He had been worried that Harry might be too scared of dogs after the treatment he went through at the paws of Miss Dursley's. That would have kind of ruined the surprise.
By now they had finally reached the gates, and Sharpaxe held out a necklace that would allow him to side-along Harry directly through the wards straight to his office, rather than the receiving room. After Harry put it on, he waited for Harry to secure Hedwig before he grabbed hold of Harry's arm and apparated out. They never noticed the blue eyes glaring at them from the top of the Astronomy Tower, especially when his eavesdropping charms failed.
Again, Harry was grateful for the Goblins arm holding him up, or he would have face-planted on the floor again. He was really starting to hate magical transportation, he just hoped he never had a reason to ride the Knight Bus, from what he'd heard, that thing was a nightmare to people who could actually handle magical transportation. When he looked up, he saw that he was back in Sharpaxe's office, along with a strange goblin (that was assumed to be a Healer), Barchoke, Sirius, and a man he never saw before, but looked somewhat familiar. Harry assumed this was the lawyer.
Sirius and the lawyer had been talking to each other before Harry and Sharpaxe popped in, but their conversation stopped once Sirius saw his godson/son and came over to give the boy a hug. "Hey, pup, how was school?" He asked after Harry handed Hedwig off to the Healer and as he led Harry over to a seat while Sharpaxe went over to sit at his desk.
"It was good, it's so much easier now to concentrate in class. And to learn the spells in class, although I'm still struggling sometimes to keep from overpowering spells... I had to try so hard last year, and now I barely have to try at all. Neville is having the same problem though, although last year he had to deal with a blocked core, AND a wand that was fighting him at the same time..." He said with a shrug. Sirius' face darkened for a moment when Harry mentioned the core blockage, but then it cleared up again when Harry looked at him.
"How have you been?" Harry asked, he wanted to hear how his godfather's healing was going.
"I've been good, the Healers are going to let me out into Diagon Alley today, after you head back to school, of course it will be with an escort, but, hey. It will feel good to be in the sun again." He said, he left out the fact that they were still having to dose him with Calming Droughts when he got too emotional over the simplest of things, and the part where the Mind Healer sessions started the day before. He didn't need to hear the details about how his guardian was so messed up. "They said that if things went well, I could take you home with me for the Winter holidays. Of course, there's no guarantee of that, and I'll probably still be on a potion regimen and exercise plan, but... it's something for us to look forward to." He warned Harry. He was much better off than he could have been, thanks to Padfoot. Harry simply smiled and sat down next to him.
The Goblins smiled slightly at Harry, they really liked him, before Sharpaxe introduced the lawyer. "Harry, this is Theodore Tonks. He is Muggleborn, but still one of the most respected lawyers in Magical Britain. He also works part time in a Muggle news station, so you may know of him from there." Sharpaxe said, gesturing towards Harry. Now Harry understood where he looked familiar from.
"He's also my cousin, Andromeda's, husband. Which makes him family." Sirius added in.
"Pleased to meet you, sir." Harry said shyly, shaking Ted's hand.
"None of that 'sir' stuff, like Sirius said, we are family. Call me Ted." Was the response.
Harry grinned at him. "So, you're handling the case with the Dursley's?" He asked, after taking a deep breath.
"Yes, and I am truly sorry that you are having to be involved. I tried everything, but the Dursley's lawyer, who isn't even that good, believe it or not, seems to have finally grown a brain. Either that or he has somebody telling him what to do." Ted said, he truly was frustrated that he couldn't keep Harry out of this. Normally, with child abuse cases, the child was kept as far away from their abusers as possible, on principle, but this other lawyer would not hear of it. Even the judges agreed that Harry shouldn't be coming anywhere near that courtroom, but if they wanted to get the case settled anytime in the next century, they had to allow it. It was either this or the Dursley's went free, because they could only hold them without trial for so long until they either had to have their trial, or be set loose with a warning. And that deadline was coming up, thanks to that idiot constantly finding excuses to postpone unless Harry was there.
