Gobbledygook
"Yes!" Neville cheered, he loved Harry's baking. "Now to make sure Ron doesn't eat all of it..." He said, looking at Harry.
Harry looked thoughtful. "I'll think of something... maybe I should make more tonight for everyone, and just give those to Ron..." He said.
Neville shrugged. "Works for me."
The next morning, Mipsy appeared when Harry was gathering the baked goods in the dining room, intending to take them to his room to pack them away in his school bag, gave him a dirty look, and took them from him so she could go do it herself.
She hadn't been too thrilled when he packed all his stuff and didn't even ask her to help. In her mind, she was trying to make up for years of not being there. She had learned about enough of his life at the Dursley's, mostly from when she snuck a look at his medical file in Sharpaxe's office, and also from the strong nutrient potions both Harry and Hedwig were still on. To say she was angry with herself for not being there, magics hiding him or not, to protect him, was an understatement.
Harry blinked, but shrugged it off before he sat down to eat. He would see Hedwig off before they flooed to the station, and he only had to hope that Dobby would stay away. Considering how the little elf had gotten him in so much trouble with his relatives, all for the sake of keeping him away from school, he wouldn't put it past him to try something to keep him from the train... now that he thought about it, maybe he should take Mipsy with him to make sure Dobby stayed away.
He would have to find some time either on the train ride or during the next few days when Hermione wasn't around so he could speak with Ron about what they were going to tell her. He knew that if she caught even a hint that they were hiding something from her, she wouldn't rest until she found out what it was. The problem was, what would be safe? He had sent several letters to Ron since coming to the Longbottom's, he asked Mipsy if she could take them, after apologizing endlessly to Hedwig, since he didn't know if Dumbledore was watching the Weasley's for Hedwig, and the Healer had told him that Hedwig wasn't to take any mail for a while.
Her restriction still had a week to go. She could still fly and hunt and all that, she wouldn't be flying to Hogwarts herself instead of going on the train with him otherwise, but she wasn't to take any mail. Wizarding Owls used their magic to find the people they were sent to, but it took much less magic to find a place, especially one like Hogwarts.
"Good morning, Harry, are you ready to go back to school?" Augusta came in, asking.
Harry nodded. "Yes, ma'am. And Severus has already told me to expect a detention as soon as he can so we can talk. And then we need to plan when we are going to have our private lessons." Harry said, nodding to a half asleep Neville when he came in. "Hedwig is flying there, and Sirius is meeting us at the station." He finished.
She nodded. "Are you boys both packed?" She asked, looking at the time.
"Yes ma'am/Gran."
She nodded in satisfaction again. "Good. We'll leave in an hour. That should give you boys more than enough time to find a compartment, and Harry can spend time with Sirius, depending on when he gets there." She said.
"Oh, and I baked some more last night, hopefully now we'll have enough for Ron." He joked, Neville laughed before he nodded.
Just then, Mipsy and Moppy popped in. "Mipsy has you's lunch, Master Harry, I's be putting it in you's school bag, and you's Nutrient Potions be there. Miss Hedwig will be's getting her potions, I's make sure of it." Mipsy reported.
"Thank you, Mipsy. You can go back to your normal duties at the Manor while I'm at school." Harry said, smiling at the little elf. She nodded and popped out after telling him to be safe at school, and to stay away from the 'twinkling eyed goat-man.' Harry and Neville were too busy laughing at her name for Dumbledore to notice her pop out. Even Augusta was laughing.
"You's lunch is in your school-bag, Master Neville. I's and Mipsy be packing extra food for this Ron you's be talking about." Moppy said.
Both boys blinked at the elf. "Thank you Moppy." Neville said. Moppy, too, told Neville to be safe at school before he popped out.
"Is Ron going to need to share?" Neville asked Harry, concerned.
"Well, Mrs. Weasley usually provides her boys with sandwiches, but she also gave Ron corned beef last year, and he hates corned beef..." Harry said slowly. "He said corned beef was Charlie's favorite."
"Sounds like she has a hard time keeping up with all of her children." Augusta observed.
Harry shrugged. "She does her best. And her kids help out where they can."
"We'll see what he has and ask if he wants to share." Neville decided.
