CH 16
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Training's Complete!
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The training that took place Under Mountain had changed the boys, but it didn't. They left the facility technically six years and three months later. However in actual physical time only four days had passed from the day that they Port-Keyed to entrance the Grendel Clan in Iceland.
No changes had occurred physically to them other than they all gained some muscle mass specific to their talents. They gained bit of height, but nothing out of the ordinary for Wizards their age, as this was the time of year that they tended to begin to 'sprouting', as it were. They were all approaching their seventh summer with a view to surviving what they had to survive and live in a hopefully peaceful future.
They had two additional days to sort themselves out and the first thing that they did was distribute thank you gifts to all their teachers before they left the Under Mountain Hall. They had one gift to present to the Grendel Clan, as a whole, before they parted company on the following day.
"High Chief Grendel," Harry said bowing to the High Chief in the Clan's Grand Hall. Draco and Ron followed his example and bowed, but did not say anything to the Goblin sitting on a stylized chair. "We wish to present your Clan with items worked from our hands and with our magic."
The other two had voted without Harry's input about who was going to be the spokesman to the Clan in order to present their combined gift. "We made many things during out 'down-time', but do not wish to offend any of the receivers by gifting them with something that they cannot use. Therefore this trunk carries many items that we wish for you, High Chief Borak and your Counsellors to distribute as you will to all the members of your Clan on our be-half."
The High Chief stood up and made his way to the low, but wide trunk, it was still as tall as he was though. The size didn't matter with magic, as he was still able to view it fully. He did notice the locks on each face of the trunk and said, "Keys please."
Harry handed him a ring of five keys with matching symbols to the locks that they would open. Each panel was worked with different symbols and runes. Magic was imbedded into the panels of the trunk and every Goblin present was able to read the contents that could be found in each section of the trunk.
The Harry had worked on the wood panels, Ron had worked on the metals fastenings while Draco researched and came up with the outright design and symbols that they used. All the boys had taken their time to learn the Goblin language in full. They had included all their house-elves when they had learned that language, so that these bonded creatures might be able to handle the correspondence for their Masters in a more informed capacity.
The House-Elves had learned many different things about their Masters and had all come to several understandings of the tasks expected from them. They had been quick to try and do too much, but Harry had been firm on some things, which was reflected in the actions that the other two young men took by following some of his example.
The House-Elves were tasked to take care of their rooms and clothes, but not their training gear and equipment, as the boys needed to learn how to care for their own things of that nature. It was for the best because it was the only way that the boys would know when their weapons and armour would need to be repaired or sharpened.
Harry had actually ordered his house-elves to learn a hobby other than just cleaning up after him, so it was that Dobby had learned from the Goblins and the High Elves how to handle and care for wild birds of all sorts. He wanted his Master to have a complete Owlery, but he also wanted to have an aviary that he could take care of and let his Master earn income by training personal Post Owls. It was a very different process from the Regulated Birds that were trained en masse.
Winky learned how to sew, knit, weave and crochet. Funny enough it was Ron that taught her how to do most of it. The reason he had been able to teach her was that his mum had trained all her boys on those basics so that they could make and repair their own scarves when they were younger. It was also her way of making sure that they were out of trouble and it was a suitable form of punishment for whenever they acted up.
The red-head shrugged it off and by saying, "Sometimes I used to do it because I just needed to be doing something with my hands."
Draco was the one that taught her how to sew using various intricate stitches and he explained his knowledge as needing it for when tailors, even magical ones, let them down. His mum was the one that taught him how to do this because she sometimes had to alter her own gowns by hand.
The Goblins in the Great Hall were now all eager to see what these Humans could conceivably believe to be appropriate gifts, but the markings on the panels were clear. They were curious folk when it came to things like this. The High Chief had chosen to open the top lock, which they could all read the word, 'Weapons.'
The magic coming from the weapons was something that had all the Goblins grinning in anticipation. Two of the guards were called forward and they were the most bulky of all Goblins. They looked like they had enough mass to lift the first tray of weapons out in order to reveal others underneath. Not that the first tray contained big or heavy items, it contained mostly bows, arrows and string for the bows.
The next tray contained knives and daggers of varying lengths, but nothing too awkward for the natural size of a Goblin. The third tray contained hammers and axes and the last were swords of differing structure and lengths.
All trays of the weapons were lined up so that all those present were able to see these gifts. There were comments and exclamations over their construct, the way they looked and the magic that could be felt emanating from them.
The High Chief had received a brief explanation about the contents of each, but had only decided to reveal the weapons for now. "The front panel contains work from the house-elves and me. I tanned and tooled several types of leathers, only preparing them for use, I did not presume to make clothing. The house-elves were taught to prepare and spool various strings threads and wool. They were the weavers for the bolts of material that you'll find within. They even dyed some using the plants that Young Lord Malfoy cultivated for the purpose creating colourful dyes. I believe and hope that you'll be pleased with the outcome," Harry whispered his explanation.
"The left side panel contains cuttings, potions and preserved plants that were cultivated and produced exclusively by Young Lord Malfoy," Harry carried on. "All potions were created for the Goblins use only and would have no value in the Human market. Henrik was kind enough to assist us with them, as he was one of our frequent sparring partners and was in need of a few of them. The right hand panel contains tools and everyday items, like tankards, cauldrons, pans, etc... A gift created by Mr. Ron Weasley. He had also developed a deft hand at creating interesting trinkets and children's tin toys, which we hope will be amusing to your young ones. There are game boards of various types in there that we shared in their creation, some are fully magical and others are Muggle requiring manual dexterity to use or the alter-gift of telekinesis to move the pieces."
The High Chief noted that Lord Grindelwald didn't mention the back panel. He noted that the young Human was looking at him wondering if its contents should be mentioned. There was an air of nervousness regarding the boy's hesitation.
"What is stored in the last panel?" Borak asked with what could only be deemed a gentle demeanour.
Harry rubbed the back of his neck, looked at his two companions and then sent them a look for the other two to join them. "We all corroborated in the creation of these," he said. He nodded to the keys in Borak's hand and asked, "May I?"
The High Chief, curious handed them over. He watched the other two Humans line up on either side waiting for Harry Potter to open that panel. Harry turned the key. Holes appeared and he immediately put his hands in to pull the drawer out from the trunk. Two more holes appeared where the other two Humans were standing and they helped pulled out the drawer. The contents had a somewhat familiar feel to them.
