants to choose his own family', card and eventually Mum caved. Dad cornered me afterwards and reminded me that Cedrella and Lucretia eloped to avoid Black Marriage Contracts. I told him that Archer was planning to adopt Ron and the twins as brothers, too and that Harry was looking to adopt Luna as a sister. Ron's already got his eye to a contract with Luna, that would be the Potter/Black contract. Dad nodded and did a bludger backbeatand told me that there was a Potter/Prewett contract, too. How do we plan to get around that?" Bill ended with a question.
"That will be down to Fred and I, I assume." Harry said. "Give us a week to hammer out some details and we'll make a move."
"You know Dumbledore's not going to be happy about you being gay." Bill warned.
"Yeah, tough potatoes. I'm not changing for him." Harry snorted.
"Just make sure you make it very clear, otherwise Molly's likely to try and pair you up with Ginny." Neville added.
"Not happening, not again." Harry's voice was hard and cold.
"Definitely not." Bill remembered the look of devastation on Ginny's face as she ran down the stairs in Grimmauld Place, into their Mother's arms. He also remembered the rage on Harry's face as he bluntly informed the Weasley's why he hadn't gone to Fred's funeral and why he'd hexed Ginny and why he had ordered her from his house. He remembered Molly and Harry's argument over Harry not wanting to marry Ginny. He remembered the horror on Molly's face when Harry had stated, that he'd dissolve the House of Potter, disband the name and take the name Dursley if he had to, to make them understand that it was his life and he'd do as he bloody well pleased and marrying Ginny was never going to be a part of it.
"You know damn well, it was your Mother's conditioning that caused Ginny to think that way." Hermione said. "You need to make her understand that Harry is his own person and may the gods help anyone that tries to change that. Molly Weasley and Dumbledore included."
"Why don't you let slip that Harry has asked Archer to think about adopting Fred as a brother so that that Potter/Prewett and Potter/Black contract can be covered in one contract?" Luna suggested.
"Either that or say that you heard Harry and Remus talking about the Potter/Prewett contract and when Remus mentioned Ginny, Harry told him that girls were gross, he was gay and Fred was cute." Dean added.
"Actually…" Remus tilted his head in consideration. "I'll go one better." He took one step back and bowed to Bill. "William, Seneschal to House Black, I would request a meeting between myself, Remus Lupin, Seneschal to House Potter and Lady Muriel Prewett, the Regent Prewett, in regards the matter of a pre-existing Marriage Contract between our Houses. I would ask that you, being already known to both parties, be the intermediary and broker an agreement between our Houses."
Bill blinked and grinned. "Seneschal Lupin." He bowed response, well aware of the eyes they had drawn. "I shall, right way, approach Lady Muriel and present her with your request. Where might she send communications to you?"
"House Potter have purchased a premises in Diagon Alley, number ninety-three. Myself and Mrs Andromeda Tonks, the Correspondence Manager for House Potter and Mother of my betrothed, are currently using the premises as an office, sorting and dispatch area. I can be reached there, most weekdays, between nine and four. And of course, Lady Muriel is always welcome to attend in person, if she so wishes." Remus answered.
Bill bowed again. "Then a missive from House Prewett will be sent there."
The two men nodded and stepped back, letting the formality fall.
"Don't forget to tell Snape, he might want in on this." Bill laughed after giving each child a hug and disappeared back into the crowd.
"Gee thanks, for the warning, Remus." Harry huffed in fake annoyance, causing his friends to laugh.
"Oh get over it, Potter, and get on the train." Remus hugged him close and whispered in his ear. "I remember what it's like when a Potter falls for a redhead. You do the emotions and I'll do the paperwork. Deal?"
"Deal." Harry squeezed Remus as tight as his eleven year old arms could. "I miss you, already." His head burrowed into Remus' chest.
"I'll see you Saturday, pup." Remus said, as he gently unwound Harry's octopus-like grasp.
Hermione and Luna took Harry's arms and gently lead him onto the train and into the compartment where the Weasley boys and Draco were waiting.
"What happened?" Fred's voice was sharp.
"Remus requested a formal meeting with regent Prewett to discuss the Potter/Prewett contract." Dean answered, as Hermione and Luna handed Harry over to Fred.
"Ah…" Fred eased Harry down onto the bench seat beside him and pulled the smaller body close. "Mum's going to try and wrangle Ginny into the mix." He warned.
"Remus and Bill won't let that happen." Luna assured them.
"Bill remembers Harry's threats and I'm sure he remembers exactly how serious Harry was about it." George grimaced. "Ginny's got no chance."
"Good." Hermione nodded sharply. "I mean, she wasn't a bad person, once she got passed all that, but oh gods, was she a pain until she did?"
"Better to nip it in the bud early, than to let her imagine a future that will never happen." Ron nodded.
