AN: I took a break from writing immediately after finishing my first book, I needed to clear my head. I'm back now, and working on the next chapter even now. I'm likely to not hit a weekly schedule again, but my aim is 1-2 Chapters per month, always posted on a Wednesday.
Backroom Dealings
Angelina Goyle rubbed her eyes and put her pen down to take a break from the mathematics homework that Mrs. Entwhistle assigned to be completed before term starts. She really wished they had been allowed to stay at the muggle hotel to do it, since she was running out of lined paper and was afraid to ask her father for more, and also hoped that Luna would write her back about the writing assignment they were given. Perhaps, the girl would be able to procure some and send it her way in addition to advice.
She hadn't known what to expect from the other people getting this chance; but her father had warned her that she might not be welcomed right away, their Families weren't allies. But Luna hadn't even batted an eye when Gina was introduced to them at that muggle park, just saying that Angelina suited her better than the shortened version her father preferred and asking what kind of ice cream she was going to get.
She blinked and looked up when she heard her name called. Gonny was standing in her doorway calling for her with a worried look on his face. When she turned to answer him, the little House Elf relaxed and informed her that her father wanted her to meet him in his study before popping away with his elf magic while she had a gobsmacked look on her face. She was never allowed in her father's study!
"We 'aven' gotten to speak about your time in the muggle world, Gina." Lord Goyle, who looked tired to his daughter, said after giving her permission to enter the study, "I wanted to talk about some things. Weasley brought out this new bill, and it isn't what I expected. Don' make much sense to me, but it's all muggle things. Your friends first, though. I know I met them, but tell me more."
Gina relaxed and let out the breath she didn't know she was holding before smiling and starting to tell her father more about her friends. For his part, Lord Goyle fought his instinctual reaction and kept his face pleasant when she started by expounding how great Luna Lovegood was. Her father was well known as one of the craziest wizards to still come around in public.
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"Okay Moony, what in Merlin's name was that?" Sirius demanded as the pair descended the stairs of Gringotts.
"That is what happens when the Goblins like you." He answered quietly, "Ms. Acacia is one of their favorite clients. They don't exactly give her discounts, not exactly. But have you ever heard of Gringotts getting letters discreetly delivered to people in other countries for you? Or arranging travel for that stranger back to Britain the same day he shows up at the branch in France?"
"But… they were actually nice to you!"
"They would have been to you too, if you could have acted your bloody age." Remus grumbled back. They probably would have been given more than just the identity of this contact, a letter of introduction at least, if Sirius hadn't been unable to hold in his laugh at the name. The laugh might have been ignored as just foolishness if it was more tame; but to Goblins, showing your teeth was an act of aggression. Something that he had been very careful to respect, at Ms. Acacia's insistence.
"But Moony!" He tried to defend himself, but chuckled and ended up holding his sides to stop from laughing, "I don't even have to play with it. It's just-"
"I know," Remus sighed, pinching his nose, "but what did you expect? Gnomes are the best at dealing with plants and gardening. Let's just get moving; and can you please not insult our potential business partner on the first meeting? Mr. Dursley would be quite cross if your immaturity messed this up."
Sirius, wisely, shut his mouth. Vernon Dursley scared them both sometimes. The man wasn't a genius by any stretch, but could be scarily insightful into people. He'd called Dumbledore's moves like reading them off a script when it came to the Wolfstar Foundation's charity venture, after all. Of course, it was more the fact that he was large as a bear, if probably not as strong as one, and got animated when angry that inspired that healthy respect for the man.
Two hours later, they met with the Gnommish gardening guild. The representative they were connected with, FickleHeckle, was equally unamused with Sirius as Griphook had been, but was eventually convinced to send a team to inspect the location they described. With the Gnomes being the best herbalists in the magical world, a mark of recommendation from them was required for Potions ingredients to be considered "Healer Grade." While it wasn't actually required for what they wanted to do, the Wolfstar Foundation intended to cover its bases and ensure they weren't blindsided by a change to the laws by the Wizengamot.
"Inspectors waiting to be allowed to property at seven-thirty on Monday, in three days." FickleHeckle said, wanting to get them out of his office before Sirius found something else to lose his breath laughing over, "Meet here with portkey? Yes? Good?"