The three humans lifted one tray to reveal another layer in the bottom of the drawer. They looked just like the normal weapons that were arranged in rows that the other Goblins were looking over, pulling out and testing their sharpness and heft.
The first tray here had a row of short staves, some plain, others capped with metal at one or both ends. There were a lot of heavy knives and heavy daggers too with slightly longer than normal wooden handles or hilts. The bottom tray had several rows of hammers in various configurations of single head, double head, spiked with one spike and a head or spike at the top and double headed.
"They could have been presented with the others," Sinius had said, when he joined them. He wasn't one that had been there for training with the boys because he was studying under his grandfather and his father, Henrik, felt that he had needed to learn more about running then clan.
Henrik joined them and clapped a large hand on his son's shoulder. "Easy there," he said and he looked to the Humans. Grinning he asked, "May I?"
Harry bowed and said, "Please. You might be the one better suited to explain and demonstrate them."
Henrik picked up one of the double-headed hammers. He lifted it and checked the weight. He stepped out of the way of the others and glanced at his father the High Chief. At his leader's nod, he erected a clear magical shield that would allow him to move through a few of his paces without fear of hitting anyone. A warrior of his experience would never hit someone, but the Hall was kind of crowded as more Goblins were coming in to view the gift of weapons.
The warrior began his paces slowly until he was at his ease with the new weapon in his hand and then doing several other movements the High Chief gasped as the war-hammer changed to a double-bladed axe in mid-swing. His son continued to demonstrate the versatility of the 'New Varius' weapon. It was limited in that it could only change from hammer to axe, but it was very useful to a warrior that may need to bash something like crushing animated skeletons, which could not be defeated with a sharp blade. The axe was extremely useful for taking down enemies on horse-back, among other things.
Goblins often carried several weapons on their person, but to have something like this would free up space on the carrying belts for other things. "Fascinating," Borak said as his son slowed down and the axe returned to its original configuration of a double-headed hammer. "Explain these."
Harry stepped forward and began, "They are 'New Varius' Weapons or perhaps 'Other Varius', we haven't really thought of a name for them. We were interested in the differences between those and normal blades and weapons. We took the time to learn from the ones that we were permitted to take along with us in our training and with the books we found in the library Under Mountain we created these. 'Varius' weapons were always built by the ones that needed wield it, but when I was working on developing my own, I created a dagger-penknife. I wasn't looking to make anything more complicated than that. A penknife is something that everyone has on hand for cutting quill nibs, but I was thinking more of an emergency weapon for when I'm caught without and so I came up with this."
He pulled out an ordinary looking penknife, but with a quick flick of his wrist he had a very sharp and long dagger in his hand. He demonstrated various methods of concealing it, along his arm, hidden in the folds of his robes and once it was back to its original mode he tucked it away.
"We did create a few new things which we'll have to register in the UK Ministry of Magic Patent Office and get the designs added to the Magical Book of Patents, complete with Copyright contracts. However we've kept all our originals and a copy and have gifted you with our duplicate efforts," Harry told Borak. "It seems that we can magically copy a finished product through a mix of spells, transfiguration and conjuration, but only in a limited amount. We each created twenty copies of each for the Clan of Grendel. They are complete and can be put to immediate use. Our crests are branded in the wood and etched in the metals of these weapons. Any of these products can be only reproduced for market, once we have filed everything accordingly."
The High Chief bowed low to the boys to acknowledge that they had used their 'Time' well. He returned to his seat and told them, "Put all these away please."
He waited until he had the ring of keys in his hand once more. The other weapons were slowly put away with many a lingering glance by those that were interested in a particular type. He looked at the three of them and noted that they were armed with the weapons that they had forged and created. Their travel gear had been taken to their previously assigned room. There gear was currently under guard by their house-elves who refused to be present among so many Goblins of a warring tribe.
That single trunk in the middle of the room spoke loudly of the Boy-Who-Lived's worthiness and whether he liked it or not it was enough to gain an Oath of Fealty from this Goblin Clan. The High Chief came to a conclusion about these Humans, but first, "All those gathered here agree, Yay or Nay, that this gift is worth of the Humans who've been trained Under Mountain."
His voice was drowned out by the roar of 'Yays', shouted out by near everyone in the Hall. "However, before we release them completely back into the care of their Wizard School, we require a demonstration of their skills and training. A tournament is been set up and prepared for this afternoon beginning at thirteen hundred hours. You three," he addressed the young Humans. "Are permitted to invite one person of family, familiarity or trusted counsellor to view the results of your training. Oh and Lord Grindelwald..."
Harry looked at the Goblin and said, "Yes High Chief."
"Please see to it that you dispatch your correspondence with your Sooties," the Goblin said amiably. "They arrived this morning making no delivery and have yet to leave."
Harry pursed his lips to keep his pleasure inside. He bowed and said, "As you wish High Chief, I will make sure that they are properly employed to their tasks. May we have leave to go and prepare ourselves for the afternoon?"
A regal nod and the boys were escorted out of the Grand Hall. Once the doors were shut the Goblins all began to speak nearly at once, exclaiming over the quality of the weapons and speculating about the other gifts that they hadn't seen yet.
The three young men looked at each, grinned at one another and followed the young guard to their shared room. It was set up similarly to the barracks that they had shared Under Mountain. On each bunk sat a Sooty Owl waiting for their Master Harry to see to them and it was done quickly with much petting, soothing talk and the handing out of special made treats.
"Potter," Draco said falling back on the last name of his ex-school rival. He only did this out of nervousness. "I would like to invite my father to witness this. I'm planning to break off from his influence as soon as I can destroy those evil items in my room at the school."
"Of course," Harry said. "The choice is yours. Do you mind that I invite Professor Snape?"
"I was hoping that you would," Draco said.
"It was either him or Remus Lupin," Harry said. "However Remus has not been in contact with me since the Department of Mystery thing and Snape is my contracted counsellor." The other two nodded, having had long heart to heart discussions of many things, including how much the Professor had helped Harry out during his past summer.
He watched as the Boy-Who-Lived place a ring that automatically shrank around the leg of each of his black owls. On the band was Potter's Family Crest, but that couldn't be helped. The green-eyed youth instructed each black owl to deliver their messages swiftly and accurately.
Dev allowed the blonde Slytherin to use him as his courier. "I have a protective chain that will allow you to deliver this directly to my father and it will get you out of the Manor without harm," he said softly to the owl. The owl looked at Harry who nodded and the owl responded by bopping its dark head up and down. The blonde said, "Thank you."
