Potter Castle - Breakfast - 21st August
Harry smiled as Dobby passed him his communications. He had set up redirects over Privet Drive remotely so that owls would think he was there and then they would be sent to a central post box, where Dobby collected the mail from. It allowed him slightly more freedom of communication that way and he could stay in contact with his friends. Then again, the most important of those was already with him. When he had mailed her, he had also mailed the Ministry crew and let them know that he would be out of contact for a while and might indeed not be coming back to school at all. He had begged them to continue the DA in his absence and that they could find most of what they needed in the library. He hadn't gotten around to telling all that to Hermione though, and had chickened out so far.
This envelope though was a little different. He didn't recognise the handwriting which looked like a feminine hand somewhat curlicue and rather elegant. The ink was silver and the envelope and the parchment inside were both pitch black.
He looked at the letter, his eyes flicking over the easily read text for a long moment before he let out an explosive breath that startled his breakfast companions.
He had introduced Lavender to the table for the evening meal, and he had Faith, Hermione and Lavender with him. Dobby and Winky were the other side of the table, an eating their small portions and it was a relaxed atmosphere, or had been. The letter was troubling to the extreme, and it was hard to believe his eyes as he looked at the signatory at the end.
"What's the matter," Hermione asked, recognising his look as one of concern mixed with more than a little anger.
"It doesn't matter, but Faith, how do you think you'd do against a magical?"
Faith chewed her mouthful and swallowed, "Fine I reckon. My reflexes are totally fast and those spells you throw are freaking slow to travel. They won't worry me much."
"Later, you and I need to take a trip." Harry said, "And the person we're meeting will need to be watched like a hawk. This could well be a trap, so I'll need you to keep a weather eye out."
"Fine by me boss, if it's a trap should we be going," Faith said warily.
"I need to find out if they are telling the truth. I intend to go there, snatch them up and put them into the Nexus Shield. They won't get out alive if they intend me harm, or are lying to me to curry favour."
"Will you need me Harry," Hermione asked.
"Not yet," Harry said, "The Shield is intent based, and the plinth in the middle can read intent and minds if the need arises. I was fooling around with mind controlling things, and wanted a way that would bypass my Occlumency, and I found one. It won't read deepest darkest desires, but it will be able to tell me if they are serious or not. If they are... the information value alone is staggering."
"Who is it," Hermione asked.
"I'll tell you that after the meeting, or you won't let me go."
Hermione lifted an eyebrow, "Oh really, then why should I let you go now."
"Because I'm a big boy and it's my decision to make any possible mistakes or not, and I'll have Faith with me, so I'll be as safe as possible." Harry said reasonably.
"Fine, if you're going to be logical, there's no argument," Hermione said with a twitch of her lips that could have been a smile, "Try to be careful, please."
"That's what Faith is for," Harry said, "To make sure I am."
"Too right boss," Faith said with a smile, digging into her eggs. He was going to have to double up on food; her appetite was bigger than Ron's; luckily she ate a lot nicer than he did.
A Flat Mostly Empty Dimension - 21st August - MiddayHarry looked from side to side, his helpers Hermione and Faith looked back at him. "IF anything goes wrong, use the keys." He said, "Hold them now in case. If they sense danger they will react, but just in case..."
"We understand," Hermione said for them both.
In front of them was an unwieldy looking device, it was covered in instruments and had a large dish on top for broadcasting signals. There were twin engines at the back and a stabiliser on the bottom.
Harry pulled out his ever present Tablet; he had taken to carrying it around in a pocket dimension, the runes for which were tattooed on his skin. He couldn't wait for Hermione to notice them; she would be so pleased he was sure.
"Okay, simple drive test first before we get to the more complicated design."
"What are you using," Hermione asked ever the curious one.
"Simple magical propellants, it essentially pushes against nothing to create thrust, it's a bit complicated but rather simple compared to the other drive. It's a simple sub light speed, if I got it right it should reach just under the speed of light. I call it impulse, just for kicks." He tapped his tablet, the droid lifted off the floor smoothly with no sign of wobble. "The Anti Gravity has kicked in and I used a little thrust to lift it." He said concentrated on the display, it showed figures and a picture of where the 'test droid' was pointing. "Now let's add some thrust." He said triggering it into action. It set off like a rocket, kicking up some dust from the simple grassy floor, "Nice, currently going 600 mph, at 1% of maximum thrust."