"We were planning to have some of the children over that evening," Remus explained, "to look at the greenhouses and start to familiarize themselves with the plants."
"Children? Students?" FickleHeckle asked, "Is much harder for mark."
"We've prepared for that." Remus assured the Gnome.
"We have?" Sirius couldn't stop from asking.
"You're staying home from now on." Remus muttered, "Yes, we have already accounted for that. We should still pass your inspection."
"Done before young ones arrive." FickleHeckle assured them after hearing that, "Seven-thirty. Monday morning."
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The nearby lake had been mostly used for swimming and sitting beside during the camp, but the first week that groups began going to the nearby town saw several two person kayaks delivered. While many students were happy to paddle around and have splash-battles with people on other kayaks, there was a long line wanting to try the single two-person sailboat that came in with them.
Draco turned out to be an impressive sailor. Or at least it looked that way to Harry and Dudley as he tacked and cut his way around the lake on the sixteen foot boat, weaving between kayaks without issue. After Draco pulled back to the dock, laughing at Weasly for getting queasy on a boat when he could fly a broom, they asked where he had learned what they considered a 'muggle' skill so well, though without saying as much.
"My Family owns a ship," he explained after they sat down on some picnic tables nearby, "we normally keep it anchored in the magical port on the Isle of Wight."
"I didn' know that." Greg said. He'd been just as surprised as the rest that Draco knew how to sail a boat the muggle way.
"I kind of expected a magical ship to sail with just magic." Harry admitted, "That was really cool, though. I've never tried sailing before."
"I could tell." Draco returned smugly, he didn't need to be told that he was the most proficient sailor among those in line to try the boat. Harry let him have it and just shrugged and nodded. The Slytherin had never let it go that Harry got on the Quidditch team as a first year, so he was just happy to have beaten him out at a similar skill. "There are some ships that sail with spells only, but my Family's vessel is older than that. There is magic, but it does not do everything for us. All Malfoys are taught how to sail properly, there is even a little magic in reading the wind, sometimes; though I've never been allowed to man the helm of our ship before. It is many times the size of this boat, of course, but I believe my father will let me try my hand at it the next time we take her out. Most of my real experience is on something bigger than this, but nothing like the Femme de Malheur."
"Where do you go?" Dudley asked, filing the name away for later since he didn't know French. Or at least he assumed it was French, "Just curious. We've never left the country for anything."
"Well," Draco thought, "my mother dislikes being at sea, so we tend to stay near enough to the coast that she can still see it with magic. On our last voyage, we docked in Normandy and spent a week travelling up the Seine. Not magical Paris, though. My father doesn't like it for some reason."
"The Longbottoms have a ship as well, not as large as Draco's sounds. That doesn't matter much for magical ships, though." Neville contributed, "But I'm not allowed to even board it, my gran thinks I'll get hurt or fall off and drown or something."
"Guys?" Harry asked, pointing to the sailboat that now had two girls on it while the adult sat at the back giving instructions, "Is that Hermione?"
No sooner had he asked the question than she was knocked over the side of the boat and into the lake by the sail turning directions on her when the wind shifted. All six boys laughed from the shore while the adult on board helped Padma turn the boat around to pick her back up; at least none of them had gone overboard while learning.
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"Goyle, surely you have something." Malfoy glared at him, as did several other of the gathered Lords, "Did your daughter learn anything useful from Black and his pets?"
"They're inviting Gina to some 'magic practical for pre-Hogwarts.'" He answered, the owl had delivered that invitation that very morning, "Things you can teach without a wand, like Potions, s'all I know about the scholarship thing, Lord Malfoy. I asked her about the muggle artefacts from the 'Gamot, and she knew what I was talkin' about, though. Mostly, at least."
"We could try to push the narrative that all the holding back until now implies that Weasley does not truly understand his own proposals and is getting help from muggles." Lord Nott offered, they'd been discussing this for half an hour without doing much more than express how convoluted Weasley's proposed changes were. They needed to move on to the topic of what to do so they could start spreading Galleons around to where they would do the most good.