"I'm going to invite my father," Ron said, writing up his note and while Amida waited on his bunk preening a dark wing. "We'll have to keep an eye on them while they're in the same room, but I want him to know about this."
"I agree," Draco said, writing a note to his father, demanding his presence. He spelled the parchment to an activation word and time of twelve hundred hours thirty-five minutes, which will allow the aristocratic man to appear directly in the Grendel Clan's Grand Gathering Hall.
Harry wrote to his Counsellor via email telling him a few things and on the parchment, there were only the words, "Read, 'EMAIL'," which was followed by twelve hundred hours forty minutes. He sent this one off with Lulong. This would cover his request to his Professor should he not read the email, but just used the activation words at twelve-forty to activate the Port-Key.
Harry had no trouble spelling the parchment to the coordinates of the Grand Hall. They were taught how to do that using Goblin words and spells because this way any Port-Key they made would never be tracked by the UK's Ministry of Magic.
Ron did the same, but he only asked that his father show up and advised him to dress warmly.
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The Grand Hall belonging to the Goblin Clan of Grendel was filling up quickly. Word had gotten out the day previous that the Humans were ready to come back from training Under Mountain. There were already several Head Goblins from other Clans and Tribes. Seven were representatives from the UK Bank of Gringotts.
Tiers of benches rose up from the floor as soon as it was full of seated folk. The rarity of three adult Humans present caused some speculation, but they were given front row seats, at different sections of the bench spectators.
A redheaded male was seated on the right side and the aristocratic sneering blonde male was seated on the left side benches, across from the redheaded male. Finally the black haired fellow that smelled of hot iron and potions was seated near the 'Throne' section at the head of the Grand Hall. He was sitting next to a young Human male that arrived in the company of ten other Goblins and one hybrid house-elf that was clothed in sturdy shoes, wearing serviceable and warm attire. These were Harry Potter's employees that he had hired from this past summer and those assigned to the old 'Shrieking Shack'.
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Arthur Weasley had received his Port-Key and even though he was sceptical he knew that he would be there to support his youngest son. Ron's letter was pretty vague about where he was and what he had been doing, but the man informed his secretary that he would be away for the remainder of the day. He Flooed to his home immediately, he had time to gather a bit of warm weather gear as indicated in the letter and was tugged automatically by Port-Key at the time that the letter stated.
Lucius Malfoy was frowning the entire time. The completely black owl was a marvel and he had hoped that he could capture it in order to steal it from its owner, but it had been wearing a protection piece that zapped his hand. The owl was able to fly away quickly after delivering a ferocious swipe with its sharp claws. Reading the letter did not improve his mood, as it was from his son who had yet to act in favour of their 'Dark Lord'. He was even further displeased to sitting in a room surrounded by Goblins, watching Arthur Weasley make nice with his fellow spectators and neighbours.
Severus Snape wasn't surprised to see Lucius Malfoy and Arthur Weasley there. He wasn't surprised to see Harry's employees nearby and he wasn't even surprised to be sitting near them either. He had received the note from Lulong just before he dismissed his morning class and was able to post instructions for his afternoon classes on his class door.
As soon as he was free to do so, he nearly raced to his private quarters to read the email that Harry had sent him. It was detailed, but to the point. "Wear warm clothing, don't tell anyone where you're going and please come. You don't want to miss this, oh and pack a few emergency potions for humans, just in case." The Potions Master shrugged and nodded to no one in the room. He put on his warm cloak and boots. Severus took his normal satchel of emergency potions and he put on his belt of potions for combat, just in case. He activated the Port-Key at the time stated and was wondering just what was going on.
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The Goblin's Grand Audience Hall expanded and every guest noted distance markers and archery targets appear down the length of the hall. A row of judges were seated in front of the 'Throne' section, where the ultra-rare sight of the actual Goblin King was there with his entourage to oversee this rare event. The judges were magically in charge of the Hall, protecting it from stray spells and projectiles, as well as maintaining the magical point system that would allow everyone gathered here to see the results. Most were elder goblins and magistrates.
Once the tiers of benches were at their regulated height, spell-light in rings, four feet in diameter, appeared in the floor at three points of a triangle. From within the spell light, rising up from the floor in each point, the invitees were able to see three young Humans emerge from the darkened shadows of the floor.
Each young human was dressed in dark leathers with buckled boots up to their knees. They had an array of items looped in their belts and had various types of bows strapped to their backs alongside something that looked like it might be a pole weapon. They all had their hair slicked and tied back at the nape of their necks to prevent it from interfering with their display. The audience could see the leather armour that they were all sporting include something buckled to their arms, in the form of arm braces or what used to be known as 'Vambraces'.
They didn't wear robes, capes or any flouncing type of clothing. They looked dangerous, deadly and ready for near anything. There leathers were coloured faintly, but it looked like the young men had broken them in thoroughly because the idea of doing such an exhibition in unbroken leathers was just asking for rashes and rubbing burns in the wrong places.
A Goblin Harald stepped forward, marching up into the centre of the triangle and made his announcement. "Magical beings," he began in a clear cultured tone that was rare for Goblins, as their vocal chords were usually roughened by their own harsh language. "We are here to view the skills and achievements of these young Human Wizards in a standard test of Archery, followed by a test of Shielding and pure Defence. After which we will have twenty minutes to break before they demonstrate a range of differing Weapon Proficiencies against 'Mage-Light' opponents based on their own shadows. The mage-light battle will occur in four ten minute stages, which will be further explained at that time. There will be no spell-casting combat and no magic will be used during any of these tests. Magical equipment and potions do not count."
There were groans from some of the Goblins and the Harald explained, "As we have differing political viewpoints sitting in this very room, we will not force the young men to display something that could be of tactical value or advantage to their future battles."
The Goblins were quite aware of that and knowing who was in their midst did alleviate some of their irked feelings. The Goblin King was aware that this was unorthodox, but then again these kinds of displays had 'Gone the way of the Dodo', as some Muggle-borns were fond of saying in the Bank, which the Goblins had adopted as a saying. These kinds of displays or tournaments used to take place on many Wizard Family estates, in Goblin Clan Halls, at High-Elf Compounds and other Arenas of many kinds. They used to be hosted by many magical races, which used to interact on a regular basis in the past.
These tournaments were the testing and proving ground that helped prevent many, many Wars. It was the perfect place to display the strengths of a particular grouping, Clan or magical race. They only displayed their common strengths and skills, as these were nearly universal during those days.