"Wow," Hermione said, "That can go really fast."
"Nominal in space terms," Harry said with a grin, turning the droid around his eyes on the readings, "IT's coming back... and here it is." He turned it to face the same way again. "Right, everyone step back." He said taking a sharp step backwards. "This is a wormhole drive," he said and could be quite pretty to look at.
"Go on," Hermione said with excitement.
"This, believe it or not, is the safest way of breaking the light barrier I could think of. I'm going to send it ten thousand miles straight up, look around and come back. I'm using the quantum bands for this - so it should be instant."
"Go on already Boss," Faith said with a grin, "I wonder if this is what NASA felt like finding out about the first shuttle flights."
"Enjoying yourself," Harry asked with a grin.
"It's not every day a girl like me get's to witness history like this," Faith said with glowing eyes. She shifted her stance and stepped in front of Harry, "But don't be forgetting now that it's my job to protect you."
Harry rolled his eyes and peeked out from behind her, "Right I want to actually see this." He said and pressed a button. In front of the droid a swirling rip in the fabric of space appeared and with a little thrust the ship was sent into it, the rip closed up behind it and Harry pointed every sensor he had with him at the place it had just been. "No sign it was ever there. Good, I was worried I might damage something." He said and turned his attention to the tablet's display, "There, he said angling the tablet so everyone could see it, "Luckily I didn't come out into a planet."
"Oh wow," Faith said, "It's beautiful."
"We'll be up there soon," Harry said, "I came up with a transparent Trekanium for windows so we'll be able to see it with our own eyes. As well as a shit tonne of sensors that can do visual bands. Cheating with magic rules I tell you it rules!"
"This is amazing, ya really gunna take me with ya?"
"I'm hoping you'll man the weapons systems, I think slayer reactions could help there, and you'd have a place with me anyway Faith, you're a valuable member of the team."
Faith smiled at him, it was shocking, it was a far cry from her usual sultry grin, it was wide, it flashed perfectly white teeth and blew your socks off with how really gorgeous she actually was. She was often called sexy and sultry but she was also a hell of a beautiful woman Harry realised.
"Bringing it back," Harry said and the display fizzed, showing what looked like a dark swirling tunnel for flash of an instant and then the same rip appeared and deposited the droid right back where it had started from.
"What about navigation, you said you were worried about coming out in a planet," Hermione said.
"I was kidding, inside the worm hole I can scan outside space, needs some serious computing power but it's doable, the safety system won't allow you to come out into something solid. Into a gravity well yes, and that's where some serious navigational scanning comes in. I've tweaked the magical scanners to use a Quantum band that can get a picture of the entire universe, I lack storage right now."
"Have you heard of fractural storage," Hermione asked.
"Heard of it yes, thought of it as a solution no I hadn't thank you," Harry said with a grin, "I'll get on that."
"A Success so far, does your inventions ever NOT work."
"Oh let me tell you the story of the ever full coffee cup," Harry said with a grin, "And the lake of cold coffee I have under the lab..."
Little Whinging Park, Surrey, EveningFaith and Harry arrived dead on time; Faith was immediately on alert and then finally nodded towards a nearby wooded copse of trees. "I sense a magical type over there," she elucidated.
"Come on, as soon as I lock eyes on her, use your key to get back, I'll send her to you and then follow myself."
"Correction, you send her, and then we go together," Faith said dryly.
"Urh...yeah probably better that way, come on I don't like being this exposed this close to the Order's operations."
"They'd get you over my dead body," Faith said.
"I want to avoid that at all costs, I'm not worth your life Faith, and you're worth ten of me. You're a real Hero; don't think I've not read of your exploits."
"One, that's confidential, and two, if you read them you know what a bad girl I was."
"Was being the operative word, you've done a lot to redeem yourself since then, including saving the damn world. To answer your other point, if they didn't want people to read their records they shouldn't have attached their servers to the Internet, no matter how good their protection was." Harry said the last with a smirk.
