CH 4
Harry - James - Potter - Harry - James – Potter
It was approximately two years later when Harry Potter sat in the Wizarding Examination Authority's (WEA) testing room which had been specifically set up for the potions exam meant to test a witch or wizard for their Ordinary Wizarding Levels (O.W.L.s). The examiners had been placed under magical oaths not to reveal the fact that the Boy-Who-Lived was there to take his test at what seemed to be the tender age of seven among other home-schooled individuals ranging from thirteen to one hundred and sixty-three.
The room had been set up using an office cubicle-like format hiding who were there to be tested and what potions they were going to be asked to make. First they had the written portion of the exam to complete. Those were randomly generated from the thousands upon thousands of previous potions O.W.L. exams that had been administered by the Ministry of Magic's WEA Department.
The boy had to have proof from home schooled testing sources that he was eligible to take the exam as the boy seemed to be a genius in the subject. No mention had been made on how that was even remotely possible, but the organizers knew that such things were plausible and therefore they couldn't deny him the right to try.
Things of this nature had happened before and on a more frequent basis in days long past when firstborn children were expected to know more about many things at a much younger age than that of eleven. Still he was currently the youngest in the room and the youngest one on record this century to be taking any kind of O.W.L. exam directly from the WEA instead of from a learning institution like Hogwarts.
He was also one of three that had needed a specialized potions station in order to make the potions with the ingredients provided. The stations were adjustable and could accommodate a person as long as they notified the testing authorities ahead of time so that adjusting magic needed to be applied to the table and work bench prior to potion ingredients and other potions devices being placed upon it.
Professor Griselda Marchbanks, CDMG, APMO, fdBB, titled (…i…) as per special recognition and a recognized licenced educator had been rather pleased to be the proctor of this particular exam. She'd been quite honoured to give her oath of silence and discretion to the young Boy-Who-Lived in order to keep his personal information and testing results private. He had a goblin guard with him so she figured that his magical guardian had set up his official potion exam that way as all correspondence that she'd received had been on his behalf rather than directly from the child himself.
"All right everyone," she said. "You may begin the written portion of the exam and when you are finished you must tap it with your wand in order for one of us to collect them. If you do not have a wand let me know now and I'll supply you with a signaler." There were two in the room that needed a signaler which was basically a stick with a switch in it that would let out a small series of sparks. "You are permitted to use your own quills and ink, but they will all be scanned for any form of cheating potions, spells or charms. Should any be found, they will be confiscated and you will be escorted from the premises with a two year penalty before you can attempt to write this exam again."
"Once we have collected the written portion of your exam, you may begin the practical section," Madam Marchbanks instructed them as she placed a signaler on Harry's desk and watched as he took out an entire metallic looking pen with an ink reservoir made of glass at the top of it. The glass reservoir was re-fillable, but needed to be filled prior to storing it in the case. He had a case that held five extra filled ink reservoirs and an extra pen stem that she'd quickly scanned and then moved on to the next student. Her three helpers were doing the same to the other testers in order to prevent cheating.
"You must complete three full potions, two following the recipes provided and one from memory to which you must provide the entire recipe and full instructions for its completion. Any modifications you choose to make to the two existing potions recipes must be approved and you must provide an explanation of the modifications, effects and any other complications related to the potions you make here today. You'll have four hours to finish this exam, begin now," she told the examinees after receiving a nod from the other proctors in the room that the students were prepared.
Griphook was seated on a comfortable stool just to the side of the entrance to his client's cubicle. He watched as the boy wrote with the new-fangled device that had been created by him along with the aid of the goblins of his management team and some of the younger ones that liked to visit their family in order to learn about the banking business. It had been part of a joint project to create something similar to muggle products, but they wanted them to last within the magical world.
Not so surprising was the fact that the various muggle 'plastique' pens as the goblins called them, could never last for long periods of time in a magical environment. Their young client's recent experiment of a standard plastic pen placed in a covered glass milk jars had proven his case for the need to test those kinds of products. The plastic pen had exploded inside the jars after only a month in a magical environment. They had been kept in a tiny vault within Gringotts for that experimental purpose. The pieces of plastic seemed to have melted because of the ambient magic and the ink that had remained in the jar had turned into thick black, red or blue glue.
Inkpots were made of glass or crystal in the Wizarding World so making specialized ink reservoirs were not that difficult for those that specialized in making glass objects, like drinking goblets or other glass art forms. It had been more difficult to make a re-fillable container that could attach to a pen-form and work like a muggle pen. But they'd finally succeeded and were now in the process of making such pens and kits for a kind of fancy looking pen or quill set.
The entirely forged metallic device and glass reservoir, plus re-filling and locking mechanism had to be tested within a completely magical area. So the goblin metal workers, those that specialized in jewellery had helped develop and test various different metals for the Ball Pens as they'd taken to calling them.
Harry had been the one to design the specialized nib part of it, based on his limited knowledge of muggle ball point pens. He'd found some modern muggle calligraphy type pens that emulated the old world penmanship style. But the nibs were the important feature as a super tiny ball bearing was actually part of the method used to make the pen work like other ball-point pens. Only in their world they need a wider ink dispersion to better imitate the quill pens currently being used.
Testing the finished devices of various different metals and design configurations had taken place in Gringotts before putting out an approved simple looking kit to market. It had been something of a novelty for the goblins plus they'd all made money by being official product testers which had pleased them to no end. The creatures had enjoyed the curious looks that they'd received from the Witches and Wizards who'd noticed that the goblin clerks were not using inkpots or large feathered quills to write transaction information on pieces of specially made and spelled banking parchment.