"I fear that the delays to the bill being presented were calculated." Lucius speculated aloud something he had suspected since the date of the Bill's presentation was finally decided, "About one week before the next meeting, the students from the muggle camp will be returning home. Weasley, Tonks, and Acacia are likely gambling on those children coming back with stories about the 'wonders of muggle e-lec-tri-city.'" He said the last with a flippant gesture at odds with his carefully-correct pronunciation. If nothing else, the alarming presentation that Weasley put on had prompted many of the less muggle-savvy lords to at least begin paying more attention, "Had we known that the content of the bill would be so radically different from what we thought he was going to propose, we could have coordinated and pushed to move the voting date far enough out that the novelty of the muggle camp had worn off. As it is, I doubt we could get that motion passed unless we can find some aspect of the bill that isn't tenable within a reasonable time frame."
"I am not entirely sure I understand the issue." The young Lord Rosier interjected, "The core of the bill is almost the same as the preliminary one you showed us from last year, even if the wording is updated. Why would the lines not be drawn pretty much the same this time?"
"Enough leeway is being granted in the enchanting of more commonplace items that almost any Family with scions who are proficient in enchanting or runecrafting would seriously consider backing this to get into a market they otherwise lacked the capital to enter." Nott answered. His own Family owned the largest enchanting guild in the country, and had a vested interest in the legal restrictions he'd long since magically patented the workarounds for remaining in place, "The core problem is the same that many of our Families surely have heirlooms that would be confiscated under the auspices of the proposed law. Weasley is not trying to lead a crusade anymore, the first draft Lucius got his hands on included blind raids on the homes of Families with a history of muggle baiting incidents, but the right of the DMLE to search the homes of perpetrators of crimes after passing could become troublesome."
"Bad seeds." Goyle added, surprising the other older Lords that he saw the issue, "You could have a 'stranged cousin or something. He gets into trouble with muggles, nothing related to you, then the Aurors are swoopin' on your house because he's Family."
"Indeed," Malfoy nodded, "and speaking of estranged cousins. Acacia, the name came up in the session. She is some lost relation to the Potters, a squib, but that is virtually all I have been able to learn. It took me two weeks to even be able to put a first name to her; and I have not been able to locate any other relations, though every full instance of her name is listed 'Ms. Peony Acacia,' so she could be playing coy about being unmarried and not actually have anyone else. The only reason I know that she is even real is because I met her briefly after Black's competency hearing. She was escorting Potter, personally, that day."
"What about her?" Albert Runcorn asked. As a supervisor in the Squib Welfare Office he could probably find something on her if it mattered. She'd been in Britain, so she had probably dealt with his office at one time or another, "Wait, did they say she was Potter's Magical Guardian? A squib?"
"Yes, and she gained the right through blood relation," Malfoy replied, internally frustrated that he hadn't thought to involve Runcorn the first time, "and it was confirmed by Gringotts. The most interesting part about this is that it appears Dumbledore is not familiar with her either. At the beginning of the last school year he made inquiries into this Acacia woman, then took a portkey to South America. I do not actually know what he found that prompted him to look there, and as far as I know, he came up empty. I went there myself, because I had more time to put into it, but could not gain any information on her. The Brazilian Ministry for Magic does not track squibs in any capacity, so they were no help in finding anything other than to confirm that there is no wizarding Family by that name in their country."
"I'll do some digging," Runcorn assured him, "Raised by muggles, some unknown squib as his magical guardian, I am sure the public would be rather interested to hear exactly how much involvement that the esteemed Chief Warlock really had with Potter."
"We could probably get enough votes to force Dumbledore to divulge Potter's exact situation." Nott offered, "If he truly has been as hands-off in his handling of the brat as the parchment trail indicates then we can also take the opportunity to drag him over the coals for it. The need for him to personally protect Potter was why the Wills were sealed, incidentally ensuring that Black had no evidence to beat the assumption of guilt he had for seemingly being caught in the act."
"I think Ms. Acacia is the one behind the scholarship thing." Goyle declared into the contemplative silence following Nott's proposal.
"Explain." Malfoy demanded.
"She was one of the three who came to offer it to me." Goyle explained, "Black and his cousin, the Tonks woman, were there. Ms. Acacia let them do the talking to start, but she seemed like the one in charge. When I was going to deny them, she convinced me."