"We'll take this up later, for now let's get this...wizard?"
"Witch actually," Harry said, "She killed my godfather, and says she wants to make up for that, I'm curious to know how she's going to do that." He said walking into the tree line with Faith next to him. Bellatrix LeStrange stepped out from behind a tree, looking nervous. Harry calmly took his tablet out and pressed a button pointing it at her. She disappeared with little fan fare.
"Come on then," Faith said reaching for her necklace.
"Agreed," Harry said and they disappeared together.
They arrived in the nexus and the shield was already up and Bellatrix was looking around with shock on her face. "What is this," she demanded to know, "I came to you in good faith!"
"That remains to be seen, this is a secure location, and it you're not telling me the truth then you won't be leaving it alive," Harry said grimly.
"Now," he continued, "Take out your wand - tips of the fingers, my friend here can move VERY fast and won't like you making any sudden movements."
"A Muggle," Bellatrix sneered.
"A Slayer," Harry shot back, banking on her education being decent. Her eyes widened so he knew he had hit the spot there. She reached into her robes and slowly pulled out her wand, indeed by the fingertips and let it drop, where it clattered on the marble like flooring.
"Now step five paces to your right," Harry said eyes intent on her.
Bellatrix did exactly as she was told, taking good sized paces and ending up well away from her wand.
"Do you have Portkeys and other magical devices on you?"
"I have a Portkey, to the Dark Lords Lair." Bellatrix said, "Before you ask it's protected I don't know where it is."
"Toss Faith the Portkey, What's the activation phrase," Harry asked calmly.
"The Dark Lord," Bellatrix said tossing over the key, "Or holding it with a sense of danger."
"Drop it over there, Faith," Harry said and the brunette slayer did exactly what she was told. He waved his wand at it and it promptly disappeared. In his other hand he had actually triggered a transport with his tablet, sending it to his lab to be examined later; he might be able to glean the location of the Dark Lord from it.
"Now, wha ton earth do you want with me Bellatrix," Harry asked with a smirk on his face, "You killed my godfather."
"I did," she said without hesitation, "However, I didn't mean that. I meant to kill a lot of people over the years and I've always used certain ways of doing it. A Killing curse, I'm so good at that I can do it silently now, or a Cruciatus, I'm very good at that curse, I can drive people insane with it, but I always stopped before then. I've killed and killed, but the one I didn't mean to kill is the one that haunts me. Not emotionally, frankly he shouldn't have been gloating, no I mean actually haunts me."
"What do you mean," Harry asked, as Faith watched moving like a silent panther, all repressed action and movement, death incarnate if Bellatrix made a single wrong move.
"I mean, you rolled the Black Family into the Potters. The Blacks wouldn't have cared about me killing Sirius, but the Potters, oh now that's a different story. My husband died in a raid a week ago, and then things started to change for me. First the damned Wedding Vows dissolved which I'm glad of, and that put me back into the parent family, only that didn't exist so the magic put me into the Potters. But I've wronged the potters and they care about their family members and they have a twisted revenge as well."
"Go on," Harry said interested despite himself.
"I'm to be your servant now; I wronged you so it is with you that I must redeem myself. The ancient family magic was so strong that look," she said slowly rolling up her sleeve her eyes on Faith, on her arm there was no sign of a blemish. "That cleared my mind right up," she said, "The bastard had been taking my power, and some of my intelligence. I suppose he didn't want intelligent minions, they might realise what a bastard he actually is. That he uses the blood agenda only as far as it suits him, that he's had me end pure blood line after line, me and the rest of us. We were good little toadies that he tortured for fun and for the merest slight against him and his personal aims, all of which are centred all around him and his insane desire to be immortal."
"I dunno seems like a worthy goal, of course he's been stupid about that," Harry said conversationally. "So my family has a built in family spell, that is designed to make the member of the family that did wrong, pay in a way that will redeem them - am I understanding you correctly here?"
"I am compelled against my will to do so, I'd have thought it rather dark in fact," Bellatrix said in the same tone, her eyes intent. "I don't have long to swear myself to you."
"I don't understand that, this is time based, what happens if you don't?"