It was still an experimental device and the price for a small kit of a single pen and two glass reservoirs was slightly high, but they were significantly less than the exclusive 'Never-Out' quill. It was easier to write with and many of the current muggle-born students had opted to purchase those instead of ink and quill sets for their schoolwork. The kits had been created and tested about a year ago. Even the families of the muggle-born living in the mixed muggle-magical communities had appreciated their creation since the pen configuration was familiar to them.
About an hour and thirty-five minutes had passed in the potions O.W.L. and Harry was the first to send up sparks with the signaler he'd been provided indicating that he had finished the written portion of his exam. Madam Marchbanks had collected it and nodded for him to begin making his potions based on the two posted recipes found on the board of the cubicle.
His two recipes were the 'Draught of Peace' and the 'Invigoration Draught'. He softly snorted as a distant memory had surfaced of a time when he'd made the Invigoration Draught perfectly. His potions professor at the time had let it drop to the ground out of spite in order to give the teenager a zero grade for the day. Harry had quickly pushed that memory back into its shielded place, he then took a deep breath and carefully prepared the ingredients for both his assigned potions.
Then he looked over the available ingredients and thought carefully on what to prepare as a third potion, but this time one from memory. 'It'll have to be something simple and common,' he'd thought. 'But also something perhaps fourth year,' he looked around and then remembered a potion that he'd drunk in his first year, but it had been one that he'd never made in his previous life. 'Yes…it's perfect, just borderline fifth and sixth year, but not mentioned or taught at Hogwarts and still can be completed within the time frame of this O.W.L. exam. Plus it's one I've made a few times for fun.'
He set up a third cauldron with a low flame with water set to simmer slowly as he added several odd ingredients in such a way that the proctors had had a hard time guessing what his third potion could've been. He moved to his other two stations quickly and continued the two potions, following the directions as posted on the board in front of him.
He calculated the timing for his third potion. Made clear notations of the steps he used in order to ensure that he'd not forgotten anything. They were going to be used as a guide for when he wrote the entire recipe for the 'Flame Protection Potion'. It had been a potion that had saved his life as he had to walk through black fire to reach the final task in order to get to the room where the Philosopher's Stone had been hidden away in Hogwarts' School of Witchcraft and Wizardry.
'This time around we'll see just how quickly that task can be done,' he thought as he made another notation about different stirring and simmering directions. He included a timeframe of ingredient additions and the different phases of the potion's colouration.
He moved to his other two potions, added a few more ingredients, changed the stirring rod from glass to pewter and added two drops of syrup of hellebore to the Draught of Peace while turning up the potion's flames to level three high for five seconds before turning it to a lower setting for simmering for the next ten minutes before he needed to add another ingredient. He set his hourglass timer that had blue sand and was specifically made for counting down in 5 minute intervals with a simple sound and lighting sequence to indicate how close the time was to completion of the interval.
'The Invigorating Draught,' he thought. He turned the heat down to level one medium before he added one whole guarana seed (…ii…) and the ground powder of another to the thick purple liquid. He used a plain glass rod to stir and then had to add three yariphedra leaves, plus one grain of muggle xylitol crystal that he'd asked and been granted permission to use in this particular potion.
'I have to make that notation on the recipe of where it was added and explain why I used it, plus the changes to other parts of the draught in order to accept this ingredient. It'll take less time to brew and will change the taste since I can't stand the mint-pine taste that comes from the yariphedra leaves…stupid magical plant with a hybrid nature. At least I'll be able to keep the larger portion of the potions I make today since I only have to provide them with three standard sized samples for testing. It'll help with the clean-up of the stations anyway which is nothing like the testing done we'd done Hogwarts where the school keeps the extras if they were properly done. What a way to get out of paying for them by confiscating the completed products that the students produce. Hmph! Not that the students care where their extra finished potions are going. Idiots!'
The yariphedra plant was similar to the muggle ephedra one, only the caffeine released from the yariphedra was six times the amount of the muggle plant which was what also provided a strictly pine like taste. He stirred the concoction counter clockwise once with a figure eight and then a single clockwise stir in a perfect circle before scooping out the guarana seed and the three yariphedra leaves with a bamboo sieve that had a point thirty-second inch hole sized mesh of pure wood.
Once the leaves and seed had been removed, he raised the heat to level three medium, added two more, larger grains of xylitol ground finely and waited for two complete minutes. He then turned the temperature down and set an hourglass timer with orange sand that dinged to alert when the fifteen minute simmering time was up.
Hour glasses with coloured sands were part of a standard potions kit, but it was up to the student to prepare them with their chosen time frame, colour code and to actually use them appropriately. He'd only seen a few of the students from the upper years use them and only Hermione had used hers from the first year to her last year at Hogwarts. No one else seemed to have noticed them or programmed them for use.
He then returned to the Fire Protection Potion and raised the flame to add the last three ingredients simultaneously before turning the heat completely off and stirring the potion with a stirring rod made of ice water. Everyone had to bring their own basic set of protective gear so he'd been glad to have thought to bring a special set of dragon hide gloves that were spelled to protect the wearer from elemental damage, such as fire or ice. He continued to stir that potion for another half minute before tossing the ice rod into the cleaning sink found within the cubicle.
Harry returned to the Invigorating Draught and turned off the flames before moving the cauldron to a stable cooling rack. He covered it with a protective cover specially made to replicate the charm barrier used in potions to protect the finished product since he didn't have a wand. He repeated the process for the Draught of Peace and then returned to stir the Fire Protection Potion with two more ice stirring rods in five minute intervals between each use of an ice rod before he used the cubicle's facilities to sterilize and prepare his personal jars and the sample vials for the examiners.
