A/N I'm not dead and neither is this story... I'm just trying to do it justice. Also, my muse seems to be immune to aderol and very ADHD. With Death's child wrapped up I will be returning here and possibly starting a new story or two, time shall tell, but for now: ENJOY
39 Of Potions and Dementors
"So we finally figured out why all of Gryffindor was so hostile towards you Harry," McGonagall told the pair as she took another bite of her chicken.
It had been almost six weeks since they'd returned home on the Hogwarts Express, and five since they'd given Minerva permission to tell Madam Bones everything. Remus was still struggling with his animagus form, but the couple had done everything they could for him, now it was all in his hands. They had developed a training routine with Remus and Sirius, practicing in the training room at Grimmauld place during the day when Anne and George were at their practice. Their evenings were for family, and often involved Remus, Sirius, and McGonagall. They also occasionally involved Madam Bones, and Susan came twice as well.
Tonight's family dinner was intended to discuss everything they'd found and how to proceed, but McGonagall's declaration had everyone's attention, including their latest guest.
"Hostile?" Madam Bones asked. "What happened?"
"A vast majority of Gryffindors had less than supportive reactions to several things this year, including Harry's entry into the tournament and Hermione's changes. They had several altercations with many people over the course of the year, some rather violent," Minerva explained.
"So what happened? Was it a spell or an enchantment?" Harry asked. "We have a bet going, one Galleon each."
"Then it will be a draw. It was a potion," she confirmed.
"But how?" Hermione asked as Madam Bones rocked back and listened. "To potion the entire house? And what about the exceptions?"
"Well, first the individual found a most ingenious way to distribute it. If it wasn't a Gryffindor I think Severus might have given them points." She paused to take in the shocked expressions of the couple before continuing. "They made it airborne."
"But that's…" Harry started, then considered, "That's actually pretty smart."
"Indeed, and care to guess who distributed it?"
"You said it was a Gryffindor," Hermione pondered. "No one in our year is good enough with potions to accomplish this… Nor 5th years… the twins probably could, but they wouldn't…"
"The twins wouldn't," Harry cut her off, his head snapping up, "but Ginny — well, the Ginny that we had this year — would be more than willing to borrow their techniques and use them."
"Maybe," Hermione wasn't convinced. "But why?"
"If everyone was against me but her, she'd get that much closer to me."
"Correct, Mr. Potter," McGonagall confirmed. "It was indeed Miss Weasley, and she used her brothers' rather brilliant idea for airborne potions. As for those immune, she keyed the potion so it wouldn't affect herself. The twins were also immune because they're related to her. Hermione was as well since she was bonding with you. As for Mr. Longbottom, it's a mystery. Perhaps he's developed an immunity due to his Herbology work? Or maybe he is just a true friend."
"True friend," the pair said in sync after they glanced at each other.
"You are probably right," McGonagall conceded. "In any case, it has been removed and the whole tower was cleansed and aerated so you shouldn't have near the same issues this year.
"Wait," Harry said softly, his brow furrowed. "If the twins were immune because they're related to Ginny, shouldn't Ron have been too?"
The silence around the table was poignant and seemed to stretch before Professor McGonagall sighed.
"He was," McGonagall confirmed. "But," she cut off the growl that had started from the couple. "He was under a different potion, one she fed him personally. She apparently wanted to drive both of your friends away from you. Hermione with the airborne potion and Ron with his own. Unfortunately, I'm sorry to say that his potion will take some time to fully leave his system, possibly years."
"Years?" Hermione asked, her arm and tail curling around Harry in comfort.
"Unfortunately, yes," McGonagall confirmed. "This particular potion messes with the body's natural chemical production, something that will take a long time to correct."
"But it will correct itself in time?" Harry asked.
"Yes, it should mostly," McGonagall lowered her head. "However, he may never return to the young man he once was. Had he been an adult, he would have, but using this potion on a teenager, someone with an already changing body chemistry, it isn't likely. He may be close to normal, or he may not. Only time will tell."
"The poor boy," Anne spoke softly, pity in her voice. "to be subjected to this by his own sister?"
"She was effectively insane due to unhealed mental issues from being possessed," Hermione admitted.
"Okay, that's enough depressing stuff for tonight," Anne cut in, looking pointedly at Harry and Hermione. "I thought tonight was a celebration? A possible treatment for werewolves?"
Hermione smiled, beamed really, at Harry as she stood to clear the dishes.
"You're right mum." She smiled, rubbing Harry's back as she leaned over him. "Harry and I will clear the table if you all want to move to the family room."
The pair got all the dishes from the table in silence. Hermione waited until the last one was placed in the sink to be washed before she spoke again.
"Harry?" she asked, looking over at him. "Harry," she tried again as he bowed his head instead of answering her. When she finally pulled his face around to look at her, her heart almost broke at the loss in his eyes. She pulled him tightly to her, hugging him for all she was worth. "Oh Harry, it's not your fault. There's nothing you could have done."
"I could have…"
"No," she cut him off. "There is nothing you could have done. Period. End of story."