The Harald looked at the Goblin King who nodded his agreement to all of the conditions. The Judges prepared the score books, the magical shields rose up to protect the audience and the distance markers had stopped glowing. The Judges also set up a distance image viewer to float above the area of the targets so that the spectators would be able to see where the arrows hit the targets the further the markers were. They signalled their readiness to begin the tests.
"Choose your bows," he said stepping out of the way.
The audience watched as each young man stepped up to a line of colour that matched their leathers. Ron was dressed in dark browns and blacks, which could only be determined by the flickering of candlelight in the Hall. Harry was dressed in dark greens and blacks, while Draco was dressed in the darkest blue with a hint of silver in the stitching.
They took their preferred bows and strung them quickly and efficiently. They were judged on that too. One hundred arrows were provided to them in their colours for this particular test.
"Ready," the Harald called and they took an arrow, arming their bows. "Aim," two quick breaths from the Harald and said he said, "Fire."
"One hundred points each," the Harald said as the markers were moved to the side and the next was revealed twenty-five feet further away. The first four were paced at twenty-five feet away from the next one, until they reached one hundred feet and then the increments were at fifty feet intervals.
Bulls-eyes were coloured in the normal Muggle-standard of yellow, red, blue, black, white and offside. It was the easiest for all to accept for this competition, even though magic could have produced many different types of bulls-eyes or targets in various shapes and size.
Scoring points were as follows: the bright yellow centres began at one-hundred points, the red zone was worth seventy-five points, the blue zone was worth fifty, the black zone was worth twenty-five and the white zone was worth five. If they fired an arrow outside the white zone or offside three times, the competitors had to stand down until the last man loses the challenge in the same manner.
The point system changed after they fired at the one hundred foot mark because all scores after that included the distance plus the total points achieved. The young Humans were quick to follow through to the next arrow and the next few distances.
Harry faltered at three hundred and fifty feet with a final score of 2275 points. He had used a short bow.
Draco finished at 2750 points using a long bow at the four hundred foot mark.
Ron dominated with the compound bow with an impressive score of 3325 points at the four hundred and fifty foot mark. He missed three times at five hundred feet.
"Next skill test will be Shielding and Defence," the Harald said gaining the audience's attention as the young Humans tended to their equipment. When they were ready, they bowed to the Goblin King, the judges, and their audience. "This next test is singular and each contestant will return to their original entry positions. A circular magical shield will be activated and will discharge beams of light to the shields belonging to the young men."
The audience watched as a clear yet easily seen through magical shield encircled each young Human at the ring's perimeter. The young men hadn't even pulled out their shields yet, because this was also a test of defence. Mainly they had the choice of using a physical shield or dodging the attack. The fact that no one knew if the boys had shields was a bit worrying to the Human adults. Only one of the Human adults present knew that there was such a thing as a concealed shield and therefore he was the more relaxed about this situation.
"This is a timed event and will be based on effective dodging, practical shielding and the number of hits on the shield versus the number of hits successfully landed on the body," the Harald. "The difficulty level will increase by colour of attack lights every two to five minutes. This test will last twenty minutes and all attack lights will be activated randomly, therefore what is used against one opponent in time or mage-light attack will not be the same for the others."
The Harald glanced at the Goblin King and he looked to the Judges for the signal to start. Each young Human was standing at the ready and once the signal was given, he shouted, "Begin."
This initiated the slower beams of light, which began pinging from the protective shields against the young Humans within the shield range. The speed of release increased nearly every two minutes, but after five minutes had passed everyone in the audience was suddenly aware that the boys had physical shields that took the spell-light hits. They were mesmerized by the speed of the coloured lights and scores were adding up exponentially.
After twenty minutes the Hall's magical shields dropped and the three young Humans were panting from their exertion. The physical shields, wherever they had appeared from were no longer in sight and the audience was baffled by it. However none of the boys were considered to have failed this particular event, as the shields that they were using were physical and not magical. They'd have been disqualified automatically should they have used magic to shield themselves in this test.
They stood up and bowed to the Goblin King, the Judges and the audience before they retreated into the floor of the Hall. This break in time was useful for the audience members to mingle and discuss the display that they had witnessed. It was also the perfect time for the boys to cool down in a separate location to refocus their energies for the last skill test.
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"What do you think they're saying up there," Ron asked looking up at the ceiling of the room that they had been placed in.
"Does it matter," Draco said. He turned to look at their dark-haired compatriot. "Potter you're not playing up to your potential!"
"I am," Harry said. "Archery it not my strength and you know it. I beat the both of you in defence, which is entirely expected."
"You could have done better Harry," Ron said. "You should have used your crossbow instead."
"I didn't want to," Harry said. "You know that my magic flows automatically when I do, especially after two hundred and fifty feet, I'd have been disqualified."
"He's right," Draco said. "But you could have done much better in the defence."
"I did better," Harry stated. "I've done tons better than I normally ever did and the combination of my scores puts me in top place at the moment."
"Fine," Ron said, but he waggled a finger in his friend's direction. "But you don't downplay during the next section."
"I wasn't downplaying," Harry protested mildly. The other two just threw him looks that clearly stated that they didn't believe him. He shrugged and didn't argue further because he really was trying to downplay his actual skills just a little bit.
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The Goblin King and his entourage, plus many of the prominent members of the Goblin Clan of Grendel, retreated into a secluded meeting room at the rear of the Hall. Other members and the invitees were left in the Audience Hall to mingle and be served by the numerous house-elves present with near overflowing platters of food and drink.
The Humans naturally gathered together even though Mr. Weasley and Lord Malfoy were absolutely not talking to each other. Severus was amused by it, but it was interesting to note that they were not using him as a middleman. They just talked at someone else, but they all speculated on the boys' training and experience, but never voiced it out loud. It was something that they were planning to discuss with their sons privately at a later date.
The noise level in the Hall increased when an argument broke out among some of the younger ones that stated that the boys' had retractable shields as opposed to having shields that only shrunk and could be tucked away. The older warriors said that such did not exist and that the young ones had better mind their elders. It was an interesting debate until the Harald came back and ordered everyone back to the seats for one last time.
"The final stage of this tournament is weapons skills," he said as the audience returned to their rising seats. The Great Hall changed its configuration once everyone was seated and he continued the explanation from his central position.
"The young Humans' opponents will be created in 'Mage-Light' and will be direct copies of the young men themselves. They will battle their shadows for the first ten minutes. They will then battle each other's shadow for twenty minutes total. A switch to shadow opponents will occur at during this test after ten minutes have passed. Finally three of our experienced warriors have agreed to direct the shadows in the battle changing the skill set for each. The young Humans will battle all three different opponents from their own battle rings."