"Does your Mother have issues with same gender relationships?" Dean asked quietly, glancing at Seamus.
"Nah…" Ron drawled. "Uncle Gid was gay, so's Charlie. It's more that she's been telling Ginny stories about how wonderful Harry is and how he's going to have to marry, one day, to rebuild the Potter name. Poor Gin's idolised a Harry that doesn't exist and never will. She's going to be gutted when she finds out that the stories Mum's told her, are just that. Stories."
"Stories created and encouraged by Dumbledore." Fred snarled.
"Fred…" Harry whispered and wriggled until he could look at the other boy. "Let it go, please? Dumbledore's not an evil man, not like Voldy. He can only do so much and with the public and the Wizengamot refusing to act, he's had to do it alone. Yes, his actions were wrong, but who stood up to him and told him that? No one. McGonagall tried, but back then, she was too used to following his lead. Hell, the entire British Wizarding World followed his lead. We're the first to even think about doubting him." Harry looked so tired. "Let it go, please?"
Fred sighed and let his head fall down against Harry's. "We'd just got started, Harry. Bloody hell, we hadn't even got started. And he took that away from us."
"Yes, he did, but the alternative was a Voldy-controlled future. Which was worse? Bearing in mind where we are right now. This Dumbledore hasn't done that, not yet. He's a pain, but we've got that sorted. Don't let him control how you feel. About him, about Ginny, about me, about anything. Don't let him control you. Please?" Harry almost begged.
Fred sighed again and tiredly nodded. "I'll do my best, Hellion."
A tapping at the compartment door saw the occupants lift their heads, as one, and look over. Percy and his girlfriend Penny stood outside in the corridor. George stood and under the cover he provided, Ron disabled the locking charms.
"Sorry 'bout that, Perce, just trying out some of the stuff Uncle Remus and Professor Snape showed us over the holidays." George said. "Come on in. Have a seat. What up?" He asked at the decidedly worried look on Percy's face.
"Mum's taken Ginny to St Mungo's." The older boy answered. "She… Mum thinks she ate something in the garden… you know what Ginny's like when it comes to berries."
"Yeah…" George answered resignedly, in a long sighing breath.
"Mum found her this morning in the garden with stained lips, she was laying under the chook house, she was unconscious."
"That's why she sent us with Daddy?" Ron asked.
"Yes, Daddy told me not to tell you until the Express left the station." Percy whispered. "I'm sorry, I wanted to, but Daddy made me promise. I'm sorry." Percy started to cry.
George pulled Percy into his arms and plopped him down between he and Fred.
"This is Ginny, Perce, you know our little Gig-gin. Remember when she ate those Bangberries? She farted and burped tiny fireballs for a few days. Then there were the Wiggenberries? Every time she coughed, she'd spit out a bunch of petals. Or what about the Starthistle seed pods she ate? Every word she said came with fireworks."
"She'll be fine." Fred huffed. "Gin's a tough little bat."
Fred and George remembered this, Ginny would spend three nights in St Mungo's, while they purged the juices from the raw Boomberries that she'd eaten, from her system. The only long-term side effects of the incident would be that Ginny's hair took on a more metallic sheen and her blasting curses would be a lot stronger than would otherwise be expected, for her core strength.
"But she's so small…" Percy whispered.
Fred and George snorted.
"You want to tell her that, Perce?" Ron laughed.
Percy blinked and let his mouth fall open. "Oh… No, no, I don't. No way."
"Exactly." Ron grinned.
"You really think she'll be alright?"
"Bet you a custard tart, that by Friday, she's back to normal." George held up a hand to Percy. His brother studied it and after a few heartbeats, nodded sharply.
"You can have it. If she's home by Friday, I'll even ask Mum to make you some fudge." Percy answered.
"Deal." George grinned.
"Um…?"
"Yeah, Perce?" Ron asked.
"What… what's with Fred? And Potter? I mean… it looked like they were upset about something."
Ron glanced at Harry and Fred and saw the marauder-glint in Harry's eyes and the 'about to wreak havoc' look in Fred's and let his match theirs.
"Oh, no, not upset. Pleased, very pleased." Ron smirked and watched as the other travellers realised what he was about to do. Hermione looked torn, Dean was struggling to contain his laughter and the others were little better.
"Pleased? Really? What happened?"
"Look Perce, you know Harry's the Potter head, right?" Ron began. "And Archer's the new Lord-Designate Black?" Percy nodded in response to Ron's questions. "They're going to have to rebuild their Houses from the ground up. Harry's the last Potter, there's no one else, no one at all. And Archer? Well, there's plenty of us that have Black blood, but none of us can claim the name Black."
"So, both of their Seneschals are looking at ways of securing their Houses." Hermione took over. "And the easiest and least objectionable routes, are adoptions and Marriage Contracts, or rather Betrothal Contracts. Right?" Percy nodded. "Right. So, Remus, Professor Snape, Bill and Mrs Tonks went hunting and found a number of different types of contracts."