It made him sick.
Harry frowned and looked down, finally he looked up. "Don't worry to much about it, you did what you could. Let's just get tomorrow over with." He said, clearly not happy with the circumstances, but trying to hide it rather well.
The adults smiled sadly at him. "Alright, well, the way this is going to work, since your aunt and uncle are Muggles, is that they are going to be on trial with the Mixed Court. This court is made up of both Magicals and Muggles. The Jury will be split half and half, and there will be two judges. One magical, one Muggle. The guards will probably also be a mix, it depends on who is on duty. There will also be a representative from both the Muggle's Child Protection Agency and the Wizarding Children's Agency. Now, all the Muggles in there will have a family member who is magical, be it a child, their spouse, cousins, whatever. So, they will know what your talking about if you reference anything magic related. As you can probably guess, they handle many cases that involve both the Muggle and Magical worlds. Now, you will be called to witness, unfortunately." Ted said.
"What are they going to want me to talk about?" Harry asked, somewhat nervously.
"If that lawyer of theirs has a brain, he will stick to questions like, 'what was a typical day like for you in the Dursley household?', 'what was a typical punishment like?', stuff like that. If he does deviate, and ask questions unrelated to what the trial is about, then don't answer, let me and the judges handle him." Ted said.
"We'll be there, as well." Sharpaxe said, gesturing between himself and Barchoke. "Since we are the ones who initially pressed charges, and we have already given them a life sentence in the mines, we will be there to represent both you as our main client, and the Nation. Really, though, the only reason there even needs to be a trial is because Vernon Dursley decided to attack the police officers. The Muggle government doesn't like it when their law enforcement are attacked like that. Of course, it still happens almost daily... Also, the fact that you, as a Potter, have some influence in the government."
"There was actually a public announcement that the missing Potter Heir has been found at last. They included a short story about what happened to make him go missing in the first place, well, a Muggle version of what happened, I believe they said it was a terrorist attack." Ted added in as an after-thought. "They said that the Headmaster of the exclusive boarding school Lord and Lady Potter both went to had taken young Heir Potter from the house after the attack and illegally placed him with his last remaining relatives, ignoring Lord and Lady Potter's will."
"Really?" Sharpaxe asked. He hadn't heard anything about that.
Ted nodded. "I did the special report myself." He smirked. "I also asked Britain whether or not the Headmaster was a part of this terrorist group. Because, really. What Headmaster has any kind of authority to be disregarding Child Services like that? Especially for such a high profile person."
"The kind that likes to meddle and play with people's lives." Sirius muttered.
"Exactly." Ted said, nodding to Sirius. Then he shook his head. "But, back on topic. The trial tomorrow. Now, I have called in Madam Longbottom, Mr. Prewett," When Harry looked slightly confused, he reminded the boy that was the oculist, "and, of course, one of the Goblin Healers who saw you when you came in will be there. Mrs. Figg will also be there. Evidently, she was placed there by Albus Dumbledore, and often reported your treatment, only for him to do nothing. So..." He looked through his notes to make sure he wasn't missing something, while Harry froze.
"Mrs. Figg is a witch?" He asked in disbelief.
Ted looked up at him. "No, a Squib. She was able to give testimony that she's been in contact with Dumbledore, that will come up if Dumbledore goes to trial... But, she will be able to give testimony to how the Dursley's treated you all those years. Now, when Mrs. Figg goes up, the other guy will try and get her in trouble, citing that she knew and did nothing, saying that she was probably in on it. We all know that's not true. So, don't panic when that comes up, we actually have records of her calling Child Services several times, only for nothing to ever happen. Besides the fact that she informed Dumbledore and nothing happened there, either."
"Dumbledore knew all of it?" Harry mumbled, looking down.
Sirius glanced at him, concerned. "Yeah, pup, it sounds like it. But don't worry, we'll get him." He said, clapping Harry on the shoulder. Harry smiled at him, then looked around when there was a knock on the door.