"I die, the magic involved will terminate me - as I said rather dark. No wonder the Potters are known for being loyal to their family."
"I had no idea," Harry said honestly.
"I'm sure," Bellatrix said dryly, "But in a way this is a good confluence of events for me. My mind is totally clear since just after school. My Marriage contract was old magic, and rather restrictive, I swore to uphold my husband's wishes and joined the Dark Lord when he was younger and not so insane. Then it all went downhill from there. Then I find myself fighting my Cousin. I sent a stunner at him and the damn fool falls into the veil. That was NOT meant to happen, I only wanted him out of the way, he was the LAST male Black, it didn't matter if his name was blasted of that stupid tapestry, and he was the last of the line. He meant something; I don't care if he dressed up as a fandango dancer at the weekends and went out molesting animals. He was needed to continue the line, now the Blacks are no more, and now we're Potters" she said the last like a curse.
"Welcome to the family," Harry said with desert dry sarcasm.
"Gee thanks," Bellatrix snarled.
"Come to the centre," Harry said, glancing at Faith who followed him closely, a bit fidgety but did as he asked. He reached the centre first and held out his hand, the plinth arrived gaining a widening of the eyes from Bellatrix, and Harry sent a mental command to the computer system buried in a shielded area under the nexus. "Place your hand next to mine and no funny moves or Faith will remove that hand from your arm."
Bellatrix's hand was shaking he noticed as she put her surprisingly elegant looking hand next to his. Up close he realised she could actually be a hell of a looker, somewhat pre-Raphaelite but still very attractive, but she needed to do something with her hair and something to her teeth desperately and some personal hygiene wouldn't hurt. He sent another mental command and waited for the all clear. If he didn't get one the shield would fry her on the spot. It was essentially checking her intent, her loyalties and her truthfulness. To his surprise he actually got a clean bill from her and he stepped back with a thoughtful look on his face.
"Hmm," he hummed after a long moment.
"I can help you, you know," she said realising it was crunch time. "I can give you not only legitimacy with the Pure-Bloods, but I also know how Voldemort survived the Killing Curse rebounding off your forehead at him. How he would survive anything in fact."
"That would be useful, I want to take the fight to him soon, and he is in the way of my future plans."
"Don't underestimate him Potter," Bellatrix said, "It takes a great deal of power to do what he's done."
"Don't underestimate me either Bellatrix," Harry said with a grim smile, "There's a lot more to me than you know."
"I'm sure, you knocked me on my arse after all, and that takes some doing as well." She said eyeing him closely. "You're very powerful now, much more so than when last we met."
"I am," he confirmed, "And a lot more besides."
Faith smirked slightly.
Bellatrix noticed this and took it on board, "I will swear myself to you utterly, body and soul all I ask is two things."
"This isn't a negotiation," Harry pointed out, "you do it or die."
"Wouldn't you rather it be willing," Bellatrix asked with a smirk, knowing the answer already.
"Before we get to that I have one last test," Harry said and called out for his familiar, a moment later Fawkes arrived and burst into song. Surprisingly Bellatrix only winced, and wasn't as he had thought crawling on the floor with bleeding ears. He sent a query to his familiar who replied 'Dark, not evil' to him. "Thanks Fawkes," Harry said and the flaming bird disappeared in a burst of fire.
"Beautiful," Faith said, not having seen Fawkes before.
"I had thought you'd fallen out with the old man," Bellatrix said still wincing slightly.
"I have, Fawkes in my familiar now," Harry said, "Now what are your terms."
"Simple enough even you can get it right," Bellatrix said, "I want you to dissolve the Malfoy marriage you are the head of her old family, you have this power. Then I want you to bring Andromeda back into the family, and the protection the Potters offer their family. Dissolving Narcissa's Marriage will also bring her back under that protection and I suppose you should bring her here, I assume we're safe here. The magic sings to me in this place. Narcissa pretends to be loyal to the bastard, but she isn't really."
Harry thought over the ramifications for a long moment and then gave a shape nod, "I can do all that. But I want you to give me the information on Voldemort's method of Immortality."
"Better than that," Bellatrix said, "I was his most trusted servant, I can tell you where he hides that method, or those in this case."