"Should you be talking about this, Miss Granger? In front of us, in front of me, I mean?" Penny Clearwater asked.
"Doesn't matter." Harry huffed. "It'll be all over the train, by the time we get to Hogsmeade. Remus made sure of that."
"I'm… I'm sorry, I... don't understand." The Ravenclaw prefect frowned.
"There were two contracts that caught Snape and Bill's eyes." George explained. "One for Black and Potter and the other for Potter and Prewett."
Percy sat back and hummed in thought, his mind racing.
"That's… Mum's going to-"
"…not be happy." Ron cut him off. "Remus, Snape, Bill, Mrs Tonks and Harry aren't interested in Ginny."
"Not at all." George agreed.
"But…" Percy trailed off. "If not Ginny, then who?"
"Fred." George answered.
"Fred? But…"
"But what? They cover both Houses." Hermione stated.
"Yes, but they're both males, that means no children." Penny replied.
"And why can't we adopt kids?" Fred asked, sharply.
"Or have a surrogate?" Hermione added.
"A what…?" Penny asked.
"A surrogate. Muggles have a way of making a woman pregnant, but not having the children she carries be hers, genetically." Hermione explained. "Male couples often ask a related female to provide an egg to be fertilised by their partner and carried by a surrogate."
"If they're going to do that, why not go all the way and use a gender-swap potion?" Cedric asked. "That way one of them could carry their child."
"Or use a bit of both…" Ron suggested. "Gender swap one of them, long enough to get some eggs and use them. Still have a... a... suss-o-gate, though. I can't see Harry or Fred wanting to be a woman, long enough to carry a baby." Ron mangled the unfamiliar muggle word.
Percy and penny pulled their heads back a bit and blinked.
"Ah… that could a bit touchy... with the old Families, I mean, but yeah, it could work." Percy muttered.
"And anyway, who's to say that either Archer or I can have children? Not everyone can, you know." Harry entered the conversation for the first time. "But regardless, of that, Ginny's not on the list of possible contractee's for my House. She's a girl and I don't like girls."
"You know that you'll grow out of that, right?" Percy asked, with a grin.
"No, I won't. I'm gay. Girls are either gross or sisters and boys are either enemies, brothers, Uncles or cute. Fred's cute." Harry made sure to present the image of a shy boy, pushed to admit a secret.
"Oh… Oh, I see… That's different." Percy backpedalled. "Such a contract with House Prewett would mean only Fred or Charlie, then."
"Exactly." George nodded. "Now you see why Ron said, Mum's not going to be happy."
Percy's eyes widened and his face went slack. "Oh, hell…"
"And to make it worse…?" Ron went on. "Remus spoke to Bill on the platform. He asked Bill to ask Aunt Muriel for a formal meeting to discuss a Contract between Houses Potter and Prewett."
Percy went a little pale, while Penny frowned.
"That's not how it should go." She said.
"Ah, but you're forgetting that Remus is Seneschal to House Potter and Bill is Seneschal to House Black. Remus asked Bill, as Seneschal Black to approach the Regent Prewett on the behalf of House Potter." Hermione explained. "He didn't speak to Bill Weasley, but to a peer of equal stature, William the Seneschal of House Black."
"Ooh…" Penny whispered, now she understood.
"And that's how you plan to rebuild House Potter?" Percy asked, then paused as the rest of the travellers entered the compartment.
"Hey, guys. Interesting rumours floating about the train." Cedric grinned.
"Yeah… Does it go…?" Dean quickly told them the truth behind what had happened on the platform and what they'd told Percy and penny so far.
"You know… You lot have the craziest stuff happen to you." Cedric just shook his head. "So, where are we at?"
"I asked, if this is how you plan to rebuild House Potter?" Percy asked again.
"It is. It also provides a pathway if something were to happen to Harry." Draco replied.
"How?" Percy didn't understand.
"Well, let's say Fred and Harry exchange Betrothal Contracts? If something were to happen to Harry and he was killed, Fred would be given the chance to stand, not as Harry, but as Harry's husband. If he accepted, his eldest child would be seen as Harry's child, thus continuing the Potter line. If they were to exchange Marriage contracts and something happened to Harry, all Fred's children would automatically be seen as Harry's." Draco explained.
"However, that's not all we plan on doing." Harry joined in.
"It's not?" Penny asked.
"No. This requires a little backstory, so bear with me, okay?" When Percy and Penny both nodded, Harry went on. "The summer of 1980, You-Know-Who was a clear and present danger and actively recruiting an army. Abraxas Malfoy, Draco's grandfather, was a staunch supporter of his and had Compelled… Compelled, potioned, blackmailed, Imperiused, whatever you want to call it… he forced Lucius Malfoy to join the Death-Eaters. You-Know-Who's next goal was to have taken Abraxas' only daughter, Pandora, and use her to breed himself some children, before disposing of her. But Pandora wasn't a Ravenclaw for nothing, she saw the writing on the wall and did a runner." Harry looked askance at Luna, who nodded. "Pandora had just seconds to escape and only managed because Lucius bought her those seconds, by objecting to the plan, in front of you-Know-Who and was Crucio-ed for his efforts. But Pandora got away."