When it opened, there was a Goblin in Healer robes on the other side of it. Harry was happy to see Hedwig with him. "Hedwig!" He said, and patted his knee for her to come over and perch. He smiled when she landed and hooted before sending an image to him of an empty potion vial, and a plate of bacon. He cocked his head to the side and tried to translate the images, "Did they take you off the potions? And, yes, you can get some bacon when we get back to Hogwarts. Not too much though, I told you I don't want to make you sick." He shook his head when she bobbed her head and hooted in agreement.
The Goblin Healer blinked and shook his head. He knew that these two were bonded Wizard and Familiar, but... this was an insanely close bond. "Yes, she is healthy enough to be taken off the potions after tomorrow, she will still take it tomorrow." He said, looking at the sulking owl sternly (how was that even possible?), "I am also going to take her off of flying restriction. She can go back to work delivering mail. And, yes, I know about her delivering a paper and a letter from Sirius the other day." He finished his report. Hedwig now looked sheepishly defiant while Harry looked at her and shook his head fondly.
"Thank you for taking care of her." Harry said, sitting up straighter and bowing from where he was. He couldn't really stand up with an owl in his lap. Especially one whose name was Hedwig when she had just gotten comfortable.
The Goblin's looked pleased with something, the Healer bowed back and dismissed himself politely.
Harry looked concerned for a moment about something while he absently stroked Hedwig's back, "And, none of the Wizarding world is going to find out? It's bad enough it was stated in front of the whole Wizengamot and those reporters that they are on trial." He said. He did not want the whole world knowing about this, he got enough publicity as it was, he just wanted something to stay private for once.
"No, nobody is going to find out. All humans going to be in that room will have to take extensive Oaths of Secrecy before they're even allowed in the door, and the room itself will be heavily warded in privacy and anti-animagus wards. So don't worry, there won't be anymore ammunition for the press to write about from this." Sharpaxe said.
Ted looked up from his notes and smiled before he got down to business again. "Alright, Harry, here's how tomorrow will go, and how we need you to present yourself..." He said, and with that they spent the next few hours discussing the trial the next day.
Harry listened with rapt attention.
Ginny entered the second year boys dorm carefully, glancing around to make sure the hallway was clear and she was alone in the room. She was supposed to be in Herbology right now, but Professor Sprout had to deal with some sixth years breaking into one of the Greenhouses and causing problems with some of the more dangerous plants.
In other words, they angered the Venomous Tentacula, and she was still trying to calm it down while at the same time trying to make sure the thing didn't destroy the other plants in the Greenhouse. Especially the Mandrakes, those things were expensive to procure and she didn't have the necessary equipment here at Hogwarts to breed her own stock of them. She could only fit one batch every two years into her budget. (which of course meant she had to have two years study it, she made it so it was her second and third years. This way, when the current first years would be in their third year when she got a new batch, and the year after them in their second. It wasn't perfect, but it was the best she could do with her limited budget. She'd been trying to get the equipment, but it was way out of her budget range no matter how much she tried to arrange it. Maybe if she didn't have other plants and equipment to procure every year as well... it was bad enough she had to make do with Muggle earmuffs with silencing charms as ear protection.)
So... Herbology was cancelled until the sixth years were free and that Greenhouse was calmed back down.
In the meantime, this was the first chance she had to do this.
All the boys were in class, and Harry was off at the bank taking care of some family business, he would be back in the afternoon, or at least that was the plan.
And she really wanted something of his, it would have to be something small, she didn't care what it was, she would settle for a dirty sock! But she had to have something of her Harry. She thought back to Tom, when she had told her diary what she wanted, he had taken a while to answer, before finally calling her creepy.
How dare he!
She wasn't being creepy, besides, someday she would be Mrs. Harry Potter, the wife of a hero... she sighed dreamily just thinking about it.