Augusta gave Neville a proud smile before she looked at the time again. "Go make sure you haven't forgotten anything. We leave in a half-hour." She told the boys as she got up. They nodded and scampered off. she smiled again. "That boy is a very good influence on my Neville." She said softly. "Wouldn't you agree, Moppy?" She asked.
"Yes, ma'am. I's not be seeing Master Neville this happy in years." Moppy said as he collected the dirty dishes.
Augusta smiled at that before she suddenly said, "I want you to come with us. I told you about the House-elf that appeared and tried to keep Harry from going to school this year, correct?" She asked. Moppy nodded. "Make sure that elf doesn't come back and sabotage the platform or train." She instructed.
"Yes ma'am. Moppy keep an eye out." The elf said, snapping his fingers to send the stacked dishes to the kitchen. "I's be making sure the Floo is safe for you's trip." He said before he popped out. She followed him more slowly, arriving just as the boys did. Neville was pulling his trunk behind him while Harry was slipping the pouch the goblins gave him into his school bag.
Moppy stepped forward. "The Floo is safe, Ma'am. I's be taking Master Neville's trunk, does Sir Harry have his?" The elf was confused by the lack of a trunk with Harry.
Harry smiled. "I got it, Moppy. It's shrunk down. But thank you." He said. He had done some more practicing last night with controlling his magic before he felt comfortable shrinking down his trunk. At least with his custom made one the shrinking charms were built in, and he didn't have to worry about ruining it. Yet another reason, he supposed, for keeping his school trunk around.
The elf nodded and took Neville's trunk, disappearing with a pop.
"Neville, if you would, I'll be right behind you with Harry. Don't go anywhere, just stay by the Floo." She warned. Neville nodded his understanding before he grabbed the Floo powder and disappeared with a cry of 'Platform Nine and Three-Quarters'.
"Alright, lets go." Augusta said as she grabbed Harry with a firm grip, and stepped into the Floo. It was good that she had him in a firm grip, otherwise he would have face-planted, again, as soon as they arrived. He glared at Neville when the other boy snickered at him.
Augusta looked around, "There's Sirius, he can help find a compartment." She said, herding the boys towards where she saw Sirius (and Healer Garnock). When Sirius saw them, his face lit up. Harry was glad to see that he already looked better, and he even had a gold bracelet, when Harry looked closely, he could see runes covering it. Looking at Healer Garnock, he saw that she had a similar one. He figured it must have been a Healer thing.
"Hey, Pup. How are you?" Sirius asked, pulling Harry into a side hug. Harry noticed that all the wizarding families were shooting either curious or very suspicious looks at Sirius while the Muggleborns could care less. But then again, they didn't know who he was or what the wizarding world thought he did for the past several years.
Harry smiled. "I'm ok. A little nervous about going back to school, I mean, Dumbledore is going to be drugging my food later tonight, so..." He shrugged.
Sirius frowned. Then he grabbed Harry's hand and held up the Black Heir ring. "This will protect you from those potions. Of course... I would prefer it if you didn't take them at all, but..." He growled in frustration at being unable to protect his pup.
"We can't reveal our hand too early." Harry finished his sentence for him with a quirk of his lips and a sigh.
Sirius sighed too, "Yeah, kiddo." He hated that his pup was caught up in the middle of whatever schemes Dumbledore was up to. At least he would have Severus at the school. He turned to Augusta. "Thank you, for taking care of Harry the past couple of weeks." He said as he held onto Harry.
She smiled. "It wasn't a problem. Harry and Neville were supposed to grow up together anyway. I just wish we could have found him sooner." She said with an angry glint to her eye. Then she shook her head. "We should find these boys a compartment." She said, looking at the train.
Sirius nodded, and looked around. "Where are your trunks?" He asked. Harry patted his bag, and Moppy popped in with Neville's.
"Sorry Moppy beings taking so long." The elf apologized. "Moppy thought he saw the bad elf blocking the barrier. Moppy be's going to check the train for damage before it leaves." The little elf explained. Augusta frowned but nodded, while shooting a look at Sirius, silently promising to explain later.