"She met up with one of her fellow Ravenclaws and explained what had happened. She was taken to her housemate's cousin, who agreed to help her." Draco took up the tale. "Xenophilius Lovegood took her to Ireland and the two were married within minutes and Luna conceived before the hour was out. Grandfather and You-Know-Who were furious, Aunt Pandora was disowned and Father was punished for his 'disrespecting' his lord's authority." He snarled. "Grandfather made sure that Pandora couldn't be returned to the family."
"Daddy's not stable, he hasn't been since Mummy died." Luna added, seemingly out of nowhere.
"It's not just Xeno that's not stable, it's the Lovegood Family Magics, they didn't approve of Pandora." Draco explained. "She came from a darker Family and the Lovegood Family are light and the two didn't go through the usual acclimatisation period. Light and dark Family Magics don't mix too well and Xeno and Luna are paying for that."
"Is there anything that can be done to help?" Penny had forgotten that most of these kids were firsties and was treating them according to their intelligence, just as she would with most Ravenclaw students.
"Yes, and we plan to do that. Draco and Lucius can't bring Luna into their family, Abraxas made sure of it. Neither can Archer, because he's Head of House to Draco, via his mother, and Draco shares blood, within three removes with Luna, as well as Luna's Malfoy maternal great-grandmother was a Black." Harry said.
"But Harry? His blood connection with Draco is only via a blood adoption, which has a different set of rules and he shares no blood with Luna, at all… or not in the last two hundred years, anyway." Archer said.
"Which would allow Harry to bring Luna into his family?" Penny was trying to follow the convoluted story.
"Yes. If I adopt Luna as a sister, it will enable her to access Potter Family magics and likely stabilise her own internal magics." Harry said.
"Ooh… Ooh, yes, yes, I can see that would…" Penny whispered almost silently.
"But…" Harry gave a smirk worthy of a Slytherin. "That won't be happening until after Remus, Snape and Lady Muriel confirm and sign the existing contracts between our Houses. I want that secure, before I move to the next stage."
"You're a little young for planning a Marriage, aren't you, Potter?" Percy asked.
Harry closed his eyes for a moment, debating the merits of what was running through his mind. Making a decision, he opened his eyes and looked at Percy. The older boy met Harry's gaze and what he saw were not the eyes of an innocent child, but someone that had seen pain and suffering.
"I have no family, Percy. My parents are dead, my Mother's sister wishes that I was dead. I want a family. This is the only way I'm going to get a family of my choice." Harry whispered.
"I see…" Percy hummed again. "Alright, Pott- No. Alright, Harry, let me know the outcome, please. I'll be pleased to welcome you to the family." The eldest Hogwarts-bound Weasley stated quietly, his attitude not quite, but almost, pompous and he held out a hand to Harry.
Harry clasped Percy's hand and responded, just as seriously.
"Thank you, Percy. I hope that my Seneschal and Lady Muriel can settle this quickly. I am uncomfortable with the future security of my House being in the balance."
"Is there anything I can do, to assist?" Percy asked.
"We, Percy." Penny corrected.
"We." Percy nodded to his girlfriend, giving her a small smile. "Is there anything we can do to assist?"
"Can you write to Mum, please?" George asked. "It'll have more weight coming from you, instead of us?"
Percy nodded. "I can do that."
"And what would you like me to do?" Penny asked.
"Do the same. Write to your family and tell them, what the rumours on the train were… and what the Seneschals to Houses Black and Potter said on the platform." Hermione answered.
"Certainly." The blonde fifth year said.
They settled back into their dorms, as quickly as possible, before hurrying off to their study room. Harry was fairly certain that Dumbledore would have been too busy with the medical assessments to put listening charms around their study area, but he wasn't going to take any chances, so he and Neville spent a few minutes throwing up some of Hermione's privacy charms that only allowed the listener to hear discussions on pre-planned subjects. In this case school and the quickly approaching exam season.
It was only then, that the two time-travellers joined the rest of their friends and allies gathered around the large ovular table.
"Who's chair this month?" Ron asked.
"Cedric." Hermione answered and the boy wearing a black and yellow tie, took the seat at one end of the table. "And I'm scribe." She touched her wand to the cartouche laid into the woodwork in the centre of the table and waited patiently for the table to open it's hidden compartment, before retrieving up the notebook it held. "And it would be nice if some more of you boys would add yourselves to the scribing list." She chided.