She shook her head to focus, she didn't want to be caught here, what if Harry thought the same way as Tom! Besides, she also wasn't supposed to be in here. Looking around, she wrinkled her nose at the mess left behind. Boys, they were such slobs. It didn't take her long to figure out which bed was her Harry's, and she was very pleased to note that his bed was the cleanest in the whole room. That only made him even more perfect in her eyes. Of course, she would have still loved him even if he was a slob, but this would make things easier.
She didn't see anything on his bed or nightstand she could take, at least nothing that wouldn't be missed, so she went to his trunk, and was surprised that it was so basic, even before getting their fortune back the Weasley's still managed to send their kids to school with a two-compartment trunk. Second-hand and maybe not in the best condition, sure, but it was more than this, with their money back they had all been able to get brand-new three compartment customized trunks. She frowned, but decided to take it as a sign of her Harry's modesty, oh, he was so perfect!
She opened it, expecting to find clothes or other personal belongings, but instead all she found were some school books and half-finished homework assignments. She rifled through it a little bit to make sure there was nothing beneath the books, but there was nothing. What the... where were his clothes? There wasn't even a quill here, she couldn't take any of this, it would definitely be noticed. Well, she supposed that he might think he simply misplaced the books somewhere, but she couldn't take the homework assignments, she didn't want to do anything to get her Harry in trouble... and as a first year she didn't really have any reason to have second year books.
What she didn't know, was that when she opened the trunk, she triggered a ward Harry put up just for fangirls like her. It read her intentions, and then glamoured the items in the trunk accordingly (he'd found it in one of his family journals, apparently one of his ancestors had a problem with fangirls). Her intentions were to get something that wouldn't be missed, so the items were glamoured into something that would be missed. The clothes and things were still in the trunk, and Harry's homework assignments and school books were with him. She also triggered a ward that the second year boys set up with McGonagall's help that would alert the five boys if somebody else was in their dorm who wasn't supposed to be (they made the point that Harry was famous and girls were weird about famous people.) So, the boys knew the moment she opened the door.
"What are you doing, Ginny?" She heard from behind her, she froze for a second before she tried to casually close the trunk and turn around as if she was supposed to be in here. She gulped when she saw all four second year boys standing in the doorway.
Thinking quickly, she smiled and said, "I was just looking for a book Harry said I could borrow. I didn't see it though, so he must have forgotten to take it out of his bag before he left this morning. I thought you were in class." She said, confused as to what they were doing here.
Ron studied her for a moment before he seemed to let it go, much to her relief (he didn't believe her for a second, but he didn't want to draw attention) "Potions is cancelled for a while since Professor Snape is helping Professor Sprout with Greenhouse three. I guess since he's a Herbology Master too, he needs to help. And the fact that a lot of the plants in there are future ingredients for the school storage cupboard." He said with a shrug. All the boys had been in the library with the rest of their class trying to work through the worksheet left for them when they felt the wards on their room go off and made their excuses so they could come investigate.
"I thought his Mastery is in Potions, not Herbology." Ginny said, confused, watching as the boys spread out to their different beds, looking them over to make sure their stuff was untouched.
"It is, but I guess a Mastery in Herbology is highly recommended for Potions Masters to get as a secondary alongside their primary one. According to Snape, all the GOOD Masters collect their own ingredients instead of settling for the 'second-rate product mass-produced for the Dunderheads of the world'. His words, not mine." Seamus said, sitting on his bed. All four of the boys knew she was lying about Harry lending her a book. He never lent anyone anything, he was very possessive of his stuff. That, and she changed the subject too quickly. "So, they would need extensive knowledge of Herbology if they're going to be collecting ingredients from the wild without damaging them or getting themselves killed."
"So... why aren't you in class?" Dean asked.
"I have Herbology right now. So..." She said.
Ron nodded, and the boys all looked at each other. Ron stood up and walked Ginny to the door, following her down to the Common Room, where he knew Percy was studying and helping a few younger kids. He wanted to talk to her about why she was really in their dorm, but didn't really know how, so he was going to get help. Percy would know what to do.