Cleaning and sterilizing was also part of the exam that an O.W.L. student had to do as proper preparation of ingredients was just not enough when working in the field of potions. It was a step that was not observed or even used at Hogwarts nor for their O.W.L.s.
One had to know how to properly clean their own tools or else any ingredient or potion residue could affect the outcome of future potions.
'Not like that snarky bastard had explained any of that to us,' Harry thought as he rinsed the sterilizing solution out of the jars and vials before placing them on the automated drying rack. 'Should have included a book on potion safety requirements as part of the book list…oh well as long as I pass the O.W.L. and N.E.W.T. for potions I shan't have to take that class at Hogwarts. Not this time around anyway.'
He ladled the potions carefully into the jars and vials before properly cleaning his work station and sitting down to write the recipe for his third potion. He needed to include the explanation for the use of the xylitol crystals and the different steps needed to allow him to use the grains of sugar from a plant source for his second potion. When all was done he had to properly label his vials and personal jars before turning in the nine finished samples, three per potion, over to Madam Marchbanks.
Harry - James - Potter
Three weeks later he received an owl from the WEA congratulating him on being the youngest human in their records of over the past two centuries to have achieved high Double O scores during a Ministry O.W.L.s potion exam. They also sent along a request that they'd received from the magazine editor of Potions Monthly for an essay about the use of the plant sugar in the invigoration potion.
Harry had shrugged and planned the essay carefully before submitting it under the name of Lunar P. Black. It was kind of risky to use that name as an alias, but it was the one that he was comfortable with. He used it consistently whenever he was in the magical world and wondered if Remus Lupin would try to contact Mr. Black now, should he read the potions article.
Although the P stood for Padfoot he doubted that the man would know that unless Harry was asked about it in order to provide a bit of background to the alias name or essay writer. He thought that he might just reveal the history of his name in order to gain an earlier contact opportunity with one of his father's old school chums.
Harry - James - Potter
Potions Monthly - October 1987 Edition
Dear Readers,
As with all exams of O.W.L.s or N.E.W.T.s and our current standing agreement with the Wizarding Examination Authority (WEA), we are pleased to present this year's featured essay in the use of Xylitol Grains for the Invigorating Draught, written by Mr. Lunar P. Black. He is currently the youngest human within the last two centuries to have passed with the highest outstanding results in the Ordinary Wizarding Level exams given by the United Kingdom's Ministry of Magic WEA Department.
The author of the essay has requested and been granted permission to use an alias name in order to protect their privacy. When asked why that particular name, they told our reporter the following with a chuckle, "Well, I'd have gone with Moon P. Black, but I have an honorary uncle who goes by the nickname of Moony and the family agreed that two people named Moon was two too much."
Our reporter did ask what the P stood for and received the following answer, "It's in honour of a secondary uncle of mine who'd always been quite light on his feet when dancing. I've heard it mentioned in the family that he'd been nicknamed Padfoot on occasion which is the reason for it being a part of my alias name. I'm honouring two of my parents' long-time friends. Both of whom are men that I admire and respect greatly. How could I not honour them in such away?"
Honour them he did and we respect this person's wishes to remain anonymous until such at time as he wishes or chooses to reveal his true identity to our world.
Never before had such an ingredient, the Xylitol Grain, been used or recorded for use prior to this past summer's WEA administered Potions O.W.L.. The above student in question had earned himself two Owls of the highest score successfully beating all past records with exemplary marks.
We at Potions Monthly have been given the opportunity to test and review the recipe as modified by Mr. Black during his WEA exam. We have found the recipe to be an absolute dream to use. The use of the sugar replacement actually rendered the potion more palatable, going down with a refreshing coolness to the throat and with fewer adverse effects on the human body.
It is not recommended for those of magical creature descent, such as anyone with Goblin, Fairy or Veela ancestry to consume. The chemical breakdown of the sugar crystals mixed with the other ingredients may have an adverse effect on their biological systems. This has not been tested, but speculated based on past precedence with other potions containing similar ingredients when suggested modifications were presented.
For more on the use of Xylitol, the history of this hidden gem of an ingredient and the essay submitted by our intrepid O.W.L. graduate please turn to page 10 for "Xylitol, what can it do?", page 15 for the modified recipe "Another kind of Invigorating Draught" and page 29 "A General Study into the Potential Uses of Xylitol and Exploring Common Modifications to Generic Health Potions."
Sincerely,
Edmund Paris
Chief Editor, Potions Monthly
Harry - James - Potter
Remus Lupin read the essay article in the Potions Monthly magazine that had been published for October of 1987. He re-read the essay and all articles related to the name of the writer.
'Whoever this person is must know about Sirius and our band of Marauders from Hogwarts,' he thought. 'But who…who would have the audacity to use such a name? Two Moons, indeed?' He sighed, rubbed his forehead and wondered who that person could be as he reviewed the personal correspondence he'd received from the editor of the magazine into his query about that writer's true identity.
Harry - James - Potter
Dear Mr. Lupin,
The article was requested at our behest. Such only occurs when a person adds an uncommon ingredient to an assigned potion during an O.W.L.s or N.E.W.T.s exam. We have an understanding with the Wizarding Examination Authority whereby any modifications done to a potion during any WEA exam that the new or modified recipe be forwarded to us as potential data for potions articles. The students know about our request and sign a writ of agreement before we received their completed formula.
We do not correspond with the examinee directly, but only through our WEA contact Madam Griselda Marchbanks. If you wish to know who wrote the essay I suggest you communicate with her. However be forewarned as she may have taken a vow of secrecy.