"Mione, Mione, Mione. You know full well that Harry's writing is worse than Moody's." Ron shook his head in fake disappointment.
"But yours isn't, Ron." Hermione smirked.
"Maybe not, but you know I'd much rather pay-up and have you or Luna do it." Ron replied with a cheeky grin.
"And Molly wondered why you and I weren't a thing." Hermione shook her head in amusement.
"Oh, the look on her face when you said you were going to live the Malfoy's." Ron laughed.
"Alright, that's enough." Cedric tapped the butt of his wand on the table. "Not all of us were there for those events, don't spoil the pensieve viewing. Everyone, sit down, please, we've only an hour before curfew." A few people threw the Puff an apologetic look as they took their seats. "Thank you. Professor McGonagall? Would you give us an update on the staff assessments?"
"Of course, Mr Diggory." Professor McGonagall looked around the table. "It went better than expected and certainly a lot quicker. Professor Sprout was identified as having a minor blood disorder, Severus will be brewing her a series of potions to rectify that. Mr Filch was deemed unfit to continue and the house elves have requested that Hogwarts not replace him, they would like the extra work, as many young elves are reaching maturity and don't want to leave the school. Professors Flitwick, Babbling, Vector, Sinistra and myself have been completely cleared. Moody is cleared by the DMLE testing and not Hogwarts', so he's right to continue. Twycross, is likewise, a ministry employee, that we see only for a few weeks, each year." She paused while hermione caught up.
"Adelbert Stippling, Cuthbert Binns and Silvanus Kettleburn are out. Silvanus and Cuthbert aren't physically capable of dealing with any emergency and Adelbert's eyesight is such that he's not aware of how many students are actually in his classroom at any given time. Rolanda Hooch has been referred to a specialist at St. Mungo's regarding her eyes, if she wants to keep the alterations, they need to be assessed as medically safe. As for Sybil Trelawney, at the very least she needs new glasses. Charity Burbage has been found to have unacceptable levels of cheering potions in her system and will spend a week in St. Mungo's coming off them. At this point, it's unknown whether they are self-applied or if she's the victim of external dosing. Dumbledore mentioned the possibility of Quirrell resuming his position, but that bubble was burst by the healers, Quirrell is weeks away from being released. Severus has a slightly unbalanced core, but due to the incident back in October, St. Mungo's are giving him a tentative clearance and want to repeat his assessment in a month's time. However, the incident has been documented and his change of attitude is plain to see and like the senior students, St. Mungo's believe that the DarkMark had a bearing on his previous disposition. They are theorising that it's removal has been responsible for that change and his core unbalance."
From his seat opposite her, Snape nodded.
"Dumbledore's assessment was… interesting. The minor fluctuations in his core were documented as were the unexplainable physical movements. We know they're in reaction to our ghosts, Dumbledore knows they're in reaction to the ghosts, but the assessors didn't and he wasn't about to tell them that he was being haunted by ghosts that no one but he, could see. He also struggled slightly following some of their directives and remembering some of their lists. However, it was decided, with some controversy, that his condition was not severe enough to warrant his removal as Headmaster, but that he will join Severus, in monthly assessments. If there's a change, our medi-healer can notify St. Mungo's. The other thing to come out of the assessments, was that Poppy, as a medi-witch is not qualified to run the entire hospital wing, on her own, as she has been doing. St. Mungo's are insisting on a fully qualified healer, preferably one that has specialised in children's health. Dumbledore was given a list of names and told that, if he didn't correct the situation, then St. Mungo's would take over the hospital wing and remove it from his control." She ended and sat back.
"How is that going to affect us… as students and for our plans? Draco? Hermione? Harry?" Cedric asked.
"I'd prefer not to let Kettleburn go." Harry grimaced. "What if Professors McGonagall or Snape were to suggest that instead of firing him, have Hagrid work as his practical assistant? And don't forget we need to get Hagrid cleared, sooner or later."
"Or if we have to let Kettleburn go, can we get Grubbly-Plank to take his place, instead of Hagrid?" Ron asked. "We like him, but he's got no understanding of how dangerous things are to the students."
"Agreed." Minerva pursed her lips. "I'll have a word with the assessors, Board of Governors and the Headmaster."
"Thank you, Professor." Cedric nodded to her politely.
"Other than that? There'll be no classes for History of Magic, Muggle Studies and Magical Theory, at least for this week." Professor McGonagall went on.
"And the Headmaster has already approached James Broadbent and myself, to inquire if we would be interested in sharing the post of Hogwarts' Healer between us. The options are alternate days, weeks or months, it's something that Mr Broadbent is considering, he and I will need to meet and discuss the matter… Once he's decided, that is." Narcissa added in her serene voice.