"But..."
"No, I'm not going to let you blame yourself for something you had no control over." She pulled back slightly to face him, resting her forehead on his. "You didn't possess her. You didn't deny her proper care after she was possessed. You didn't make her do those things. You. Are. Not. Responsible," she punctuated each word by butting his head lightly with her own, her tail curling around him and causing a small smile to break on his face.
"Sorry."
"Nothing to be sorry for, just don't blame yourself." She kissed him lightly on the lips, lingering for a second as she pulled away. "Now let's get into the family room and see what we can help with."
It turned out there wasn't much they could do, not yet anyway. The plan was to verify their findings with Remus, since they didn't suffer the exact same affliction. He was still having trouble accepting his animal form, but Harry and Hermione both offered to work with him more on that.
Madam Bones apologized once more for the failure to do anything more about Voldemort's resurrection or the Death Eaters. She'd already explained to them how she was being stonewalled at work trying to complete the investigation into the night of the resurrection. Even if she had managed to get more than a passing identification on those who had fled once the wards had collapsed, she didn't think she'd have been allowed to do much.
She finally figured out that Lucius Malfoy had only paused long enough to drop Voldemort somewhere safe before visiting the Minister when he escaped. One large 'campaign donation' later and every attempt to investigate anyone suspected of involvement in the Triwizard fiasco was quashed. The Minister had gone so far as to announce that there was a mishap with the portkey on the cup but that was all. No mention of dark rituals, epic battles between good and evil, or resurrected Dark Lords. He'd even gone so far as to order that no more resources be wasted on the investigation and declared definitely that there was no possible way He could be back. Two days after that discussion, the smear campaign against Dumbledore and Harry had started.
It was late, almost nine, when an Owl arrived, tapping on the window. Once the window was opened, it swooped in and dropped its letter in Harry's lap before it flew away.
When Harry picked it up, it shivered and it rippled before tearing itself open and speaking. It reminded him of a howler but in more normal tones.
"Mr. Potter," a sickly sweet voice came from the letter, "The Ministry of Magic has obtained intelligence that at 8:34 PM tonight you did knowingly, and in full view of a muggle, cast a patronus charm near Magnolia Crescent, Little Whinging, Surrey. As this is a violation of the Reasonable Restriction of Underage Wizardry Act and your fourth offense of this nature, you are therefore expelled from Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. Stay in your residence and Ministry personnel will arrive within the hour to destroy your wand. Delores Jane Umbridge, Senior Undersecretary to the Minister for Magic."
The letter then shivered again, returned to its dormant state and drifted to the ground. In the silence that followed, shock and incredulity battled to dominate the room. Hermione broke out of it first, hugging Harry tightly.
"Well, that is wrong in so many ways," Amelia commented wryly. She turned to the still stunned Harry trying to figure out how to console Hermione. "Don't worry Harry, this is very irregular and they can't expel you from Hogwarts. Only the Headmaster and Deputy, in conjunction, can do that. I'm assuming Minerva has not signed said paperwork?" She glanced at the Deputy Headmistress.
"Indeed, I have not," Minerva huffed. "I've been here all evening with you after all."
"As for your supposed previous infractions," Amelia continued, "I know the first was eliminated as the recorded levitation had no wand signature and was therefore either accidental or as you told us, a house elf. The second I believe was expunged by the minister himself, was it not?"
"He said he would take care of it," Harry confirmed. "But why do they…" he cut off, looking up as another owl swooped in and dropped a letter in his lap before departing again.
He picked it up gingerly, expecting it to spew bad news as well. When it didn't, he carefully opened it and read the message inside, Hermione reading over his shoulder.
"It's from Dumbledore. He's telling me to stay with my relatives, not to leave and not to surrender my wand. He's heading to the Ministry to sort it out."
"What does he expect you to do, tell the Ministry people no?" Hermione asked acidly. "I wonder what the new owners of number 4 will think of Ministry workers showing up for a boy who doesn't live there."
"Since they should come through my office," Madam Bones spoke softly, "they wouldn't normally make it. But since Delores works for the Minister, they may simply bypass me. Though I highly doubt that if they don't find you at Privet Drive they will come here. There's only three places in the whole wizarding world where your residency here is recorded."
"Putting aside the location issue, isn't what they are doing illegal?" Hermione asked.
"Yes and no," Minerva answered. "They can't expel you, Hogwarts is independent of the Ministry. They can try to snap your wand, bind your magic and obliviate you since you haven't passed your OWLs. As for the Minister, unfortunately the law is rather vague about what he can and can't do. The politicians like it that way so they can get away with more."
"But if it isn't legal…" Hermione started. "You mean they're trying to go for fait acompli? It's already done, so it must be legal?"
"It's possible," Amelia admitted. "But why… oh." She looked at Harry. "He's trying to discredit you, like he has been in the Prophet. Make you a rule breaker, an attention seeker, someone who can't be trusted, so no one believes that Voldemort has returned."
Harry shuddered at the reminder of the Ministry's ongoing smear campaign.