"It's alright, Moppy. Make sure you stay with the boys, though, in case he does come back." She instructed. The little elf nodded seriously at her before levitating the trunk.
"Has Master Neville found a seat, yet?" He asked Neville, silently asking where he was supposed to put the trunk. Neville shook his head no, not yet.
"Lord Black?" Neville asked shyly as they moved towards the train, Moppy bringing the trunk along behind.
"Yes? And call me Sirius." Sirius said.
"You were really a Hit-Wizard?" Neville asked, slightly awed. They were supposed to be the best, after all.
Sirius chuckled. "Yup. Your dad got the offer too, along with James, but Frank turned it down."
"Why?" Neville and Harry asked.
Sirius grinned. "Because he just had you. And he wanted to be around for Alice more. James tried the same, but Lily wouldn't hear of it. She wouldn't let him give up his dream. The two of you were quiet, but they didn't want to leave their wives at home to do all the work themselves. I was given the offer not long after Marlene was killed, so I didn't exactly have anything to keep me home, I probably would have stayed at the office permanently if it weren't for your mothers, dragging me home with one of them all the time. They seemed to think that I would make a good babysitter." He huffed a laugh, and was surprised when Harry squeezed him a little tighter from where he was still being held in a sideways hug.
"Harry!" They all turned around when they heard Hermione call.
Harry grinned, it was good to see his bushy haired friend again. "Hey, Hermione!" He called, waving her over.
Hermione pulled Harry into a hug, expertly ignoring how tense he became and pulled away, already scolding him on not writing her that summer.
Harry looked to Neville for help, while Augusta and Sirius stared at the girl like she grew two heads. When Neville gave him a startled look that told him he was on his own, Harry sighed and began the tried and true method of derailing Hermione Granger when she got going.
"'Mione, I couldn't write, a lot was going on, and I'll explain later, ok? Right now, I want to introduce you to my godfather." Harry said in a placating tone with just the right amounts of remorse and excitement. He made sure to widen his eyes just a little bit, plastering a hopeful, innocent expression on his face.
Sirius looked at him and blinked. His jaw dropped a little bit. Harry looked just like James when he was trying to convince Dorea that he didn't do it. Of course... she never believed him. But, details.
Hermione, though, melted. "Fine. What's this about a godfather?" She asked, peering up at Sirius, who had put his hand on Harry's shoulder. "Oh! Hi Neville, how was your summer?" She asked, as if just noticing Neville was there (she did.)
Neville blinked. "My summer was good. This is my Gran, Gran, this is Hermione Granger. She's in our year, in Gryffindor, and Muggleborn." Neville said, quickly introducing the two of them before Hermione started off again.
"Ah, yes, Neville and Harry have told me about you. They have also suggested that perhaps it would be best if you had somebody to act as your Magical Guardian." Augusta said carefully.
Hermione cocked her head. "Magical Guardian?" She asked.
Augusta nodded. The topic had come up the week before during one of Harry's Pureblood lessons, and he had read something in one of his books about Magical Guardians. Harry thought it would probably be a good idea if Hermione had one, since part of the Magical Guardians job was to make sure the Muggleborn knew Pureblood customs. Which included stuff that Muggleborns usually took offense to in the wizarding world, and then didn't bother going any further into learning about why that tradition was in place. Another was making sure the child in question had everything they needed for school, and they also acted as a go-between with the school and the parents. If something happened to the child at school, the Guardian was called and they were in charge of making decisions in the parents place, but they were also to keep the parents informed.
"Yes. I will let the boys explain it to you, later and I'll speak with your parents about it as well. Right now, perhaps if we could find you three a compartment. But first, this is Sirius Black, Harry's godfather." Augusta said, gesturing towards Sirius.
Hermione nodded, but everybody could tell she didn't want to wait until Neville and Harry told her. She also really wanted to know why Harry was with Neville. She would have thought he'd be with Ron. She'd figure it out later. "If he's your godfather, then where's he been?" She asked, glaring accusingly at Sirius. Where was he all those years, when Harry was with the Dursleys? Why didn't he take Harry?