Sincerely,
Edmund Paris
Chief Editor, Potions Monthly
Harry - James - Potter
"Should I send an Owl to Albus about this or not," Remus muttered out loud. He shivered and felt like it would be a breach of the secrecy bond that he'd made with his friends, his old pack. It had been a secret that he'd had in place for years, the one about the secret nicknames that they'd given to each other during their small adventures. "Maybe…" he paused and wondered if he should investigate the matter further or let it drop, "What if…it's little Harry?"
He shook his head and thought, 'There's no way that it could be James' boy. He'd have to have had access to magical tutoring and the boy is only about seven now. There's no way he could have passed a potion O.W.L.' He sighed and then thought, 'Looks like I'll have to travel to Diagon Alley and see some of my old contacts. Maybe my answers can be found there.'
Harry - James - Potter
Remus had made a few discreet inquiries about a person named Lunar P. Black and it seemed that this person was a frequent customer of Eeylops Owl Emporium, the Magical Menagerie and several other shops in the street. However it was only around certain times of year so he figured that he'd have to wait a few months before successfully contacting this illusive Mr. Black.
"Mr. Black you say," Ortun Teller (…iii…), the manager of Flourish & Blotts nodded. "Aye I know him. Comes in periodically and scours our leftover bargains in the basement, carries off quite a few o' them too now and again. He's due to come 'round sometime next week before the next muggle holiday rush. It's when we clear our shelves for the newer publications coming out. He likes the curiosity shops and other such too." The man paused to serve another customer and then continued. "He's quite the interesting fellow you ever did see. Mind he usually buys most books about magical animal breeding and he's gone into Eeylops with an owl or two as well, but usually leaves without them. I think he might be an owl breeder or else works with one."
"I see," Remus said. He looked at his small stack of books and said, "I'll take these. Thank you for your time."
"Welcome lad," the older man said and turned to serve another customer.
The following week Remus wandered around Diagon Ally not making any enquiries, but looking about the streets for what had been described to him as, 'An odd fellow with oversized boots and pants, blue coat with small leather gloves and an oversize pointed hat that bent backwards which that looked to be twice as tall as the fellow.'
Remus had positioned himself outside of Flourish & Blotts looking at the books that had been placed in the outdoor racks as being too old or one-offs that had been in the store for too long. The person he'd been looking for was at a different book rack looking over titles before selecting several of them and placing them in a small F&B wicker shopping basket specially made for the bookshop which had expanding charms on in the inside. It cost about 200K (knuts) to use one of those so many people preferred to shrink the books before bringing them to the counter to pay for rather that use such a useful device.
Mr. Teller watched as Mr. Black appeared unaware of his follower. It wasn't that the manager was mean or anything, but he never thought anything wrong about helping out someone in finding the person they were seeking.
Although the strange little fellow had been fully aware that he was being followed. He finished his purchases at the book shop and then he walked into the cauldron shop seeking more supplies including different potions books that may or may not be found within a main bookshop. The Apothecary also carried potion and alchemy books for those that were looking for something different to read or for different levels of potions to explore.
He'd seen the face of the person following him and had sighed. He only hoped that Remus had not informed the Headmaster of Hogwarts that the name of Lunar or Padfoot or Black was being used in the streets of Diagon Alley. 'It's not like I use it all that often nowadays,' Harry thought. 'Maybe I should speak with him. Don't want him messing up my plans with misplaced adult concern.'
Harry had purchased more potions supplies and then found himself shadowed by the werewolf.
"Mr. Black," Remus said. "May I have a word with you in private?"
"Hm," Harry paused. He turned to look at the werewolf and had noticed the man's confusion at the lack of visible features, but he projected his sincerity about needing to talk to him. "Very well where would you like to have this discussion?"
"Someplace private, but…" Remus hesitated about going to the Leakey Cauldron.
"I have some business to take care of at Gringott's and I've booked a meeting room there today," Mr. Black told him. "Follow me and we can talk freely there. My managers will allow us some time before we need to work on a few of our ongoing projects."
"Thank you," Remus said and followed the short person to the bank and then straight into a meeting room where there were three goblins that looked to have been waiting for Mr. Black. One goblin stood guard at the door and two were at the table with folders piled high in front of them.
"Hello everyone," Mr. Black said. "This is Remus J. Lupin. We need to talk for a few minutes so we'll do that at the other end of the table." He looked to the shocked man and snickered. "He might be useful, but I believe there are papers for him in one of the estate files." The rare female goblin at the head of the table nodded and pulled out a different set of folders, putting it aside until the humans' much needed conversation had concluded.
"Wha…what," Remus looked at the short person who'd just sat down at the end of the meeting table and was in the process of removing his coat and gloves. The werewolf sat down and watched as the overlarge hat had been removed, along with the weird orange goggles to reveal bright green eyes instead of some darker shade of brown. He watched as a mask was pushed down to the boy's neck and it was very much the face of a human boy that looked back at him.
"Hello Uncle Moony," the boy said with a somewhat shy grin. "My name is Harry James Potter."
"Harry," Remus breathed out in surprise. He quickly stood up and hugged the boy before sitting back down maintaining a hold on one of the boy's hands. "You're really here, but how…why…does your guardian know. I wasn't to communicate…tell me what is…"
"Yes I'm really here," Harry said and tightened his grip on the man's hand. He looked at him and placed his second hand over the man's in understanding. He then stated more than asked, "It was that potions essay and those questions about my alias name, wasn't it? The editor's letter?"
"Ah yes it was," Remus said. His eyes kept looking at the boy and he wondered at what was going on. "Harry will you tell me what's going? How come you hide your appearance? What are you doing here in Gringotts and in Diagon Alley? Where are your guardians?"