"I see politicians are just as crooked and double talking in your world as in ours." George commented dryly. "Is there anything we can do as his guardians?"
"Not as his muggle guardians," Minerva said with a grin. "Fortunately, you agreed to change his magical guardianship to me when his muggle guardianship changed. I can do some things." She turned to Amelia. "I'll need your help though."
"I'm not leaving yet, just in case they track him here somehow," Amelia said acidly. "Go to the Auror Department, pass on to Auror Tonks she is to drop everything and report to location Moonlight. Coming from you she'll know it's a genuine order and come here. I'll brief her, station her here until it's safe and come in myself."
"Sounds like a plan." Minerva agreed, before disappearing with a pop.
It took some time, between Tonks getting to the house and updating her on her orders. Harry and Hermione never left each other's side, but somehow managed to get the sofa ready for the auror. The grin on the purple haired auror's face was contagious, especially when she started using her Metamorphmagus abilities to show them what various animal snouts looked like on a human. Hermione loved the pig snout, while Harry was fond of the duck bill.
It was almost ten, as everyone was saying goodnight, when an owl showed up again. It deposited its letter in Tonks' lap this time before flying away. Opening the letter, Tonks grinned before sharing the good news.
"They managed to lift the order to snap your wand. Looks like there will have to be a hearing though. Scheduled for 11am the fifth of August. They ask if anyone thinks the Minister won't try to change the time to earlier to mess with you." She looked around at the faces around her and snorted. "Yeah, no takers there. Anyway, should be clear cut but they think the Minister will try to stonewall you as best as he can. Seems like they saw Dumbledore too and he informed them he'd managed to get the hearing, after they had already done it. Bones says she'll drop by tomorrow and explain more, and bring Hermione some books on wizarding law."
"So basically they got me off, Dumbledore is taking credit, and the Minister thinks I'm going to be a good little criminal and let them railroad my hearing?" Harry asked grouchily, "Anyone think we should allow the last two?"
"Can we let Dumbledore think he's done it?" Hermione asked. "I'd much rather be there when the rug gets pulled out from under him so I can see his face."
"Probably won't happen," Harry grinned. "It's only another week or so until I'm due to be 'rescued' from Privet Drive. When I'm not there, he's going to go into orbit."
"So that's what he wanted…" Tonks mumbled, then looked up at the quizzical faces around her. "Dumbledore asked me and my usual partner, Kingsley Shacklebolt, to help him with a little side project. Kingsley agreed, since he used to be part of the Order, but I declined when he wouldn't tell me anything about it."
"The Order?" Hermione asked. "What is the Order?"
"The Order of the Phoenix," Tonks said, "Dumbledore's vigilante group from the first war. Can't say too much bad against them though, they did help out a bit. And your mum and dad were in it too."
"Mum and Dad?" Harry asked, awed.
"Least that's what Kingsley has been saying." Tonks confirmed. "He's been telling me stories, trying to recruit me. Asked if I'd at least help them out with a transfer, high value move, on the 31st of the month."
"And you think this move is me from Privet Drive to wherever Dumbledore has decided I am going to stay for the rest of the summer?"
"That's my guess," Tonks agreed.
"Say yes," Harry said with a grin. "Tell Madam Bones first, get her okay, but say yes."
"Why?" Tonks asked, curiosity dripping from her words.
"So you have a chance to see Dumbledore lose his marbles when you report I'm not there," Harry chuckled, then turned to Hermione. "Back massage says he turns at least 4 different colors before he can speak."
"Colors or shades?" Hermione asked to clarify.
"Colors," Harry said definitively. "And I count the change from normal to red to purple as three."
"It's a bet." Hermione kissed his cheek. "I'm going to enjoy this. All he'll do is go deathly white, then start sending everyone away to search for you before he changes any more."
"You may be right…" Harry trailed off as yet another owl entered the open window with a letter. Reaching up, Harry plucked it out of the bird's mouth en passant and smiled as it winged its way back out. Looking at the address, he grinned as he recognized the handwriting on the front.
"Dumbledore, right on time." He held the note up. "Anyone want to place a bet before I open it?"
"He's fixed things, but you need to stay inside," Hermione said confidently. "Oh, and don't contact anyone until you hear from him. He wants you isolated this year because he doesn't want anything getting out."
"No takers?" Harry looked around at the gathered faces. Seeing Tonks' confused look, he explained Hermione's comment. "Dumbledore pulled Hermione aside before we left on the Express and told her that I would be better served this summer if I had no contact with the wizarding world. Claimed he'd received a complaint about owls drawing attention to them from the Dursleys and they would not have it. Said they'd have to wait until at least the end of summer, possibly next year, before talking to me again. Also said he had informed me and not to bring it up for fear of upsetting me."
"And you know that is hornswoggle since you don't live with them anymore," Tonks continued, "and see it as an attempt to isolate you and possibly cost you your friends?"
"Yup," Harry confirmed, opening the letter. "Wand snapping averted, hearing in August, stay put, tell no one. Yup, Hermione was right." He grinned up at his wife. "As if there was any doubt."