"Thank you, mother." Draco smiled at his mother, as she sat beside Professor McGonagall. "You might want to also suggest a different time dispersal, Broadbent being on duty from Monday morning to Friday lunch and yourself from Friday morning to Monday lunch or vice-versa. That gives both you and he a few hours on Monday and Friday mornings, were both of you are here. You can do a handover, brief each other on the incidents that occurred on your shift. And of course, one of you and Pomfrey will be on hand for the quidditch weekends, with the other being on call if things get dire."
Narcissa nodded in thought. "The Headmaster has left that to our discretion, so I shall certainly raise the option with him. Thank you, my dragon."
"And other than that?" Ron asked.
"Keep on with Dumbledore's treatment and that's about what we anticipated." Harry shrugged. "Getting things on record was the important part. Other than Cedric and the twins, we've all sat our NEWTs, so the changes in staffing won't really have that much of an impact on us."
"And we'll see that Ced and the twins are ready for their exams." Hermione added. "Although… The twins might be passed that, anyway. We'll assess everyone, over the summer."
Cedric gave her a grateful smile. "Thanks, I'll take whatever help I can get."
"Same here." Fred joined in, gesturing between George and himself.
"So… that's staffing dealt with… Next?" Cedric asked Hermione.
"Um…" She studied the schedule quickly. "Oh, Neville's parents."
"Ah…" Archer grunted. "That means dealing with the Lestranges and Crouch jnr, right?"
"It does." Harry answered. "You're the Head of House Black, only you can deal with Bellatrix."
"And as the House of Lestrange is only a minor House, they became subservient when they married into House Black. And as the current Head of House Lestrange is in Azkaban, that passes Regency over to House Black." Narcissa added.
"And I'm The Black." Archer gave a toothy grin, slightly reminiscent of a predator on the hunt.
"You are." Narcissa nodded genteelly. "And Bella used a Black Family curse on the Longbottoms, not just the cruciatus."
"So… removing the curse, breaking it? How much of Frank and Alice will still be there?" Snape asked.
"Well, that's an unknown. They obviously weren't tortured into complete insensibility, they still are aware of their surroundings and of people, to what degree is uncertain, but they are aware. Franklin is the grandson of Callidora Black, that gives him a degree of protection from the Family curses, Alice too, as they bonded magically. This means that instead of them being almost comatose, they are ambulatory and, as I said, have a level of awareness. Removing or breaking the curse, should return to them a significant portion of themselves. The effects of the cruciatus should be well and truly out of their system by now." Draco replied, showing his time as a Master Healer.
"How did they go last time?" Moody asked.
"We hadn't got that far. We'd only just figured out that they were under curses and not cruciatus after-effects." Neville sighed. "We were planning a series of curse-breaking sessions, but never got the chance. The first was due to start the day after we… travelled…"
"Ah…" Moody grunted.
"Yeah…" Neville sighed.
"We're flying blind." Draco added. "But we've got the schedule and the curse-breaker, so we're good to go, when Neville tosses the quaffle."
"Consider it, tossed." Neville nodded. "Everyone says mum and dad were kind of brilliant, I'd like to actually meet them, not the locked-down golems inhabiting their bodies."
"Alright, so what is the order of action?" Cedric asked. "Harry?"
Harry tiled his head as he considered what had to be done. "First is Rabastan, disowning him. Second is breaking the marriage contract between Bellatrix and Rodolphus. Third is Rodolphus and disowning him. No…" He paused. "First is Rabastan. Then Rodolphus. Then the marriage contract."
"Why the change?" Archer asked.
"You're only Regent because of that marriage contract, so if you cancel it? Bang. No more Regent. You need to do the disowning, first."
"But… won't disowning him do the same?" Ron asked.
"It will, but as Archer is The Black, it won't matter, he can still break the contract anyway, just from the Black side instead of the Lestrange side." Harry explained and Ron pushed his chin out as he nodded. "After that, it's disowning Bellatrix. And then we're ready to start on the Frank and Alice, part."
"Order again, please, in note form." Hermione requested.
"First, disown Rabastan. Second, disown Rodolphus. Third dissolve Bellatrix and Rodolphus' contract. Fourth, disown Bellatrix. Five, assess Frank and Alice. Six, work up a schedule of sessions and their contents. We might be lucky and the removal of Bellatrix from House Black, may be enough to break the curse, who knows?" Harry answered. "But let's not bank on that. Better to be pleasantly surprised than bitterly disappointed." He warned Neville.
"Got it." The other boy nodded. "But pretty much anything is better than they have now."
"True…"
"Now, the catch is… Archer might be Regent for House Lestrange, but he's still only Lord-Designate for House Black." Harry held up a hand. "That means he can do points one and two, but we need Bill to do points three and four. But… points one through four have to happen consecutively. Preferably, within a matter of minutes. We don't need someone catching on and trying to stop us, now do we?"
"So…. This weekend, then?" Cedric asked.
"Sounds good." Harry nodded.
"How soon will we know?" Hermione asked. "That it works, I mean."