"Hiding what I look like is vital for my sanity," Harry explained to him as he sat down close to the werewolf as his hand was still held captive in the shaking one of the shocked man before him. "I know that the 'public' will never see me as anything other than the Boy-Who-Lived. So I'm not giving them the chance to do anything to track me down or any other kind of nonsense like writing up false stories about me in their poor excuse of a newspaper." He watched the man nod slowly and then he continued to explain the reason for his disguise. "I've seen how some famous celebrities are treated in the muggle world. For example; the paparazzi, the stalking, the disturbing fan mail…etc… I'd rather wait until I'm safely going to a magical school before subjecting myself to any of that hoopla from this fickle society non-thinkers."
Remus had thought of the few muggle newspapers he chanced to read. A few were solid pieces of honest journalism and several were quite clearly similar to the Daily Prophet that he'd wondered on more than one occasion if the UK Wizarding World had any kind of descent type of journalism left in print or if the Prophet had always dictated what was printed and how it was presented to the populace.
The werewolf shuddered at the thought of fans and stalkers hunting down the boy. He had other worries too like the Dark Lord's leftover minions known as Death Eaters, but this disguise seemed to be a good one for Harry. He couldn't even tell by smell, probably due to charms on the clothing. Everyone in the Alley that he'd spoken to about Lunar Black had all been convinced that the small person was actually just a very short man and not a child.
He looked to his honorary nephew. The boy looked healthy and happy. The only confusing thing was that alias name and for some reason he'd thought the boy should be in muggle-school at this time of day. 'Where did he come up with it,' he thought. 'Why was he using it? Why is he not in school?'
"I'm home schooled," Harry said correctly guessing one of the questions in the man's amber eyes.
"I see," Remus comment. "Is that why you took a potions O.W.L. before even attending Hogwarts?"
"Well, yes," Harry said with a wry grin. "I did my research on the school too and the Professor in charge of potions…well…um…I don't think he'd like me very much to remain unbiased enough to teach me the subject properly. I have accessed my parents' private journals and other, various school stuff from their personal vaults. From those alone I don't think that the man, Professor Snape I mean, would be too happy to teach me anything of value." He shrugged and continued, "I figured why not try for the O.W.L. since I've been studying the subject in advance. It's also from those journals that I made up my alias name too."
"Ah now I see," the werewolf said. He looked around the room and then looked at the boy. "I'm not sure what to do now. I'd like to see more of you, but there are always people on the lookout if you know what I mean?"
Harry nodded, shrugged and said, "You can owl me if you like." He looked to the goblins and then back to the man as he asked, "I have to ask you to keep this secret. At least until I get a school letter please!"
"Why," Remus asked.
"Well I'm taking my study of potions further and I plan to take my N.E.W.T. in it before starting Hogwarts too," Harry told him. The man grinned and then let out a rueful chuckle.
Remus reached over to ruffle the bird's nest that was considered the boy's hair and said, "I'd be happy to keep this a secret. I will owl you and you feel free to send me any questions you may have about your parents or their friends or just to talk about anything at all, okay? I'm sorry I've not communicated before, but I'd been advised against it. I did try a couple of times to send you a simple birthday card, but they were rejected."
"I understand," Harry nodded with a genuine smile. "You can owl me from now on. They will be fully accepted since no one should be messing about with my mail any more. I've hired a service to take care of that for me and I'll let them know that your post should be forwarded to me. If the post gets returned, let me know about it as soon as possible through my Gringotts manager named Sibilo, so we can track down the interference."
"It looks like they're ready for you," Remus looked to the goblins that kept eyeing him. He gave the boy his Wizard's Oath to never reveal anything he'd discovered on this day. "I'll leave you to the rest of it. Maybe you can tell me what you're up to and where you live? I'd like to visit you from time to time."
"Yes of course. Here," Harry said as he pulled out a card and handed it to the man. "I'm usually there after the fifteenth of December until the first of March since that's when I do my paper or indoor studies. It's best to contact me there. I'm too busy during the summers to do anything else except communicate by owl."
"Too busy doing what," Remus asked, confused.
"Farming," Harry replied with a grin. "I work in a vineyard and I'm working part-time with an owl breeder who's teaching me how to add magic to owl eggs in order to produce more magically enhanced post owls or just plain smarter owls that will take instructions."
"What's the name of the breeder," Remus asked.
"Why," Harry returned. "You're not going to mess this up for me, are you?"
"What do you mean," the man said. "I'm just curious about the name of the breeder. I don't know of any local ones."
Harry looked at the man and shrewdly said, "I'll only tell you if you promise to buy one of our owls."
Remus grinned and said, "It's a bargain for when I can afford one."
"Good," Harry said. "Now you need to sign these papers in order to get the bequest my parents had set up for you and I'll send you the most recent catalogue of our available owls."
A goblin had walked up to the man to hand him a list of things to sign for which had included a mid-sized seaside cottage near Nice, France and a large four bedroom apartment in Cambridge. There were several investments that paid for the maintenance of both places.
"You'll have to get house-elves to help maintain them now," Harry said. "The Potter elves are bonded to Potter family members only."
"I can't bond with house-elves," Remus said.
"Why ever not," Harry asked. "You just need to go to the House-Elf Relocation Office and…"
Remus shook his head. He sighed and wondered whether to tell his nephew about his conditions. 'Best tell the truth from the beginning,' he thought. "A classified Dark Creature cannot own significant property unless through inheritance and house-elves count as significant property."
"Dark creature," Harry's eyebrows narrowed in a frown. "Ah…the furry little problem…That was in one of my father's journals. What kind of furry little problem?" He fished wondering if the man was going to tell him the truth.