The Hall finished its transformation and the audience now found themselves placed in a circular formation with one battle ring in front of them. A viewer was raised so that the upper tiers had just as clear a view as the lower tiers.
Battle music thumped out silencing the whispers and increasing the excitement that the spectators had. Drums banged out rhythms and differing pipes tooted out marching tunes. The young men emerged from the floor once more and this time they had their shields in hand with a hand held weapon in the other. Their faces were grim and determined, completely focussed on their task.
The judges called for the magistrates that would be using spells to create the Mage-Light opponents. Copies in the boys' coloured leather split from them without features and they faced off in the centre of twenty diametric shielded feet of space. The battle rings were ready and the boys were thumping their weapons against their shields in time to the music until the final bang of the drums.
Silence followed and this was the signal, which caused the battles to begin. The audience was riveted at the speed and skill that the young Human men were displaying the central floor rose while the battles were taking place and suddenly the opponents were switched. The floor rotated too, and the audience had a clear view of another young Human with a different weapon, opponent, shield and skill.
They were being granted the opportunity to view each of these young men and adult Humans watched in silent horror and awe that the boys had learned these skills. 'Where and when did they learn this?' Lord Malfoy thought. He watched as his son's points tallied quickly. 'They're near evenly matched. I wonder how our Lord will feel about these mundane skills.' He watch longer and then decided, 'I don't believe that I'll tell him about it. It's nothing that the Dark Lord needs to know and Draco won't need these skills any longer after today, anyway.'
Severus Snape and Arthur Weasley only watched. They held their breaths when the boys' took hits and released it when they had successfully returned the attacks. They looked periodically at the scores, but they were more concerned about the unknown goblin opponent that was going to 'take over' the shadows.
It was very easy to see when it took place. The pace of the battle had changed and the hits seemed to be stronger and affecting the boys more. There was no pause, but the whole purpose of this tournament was to display the skills that they had learned during their time 'Under Mountain', however no other Human present understood what that meant.
The three young men had fought against each other enough during their training to know the feel of just who it was they were battling. Therefore they absolutely knew when their Mage-Light Shadow fighters were taken over by a foreign mind. The minds controlling their fighters were obviously battle hardened individuals and they didn't pull any punches, so the saying goes.
After another ten minutes of fighting, everyone in the Great Hall heard the sound to drum sticks being hit together. The Mage-Light warriors vanished and the drums began their rhythmic beating again. The three young men were bruised, black and blue, but all felt that they had fully demonstrated their abilities.
The Goblins in the Hall began to chant in their language. It was an after battle song that nearly everyone in the Hall knew, with the exception of the Humans that had not been fighting. The ones that had been fighting turned to face each other and did a three-way bow. Then they face the left audience and the right audience, bowing in turn.
Finally they faced the King of the Goblins and their judges. They bowed to the judges and kneeled before the Goblin King. The audience fell silent at that. The King looked at High Chief Borak the leader of one of the major Icelandic Clans and nodded, saying, (…They are worthy, but the Boy-Who-Lived was right…) He paused and then continued. (…Tradition is no longer a valid reason for your Clan to swear an Oath to a particular Wizard no matter the history. A series of tests, perhaps more in step with the times would be more appropriate before choosing to swear such to a Human. This tournament tradition may have gone the way of the dodo for the past few centuries, but perhaps it should rise again once more like a phoenix from its ashes. We have warriors that need a venue just like this to test their skills. It is something to think about for 'our' future and maybe one day we will once again, with all magical beings, be able to come together to witness such skills and tests…)
The Goblin King stood still looking at the young men and the scores. He said in English, "Rise young Humans." The three Hogwarts sixth years stood up at attention and waited. "You're accomplishments speak for themselves. You honour your teachers with your display and you honour the gift that the Clan of Grendel has given you. I look forward to hearing about your exploits."
The King's entourage stood up and they departed from the room first. High Chief Borak turned to his son and said, "Well?"
Henrik Grendel just grinned and said, "You guide this clan. We would be fools not to follow your decisions. However they still need a bit of seasoning, but it is not unreasonable to do as our ancestors have done."
The High Chief thought for a moment and trusting his son, he walked down to the centre of the Hall where the three young Humans were waiting to be dismissed. He was looking at Harry and the young man just knew what was going to happen. He wanted to protest, oh how he wanted to protest, but he knew that he couldn't when they were on such display in front of the High Chief's entire Clan and the ruling Goblin Chieftains visiting from other Clans.
"Lord Harry Potter," Borak began. "Earlier this year you stated that you didn't feel trained enough to permit our tradition of giving a Clan Oath to the Wizard Family who had saved our Clan from savage enemies in our past. Do you feel that you've have enough training now?"
"Not to put a damper on that," Harry said. "I believe that anyone truly training for any purpose are never truly finished training. That being said, with the training that I've received due to your Clan's intervention, I have more confidence now. My blade and my skills are yours to call upon in times of high need." He knelt before the High Chief.
Ron and Draco followed him and said together, "Our blades are yours as well in times of high need."
Borak grinned and then he chanted a new Oath of Fealty, binding his Clan to the current Lord Grindelwald, just like he had hoped. However he changed a few of the original words altering them to 'in times of high need'. The spell light wrapped about Harry's right wrist, attaching itself to an ever-growing band of Runes that linked with those who've sworn fealty to him. Those were not to be mistaken with the runes along his upper arms.
Harry sighed softly and thought, 'At least they're not visible to everyone. I wouldn't want anyone to know about this just yet because they could see the Runes written in a particular language and in marked on my aura.'
The three young men just stood up and were permitted to return to their room in order to change into more comfortable clothing before meeting those they had personally invited to see the testing.
A short while later the boys returned to the Great Hall and were dressed in plain thick wizard robes. It was nothing that Mr. Malfoy had ever seen his heir wearing and therefore he voiced his opinion on the matter. "Draco," he said calling for his son's attention. "Those are not the appropriate robes for you to wear. Don't you have anything more appropriate for your station?"
"No Father," Draco said. "These are perfectly appropriate for a Journeyman."
"What are you on about?" Malfoy senior asked with a sneer.
"Journeymen in various Wizarding trades wear these kinds of robes," Draco said in a tone that could almost be seen as being a bit patronizing, however if you blinked you missed that intent and caught the excited earnestness of the blonde's statement. "I made Journeyman in Potions and I'm currently working on gaining my Mastery."