Sirius raised his hands in surrender and chuckled. That just made Hermione's glare deepen. "I like her." He said to Harry. He ignored Harry's spluttering and addressed Hermione. "Until two days ago, I was in Azkaban Prison." He held his hand up again at her alarmed and horrified look. "Long story short, I wasn't supposed to be in there. I was innocent, and my long-overdue trial was just a couple of days ago."
Hermione blinked and looked at Harry, but he just promised to tell her later. She was getting very frustrated with them telling her that Harry or Neville would just explain later. She didn't want to know later, she wanted to know NOW! She didn't like not knowing things.
For his part, Harry still wasn't sure what he was going to tell her, what was safe. Obviously, whatever he did tell her, he couldn't make it sound like she was accusing Dumbledore...
Once they finally found a compartment, they loaded Neville's things and stood outside to wait while Hermione ran to find her parents (who still had her things since she kind of ran off once she spotted Harry). The few minutes she was gone was spent chatting with Sirius, and Sirius made sure that Harry knew that if ANYTHING happened, then Harry was to go straight to Severus, and then send Hedwig straight to him. And he would owl Minerva as soon as he got back to Gringotts to let her know that if he found out something happened to Harry and he was not informed, then he was fully prepared and willing to pull Harry out of Hogwarts and homeschool him.
Harry pulled a face at that, but at the same time, it felt really nice to know that somebody cared, so he didn't argue. Sirius also informed him that he would be telling Minerva that Harry was not to be left alone with Dumbledore under any circumstances. Heir rings protection or not.
THAT was something Harry could agree with 100%. HE didn't want to be alone with that man at all either.
When Hermione came back, she introduced her parents, and Augusta explained her offer to be Hermione's Magical Guardian, it didn't take long before they agreed to get some coffee with her after the train left so she could explain just what that meant in more detail. By this point, both Harry and Hermione were looking around for the Weasley's, it was getting kind of late for them not to be here yet.
It was then that Hermione noticed Healer Garnock hanging out in the background, keeping an eye on her patient. "Who's she?" Hermione asked Harry.
Sirius looked around and immediately apologized to Garnock since he completely forgot she was even there in his excitement to see possibly get to know Harry a bit more. "This is Goblin Healer Garnock. She's the Healer assigned to me until she decides I'm fit enough to be released." Sirius introduced her.
She fixed him with a stern look. "And don't you forget that. You're lucky I agreed to let you come out here, today." She scolded lightly.
"Yes, ma'am." Sirius said, shrinking back slightly.
Harry snickered, then turned to her, "Thanks for looking after him." He said quietly. She looked at him for a moment before nodding, "Just doing my job." She said just as quietly. Sirius pretended he didn't hear their exchange.
"What do you need a Healer for? You look healthy." Hermione mother, Emma, asked Sirius.
He laughed nervously and ran a hand through his hair, "Well, let's just say the wizarding prison system is a little... inhumane." He really did not want to bring up the Dementor's with a couple of Muggles.
"Prison?" Dan Granger asked suspiciously.
Sirius grimaced, but nodded. "It's a long story. I was innocent, though. I never committed the crimes I was accused of, so..." He shrugged. Behind him, Garnock started complaining in Gobbledygook, AGAIN, about stupid humans not even following their own laws concerning Heirs to Most Ancient and Noble Houses.
Augusta glanced at the clock, "Alright you three, it's five till, why don't you go sit down." All three children nodded, although Harry and Hermione were really wondering where the Weasley's were.
Dumbledore sat in his office and felt relieved when eleven o'clock hit, the Potter boy should be on the train, and heading towards him, where he would be able to determine how much damage had already been done to his weapon and what he would now have to fix.
Thank goodness Severus had already brewed those potions, although he really had to wonder why Gilderoy was so jumpy this morning at breakfast around Severus. Sure, Severus didn't like the man, but he wouldn't revert to old habits, would he?
Augusta sat down at a booth in the only coffee shop in Diagon Alley, while Dan and Emma Granger sat across from her. They were really curious about this whole 'Magical Guardian' thing.
They ordered coffee, Augusta ordered tea, and Augusta took the time while they waited for their order to gather her thoughts. She started once their drinks had arrived, and she offered to pay since the Granger's didn't have any wizarding coin on them.