"I'm a werewolf," Remus said as his shoulders hunched slightly. He feared that the boy would reject him.
"Really," Harry's eyes lit up. "That's kinda cool, but if you have properties you should be able to hire workers to maintain them right?"
"Yes," Remus said. "But I can't bond with house-elves from the Relocation Office. I can only bond with elves that are currently free. I don't know where those are to be found."
"Hm," Harry hummed and then nodded. "Right then, I'll see what I can do."
Remus sighed and said, "Don't worry about it."
"No, no," Harry shook his head. "There's got to be a way around that. It's not like there's some kind of central registry for unbonded house-elves unless they were the ones that had been seized by the Relocation Office for non-payment of fines or something of that nature. You'll see. I'll get you house-elves that'll want to bond with you no matter what your creature status is."
Remus finished signing the transfer of ownership documents and had obtained a vault key. "So you say," he ruffled the boy's hair one last time playfully and received one last hug. "It seems that I have a few things to do. If you need someone to advise you in your studies let me know and I'll be able to help you. If not, I'll know who can, deal?"
"Right," Harry said. "Now here's our agreement for the owl. You need to sign here and here." The boy pointed to the small contract for secrecy and for the owl. Once signed, the Boy-Who-Lived told him, "I work part-time in the summer with Jonquil Bellier and Iris Gabris. They've begun an Owl Reserve here in England and needed workers to monitor the types of owls that make their way into the reserve. They wanted to ensure that the magical ones are accounted for by use of magical monitoring tags. The normal owls are tagged with muggle tracking devices for their own conservationists for observation. The ladies are legally listed with the muggle organization for that purpose too."
"Jonquil Gabris Owl Outfitters," Remus asked and received an enthusiastic nod. "Those are the owl breeders you work for," the man's tone was incredulous. "Those two ladies are famous in certain circles and their business history is fascinating."
"Un-hun plus I have a knack for working with several magical creatures," Harry nodded with a wide, cheeky grin. "I work with them from spring through summer to help with the owls and owlets. After which I work on a farm in magical greenhouses until mid-December, but I still am home schooled for regular muggle subjects, magical history, advanced potions, advanced arithmancy, advanced ancient runes and several other language studies because of the potions I've been made to research and learn. I have morning classes at a physical fitness centre in the local town too. So my scholastic schedule is pretty tight during the winter season, but I really like it a lot."
"I'm looking forward to the receiving that owl catalogue and any letters you send me. I'll trust in your owl recommendations for me," Remus said. He glanced at his inheritance paperwork from the Potters and then said, "I think that I will be busy for a while too, but we will keep in touch you hear."
"Yes please," Harry replied politely. "I think that Griphook will escort you out while I stay behind to deal with some of my own paperwork."
"You do trust them, right," Remus asked in a soft voice and received a vigorous nod. "Good," he hugged the boy and said. "I hope to see you again, sometime soon." He paused and then had to ask, "Why Lunar P. Black?"
"Lunar is a play-on-word to the name Moony and represents you. P. is for Padfoot and Black is a reasonable last name as far away from Potter as possible," Harry said with a shrug. "I do know what happened to Sirius Black, but he was respected enough by my parents to be named my magical godfather. I've tried to find a transcript of his trial, but…" He shrugged and looked away at that thought.
"I guess those in the Ministry don't think that a child should have them." The boy said as he looked up with his green eyes flashing in irritation at bureaucratic red-tape blocking his honest requests. "I've never just taken what was told to me. I have to see it in print and the Daily Prophet," he spat out the name. "Well that newspaper won't ever count for me as being authoritative enough. I just…I just want to know why he did it and I figured his transcripts would mention his reasons for his betrayal because they would have to give him a trial with veritaserum, wouldn't they? I just need the truth."
"I understand kid," Remus said with a sad, regretful look. "Griphook was it," he looked to the small goblin by the door.
"Yes," Griphook replied.
"Show me to someone that will guide me to my new vault," the werewolf said. "It seems that I'm going to be busy for a while here and I don't want to take you away from your duties to my nephew."
"Very good sir," Griphook said and left the room with the man while the other two goblins from Harry's personal team waited for the boy to join them. They were planning to discuss the final town that they'd be renovating and turning into a mixed magical community.
The second town didn't have as many buildings as the first town which had been named Hagen Junction based on a blind lottery whereby the name was literally pulled from a pointed wizard's hat.
The winners of the townhouse in the central 100th district and of entire building no. 79 had been the happy and relieved mixed, magical family with by the surname of Clearwater. It was a young family of five with a young girl about to begin Hogwarts by the name of Penelope. She had an older brother. His name was Panther and had been named during a time their parents were into the 'free love' movement, but was classed as a squib.
She also had a younger brother named Homer who actually displayed a bout of 'passive magic' recently at the tender age of four. The family had claimed that it was lucky because it had also happened around the time that they'd won the town naming contest. The parents were a down to earth muggle woman by the name of Mariah and their wizard father was named Panos Clearwater.
They earned one of the larger townhouses in the central one hundred district of the first modern village of mixed magical and muggle peoples. They'd been pleasantly surprised that their eldest son and their completely muggle mother had been accepted there without any kind of prejudice when they'd moved into town. The two non-magicals had even been able to find successful employment that they each liked within the village or within easy traveling distance due to the new daily magical trains.
The second town was the one furthest away from many of the muggle villages and it had been the one selected to become a mixed creature community. It had farm land all round that encompassed much of that area and the farms were linked to the small central village were a farming trade centre had been established by grocers wishing to distribute to larger magical communities. The border of the town had to be a bit fluid, but still it took some doing in order to know their limitations especially when it came to successfully concealing the entire area with magic and muggle repellant.