"Oh? That nonsense about our markets and muggle goods?" Rosier asked, "I inquired after it with the proprietor in the larger store in Diagon Alley, and he assured me it was all sourced from local magical farmland. Those accusations are only viable because the identities of the Families that grow the food are protected to keep competitors from destroying crops."
"Did you ask your elf?" Goyle returned.
"Why would I-"
"Because your elf cannot lie to you if you directly command them to answer truthfully, Rosier." Malfoy interrupted him before turning back to Goyle, "You really think she was the one in charge?"
"Seemed like it, sir." Goyle answered.
"That might be useful," Malfoy conceded, "but we still need more information on this woman. First Potter, then Black, now she is a central figure to the mudblood scholarship? Do you think you could get more out of the Foundation, Goyle? Perhaps another meeting where we can learn about this 'Ms. Acacia,' and her leanings?"
"Mister Malfoy, sir." Goyle returned quietly, praying to Merlin and Morgana that the other Lords here didn't turn on him for this, "If you want me to back you on the Muggle bill, I will; I don't like Weasley any more than you do. But I don' want to do anything that might keep my Gina from getting her wand an' going to Hogwarts. I'm not reporting on Ms. Acacia, not unless they do somethin' first or threaten my daughter."
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FickleHeckle's crew operated fast, combing over the greenhouses set up on Potter Isle and inspecting the quality of the plants, soil, fertilizer, and all sorts of other factors while asking questions about the setup of the two greenhouses. They were easily as large as the ones at Hogwarts, and filled with all sorts of non-dangerous magical flora.
Amazingly, at least to Sirius, it was Petunia in her Ms. Acacia disguise that passed the certification to supervise the greenhouses. A certification for simple, mass produced, Healer related Potions didn't require anything that needed a wand to brew or care for; and Ms. Acacia easily demonstrated her knowledge and proficiency. That the greenhouses themselves were equipped with muggle irrigation systems the Gnomes were unfamiliar with was the only hiccup. It didn't last longer than it took to demonstrate how they functioned for the two-foot tall inspectors to be impressed and sign off on it.
"Children always supervised." ToeTickle, the leader of the team of Gnomes said after everything had been checked and Ms. Acacia's written examination completed. Then, directed straight at Ms. Acacia, "All ingredients and potions always inspected by you. Random checks during first year, once per month, then inspections fewer. Certification never returned if inspection failed."
"I understand but-"
"I sign contract, only I inspect." The leader interrupted her, looking at Sirius, "Family here never see me."
"I have that right here." Remus said, pulling sheets of parchment from his robe to show Ms. Acacia, "sorry, I forgot to show her; we've had some troubles with owl post, recently. That setup is acceptable, thank you."
The Gnome nodded, replying "Gnommish portkey hidden, only I use. Will remove after year, schedule inspections after." Then joined his team and they portkeyed away using the second of the one-use items they were given at their office before.
"Are you going to tell me what you have been scheming with my husband?" Petunia asked after the Gnomes were gone, "Though I suppose I can figure it out at this point."
"Yep, we came up with a little side-project to help the Foundation." Sirius chuckled, "Moony and I figured we could make potions from the ingredients here as they come to harvest and sell some of it, and kept thinking from there. We think we could make a few things based on muggle inventions that would sell, as well."
"If we managed to enchant the Marauder's Map while in school, we can certainly enchant doors to open automatically or something." Remus added, "I'm not thinking anything too crazy, but Vernon had the idea that we tailor our endeavors towards the Charity."
"How so?" Petunia asked, at least this all explained why Ted Tonks had taken her place picking up the children from the Leaky Cauldron.
"Potions and other magical tools that can easily be blended into a home if the people are in the know." Remus answered, "We thought we could have the scholarship kids help with it, and give them allowances or something while they're at school for their work, in addition to the practical experience. If you're interested, Vernon also suggested doing some kind of abridged Potions text that only includes things that muggles can make. He says with a typewriter you could get it done and print a bunch of copies of it pretty quickly."
"I am a fair typist," Petunia conceded, "but wouldn't that violate copyright or laws or something?"