Lord Malfoy blinked at that and couldn't figure out how his son had bypassed the Apprentice stage of training. He turned to his colleague and acknowledged 'friend' in the Dark Lord's army and asked, "How is this possible Severus?"
"Apprenticeship time frames are fluid," the dark man said. "My apprenticeship took very little time. It only takes a Master in the Field to determine that someone has learned all the possible basics prior to elevating someone to the level of Journeyman. This is done in writing and with magic. Professor Slughorn did this for me while I attended Hogwarts, you know this. It was only during the Journeyman stage of my training that I acquired my true Master Teacher in the Field. It's at that level that a student truly learns their trade. Draco must have a writ stating that he's been tested at the Apprentice Level and is now awarded the title of Journeyman. If you need to be assured of his status, I can investigate the matter with the International Potions and Alchemists Guild."
"Yes," Lucius said. "You do that and let me know." He looked at his son with a calculating thought of, 'Perhaps he'd be elevated in the Dark Lord's circle and maybe one day he'd replace Severus.'
Malfoy knew that there was a chance that Hogwarts Potions Master might be getting soft working with the children at the school. He had been hearing disturbing things from the students by way of the parents of those students, who'd reported a change to Severus' teaching methods for the lower years. He was brought to the present with the question that Mr. Weasley posed to his son.
"Ron are you, and Harry at a Journeyman level in Potions too?" Arthur asked. Harry and Ron looked at one another and seemed to be making a decision. Harry nodded slightly and his friend turned to answer his father. The exchange was noted by the adults in the room, but not commented on.
"Yes Da," Ron said. "I don't know how much further we can take the training. I just don't have the feel for creating new potions that Draco has."
Mr. Weasley and Mr. Malfoy blinked at the casualness of the blonde sixth year's name coming from someone that had always fought with the boy. Arthur then asked, "If this was possible, then what happened with your O.W.L. scores?"
"That could not be helped Arthur," Severus told the man. "These two were getting contrary information and were never corrected in the matter because they felt that couldn't approach their teacher in that particular subject matter. However they both took the matter into their own hands and are currently working on supplemental projects that will hopefully," he gave the two boys such a pointed look that they both looked to the ground with a grin. "Allow them to re-take their O.W.L.s, although if they truly are at a Journeyman level now then I would strongly urge all three to take the Potions N.E.W.T. this year instead."
"Can we?" Harry asked hopefully. "That would be brilliant if we could."
"You've all passed your O.W.L.s, so why not?" Severus told him with a calculating look. "Should you pass then I would be pleased to oversee part of your Mastery training for all three of you during your seventh year at Hogwarts."
The three young men were stunned, wide-eyed and had open-mouthed expressions of incredulity. "Whoah," Ron said. "That's...that's..."
"That's something that we'll discuss with your mother," Arthur said.
"Yes, Da," Ron said still smiling with the pleased thought that he was thought competent enough to be a Potions Master.
"Thank you Professor Snape," Harry said. "I hope that we can meet your expectations on this matter."
"Yes, Uncle Severus," Draco said. "Thank you. This is a wondrous opportunity."
"It seems that I have few enquiries to make first," the Potions Master said. "Well," he said holding out his hand.
Harry looked at his two companions and pulled out a scroll of paper from the hidden pocket in the folds of his Journeyman robes. The other two followed him and placed their Writ in the Potions Master's hands. Severus pocketed them and then excused himself to return to the school. "I will see you three back in class on Monday. Lucius, Arthur, I will send you both an Owl with the results of my inquest."
"Yes sir," all three young men said watching their Potions Professor leave.
"Mr. Potter," Henrik said coming into the Great Hall that the humans had yet to leave.
"Yes Henrik," Harry said turning his attention to the High Chief's son.
"Perhaps you and your friends would be more comfortable continuing your discussion in one of our smaller meeting Halls," the Goblin said. "We are planning to expose your gifts in full to the rest of the Clan."
"Ah," Harry said. "I understand. Misters Malfoy and Weasley please come with us. We'll make sure you have some refreshment and we can continue our conversations privately. The Goblins have need of this room." He didn't give them any choice in the matter and followed the Goblin servant out of the Grand Hall.
The other two young men followed him, therefore forcing their fathers to follow. The older men glanced back and noticed that the Goblins were currently levitating a large trunk back into the Hall and that was all they saw as they had turned back to their boys and watched them chatting with the Boy-Who-Lived.
Upon entering the smaller Hall, four house-elves popped up and began to set the table in the room. "Winky thank you very much," Harry said to the only female one in the room. "Thank you guys for helping her."
"We been makin' somethin' each," Dobby said happily bobbing up and down. "We be leavin' youse now," he turned and growl-barked, like a dog, at the older Malfoy. He popped away before anyone could say anything. He had developed that habit to get out his anger at his previous master and Harry had laughed whenever Dobby mentioned ex-nasty Master, followed by that barking growl.
"Master," Salix said to Ron, holding out a small pouch of preserved smoked fish.
"Thank you," Ron said. "You did separate Mum's original recipe from our experimental ones right?"
"Yes sir," the youngest house-elf said. He popped away quickly not liking the look on the older blonde man's face when he had looked at Dobby, who was his hero.
Winky stayed on making sure that everyone was served properly. She only left when she felt it was right to do so and promised to come back to clear away the dishes. Her master ever polite to her said, "Thank you, Winky."
She giggled, fluttered her ears and popped away.
Lord Malfoy looked at the dishes on offer and noted that they only contained a simple fair. He sneered at the offerings, but chose not comment on them. Instead he brought up another subject altogether.
"Draco," he said getting his son's attention. "Would you mind telling me where you've been for the last five days?"
"What do you mean Father?" The younger blonde asked. "I received your permission to stay over with a friend for the week."
"I did give you permission, so imagine my surprise at receiving a notice from Headmaster Dumbledore stating that you could not be found anywhere among your acquaintances," Lucius said to his son. "I made an enquiry among your known friends to my surprise you were not among them either? So where were you?"
Draco sighed and looked at Harry, saying, "I told you so."
Harry just shrugged and said, "Don't worry about it. Did you receive that same letter Mr. Weasley?"
"Actually I did," Arthur said. "However I already knew that Ron was going to be with you, since you sent Molly and me a letter asking for him to join you."
"Where did you go," Lucius asked his son.
"Ice fishing," Draco said.