It had contained the largest parcel of land which had to disappear from muggle records. It was the only one that they'd hidden through false documentation of a natural disaster. A sink hole had swallowed the town and fake news articles were stored in many old musty, muggle archives. They'd replaced the true story of a plague that had killed the crops which had forced all the muggles to move away.
"So what are we calling that town," Sibilo asked. "Are you planning another lottery?"
"Maybe not for that one," Harry said. "They'll want to make a news article about it this time around. We can't hush up the creation of it. Maybe we can use one of the names that had already been submitted before and this time we pick the five we each like best and then pull one of those names for the town. I have a feeling that it will be a place for those of creature descent or those humans that want to live a quieter life rather than one in the middle of a city centre. We can offer a cash prize to the person that had submitted the name, maybe around 1000G. We did have a disclaimer that any submitted names will be held in consideration for the future and that if used beyond the last contest, a reward would be handed out. We never said what that prize would be nor the total amount for it and I believe that 1000G is quite a decent sum."
The goblins had nodded and agreed. The three goblins were waiting for Harry's choices, but the boy just shook his head. "I'd prefer the name to be one of the ones you'd like to see," he said. "I was just lucky that Hagen Junction was the ideal name for the first town. This one will definitely be a creature town so the idea of the name should come from magical creatures."
"You'll pick it from the hat this time too," Galamar said. "You do seem to attract appropriate names."
"All right then," Harry waited as fifteen potential town names, five per goblin in the room which were marked by them and were put into a small empty wizard hat. None of the names selected were repeated as they'd double-checked for that. The boy reached in to pull out…
"Wait," Griphook said.
"What," Sibilo asked.
"Will the winner get something," the security goblin asked. "Like the person in the first town?"
"These town names were not suggestions made by you three," Harry replied. "But I suppose…maybe a small wager then or a communal pot of offerings between us for fun. The name of the town pulled will indicate which one of you gets the pot and the person who'd originally submitted the idea will get a 1000G Bank Voucher as prize money so that they cannot complain or take us to court for a stolen idea."
"I like that," Sibilo said.
"Five galleons," Galamar said. "We each contribute five galleons and…"
"A set of the new ball pens being produced," Griphook suggested.
"How about that be my contribution," Harry asked. "I'll go to production and pick up a set with new colours of ink, what do you think?"
The three goblins look at each other and nodded. So the boy stood, picked up the pointed hat with the potential town names and left the meeting room for fifteen minutes. He returned carrying a small box wrapped in brown paper and string.
"Here we are," he said. "I made sure that there are three new ink colours in there. I shan't tell you what they are since they're going to surprise you, along with one glass reservoir of standard dark blue ink." He took out the hat of names, shook it and said, "Shall I?"
The goblins nodded and so Harry reached into the hat, shaking his hand around and then he pulled out a slip of paper. "A-hem," he coughed and grinned that the goblins' seeming lack of amusement at his playfulness. "All right," he unfolded the name slowly and then read out, "Warclaw selected by Griphook."
"Pots mine," Griphook said with a large toothy grin and he grabbed the box. He immediately emptied the small pointed hat of the paper with the town names and loaded it with the fifteen galleons that he'd won including the new ball pen kit from development. He tucked the hat into his belt with a chuckle.
"Fine, fine," Sibilo grumped. "Go stand guard. We have some real work to do here."
"Ha," Griphook his sharp teeth exposed and nod.
Galamar looked at Sibilo who only looked back at him and said, "He had to win sometime."
Galamar nodded and then looked to Harry. "Your home schooling records have been updated and a copy of the results have been placed in your primary educational vault. You're on the right track and you've kept up with your potions studies so you should be able to take your N.E.W.T. in potions just before you get a letter to attend a magical school."
"That's great," Harry said. "I kind of like potions now and I have a few ideas that I'd like to research so hopefully I'll at least be able to become a competent and registered Potioneer right after I pass my N.E.W.T."
"You have the ability to gain your Mastery in Potions, Lord Potter," Sibilo said. "Do not settle for anything less than the best. Depending on how high your N.E.W.T. score will be, it will already qualify you for the working title of Potioneer. It will only enable you to become apprenticed for further potions studies. The intermediary level of Potions Journeyman is not that difficult to achieve and you should also be able to gain a secondary title of Journeyman Alchemist based on the level of your studies, if you choose to test your O.W.L.s in Arithmancy and Runes."
"I understand," Harry said. "But it's also a matter of trusting the Master of Potions that will teach you. Quite frankly, I'm not all that trusting of human adults at this point in time no matter if I can afford an apprenticeship contract with them or not. I also still want to go to a magical school without the hindrance of an added apprenticeship at the same time."
"We have some Masters here at Gringotts that are willing to teach you, but they are not human," Galamar told him.
"Goblin Potion Masters," Harry perked up with an honest smile. "I like the sound of that."
Sibilo grinned and told him. "In fact it is one of them that has overseen your 'home-schooling' in the art of potions."
Harry grinned back and sighed in relief. "Now I'm quite glad the learn that." He received quizzical looks. "It's not like my supposed 'Boy-Who-Lived' title or fame will affect him or her. Humans are crazy when it comes to that kind of stuff. As though teaching me would gain them some kind of prestige or something."
"Her actually," Sibilo confirmed with a nod. "You're quite right. She is entirely neutral and only chooses to teach humans because she wants to. Although I do believe that you are her first human student in a long while now. She had wanted to teach that young Snape boy, but he'd contracted himself to someone with darker leanings whereas she's always preferred to teach someone from a purely neutral perspective."