"It shouldn't," Sirius assured her, stopping for a moment when they heard the first portkey arrive on the path about thirty feet away, "most of the Potions we are talking about are effectively in the public domain, to put it in muggle terms. No one in the magical world is trying to claim royalties on the recipe for the Water Repelling Potion, for example, since both the product and the recipe itself are so mundane in our world. I don't even think you can patent Potion recipes that don't include spellwork, to be honest."
"I shall talk to Vernon about it." She answered before schooling her face and fully 'becoming' Ms. Acacia again, "Now, shall we go welcome the children and their parents?" Indeed, even though it appeared that the Goyle and Weasley children had come through first, each with one of their parents, and not one of the muggleborn families, they were still immediately impressed by the size of the greenhouses.
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Unsurprisingly, at least to Draco, there were a few more incidents over the course of the day-trips into the local town. Four groups had to be evicted with less than a week to go, and one of those events was even instigated, according to witnesses, by a muggleborn. Draco had actually thought about doing something to try and sabotage the camp while in town as well, since he felt that he had already spent enough time away from magic that he no longer needed it. That being said, he had every intention of finding a way to pin it on someone else, if he did do something. Preferably Harry or Dudley, though Weasley could do in a pinch.
Thankfully, none of the students in question had done anything that couldn't be immediately explained away, preserving the Statute of Secrecy; but that made it obvious to those who knew to look that they were following instructions and taking those actions intentionally.
Wandless magic lessons would begin tomorrow, and the long-term reward of agreeing to room with Goyle and Dudley were coming to fruition as well. They and Weasley would be some of the first to get special attention in learning it because Dudley was going to be there to help. Goyle and Weasley were much more openly excited, especially as Dudley was in the last phases of losing his final game of chess for his bet. If he didn't win this, then Weasley got to borrow his Cleansweep for Quidditch tryouts at the start of term.
"If you can capture my Queen before I get Checkmate, I'll give you a hint." The redhead offered, openly smirking when Dudley's next move clearly showed his rising to the challenge. Three moves later, Ron called Checkmate; his Queen safely away distracting Dudley while a Rook and Knight moved in for the finish.
"Is there anyone in Slytherin that can challenge you?" Dudley asked, exacerbated, after tipping his king over in defeat, "You've won about fifty games in a row."
"You have actually played him sixty-two times since you made that bet." Draco offered while stifling chuckles. He wasn't entirely sure on the number, just wanting to rib Dursley about it, but he had been paying a lot of attention. Weasley was good, but Dursley was no slouch, himself. The redhead really should have lost a game by now, it was practically unfair.
"Laugh it up." Dudley said with a frustrated shrug, understanding now that he'd been set up by Ron. He was at least set to keep the game going for several more turns before he started caring about the Queen, "We'll see if you keep that up tomorrow while I'm helping Greg first."
"But I can still-"
"Yeah, for sure." Dudley quickly agreed, "You can use my broom for the try outs, just like I promised. I still haven't decided if I'm going to try out for Hufflepuff or not, so I don't mind helping you out at all."
"You will have to put on an impressive showing to take Bletchley's place this year." Draco warned him, "He and Flint are close friends, and he's been the Keeper since his third year."
"Who's the reserve keeper?" Dudley asked.
"Flint doesn't believe in wasting time training reserves." Draco answered, his face showing that he wasn't entirely in agreement with the older student's policy, "If you listen to him brag, he's also the reason that Gryffindor doesn't have reserves either. He claims he convinced Wood that having them showed a lack of faith in his team or something."
"I bet Harry and Hermione light into Wood for that first day back at Hogwarts." Dudley asserted, "Maybe even on the train."
"Just make sure not to tell them who let you know." Draco quickly covered for himself. He was getting too used to being around people from the wrong Houses, slips like that could get him in trouble in Slytherin.
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Lucius Malfoy felt an enormous burden lifted off his shoulders after Gregory Goyle went back home through the Floo, both figuratively and literally. The throbbing ache in his left arm that had been a constant companion since he mistakenly contacted his Master was finally starting to recede. The Lord Malfoy had agonized over what to do to protect his interests, but Goyle's continuing refusal to help gain ground against the mysterious Ms. Acacia finally pushed him to bring it up with the Dark Lord… who was none too pleased with his follower's reticence to assist in weakening the protections around the Potter child.