"In return," Harry said, "I will provide you with a method of disguise, because you're going to be helping Faith defend against magic, and doing some yourself. Also a home here is available, but if you betray me and I mean this literally, you will be removed from the island."
"I accepted your terms," she said with a slight nod.
"Then swear," Harry said his tone firm.
"As laid out, I do so swear on my magic an my life - so mote it be," Bellatrix said, there was a golden flush of light from her core and outwards, making her glow for a moment and then she sagged slightly, "Well I hope this master is better than the last one," she said mumbling it slightly.
"The boss is great," Faith said, "He'll see you right."
Belatrix smiled slightly, she was obviously going to have to get rid of some of her preconceived notions and prejudices if she was going to make a real go of this. That included being pleasant to a Muggle, which was totally new to her even before the trials of her life.
"Bear with me a mo, just fabricating something for you. It'll be made of a new magical material I invented called Potterarium, its inheritantly magical and produces some itself, enough to power a mobile ward and charm array at least." He said tapping away at the device he was holding, the device used to capture her in the first place. There was a glow at her feet and a necklace arrived. "Put that on and keep it on, no matter what," Harry said, "People will see you, even recognise you, but not for Bellatrix LeStrange feared terrorist but as Bellatrix LeStrange friend of Harry Potter. It's a get out of jail free card, but you have to redeem yourself in my eyes I believe so you'll do just that."
Bella took the necklace from the floor and placed it over her head. It glowed for a moment and nothing outward appeared to happen.
"The other thing that necklace does is try to flush out some of the dark magic in your system, it'll take a while, but eventually you'll be at least fairly gray instead of totally dark. That will give you a freedom of choice in your spell selection. In the meantime, be wary of what you use."
"Yes Master," Bella said.
"None of that...Bella, call me Harry or if we're being formal Lord Potter. I prefer Harry. I have to make a go of this too, and I've taken on board what you've said about Sirius and I consider it largely an accident, I'm still pissed, but I don't blame you as much as I did now. Obviously it's your fault, but your intent wasn't to kill and considering who I'm talking about that does count for a lot."
Bella nodded with a slight smile on her face, "I've also fab'd you something for your teeth, no offence but Hermione will go crazy when she spots them. Her parents are dentists, and she's a bit hung up on dental hygiene."
Bella frowned and held a hand to her mouth.
"I'll ask Irena to sort out your wardrobe; she's proving invaluable for this sort of thing. I believe Lav is with her today, I'll ask if she's free tomorrow. We go for a Muggle look here, i.e. What Faith is wearing."
Bella eyed Faith for a long moment and then smiled slightly, "Rather more...flattering than anything I'm used to and I'm sure I won't look that good in it."
Faith looked rather surprised by the compliment.
"I have to make a go as well," Bellatrix said smiling slightly.
"Come on Goth girl, let's get you a room, they are Sweet!" Faith said as Harry took down the shield, "Beam us up Scotty!"
Harry smirked and hit a button on his tablet.
Ship Bay, Labs - 21st August - EveningIrena found him in the Ship bay, she had tried calling him but he hadn't answered. She was carrying a basket in one hand and swanned her way into the bay and let out a gasp. The ship was nearly fully formed now and looked mightily impressive.
The ship was basically three rectangles, one in the middle with two jutting out the sides, but those were hollowed out and the centre one was rounded slightly stopping it from having sharp edges. There was a jutting bride section out of the top, it looked like it would be vulnerable, but she knew Harry would have thought of that. There was a hanger back at the rear and around the sides of that were brightly glowing engines, which were aqua blue in hue. It had an almost organic crossed with industrial look to it and was very impressive. It was around 300 meters long and about 175 wide and the room seemed to wrap around it making it seem even bigger. Crisscrossed across the primary and secondary hulls there were a lot of weapons, some looked to be projectile based and then there was of course the special 'phasers' he had created just for this project. It was a monster of a ship and had taken a lot of resources Irena knew from his personal supplies to make. Then again he had an entire planet, or a thousand to take resources from, it was more a matter of time and effort than any real lack of resources to gather them.