"Ice...fishing...," Lord Malfoy looked confused about it. "What?"
"I invited the two of them to go Ice Fishing with me," Harry said picking at some of the food present and nibbling on it as he explained where they had been. "I was able to book a low cost trip to Northern Canada and we had the assistance of the Goblins in this Clan when we went there."
"I'm afraid that I do not understand," Lord Malfoy said looking at his son's expression and noting that he was not cowering like he normally does.
"The Clan of Grendel are in charge of the Gringott's Branch here in Iceland," Harry said. "I had a couple of foreign vaults listed among my Family responsibilities list and once everything had been resolved, I was invited to go with them on their trip. The High Chief's son Henrik was an excellent teacher and he was the one that showed us how to fish in cold waters."
Ron pursed his lips to prevent a grin from escaping. Harry was telling the most outrageous lie and yet not one word was false related to the Goblins. There were tons of underground caverns that had cold to freezing temperatures. The fish that they did catch were of the same family of fish found in the Canadian North and therefore Harry's story is believable because of it.
"What kind of fish did you catch," Mr. Weasley asked with interest. He was particular fond of cured fish, especially in his wife's brand of smoking and drying.
"Standard strains of Walleye, Rainbow Trout and we did catch a couple of North Canadian Pike," Ron said. "Those ones were tough."
"Tough," Draco said. "Those were vicious. We were able to get two more than the legal limit because we had our papers related to our Potions Ingredient gathering status."
"Well they were no match for the magical varieties that we found," Harry said. "North Pole Muskies and Winter Cold-Water Salmon, those were the tough ones, especially since we couldn't use magic to catch them."
"Here Da," Ron said handing his father the pouch of the smoked and cured fish that the boys had prepared with the help of their house-elves and the Goblins. "The blue bag, in the pouch, has the ones cured using Mum's recipes. The others are of different spices and taste. The yellow bag for lemony, dill or citrus type flavours. The green bag for magical spices that we used, but don't know if the taste will change over time and the red bag contains the super spiced varieties. Those ones we did for fun and their not half bad as long as you have something that will cool the spice in your mouth. Don't eat from that one too much or you'll get heartburn."
"I understand," Mr. Weasley said putting the pouch away. "It will be fun tasting them."
Mr. Malfoy was looking at his son and listening to the conversation. There was nothing in his son's demeanour to indicate that the whole thing was a lie. His son's expression was equal to the other boys present regarding how tough or challenging the fishing was. Then he said something casually that got his son's attention.
"Impressive," he said. "I wonder why you boys didn't invite your Professor in Potions along on this little adventure."
"Pardon," Harry asked. "Why would we do that?"
"You gathered potion ingredients," the blonde said leaning forward, pushing his plate away and putting his elbows on the table in a thoughtful position. "It would stand to reason that you'd ask a man well versed in Potions to come along and supervise, wouldn't it?"
Harry mirrored the man's position as he was the one sitting across from and said, "Well of course he was asked to come along. Why would you think that we would go on such a venture without him?"
"Why wasn't he with you then," Lord Malfoy asked striking at a seeming invisible weak point.
"He wasn't able to come with us," Harry said. "We were always going to be under the supervision of the Goblins of this Clan, but do not make the mistake of thinking we wouldn't invite a Potions Master when the purpose of our holiday was to train in the gathering of potions ingredients. We were working to gain our Journeymen status after all."
Again Ron was struck by the elements of the conversation. Harry still wasn't saying anything false. They were under the supervision of the Grendel Clan. They did fish those species from their location and they did gather potions ingredients. The only true lie about the whole thing was the location stated and even then they had all the proper paperwork to support their claims of having been to Canada for Ice Fishing and potions ingredient gathering.
"Draco, you've never mentioned anything to me or to your mother about wanting to become a Potions Master," his father observed. "When did you make this decision?"
"I've been working towards this since last year," Draco said. "I received the double O in potions and that's when I researched the process to become a Potions Master. I discussed my options with Uncle Severus and he provided me with a way to gain Mastery in the pretty much the same manner that he received his."
"I see," Lucius said turning back to his plate and concentrating on slowly chewing everything. He didn't feel the need to talk anymore and he was hoping that the others in the room would talk without his participation that way if something was worth revealing it would happen without his prompting it.
His questions had answered many of Mr. Weasley's questions, but there was one that needed to be asked. "Ronald," Arthur started. "Since you didn't get a high enough O.W.L. in Potions to continue your lessons, how were you able to become a Journeyman in subject now?"
"A-hem," the boy noised clearing his throat. "You can blame Harry for that."
Mr. Weasley looked at Harry and noticed that he glared at his son before turning to look at him with an innocent face. "Hmph," Arthur chuckled under his breath. "If my twins can't pull that off what makes you think I'll buy that expression from you, young man?"
Harry grinned, shrugged and said, "It was worth a shot."
"Why are you to blame for Ron's sudden and renewed interest in the subject," the redheaded man asked kindly.
"He kept bothering me during my Saturday afternoon revision time," Harry said with a mock-glare. "He was like a lost puppy sir, so I had no choice but to include him during the process."
"Harry," Ron protested. "That's not what happened."
"Oh," Harry returned with a grin. "What happened?"
"I...um...well...um," Weasley's youngest son couldn't come up with any kind of reply. He threw a small roll at the Boy-Who-Lived who caught it and stuffed his mouth with it. "You tell him then."
Harry shrugged, finished the roll and explained, "I had decided to review my previous years in Potions, starting with year one and Ron was there. He kept making remarks and comments about the way I was cutting my ingredients and putting them in my potion that I challenged him to a potions duel."
"What is a potions duel," Mr. Weasley said, horrified at the thought that the boys might have been throwing potions at one another.
"I know what's going through your mind and it's not what you think," Harry said taking a sip of his juice. "I challenged him to make the same potion I was. He was to use the methods he was telling me to use and I was going to do the same potion with the processing method that was supposed to be used. We timed the whole deal and made marks at certain points in the recipe where we could pause to note what the potion looked like. I had Winky and Dobby monitor both potions and be the ones to make a final judgement on whether we succeeded or not."
"So who won," Draco asked curious about the idea of duelling potions.
"My potion was useable, but not enough for a top mark in class," Harry said.
"Mine burned a hole in the bottom of the cauldron," Ron said sheepishly. "But the comment that I had made about some of the stages were true and valid. We were pretty well matched with good and bad processes."