It was late Sunday afternoon and the Raiders and their allies were huddled together in a hastily placed trunk in the Shrieking Shack. They'd time-turned back four hours and right now their 'un-turned' selves were sitting in the Great Hall having dinner, under the watchful gaze of the Headmaster and his staff. But the 'turned' Raiders had used a passage from the fourth floor, that was hidden behind a mirror, of all things, that emerged from the base of a statue that marked the intersection between the Hogsmeade-station-to-Hogsmeade road and the Hogwarts-to-Hogsmeade lane. From there it was barely a minute of flying time, under Auror grade concealment charms, to reach the Shack.
No one was prepared to be seen wandering from the castle to the Whomping Willow, to use it's tunnel, when the fourth floor passage would keep them well hidden until they were off school grounds, then it was concealment charms that were easily placed. And if by chance Dumbledore questioned one of them, before 'turning' each of them had placed their Ollivander wand under their pillows. Nothing could be traced to their official wands and only they and their allies knew that the Raiders had found second, and in some cases, third wands, to use during their illicit activities.
"Well, in the case of the Lestrange men? They're weak and their magic has been bombarda-ed by the dementors, I'd say maybe a week, at most. But Bellatrix? She's was a Black, magic likes us, take that away from her? Days, maybe. Certainly less than the Lestrange men." Archer felt no joy in destroying his once-cousin.
"I'd be more inclined to say hours." Narcissa disagreed. "Bella was disgusted with Evan Rosier's refusal to consent to a contract between he and Andromeda and at the culmination of her ranting, she disowned herself from the House of Rosier. This leaves her totally and solely a Black. Remove that and…?"
"Ooh that's… ooh… no wonder she became such a monster." Archer exclaimed.
"Precisely." Narcissa nodded, sharply. This was her sister they were condemning to a magicless life, which the dementors would significantly shorten, even if she could no longer stand what her sister had become.
"So, a week for the Lestrange brothers and a day or less for Bellatrix?" Hermione summarised.
"That would be my estimate, yes." Narcissa nodded, again.
"I think you lot should concentrate on school, until summer… or at least give that impression." Bill said from his perch on the arm of the sofa used by Tonks and Remus. "With more eyes focusing on Hogwarts, you lot can't afford to catch someone's attention. Leave the Lestranges and the Longbottoms to us non-students. I can approach Lady Longbottom as the Black Seneschal and inquire after the condition and treatment of Frank and Alice. It's only a short step from there, for me to ask for Narcissa and Severus to assess them, ending with the diagnosis of curse-affliction rather than cruciatus-insensibility."
"It would be expected that Lady Longbottom withhold information from Neville, but we can encourage her to bring you into their ongoing treatment, after all," Narcissa suggested, "They do respond to you, albeit in a currently limited fashion."
"Thank you." Neville told them quietly, his control obviously shaky.
"Yes, thank you." Cedric added. "We'll leave the external issues in your care for the moment, but we'd appreciate updates, please."
Bill nodded. "You got it. When I know, you'll know."
"For now, we'd best be getting back to the castle, dinner finishes shortly and we need to be in place, before our 'un-turned' selves reach the mirror." McGonagall reminded them.
January, February and the first half of March passed slowly.
Updates from Bill came every Wednesday, via his journal, and Saturday, carried by Remus and Andi, who still came to the school to give Archer and Harry lessons in what it meant to be a Head of House. Draco and Neville had encouraged all the Raiders to join them, their reasoning being, that once Fred and George turned seventeen, they would be able to claim the titles for Joint-Head of House for House Prewett. Hermione's parents had agreed to and signed a Betrothal contract between Hermione and Draco and she would one day be Lady Malfoy. Likewise, over the summer Luna would become Harry's sister and until one of them had children, she would Heir Black. At the same time, Ron would become Archer's brother and his Heir, for the same reasons. Cedric was the only son of House Diggory and would one day be it's Head. Seamus and Dean, it was true, had no reason to sit through the ex-werewolf's lessons, but Raiders were a team and if one had to do some training, they all did it.
Over the months Harry and Draco had subtly increased the actions against Dumbledore. Mostly by using their ghosts and portraits. But they had made minute alterations to the Headmaster's clothes, shoes and glasses, just enough to make him feel slightly off-balance, physically. Add this to the building fluctuations from the core-runes Harry stitched into the socks the Headmaster valued so dearly, and the old Meddler was deteriorating.
Enough that madam Pomfrey could see it. She contacted at Mungo's and the Headmaster was closeted with healers in the hospital wing, for an entire day. Now, the student body was waiting. Some patiently, some not so patiently, but all were waiting for McGonagall to make an announcement.
She stepped to the front of the staff table, in the Great Hall, and waited for the students' attention.