"Well I'm glad that I'm learning from her then," Harry said. "However she does assign very curious essays and things for me to research. I think that it's because I have to experiment with stuff before I can put pen to paper. Well that and I have to learn more languages because of what she asks of me."
"You may meet her one day," Sibilo said cryptically.
"I'd like that," Harry replied with a nod. "If only to thank her for her help since I definitely know that I'll be able to pass the potions N.E.W.T. with her continued guidance."
"Right then," Galamar said. "The fifth train line is ready and it's finished its maiden voyage to all connected European and the Eastern countries' Magical Reserves. We can begin operations in full and plan seasonal voyage packages as well. Two trains will run in opposite directions with an automated International Portkey Pass or International Floo Pass added to the price of the travel so that passengers do not have to make the same trip twice to return home," he paused and then added. "Unless it is their choice and then the total round-trip fee will be marginally higher."
"The workers," Harry asked.
"Mixed," Sibilo said. "Like the other lines, but this one has a more human presence." The boy nodded. That had been acceptable. "It's a subsidiary of the Regina Line so that the company in charge of the Regina Line is the same one that's in charge of Stag Rail & Freight and the new European Rail Tours."
"Good," Harry said. He signed over some funds to support the start-up of the new railroad line. The funds would be returned to his coffers anyway from a percentage of the ticket prices and service rental space. It was best not to run out of services or maintenance workers before the project could take off and begin to run itself successfully from the price of the train tickets and rental fees for service cars.
The lines offered up various places to stop at for magical exploration. It also offered magical and muggle history tours too. Which seemed to appeal to many magical folks, based on an extensive mail out survey that they'd done. The humans wanted to learn about their mixed connections and the European land mass was a large one that begged to be explored or understood better.
Harry had finished much of the paperwork that had needed his signature. He'd been very cautious and careful every time he signed something. He read everything too and the goblins knew part of the reason for his caution. It had everything to do with his age and a bit to do with where he'd been placed for the first five years of his life.
He paused a few times during his regular business to think that perhaps it hadn't been wise to meet up with one Remus J. Lupin so soon, but he knew he needed someone to bounce ideas off of. 'At most he'll see me as some kind of genius child,' he thought with a shrug. 'Or perhaps just one that is only a genius in the potions field.'
Harry - James - Potter
Remus had left the bank slightly overwhelmed and emotional by what his best friends' James and Lily Potter had left him. Sure there were two properties, but the bequest also contained more than enough money to support their maintenance and a vault with mixed furniture to 'spruce up his new homes' as they'd written.
'I have money now,' he thought with a shake of his head and a slight chuckle at the next thought. 'I might have to ask Harry's advice on obtaining a good financial manager.'
There had been an old school trunk in one of the vaults with the money. It had contained much of their old experiments and prank journals from school. However it also included a couple of Lily's personal potions and charms journals too.
"I think that I'll go over them and make copies for Harry, perhaps as a Christmas gift." He grinned and muttered, "Although I don't think that I should be helping that little sneak."
He'd been surprised at the boy's readiness to have him sign a contract to buy an owl from the small owl outfitting company that he worked for. He frowned at the thought of a boy working at his age, but remembered the child's eager and proud expression when he'd talked about his scholastic schedule.
The werewolf shook his head and realized that he couldn't swoop in and take the child away to live with him. He wasn't prepared for it and his place was quite the one room hovel. It had been the only thing he could afford recently. The kid didn't really know him either other than perhaps from whatever information the boy had found in his family's vaults. It wasn't like the Ministry would approve of such a living arrangement either.
"The gits," he huffed softly and then grinned darkly as he felt the need to help his adopted nephew in name only of course to find out the truth about Sirius Black's reasons for killing Peter Pettigrew and all those poor muggles. "As I'm an adult, they can't deny me access to those transcripts."
He made a few tentative plans in his head as he'd left Diagon Alley to visit his new properties.
Harry - James - Potter
Three weeks later Remus received the owl catalogue with Harry's latest correspondence. They'd exchanged letters a few times though not enough to be a regular thing. It had been enough to slowly get to know one another through writing. He had a laugh as it was clear that the boy was holding up his end of the bargain and he knew that he'd have to hold up his own.
He looked through the small catalogue. It contained a listing of about twenty unbonded magical post owls. It could have been considered too small a listing however nearly every single owl represented was a new magical hybrid. "Fascinating," he said. "I've never seen most of these breeds or even a hint of them being crossbred."
Within the past few weeks when the two had exchanged letters the prevalent thought that had haunted the werewolf had been the ongoing impression that the boy was far too serious or too mature for a child his age. However there was nothing he could do about that as he'd felt that his advice would not be wanted or welcomed at this point in time. He'd noticed the boy's cautious attitude when they'd first met.
'At least he's told me something about his current living situation,' Remus thought. 'Living in barracks with two other young Care of Magical Creature students during his summers plus his studies along with magical homeschooling and learning from several muggle tutors too. I'm quite glad that we'll be spending the Yule Holidays together.' He grinned and thought, 'Maybe I can hint to him that I'd rather have an owl as a present…'
Harry - James - Potter - Harry - James - Potter
TBC...
(…i…) See link - www dot hp-lexicon dot org/ wizards/ marchbanks dot html (remove spaces and change the word dot)
(…ii…) Guarana – see link www dot ehow dot com/info_ 8127454_homemade -energy-drinks dot html (remove spaces and change the word dot) – needed something more to add, hence the use of the world wide web and how to make herbal drinks to increase energy.
(…iii…) There are no names for the manager or owner of Flourish & Blott's, not that I've ever found, so the name is made up from the random name generator as previously mentioned.