When he saw Percy, he made a beeline and made sure Ginny was coming with him. When he sat her down in front of Percy, he sat beside his older brother and gave him a look that made him throw up privacy charms. "What's wrong?" He asked his younger siblings.
"When we came back from the library, we found her going through Harry's school trunk. When we asked, she said she was looking for a book Harry lent her this morning. All of us know, though, Harry doesn't lend his stuff out. Ever. And he never even spoke to her this morning, we were all with him." Ron explained. Ginny scowled.
Percy frowned. The boys didn't know it, but he'd spent most of last year shooing girls away from their dorm room, they always said something about being lost, but he didn't believe it for a second. He really didn't want to consider that his baby sister might be the same way. He really hoped she wasn't. "Ginny, what were you really doing in the boys dorm?" He asked her gently. He really hoped that she just came clean and didn't try to make an argument out of it, she was too much like their mother sometimes in that regard.
He mentally sighed when she remained stubbornly quiet, he wasn't going to get anything out of her. She was a Weasley, and they were stubborn. After five minutes of nothing, he sighed, "Alright, I'll let you go this time. If anybody catches you sneaking around up there again, I will tell Professor McGonagall." He said. He made a mental note to let the other guys know to keep an eye out. Especially Fred and George.
She nodded, angry, but left to go back to her dorm. Where she pulled out her diary to vent her frustrations about brothers who didn't understand her need to have something of her Harry.
Tom would understand, he was the only one who did.
Percy and Ron watched her go, worried. "Keep an eye on her, Ron. I don't like how pale she looked, or how withdrawn she's been. And now this... if it gets worse I'll owl Mother. Make sure the Twins know if you see them before I do." Percy instructed his youngest brother. Ron nodded.
"I'm going to go finish my questions list for Potions, I'll keep an eye out though." He said, before he left to go back to his own dorm room. Where he looked at the other boys and shrugged before making sure none of Harry's stuff was disturbed.
Harry was confused. Why were they here? After Ted finished going over what they needed for the next day, Sharpaxe decided it was time for Harry's surprise before they had to get him back to school. And, naturally, Sirius wanted to come along, so, after getting an hour's freedom out of his Healers (plus another calming draught and the monitoring bracelet), and after glamouring himself to look human, Sharpaxe apparated the three of them here, to the Surrey Animal Shelter. Why were they at an animal shelter?
When he looked at Sirius, confused, Sirius only grinned and put his hands on Harry's shoulders, gently pushing him forwards to follow Sharpaxe inside, wrapping one of his arms around Harry's shoulders as they moved.
Harry and Sirius waited while Sharpaxe spoke quietly to the worker at the desk, and when she went to the back to check something for him, he turned to Harry. "Remember I told you that Marjorie Dursley had several litters, and they were all taken to various shelters? Well, her German Shepherd is here. Every young man needs a good dog."
Harry's eyes widened, and his face lit up, making Sirius chuckle. "Unfortunately, you won't be able to keep it at Hogwarts with you..." When Harry's face fell, he hurried to continue. "But, I'm sure Mipsy won't mind bringing it to you for you to play with now and then..." He trailed off and smiled when his face lit up again. It was a good thing he had already spoken to Mipsy about it. While Sirius was in the hospital and Harry was at school, Mipsy would take care of the puppy at Potter Manor. "Just make sure you don't neglect your studies." He finished sternly, even though some might think him an impostor for saying it.
"I won't, Uncle Sev has already threatened to take me off the Quidditch team if my grades aren't where he thinks they should be." Harry said seriously. He didn't want to be taken off the team! He liked playing!
"You're already on the team?" Sirius asked, surprised and proud. Harry looked confused for a moment before he remembered that they hadn't had a whole lot of time to just sit and talk before he had to go back to school. The time they would have spent the day before he had to leave was interrupted by Barchoke.
"Yup, since last year, I'm the Seeker." Harry said proudly. Playing Quidditch was something he was good at, something he felt he actually deserved the recognition from. It was something he actually DID. Unlike that Halloween, as far as he was concerned, him surviving was due to something his mother did. He probably didn't have much to do with it.