"Now then, what you must first realize, is that a Magical Guardian in no way takes the place of the parents. My role in this would be to act on your behalf in the case of an emergency, and in keeping you informed of what is happening in the magical world. I would be in charge of making sure your daughter knows our laws and traditions, and making any medical decisions that are needed, since it would be difficult for them to contact you in any kind of timely manner, since you are Muggles. Naturally, I would be keeping you informed of everything happening and find a way to get you to your daughter if at all possible." Augusta started.
Some of the tension disappeared from the Granger's faces. They hadn't actually thought this woman was going to take their Hermione away, but the fear was always there that their baby girl was going to get so caught up in this magical world, that they were going to lose her. But if this woman was willing to help them out, maybe they could learn more about this world, and then they could understand their daughter when she came home for break a little bit better.
Dan spoke up first. "Would you also be willing to teach us some of your laws and traditions? It would be nice to be able to understand some more of this world our girl belongs in now."
Augusta smiled at him. "Of course. Being a Magical Guardian also means I would take on some of the financial burden of Hermione's education, and providing a go-between if you wanted to open a vault for her at Gringotts. The goblins can get... nasty, if they have been offended, and they don't take ignorance as an excuse. In their eyes, ignorance is laziness, and its your own fault for not bothering to learn more about them so the offense did not occur."
Dan and Emma frowned. "We have no problems financially sending her to Hogwarts, we run our own Dentistry practice."
"I didn't mean you could not afford her education. But, that is one of the duties of a Magical Guardian, whether the parents of the Muggleborn in question actually need the financial help or not. No, what is typical, is for the Guardian to pay tuition fees and maybe provide pocket money for the year, while the parents would usually provide for everything else. If the parents can't provide for everything else, then that is where the Guardian would take on the complete financial burden, but that doesn't usually happen. And, of course, if you were to open a vault for her, then I would be in charge of it, but that comes with the idea that I would give her more and more control over it to teach her financial responsibility, and as she shows that she is, in fact, going to be responsible with it. I have no doubt that she is a very responsible girl, just from listening to everything Harry and Neville have told me about her when they were telling me about their first year." Augusta explained.
Emma nodded slowly. It made sense, and if they opened a vault, then they could put money in it at anytime, and then it would just grow, which meant Hermione would have something when she needed it. "We would have opened a vault already, but we are not sure how to do that." She confessed quietly.
Augusta nodded. "I can help you with that. If you agree to let me be her Guardian, we would need to head over to Gringotts anyway, to fill out the paperwork. They keep track of Guardianship issues, especially where money might be concerned. We might even be able to talk them into giving you an inheritance test, see if you might not have squibs in your line somewhere. There are many old family lines that died out decades out, that still have vaults full of money, because there is nobody around to claim them. The goblins keep these vaults maintained for a maximum of two hundred years, just in case an heir to those families does pop up."
Of course, not all Muggleborns were descended from Squibs. At least, not that they knew of. Some of them might be descended from Squibs who originated from another country, the British ministry wouldn't have records of them. The goblins would, of course, but they also respected their clients privacy. But some were actually the very first in their family lines to have magic. Lily Evans, for example, was one that was the first in her family. They had done an inheritance test on her, just to see if she might have one of the unclaimed vaults in Gringotts. She didn't, sadly. But, the fact that she didn't only hammered her accomplishments home even further, and cemented the fact that Pureblood's were not always superior.
Emma looked at her husband. "I don't see why not. If it would mean Hermione gets a little more help, and we are able to understand better..." She trailed off. Dan nodded. He liked the idea of their daughter having an older witch (and wasn't that still strange to think about, even a year later) looking out for her. And, a witch who was clearly quite well off and high in society at that.
"Alright, let's go to Gringotts and fill out whatever paperwork we need to. We can open up that vault while we are there, too. It might be best if you did most of the talking though, Lady Longbottom. I don't want to accidentally offend the goblins." Dan said with a shake of his head and a rueful grin.
Augusta smiled at him as she finished her tea and stood up.
Asking for Silvertooth, the Longbottom family account manager when they arrived with a small grin on her face.