The secondary hulls were slightly curved giving it a slightly bird of prey look and the struts that supported them and attached them to the primary hull were big and thick and looked big enough to house an army all by themselves. The bridge sections were made up of two triangular juts that were lifted off the primary hull with a long sleek angular section of hull. There was a larger, flight deck bridge section and a smaller actual bridge that had a great deal of windows on it.
She made her way down the gangplank towards were she could see sparks coming from as from a welding torch the basket swinging gently as she strode confidently over to him. She hung back and watched him work. He was topless, covered in grease like oil and his muscles were rippling as he worked. She cleared her throat, trying to clear her own lust as she did so.
It took three tries but eventually the torch stopped and went out and he turned flipping up the heavy welding visor as he did so. A large smile lit his otherwise clear looking face. "'Rena" he greeted her happily.
"'Rena?" she asked, "I kinda like it, but only you can call me that." She said leaning forward as he stepped up to her and kissed him on the cheek and the finally a steamy one on the lips.
"What can I do for you my darling," Harry said with a beaming smile and a saucy look in his eye.
"Actually I have a present for you. It took some doing, but I found this marvellous magical collar that feeds her mother's milk," she said getting a clueless look from Harry. "You do still want one of Dotty's kittens don't you?"
"Do I ever, but when were they born."
"The day after you visited, it's a little young, but the collar helps there. You'll have to wean her off of course," Irena said with a smile. She brought the basket up to show the cutest little ball of fluff Harry had ever seen in his life. Like her mother she was pitch black except she had white paws.
"Awww," Harry said with a grin, "I love her already!" he said taking the basket from Irena and cooing at the sleeping kitten. "Thanks I really do love cats." He told her with a grateful smile, "Dobby" he called out.
The elf appeared with a slight pop, "Harry sir is calling dobby," he said by way of introduction.
"Can you find a safe, warm place easily accessible for ... fluff here?"
"Youse be liking catses Harry sir," Dobby asked, "Winky be loving them and Dobby too. They are good judges of character. Wild ones always hated Malfoy's when they came to kitchen door."
"I adore cats," Harry said, "I want you to keep special eye on Fluff for me, I want her to grow big and strong and you know what I'm like when I'm working."
"Dobby knows only too well Harry Sir, youse be needing to eat!"
"I will, I promise, but can you help me look after Fluff?"
"Dobby be glad to, might be having to fight Winky to do so," Dobby said with a grin, "Youse be having as many catses as you like Harry sir!"
"Good idea, they'd keep pests down in the castle!"
"Dobby is sorting for you?"
"Sure Dobby," Harry said with a grin. "I'll pop by later so I can get to know her and her me," Harry said, "She's feeding from a special collar right now, but can you pick up some Muggle kitten food for me from the supermarket? Can you do that without being discovered?"
"Dobby is going in Disguise," Dobby said and suddenly there was a tall thin man in his place and then just as suddenly there wasn't. "Elveses need to be able to show themselves around Muggle places, so we's being allowed to trick them always"
"Right ya are Dobby, thanks, you know where to find my cards."
"Dobby be taking special care of Fluff" Dobby said, "And be sorting your catses for you."
Harry frowned slightly as he popped away, "Did I just give Dobby carte Blanche to get as many cats as he likes?"
Irena was giggling to herself, "I do believe you did!"
"Oh crap." Harry said shaking his head, "Oh well, never mind I do like cats."
"Just as well, I have a feeling you're going to have quite a few." Irena said still giggling, "now you better take care of Fluff, and you really have to stop naming things you are rubbish at it."
Harry smirked at her, "In a rush?" he asked innocently.
Irena smiled slowly, "Not really, I like the workman look on you..."
Harry reached for her and pulled her in for a languid kiss.
Potter Castle - Study - A Little Later"Now," Harry said looking at the ladies he had invited. Hermione, Lavender, Faith and even Bellatrix were there. Bellatrix looked confused as to why she was there, as id Hermione who had no idea who Bellatrix was in fact. It was almost amusing, he might let her in on the secret at some point but frankly it made his life easier to not do so. It was nice to see the necklace was working as well as he had hoped though, "I invited you all here for a choice."
"What choice," Hermione asked.