"You got on in your first year?!" Sirius asked, shocked. "That never happens..." He looked at Harry, shocked. When the shock finally wore off, he was so proud. He grinned and pulled Harry into a hug, "I'm proud of you, pup. You have got to be a natural flyer for Minnie to bend the rules for you like that." He muttered.
"Oh, he is. Severus showed me a memory, it was both amazing and terrifying to watch. The level of skill was amazing, the stunts he pulled with that skill..." Sharpaxe said, shaking his head at the end, and ignoring how red Harry's face had gotten at all the praise. He turned towards the door the worker had gone through. "What is taking her so long?" He muttered. They'd been waiting for over fifteen minutes already, she was just going to get the dogs in question moved to a room where they could sit and play with them so Harry could pick one! That didn't take that long, did it? Was something wrong with the pups that wasn't in the reports?
She came back right then. "Sorry about the wait. I hadn't known that one of the puppies got a little too rough playing with one of his sisters, her paw was bleeding pretty bad, but the vet said she'll be alright. She'll just have to be careful, and we'll have to watch to make sure none of them pulls the bandage off. Now, do you want to see the whole litter, or just the uninjured pups? Some people don't mind caring for an injury so soon, while others want nothing to do with it. Personally, I don't care. If you really care for the animal, then who cares if they come to you injured, but..." She shrugged.
Sharpaxe turned to Harry, it would be his dog, after all. "I want to see all of them." He said, smiling at her shyly.
"Alright, then if you will follow me." She said happily. She always loved it when the animals brought in were taken to good homes. She hated that shelters like this were even necessary, but that was life.
When they got in the room, Harry was happy to see his favorite dog in there. She was probably the easiest to take care of whenever he was left at Marge's, and consequently put to work taking care of the dogs. He had no idea where Marge got her, but she was by far the sweetest dog Marge had. She was also the only one with a normal name.
"Hey, Lacy, how are you? You're looking better. You happy to be away from Aunt Marge?" He asked her quietly. The shelter lady (her name tag said Alicia) raised an eyebrow, but decided not to ask.
Harry turned his attention from the dog to her puppies, who were all running to greet the people who just came in. He saw the injured one trying to keep up, but was struggling, so he went to her. It was clear that even without the bandage on her paw, she would still be struggling. While Sirius and Sharpaxe went to sit on the benches provided, and Alicia stayed by the door (with a clipboard of paperwork for them to fill out once they decided which one they wanted, and to answer any questions about the dogs they might have, as unnecessary as that seemed in this case), Harry sat in the middle of the room and let the puppies crawl on him.
While Harry sat and played with the puppies, Sirius and Alicia spoke quietly and Sharpaxe paid Lacy some attention. Harry played with them all for a bit, but his attention kept going back to the little one, the one who was injured.
If she had remained in Marge's care, she would have been given to the Colonel to be drowned. She was the runt of the litter, the kind that Marge hated the most. It kind of scared him, actually, because this would have been the third runt that Lacy produced, to his knowledge. Which meant Marge would have deemed her defective soon enough and gotten rid of her, too. She always said that if something was wrong with the pup, it was because there was something wrong with the mother.
Of course, she usually said that when discussing Harry's mother with Petunia and trying to reassure Petunia that it wasn't her fault that Harry was the way he was...
In the end, he picked her up and carried her over to Sirius and Sharpaxe. This one just seemed to... kind of call to him. It wasn't anything like with when he got Hedwig, she chose him, and she wasn't magical, so it wasn't like they could form a Bond, but there was just something about her...
"Hey, pup, you want her?" Sirius asked, reaching over to let her sniff his hand before playing with her uninjured paw.
"She's a sweet one, isn't she?" Sharpaxe asked as he held out his hand for the clipboard. He looked down at it and marked that no, they didn't need her micro-chipped, (he had heard that shelters were starting to offer that... he had a feeling that it would become mandatory sometime in the next decade or so) she would be living in magical environments, and while there were runes and spells to 'protect' the electrical device from the magic in the air, it wouldn't be needed. They could just as easily put a tracking rune on her collar. It was also expensive, not that they couldn't afford it.