Severus sat in his favorite chair in his living quarters at Hogwarts, sipping tea while he opened the Evening Prophet that just arrived. He was looking forward to enjoying his last few Dunderhead free hours. He calmly sipped his tea as he started to read, only to spit it out again once he read the headlines.
Flying Ford Anglia Mystifies Muggles!
Scanning the article, he about had a heart attack when he heard that seven Muggles had seen it and called the police to report the strange phenomenon, luckily the Muggleborn family members in the Muggle police departments were able to redirect both the callers and their colleagues long enough for them to contact their Magical counterparts about the emergency and get some Obliviator's out.
He froze the picture and and cast a magnification charm. He knew it was very illogical, Harry was with the Longbottom's, Augusta would have made sure he got on the train. And, if for some strange reason he was unable to get on the train, she would have Side-along Apparated him straight to the school gates and walked him up to Minerva's office herself just to make sure he got there.
But... with everything Harry and his two friends got up to in school last year... he couldn't help the nagging feeling that Harry would be involved in this somehow. Whether he himself was in the car, or if he was the indirect cause of that person thinking they had to do this. How he hoped it wasn't Harry...
Dear Merlin. Only two weeks of being back in the boys life and he was already going back to what Lily called his 'Mama Bear Mode'. He couldn't help it if he was protective of what he considered his, and Harry was HIS godson!
He breathed a sigh of relief when his magnification charm only revealed one person in the car, and that person looked like one Ronald Weasley. He cursed and Flooed Minerva's office, where he knew she could usually be found doing some last minute paperwork and double checking the list of students and going over their schedules to make sure they could actually be in the classes they signed up for. "Minerva McGonagall! One of your Dunderheads has done it this time, a moment please!" He called into the flames after tossing a handful of powder in. She would know it was him, he was the only one to call students Dunderheads.
When she came in, she looked very annoyed and concerned all at the same time, although her concern was largely covered up with her annoyance. For one thing, what could one of her Lions have possibly done this time? They weren't even here yet! For another, "Severus Snape, what is the meaning of this? You know how much paper work I still have to do before the students get here in a few hours." She said sternly. In response, he shoved the paper at her with a curt 'read' before he went to get some fire-whiskey.
He generally had a rule against drinking that went into affect earlier this morning and ended the moment the last of the end of year exams were graded and handed off to Minerva to be put in the students records in June. He figured he could an exception just this once... that red-headed menace almost exposed their world to the Muggles! There was a reason why Wizarding kind went into hiding in the first place!
When he turned around, holding two glasses of fire-whiskey, he found Minerva sheet white, her lips were pressed together thinner than he'd ever seen them. For a moment, he thought he gave her a heart attack and she'd turned into the latest Gryffindor ghost, but then she started trying to shake through her fear and anger. Fear at what could have happened if the police that knew about them hadn't acted fast enough, and anger that one of her Lions had done something so irresponsible.
Finally, she lowered the paper and grabbed one of the glasses from Severus and downed it in one gulp while Severus sipped at his. "If you'll excuse me, this is the first time I've ever had to summon a parent to the school... before the students have even arrived in Hogsmeade." She said somewhat 'calmly'. "I trust that I can count on you to patrol the grounds for Mr. Weasley's eventual landing?" She asked as she headed towards the Floo to go back to her office. He nodded with anticipation.
Harry's best friend or not, the youngest Weasley boy was extremely lucky he wasn't a Snake, or he would already be expelled the moment he landed.
As it was, Severus was going to enjoy yelling at and scaring the Dunderhead into hopefully using his brain next time he got an idiotic idea into the famously thick Weasley skull. So much for enjoying the last Dunderhead free hours.
He was so disappointed, he almost pouted.
Almost.
He was Severus Snape, Lord of the House of Prince and Head of Slytherin House, former Death Eater and right-hand to the Dark Lord Voldemort. He was also the godfather to the boy that said Dark Lord wanted dead more than anyone else, but that wasn't the point. He did not pout. He struck terror in the hearts of Dunderheaded students.
Well, except for the students that he came to kind of like, or had abusive relatives. Like Neville Longbottom. He should probably stop picking on that boy so much... Although that was going to be difficult considering Dumbledore expected him to treat Neville the same as he was supposed to treat Harry. Since Neville was supposed to be the other potential child of prophecy.
