This Harry Potter story was written for fun. All rights belong to the wonderful lady (JK Rowling) who gave the world Harry Potter to read and enjoy.

The last week before the Hogwarts Express leaves for Scotland is filled with conversations and developments for Harry and the magical people around him. He spends time with Felicity, Ironstream, and Hagrid and his dragons. Hedwig has valuable advice in all the conversations but there's one sour note as Bill Weasley gets caught up in Dumbledore's machinations.

Chapter 11 Final Preparations for Hogwarts

Late the next afternoon, Felicity Grossman climbed the several flights of stairs to the rooftop where the Gringotts Parliament of Owls held court from their boxes and roosts. Employees seldom climbed to the roof; the owls knew when they were needed in the different offices in the bank. But Harry came up to the roof to visit with Hedwig at some point every day when she wasn't with him for all his lessons. The young wizard wanted to learn about owls, addresses for wizards, and to spy on Diagon Alley and beyond, Muggle London.

"Harry! There you are!" the healer called in greeting as she came closer and sat beside the dark-haired boy.

"Hey, Felicity! Did you have a good day?"

The healer nodded her head, "I did. There were a few broken bones from some training for curse-breakers, but no one was burned by the dragons."

"I've been talking with the dragons for Hagrid and I think they understand they can't burn the goblins who bring them food every day."

Felicity didn't pay close attention to her ward's words as they sat on a bench and watched the lights come on in the skyscrapers of London.

"Harry, why are the owls congregating here at this time of day?" the healer asked.

"Hedwig says they gather to discuss the flights they made today and to divide up the alleys of London for tonight's hunting."

"Hunting in London?"

"London's got lots of rats that come out at night and the owls like the taste of fresh rat," Harry said with a grimace but then he added, "Hedwig told me not to judge other people by what they eat… she's right; Hagrid, Fang, and the dragons like raw mutton. The dragons like their mutton with organs and wool still attached."

"I'm sorry I asked," Felicity said as she turned slightly green. "Can we talk about something else?"

Nodding in agreement, Harry said, "I'm going to write to Miss Granger tonight about sitting together on the train next week."

"She's the muggleborn witch you met in the alley yesterday?"

"Yes. Professor McGonagall and the headmaster sent her to talk to me about Gryffindor House. James and Lily Potter were in that house when they were students."

"I am certain Gryffindor is a perfectly good house. When you reach Hogwarts, you will be sorted into the house that is best for you! It could be any of the four houses."

"And you won't be upset if I don't go into Hufflepuff?"

Felicity reached over and hugged Harry close, "I will be proud of you in any house so long as you have good grades!"

Hedwig hopped down from the perch and sat on Harry's shoulder where she preened his hair for a moment while chuffing and chortling.

"What's she saying?" asked the healer as Harry listened to his owl familiar.

"She says I'm a perfect candidate for Slytherin, Ravenclaw, Hufflepuff or Gryffindor. She recommends that I change houses each year…"

Now Grossman laughed, a clear and gleeful laugh that cheered Harry. She hugged him tighter and said, "Hedwig, I'd not certain if you are joking or serious but I enjoy hearing your ideas. Maybe what you do is make friends with other kids in all of the houses."

Harry seemed to consider the idea and Hedwig approved of the notion. The healer continued saying, "Now, I'm going to take Harry to dinner, and Hedwig can find you in your bedroom when she gets back."

Felicity looked from the owl to the boy and then back, "There'll be no slipping off to the dragon nursery tonight. Are we clear about that?"

Harry nodded but frowned when Hedwig chirped her agreement. They sat for a while longer, watching the lights come on around the great city of London and just as dusk began darkening the skies, the owls took wing and flew off to hunt for their suppers.

"Come on Harry, let's have Indian tonight," Felicity said. "They don't serve international cuisine at Hogwarts and you will be missing Thai and Indian before you come back for the Yule Holiday."

*(+++++)*

Lessons with Ironstream and Hagrid

Once in the library at his primary school in Little Whining, Harry read a book about the Royal Navy. The illustrations of the great battleships interested him, and he remembered reading about the superstructure – the narrow portion of the ship that rose above the deck and the guns, and the part of the ship that floated on the water.

This week, when he saw a map of the extent of the caverns and tunnels dug underneath London by the goblins, the comparison to the battleships occurred in his mind. Several caverns too near the 'Tube' had been filled in and abandoned as the muggles expanded their mass transit system. Today, Gringotts officially reached fifty kilometres from London with outlying caverns for growing food and providing homes for the goblins.