Harry nodded and played with her ears a bit. He didn't know what to say to Sharpaxe, he wanted to say something to thank the goblin, but the words kept getting stuck in his throat. The only other time somebody had done something like this for him (aside from Severus) was when Hagrid got him Hedwig.
While Sharpaxe looked over the rest of the paperwork, Alicia got somebody to take the other puppies and their mother back, after Harry said good-bye to Lacy, and then led them back out front, where she showed Harry where they kept the collars while Sharpaxe finished the paperwork he started in the playroom. While Sharpaxe did that, a family came in to adopt as well, and Sirius struck up a conversation with the parents while Harry and the daughter started talking about what she wanted, which was a cat. Harry was also getting an odd feeling around them... mostly the girl. The last time he'd felt something like this... was when he first went to the Leaky Cauldron with Hagrid.
The girl was magical.
This was proven as she was getting more and more excited over getting a pet, only for a window to explode.
"I didn't do it this time!" Harry said to Sirius quickly, making the girl look at him oddly, and a little hopefully. Was he like her? Making odd things happen?
Her parents looked horrified and afraid, Harry hoped they weren't afraid of their daughter, but rather what he and Sirius would do. Their fears, however, were unjustified when Sirius only came over and made sure the two children were unharmed and to make sure Harry was alright and was in control.
"You sure you are still in control? I've been told you've been a little shaky on that since getting your magic unblocked." Sirius said, while Sharpaxe took care of Alicia. He figured since it was clear that the girl was magic, the parents were going to learn about magic within the next year anyway, might as well do it now.
"Yeah, I'm fine, it just startled me a bit. And I haven't had an accident with it for the past week! I've got my Lumos down to normal levels and everything. Although I did blast Ron out of bed with a water charm the first night back at school... I didn't mean to make it that strong, but..." Harry shrugged. "Although the look on his face was pretty funny." He finished with a grin.
"Excuse me, but... you know what has been happening with our daughter? The... odd things?" The father asked hopefully, holding his daughter.
Sirius and Sharpaxe looked at each other before glancing around. "Yes, but this isn't really the place for this... here. Let me take Harry back to school and Sirius back to his room in the Hospital Wing, and I will be back while you go ahead and get your kitten. With any luck I can catch Professor McGonagall outside of class and get her to come with me. Then, we can go somewhere more private and explain. This really isn't the place for this..." Sharpaxe said.
"School?" Her mother asked wearily.
"Yes, it is a school to help children like your daughter and Harry hone their skills and learn to control their abilities. There are many like your daughter in the world, but like I said, this isn't the place for this. Let me finish up and get Harry back for his afternoon classes, and then we can talk some more."
The parents looked at each other wearily, but couldn't deny the need to find out what was happening with their daughter, the thought that it may be normal was a relief, so they agreed. Then they watched in amazement as Sirius had Harry repair the window, Harry pulled out a stick and waved it while muttering something, causing the broken glass to fly around a bit before it all fit back together like it should. In fact, where before the glass had been scratched and a little smudged, now it looked like it had only been put in a few minutes before, brand-new. Sirius went over and inspected it a little.
"You put a little too much into that one, Harry. But you are getting better with it. Don't worry, it will be second nature soon enough to only use the little bit needed for some spells." He said, wrapping an arm around Harry's shoulders and playing with the puppies ears with the other hand while Harry went back to inspecting the collars. Now that the glass was fixed, Sharpaxe woke Alicia back up, who continued on as if nothing had happened, and when Sharpaxe, Sirius, and Harry were done in there, Sharpaxe quietly told the family that he would be right back, hopefully with a professor, and to act like nothing had happened. Then, they left, first to Gringotts to make sure Sirius actually went back, and then to Hogwarts, where they met up with Professor McGonagall at the gate.