Of all those who claimed mind control to escape imprisonment at the end of the last war, Lucius mused, Goyle was probably the most likely candidate, on parchment, to have actually been under the Imperious. It was embarrassingly easy to compel the man to obey, him none the wiser.
"Lucius? What just happened?" Narcissa interrupted his musing by entering the Floo room and asking questions, "It is almost like the wards feel… lighter?"
"I dealt with a problem, there is no reason to worry about it." He answered, "With that taken care of, we can move anything that might get us in trouble into the secret room and no one short of Mad-Eye Moody will be able to find them."
"You believe it will come to that?" Her eye twitched at him when Lucius didn't explain the wards. They had been having this discussion off-and-on since just before Draco returned from school, that there seemed to be something odd about the wards on the house.
"I believe that, provided this bill isn't killed, Weasley will jump at the barest whiff of suspicion to invade our home." He clarified, "It is certainly better to be prepared for any eventuality."
"You say I shouldn't be worried, Lucius, but what was that?" She insisted, "Whatever it was was so Dark that I could feel as soon as it was removed from the other side of the house! Why have I never noticed something like that before this spring?"
"It doesn't matter anymore." He returned coldly, his expression stopping her from asking again.
"If it is that dangerous," she asked instead, "are you sure that Goyle is the best one to trust in dealing with it?"
"It doesn't matter anymore." Lucius repeated.
In the corner of the room, a tiny form crouched further into the shadows while listening to the exchange. He was quite glad that he had already begun his work to keep Master Malfoy's plot from working; he was now sure that the evil was going to be at Hogwarts! Popping away to keep from being noticed by his Master and Mistress, he contemplated what his next plan should be. The children from the wandless magic camp would be returning soon, then his efforts to keep Master Malfoy's most important target from returning to Hogwarts could be taken up a notch.
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"The only issue I have is that we have effectively barred Harry and Hermione from their own Christmas gift from last year." Petunia explained after hearing the entire plan her husband had come up with for them to begin recouping money into the Foundation and charity fund in the off-chance they don't get enough support from other Families, "But that could be solved by having another greenhouse, separate from the two currently there, that they have free control over. We just wouldn't be able to source anything for the shop from it, but I doubt the children care too much about that. Harry and Hermione could start it with cuttings and such from the main houses."
"I feel the same way," Vernon admitted, "but we aren't exactly allowing them to go to the Isle without supervision anyways. A third greenhouse should fit, we could put it behind Sirius' cottage so that it is clearly separated from the other two. How did you feel about the certification exam?"
"It was frighteningly easy." She told him, "Though I was allowed to take a look at the requirements for 'Hospital Grade' instead of 'Healer Grade' and I wouldn't have been able to do that."
"Quite alright." Vernon answered, "We aren't actually planning on making or selling that much in the way of healing potions, anyways. We just need to make sure to cover our backsides in case the more staid magical Families take offence at a store that caters to muggles and muggleborn. Did you know that Mister Fortesque's ice cream parlor took him five years to open because the rules for magical food preparation kept being changed on him?"
"I did not, and yet I am not surprised." Petunia returned, "If we are going to have another greenhouse constructed, could you get in touch with Remus to begin arranging it? I need to pop across the street to make sure that Tina is ready for tomorrow."
"I half expected the Wizengamot to have a problem with her going."
"They probably would have if they didn't understand that the student-to-teacher ratio at the camp means most won't receive much in the way of hands-on instruction." Petunia mused, "I'm sure that many on the conservative side were sweating in their chairs trying to decide whether their distaste for the non magical outweighed their desire for their children to succeed."
Before going to the Polkiss', Petunia stepped into the back yard to fetch Najash. During one of his visits home to take lessons from his Aunt Andromeda, Harry had helped her by explaining the system she and Vernon had devised to call the snake back. She picked up the weighted walking stick beside the door and slammed it into the ground until she saw the red and gold bands slithering up to her.
Inside, Vernon looked through the mail for a fourth time. Forget the greenhouse, he needed to find out why he hadn't heard back from Gringotts yet about the shop location. It should have arrived by now, even if only to let them know that they hadn't been approved.