"Thank you." She began. "As you are aware, Hogwarts staff underwent medical assessments during the holidays. Please get comfortable with this, as it is an ongoing ICW requirement, all Ministry appointed staff, including Hogwarts' Professors are required to undergo six medical assessments each year. However, for some time now these assessments have been neglected, we are endeavouring to correct this. You are also aware that some staff have left us and others have had their duties change. I have the dubious honour of informing you, that there is yet another staff change to occur. Albus Dumbledore has been removed from his position as Headmaster, for his health. Healers from St. Mungo's have found fluctuations in his core and are concerned over their increasing frequency." She paused while students gasped and whispered urgently among themselves. "Excuse me?" She chided and waited for quiet. "Thank you. Professor Dumbledore will be attending St. Mungo's for further treatment, at this point, how long that will take is unknown. Also unknown at this point is whom will take over his responsibilities, next year. For the remainder of this year, the Board of Governors will administer to the school, under the watchful gaze of the ICW. I'll hand you over to the ICW's Educational Director, Master Adam Bertrand." She gestured and a middle-aged wizard with extremely short sandy blond hair, seated against the south side of the Hall, stood and walked from to stand beside her.
"Thank you, Professor McGonagall." His voice was calm but slightly rough, rumbly. "I'll get straight to it. Nothing we do is going to affect you for the rest of this year. Next year is a very different story. The ICW have received many complaints regarding the removal of classes from Hogwarts and the variance between the British OWL and NEWT exams and the ICW exams. Students passing their NEWTs with O's, that leave Britain are finding that their NEWT scores compare poorly, barely that of the ICW OWLs. We don't know why, yet, but we will be investigating over the next few weeks, meaning that ICW representatives will be attending all classes, until we have a clear understanding of where Hogwarts stands, then we have to find out why and how to correct this." He paused and conjured a goblet of water. "Once we know where the problem lies, we can work towards that. It's likely that we'll be reintroducing classes next year, but you will be notified once that's decided. In the meantime, get used to seeing someone with a clipboard in all your classes. Feel free to approach any of them outside of a classroom, if you have suggestions, or if you want to remain anonymous, there will be suggestion boxes around the school. Here in the Great Hall, each common room and outside the main staff room." He bowed and went on. "Thank you for your patience, now and for the next few weeks." He turned and retreated to the seat he'd left and Professor McGonagall reclaimed the students' attention.
"Thank you, Master Bertrand. I suspect that many of you have suggestions for the ICW assessors, please try not to overwhelm them. Now enjoy your dinner." She nodded and food began to appear on the tables.
Over at the Gryffindor table, Draco nodded. "About time." Muttered.
"Harry? Question about the socks?" Hermione asked.
"Cast away." Harry waved and reached for a piece of breadstick.
"If St. Mungo's check his clothes, are the socks goings to show? The runes, I mean."
"Nope. Not even a Rune Master could detect the runes, with them not on his feet. Wearing them? The only sign is his core fluctuating, nothing else. I tied them into his magical signature. Anyone else can wear them and not have any issues, but him? Within an hour of him putting the them on, the fluctuations start, they're on a seemingly random timing schedule. I just picked numbers at random and came up with a trio of sequences and as each sequence has a different timing, things are all over the place. Which was kinda the idea."
"Fair enough, I just wanted to check." Hermione shrugged.
"Hermione, you were the one to walk me through my Runes mastery. You know damn well what I can do. Don't loose faith in me, now." Harry huffed good naturedly.
Hermione blinked. "Was that what I was doing?" She asked and Harry nodded.
"Not real sure, but you didn't seem that confident." Harry shrugged.
"Oh… Sorry…" She frowned in thought. "I wasn't aware I was. And I'll keep it in mind, so I don't do it again."
"Thank you, I'd appreciate it." Harry dished himself up a serve of roast chicken and vegetables.
"Hey?" Ron waved a hand to catch their attention.
"Yeah, mate?" Harry answered.
"If Dumbledore's not here, is that going to change your plans for the muggle adoptions?" Ron asked, keeping his voice low and masking it by holding a goblet in front of his mouth.
"No, not really." Harry tilted his head, in thought. "But I may ask Aunt Minnie to keep tabs on the Meddler. At least until the legal stuff is done and dusted."
"That might be a good idea. Like Professor Moody says… Constant Vigilance." Ron nodded.
"It's unlikely that he'll cause trouble from St. Mungo's, but I'm not taking the chance." Harry agreed.
As Harry pushed his plate away from in front of him, a familiar snowy owl glided into the Great Hall.
"That's odd." Hermione frowned. "Mail doesn't usually come over the weekend."
Hedwig hovered in front of Harry and hooted at him, he lifted his arm and let her settle onto it, allowing the letter held in her talons to fall to the table. A quick glance showed the Potter crest in dark red ink, over the seal of the Potter Seneschal, impressed into a matching dark red wax.
"Oh, what now?" Harry whined.