"For Lav, she's already made the choice; and I've gone through something similar. See that door over there?" he said pointing behind him, "That's the collected knowledge of the Flamels."
Hermione's eyes went wide and Bellatrix started to take notice.
"I've laid out courses for each of you. Bella you told me that Arithmancy was your passion at school before something else took over. Well there are masteries in the subjects waiting for you in there. Frankly I could do with some help. I've labelled the courses for each of you, but you'll need to take turns. For Hermione and Lavender there is a full Newt spread, and to at least an O+ Merit distinction level. Do the source and you can test out with me tomorrow. I arranged it via the minister himself, he feels he owes me a favour, so I'm calling it in. Hermione do this and school is done. No more yearly attack, no more Slytherin's and nasty names. Lav, you're with me anyway and you already want to do this. Bella I've arranged for you to sit your mastery."
They were all looking at him somewhat shocked.
"Lav you're first," Harry said and Lav immediately went for the door, "Instructions on the board," he called after her. "Hermione, you have about ten minutes to think about it."
"This means I can stay?" Hermione asked.
"You're always welcome wherever I am." Harry said seriously, "I'm eventually going to offer Ron this but right now I can't without falling foul of Dumbledore. I've got Fudge totally locked up with secrecy oaths or it would be too risky else."
"I'm game, this is like a dream. Do I have to stop at the course you laid out?"
"For today, you can do more at another point." Harry said, "Bella?"
"I'm interested, I'm just surprised."
"Making a go, remember. This way I can put you to work in other way's as well."
Bellatrix gave him a short nod, a slight smile on her face. She was already finding this master rather kinder than the last she'd had. She had a nice room, which was far above anything she'd suffered as a death Eater, particularly her years in Azkaban. People were friendly to her; though they didn't know who she was, but she had NO intention of taking off that magic charm that Potter...Harry had given her. She was determined to make a go of this, not only would it be painful, perhaps even life threatening not to serve him; she didn't WANT to go back to the alternative.
She was also feeling the stir of emotions long since forgotten when she looked at him. It was a sense of being in greatness and Voldemort had long since lost that particular sense of something great being in the room with you, which might have been a spell in the first place. But it was natural with Harry and more, it was awfully compelling. He was far more than she had imagined and she was starting to like her new place in the world. She had vowed herself to him, but now she was thinking it had been a good thing to do. Only time would tell how right she was, or not.
Lavender came out of the room a solid ten minutes later looking a little dizzy. "I know Occlumency!" she said with a wide grin, "That's going to be ever so helpful in my life. You have no idea what I ditz I can be at times. Having an organised mind will allow that to be a front instead of the truth."
Hermione smiled, "Occlumency is part of the course."
"I figured you might know it, but the course will help anyway. It did me," Harry said, "So I included it for you as well." He paused, "Bella you're next, instructions on the board."
Bella nodded and quickly moved off to do her course.
Hermione looked at him curiously, "Yours is the biggest and longest course, and I figured there was so much you would take a NEWT for given the choice, so the entire spread is there, plus a few other electives they don't tell you about."
"Like what Harry," she asked.
"Advanced Rune scripting," Harry said, "It's artefact device making really, there's also enchanting and Runes as language. I know that's an interest of yours, and I can't say I blame you. A lot of my stuff uses runes."
"Will I be able to help, once I've done this course." She asked.
"Somewhat, I've gone far beyond the standard layout it's mental. But you'll soon catch up; you're the smartest witch of our generation after all." Harry said with a fond smile.
Hermione smiled at him and they settled in to wait for Bellatrix to finish as Lavender took a seat and marvelled at her own mind.
"Oh Harry," Lav said, "I sorted the paperwork you gave me into three piles."
"Go on," Harry said.
"One pile is stuff we can safety file and ignore. Second Pile is stuff I can deal with if you like, but the third pile you need to look at."
"Yeah deal with whatever you can. I've given you proxy for Gringotts to deal with some business stuff." He told her to her amazement. "I'll come by the office tomorrow or something and deal with that last pile. Is it big?"
"I dunno is it?" she asked with a smirk.
Harry smirked back at her, "Never had a complaint."
"Honestly," Hermione said with a sigh in her voice, but a smile on her face.