He really hated that prophecy.
He gleefully swept out of his quarters, already intent on his mission. He didn't know when the Dunderhead would arrive, so it would probably be best to keep an eye on the school grounds from the Astronomy Tower. The prospect of yelling at a Dunderhead was enough to lift his spirits and almost sent him skipping.
Almost.
Even if the castle was empty, he still had a reputation to maintain.
Arthur and Molly had finally come home, several hours later, exhausted and worried. They had cast every single detection and locating charm they could to find their missing car. It would be very, very bad if it was stolen. Especially since Arthur had enchanted it so heavily. This could lose him his job. It was his job to catch people who enchanted Muggle artifacts like this, not to go around enchanting them himself.
He was safe from being arrested because of that handy little loophole he wrote into the laws when he wrote it, but still...
They glanced at the clock on the mantle out of habit, glad to see that all five hands belonging to their younger children were all on traveling, although Ron's was halfway between Traveling and Lost... could something be wrong with it? It had never done that before, unless one of their children was traveling, just not how they were supposed to be...?
It was concerning, but for now all they could do was wait and see if the hand went completely to Lost, or to something worse like Mortal Peril. Then they would have real cause for concern.
They had practically just sat down at their kitchen table to discuss how they could find the car without getting in big trouble with the DMLE, if they couldn't find it within the next few days, they would have no choice but to report it in, they couldn't just say nothing, when they Floo chimed.
"Professor McGonagall, this is a surprise, did something happen on the train? Are the boys and Ginny alright?" Molly asked when she saw Minerva's head in the fire.
"No, nothing happened on the train, can I come through? This is about Ronald." Minerva said, she sounded a little strained. Molly said yes and stepped back. When she was through, Minerva took a deep breath and held out Severus' copy of the Evening Prophet. The magnification charm was still in place. "I will admit, this is the first time I've ever had to visit parents because of a student like this when the students haven't even arrived in Hogsmeade yet." She said grimly as she watched the Weasley parents grow pale. Molly's eyes darted towards her precious clock on the mantel, and understanding appeared.
When Minerva looked at the clock too, she noticed Ron's clock hand half-way between Lost and Traveling.
Molly's understanding was followed by that famous Weasley temper, though how she had it when she was born a Prewitt was a mystery.
"WHEN I GET MY HANDS ON THAT BOY!" Molly yelled. She was furious. "WHAT WAS HE THINKING? HE COULD CRASH, WHO KNOWS WHAT COULD HAPPEN ON THE WAY TO SCOTLAND, HE ALMOST EXPOSED OUR WORLD!" She froze and looked at Arthur. "Arthur, you need to go speak with Amelia, they will find out it was you who enchanted the car, maybe if we are honest about it from the beginning, oh, but this could cost you your job, I know we have some of the old Weasley fortune back, this could also damage our chances of us trying to fix your fathers reputation." She whispered to him in shock and fear. Fear of what this could do to their family.
Arthur frowned in thought and nodded, "Don't worry about my job, the most they can do is give us a fine. You head to Hogwarts with Minerva, deal with Ron when he arrives. I'll head to the Ministry, deal with things there, I will meet you at the school when I can." He sounded calm, but both women could see the anger and disappointment in his eyes, and they both knew he needed time before he faced Ron, or he may do or say something he would regret afterwards.
"Come on, we should go see if he's landed yet, and we need to discuss his punishment. This is going to go far beyond a simple detention, this is far too serious." Minerva said grimly. She really did not want to come over here in the first place, but she had to notify the parents of what their son just did. Especially when it was such a serious crime.
Molly gasped. "What if they arrest him and bind his magic? They can't send a minor to Azkaban, but they can take his magic." She whispered fearfully.
"I'll talk to Amelia. I should be able to talk her into leaving Ron to us and the Hogwarts teachers. Especially if I tell her that Severus Snape is the one keeping watch for his arrival to Hogwarts." Arthur said as he moved towards the Floo. He smiled reassuringly at his wife, "Don't worry, everything will be fine." He said, trying to convince her as much as he was trying to convince himself.