"Professor, we met a young Muggleborn and her parents at the shelter, she had a bit of accidental magic in her excitement at getting a pet... I told her and her parents that I would be back later, hopefully with a professor..." Sharpaxe trailed off as Harry walked on the path ahead of them, still playing with his puppy in his arms. He would have to find a name for her in the coming days.
"Oh," Minerva said, surprised. "Well, we don't normally introduce Muggleborns until they are Hogwarts age... bit stupid if you ask me, but I don't make the rules... how old is she?" She asked.
"She looks to be about ten, so she'll be getting her letter next year or the year after, depending." Sharpaxe said.
"Ah, well, my afternoon is free of classes, I can come back with you, just let me grab a folder from my office." She said, and then continued when she saw Sharpaxe give her a questioning look. "It's a folder we, the other Heads and I, put together for Muggleborn parents alongside the booklists we recommend for Muggleborns... it has the usual basic overview of classes offered, what the classes are, tuition costs and scholarship opportunities, as well as other options in the UK if they don't want Hogwarts, information on how to get in touch with me via Muggle post since they won't have access to an owl until they get to Diagon and even that depends on if they buy their child an owl. It also outlines the Statute of Secrecy and what that entails on their part, and various other Magical laws that apply to them as Muggleborn parents. It's just so they have something to go back to and reference later if they need to." She explained. "I have also begun putting information in there about what jobs there are in the Muggle world that the Ministry works with."
"Ah, like the Muggleborn parents and relatives that work in the police departments and law firms." Sharpaxe said.
"Yes, I believe I also have a pamphlet in there about the Combined Court system, and how they may be called in to serve on the Jury once their child starts Hogwarts. Because if I remember right, that would count as their Jury duty within the Muggle system." She said. "I have just found it easier to provide them with the written information as well as explaining it. Because there is a lot to process, suddenly being told your child is magical, and then having all this information about this secret society being thrown at you. It's hard to take, so I, and the other three as well, explain Hogwarts as well as what we feel they can handle, and then leave them with the folder to peruse at their leisure. We leave them with information on how to contact us so they can still ask questions if they have them."
Sharpaxe nodded, he hadn't even known she did this. "I honestly don't even know if the Ministry knows we do this." Minerva said, and Sharpaxe realized he had said it out loud. "In fact, I'm not sure if Albus even knows... I remember bringing the idea up to him once but I'm not sure if he was paying any attention." She shrugged. Sharpaxe was glad to hear that the teachers could function so well without Albus Dumbledore telling them what to do, he'd been slightly worried that they would have a problem within Hogwarts once they got rid of the man.
By this time, they had reached the front doors, "Alright, Mr. Potter, it is lunch time right now. You can keep her with you during lunch, but you will need to send her with Mipsy before you go to class." Minerva instructed the Gryffindor. When he looked slightly confused, she explained that she was friends with Charlus, so she was fairly familiar with the Potter elf. "I will let you have Mipsy bring her back for two hours after classes so you can still play with her, provided you aren't in detention, don't have homework, and don't have Quidditch practice. Keep in mind, however, that I am only allowing this because I know you will just have her here anyway, and because she is still so young. She needs contact with you for her to get attached, so you aren't a stranger to her. I know some dogs don't like strangers." She said sternly. Harry smiled blindingly at her before he hurried into the Great Hall to eat.
Minerva shook her head and turned to Sharpaxe. "I will be right back." Then she disappeared up the staircase to her classroom, and the office next to it.
When she left, Sharpaxe cast a few discreet Goblin monitoring and detection wards around the castle, then he stood back by the door and listened to the sound of children enjoying their lunch, with some exclamations over Harry's new dog.
Yes, Ginny has turned into the worst kind of fangirl, AND she's talking to Tom. Don't worry, she will snap out of it eventually. But for right now I need her like this.
I'm not sure if I'm going to have the girl make a reappearance or not yet. Let me know if you want her to, so I can start thinking of a name.