"The overall the scoring system we were using proved that we both needed to review and improve some of our processes," Harry said. "So we came together every week-end to review all of our past years in potions and we got Professor Snape to agree to an overall retest on them too. I think we surprised him."
Ron just nodded and grinned. "It was great too," he told his father. "We showed up for an overall test in first year potions and he nearly chucked me out of the room. Harry then told him that he had already pre-agreed to retest two students and that I was the second student. It was his own fault for not asking the name of the second student."
"The Professor had already set up the papers at opposite sides of the room and the cauldrons and ingredients too," Harry continued. At Mr. Malfoy's raised eyebrow, he explained, "He was testing a new method of conducting an exam. In the case of just testing two students at opposite ends of the room there was less chance of something untoward falling into our cauldrons, it's partly why we failed in our previous years."
"Interesting," Mr. Malfoy said. It was interesting, but there seemed to be another matter that was not being voiced. He looked at each of the young men in Journeymen robes and wondered if his son was actually going to follow through with the Dark Lord's plans or not. However this was neither the time nor the place for such. "Now that your trip is over are you three planning to return to the school today?"
"They're staying overnight," a voice said from the doorway of the room. It was the High Chief of the Clan. "It's the way that their Port-Keys were programmed."
"I see," Lucius said standing up. "The one that I received did not have a return time."
"That is because you return Port-Key needs to be programmed by the one who sent you your invitation," Borak said. "Of course the two of you may stay overnight if you wish," he told the two adults.
Ron looked at his father and it seemed that there was a silent conversation going on, but Arthur only took hold of his son and hugged him. "I'm proud of you," he whispered. "You have to promise to tell me about your training one day."
"If I can Da," Ron said. "Oh, could you look this over please." He handed his father a copy of the Internship Offer that he had been holding onto from the Hatles Law Firm partners. "I was offered a chance to intern with this company for the summer, so could you bring this up with Mum."
"Of course," Arthur said. "Now how do I get home?"
"Easy," Ron said. "Do you still have the note?" His father gave him the original request and watch in awe as his youngest son cast a spell in the Goblin tongue on the paper. "Here you go. Its voice activated and linked to your magic, so just say 'The Burrow' while you're holding it and it will take you back home to your study."
Mr. Weasley hugged his son one last time and then he hugged Harry. "You're parents would be proud of you," he said. "I know a certain ex-Professor of yours who'll be proud too. Do you want me to let him know that you're all right?"
"Yes," Harry said. "I'm still only a Post Owl away. How's he doing?"
"It seems that he's courting," Arthur said with a mischievous grinned. "I'll let him be the one to tell you all about it."
"Thank you sir," Harry said. The two Gryffindors watch the Head of the Weasley port-key away and waited for their blonde hair companion to say good-bye to his father.
"Here's you port-key Father," Draco said with a hidden grin that the other two knew meant he had done something when casting the spell. "It'll take you to your office in at the Manor. Say hello to Mother for me and let her know I'm doing well."
"Of course," Lucius said holding onto the same parchment that his son had sent to him earlier in the day. "What's the activation phrase?"
Draco's look turned Slytherin bland and without inflection of any kind he said, "Tom Riddle Sucks."
Lucius' eyes widened hearing that, but he was ported away before he could do or say anything.
The younger blonde looked at the other two boys and at the Goblin that was still waiting for them to put in an appearance in the Grand Hall. Harry stepped out with the High Chief in order to let the Ron comfort his mate.
"High Chief Grendel," Harry said drawing attention away from the two cuddling and talking softly.
The Goblin turned to look at him and said, "That wasn't an unexpected outcome because they are Animapar."
"No it wasn't," Harry said. "But it was highly annoying the first two years until they figured it out. Lead on, sir. They'll join us soon. Draco was very nervous about meeting his Father after so much time had passed, but I think that he's in good hands."
Borak chuckled and just nodded at one of his guard to stay at the door in order to guide the other two Humans back to the Hall when they were done.
HPHPHP
Lucius Malfoy's eyes widened when he heard the activation phrase, but he couldn't say anything because at that phrase he was pulled by the port-key and transported back to his home. He appeared in his designated office within Malfoy Manor only... he was suspended about two-feet in the air for a couple of seconds before the transporting magic dropped him like a heavy stone. He landed awkwardly wrenching his right ankle.
His yell of shock and pain summoned a house-elf who was told to get the mistress of the house. He cursed trying to put some pressure on his foot and it was at this that his wife caught him under the arms and set him down on the nearby chair.
"Husband," she said in a tone that indicated she wanted to know just what he had been up to.
"Port-key with bad coordinates," he told her.
"Never trust the Ministry to plan coordinates for those of us known to be in His service," she said blandly.
"Hmph," Lucius huffed. "It wasn't a Ministry Port-Key. It was our son that created it."
"Oh..." Narcissa said. "Did you want me to call a healer?"
"Get Severus first," Lucius said. "He'll diagnose this and then I'll see if I need a professional healer. I don't believe anything is broken, but I do believe that our son needs stronger supervision."
"I don't quite agree," she said. "He is a sixth year student and will be turning seventeen next year. He may need to spread his wings a bit."
"A bit," Lucius snarled. "Did you know that he's now a Potions Journeyman?"
"No," she said and wasn't as surprised as her husband regarding the matter. "But he had always been fascinated by it. Is there something wrong with it?"
"He didn't 'Apprentice' with a Master," he replied. "Apparently you don't really need to apprentice if you've studied extensively, pass a test and get the approval from an acclaimed Potions Master. The Potions Master that ran the exam, test or whatever it is that they do can then submit a Writ to the International Potion and Alchemists Guild for approval of the Journeyman status. Severus seemed eager to find out if that was true."
Narcissa grinned and said, "Of course he's eager. A Journeyman still attending Hogwarts or any magical school can be asked to take over certain classes. I imagine that he'd be eager to get rid of the classes he hates to teach, maybe young ones to dumb to study prior to getting to his class?"
"Gryffindor dunderheads," Lucius sent his wife a grin. She understood why the Potions Master was eager to find out the truth. "Floo call him for his help with my ankle. We can find out before Weasley does about who tested our boys."
"Weasley," she questioned with a pointed raised eyebrow.
"I seems that our son may have gained his Journeyman status alongside Arthur Weasley's youngest son and the Boy-Who-Lived," Lucius said with a grumbling mutter. There was nothing she could say to that so she had a house-elf bring her husband a stiff drink to numb down some of the pain she saw in his face, as she went to use the Floo to call on of their oldest acquaintances.
HPHPHP
TBC...