"I think Gringotts is like a battleship," Harry told Ironstream as they descended into the depths of chambers directly underneath London.

"A battleship? Why do you say that?" asked the goblin as he directed the cart along the tracks at breakneck speed.

"The lobby for the bank and a few offices sit in Diagon Alley but that's just a superstructure above the main caverns. Below the ground are the vaults, tunnels and chambers with magic and goblins."

"Ah… you mean like a submarine, rather than a battleship," Ironstream corrected his student. "The battleship sits on the water with some parts displacing water, but the majority of the vessel is visible to the naked eye."

Harry listened carefully as the goblin continued, "But Her Majesty's Navy has several nuclear submarines that can submerge with only a periscope above the water."

"Like the bank?"

Nodding, Ironstream agreed, "Like the bank."

"So, the lobby is like a periscope hiding the rest of the bank underneath the ground."

"Next summer, I can arrange for Healer Grossman to take you to Plymouth to visit the naval port there and see the submarines."

Harry was silent as they came to a stop outside the new 'nursery' where Hagrid raised the young dragons to guard the vaults.

"Why do goblins hide underground?"

"We 'live' underground by our nature," Ironstream corrected the boy. "We hide how big our caverns and tunnels are because we know someday, wizards may turn against us or the muggles may find us. Gringotts is the largest goblin settlement that is not buried in a vast mountain range. The oldest goblin cities are in the mountains of Turkey. We settled in the Alps, the Pyrenees, and Atlas Mountains as the Roman wizards spread around the Mediterranean Sea. Every goblin knows that he must constantly prepare for war, siege, or famine."

Listening carefully to the goblin's words, Harry replied, "So… I have to educate and prepare myself for attacks by wizards, muggles, dwarves…"

Ironstream growled, "Don't mention dwarves! I told you I hate dwarves."

Harry nodded his head respectfully as Hedwig landed on his shoulder.

Ironstream was surprized to find the familiar with them in the depths of the bank. He asked, "You bring your owl to the dragon pens? They're likely to spit flames at her and barbeque your bird."

"Nope," Harry replied. "Swampy likes Hedwig and begged her to fly back to London at least once a week for a long talk about what I am doing in school."

"Swampy?" asked the goblin. "Who is Swampy?"

"The green dragon's name is Swampbreath, but Hagrid shortened it to 'Swampy' after we talked to her for a few days."

"TALK!" exclaimed Ironstream. He grabbed Harry's arm and drug the boy into the dragon pens, while calling out, "Rubeus Hagrid! Where are you?"

*(+++++)*

"I was just as surprized as you when little Harry's bird could talk to the dragons," Hagrid told the amazed goblin. "It seems Harry's a parsel-mouth and Hedwig's his familiar, so she can talk to the dragons too."

The half-giant teared up and said, "I bet she could have talked to Fluffy and then he wouldn't have been killed."

"Who is Fluffy?" demanded Ironstream.

"He was… he was my… Dumbledore let him starve... He must have got so hungry, he broke out at Hogwarts and got killed…" Hagrid tried to explain but his tears fell too fast. The four growing dragons and the large hound gathered around the half-giant and leaned against him.

In a whisper, Harry explained, "Remember the Cerberus at Hogwarts back in September? He was one of Hagrid's pets."

The goblin and young wizard watched as the half-giant collected himself, rubbed the neck of his dog and each of the dragons, thanking them for providing comfort. When he blew his nose, each of the dragons echoed the half-giant with a short bellow of flame.

"Sorry about that there," Hagrid said. "What can I do for ye today, Ironstream?"

"Mr. Potter here says that you and he are talking to the dragons. How is that possible?" Ironstream repeated the news. "The directors will lay golden eggs when they hear this news."

"Is that where baby goblins come from?" asked Harry though he laughed and ran to hide behind Fang, Hagrid's big dog, when Ironstream scowled in his direction.

"And this dog? Do the dragons talk to him too?" the goblin asked sarcastically.

"No, the dragons all think they're Fang's puppies. The first two weeks, they curled up next to him at night and he fed them…"

"How did a dog…?" Ironstream started to ask.

"T'was just like a pack of dogs," Hagrid quickly explained.

Harry just nodded before he said, "It was really gross."

"Now Harry, it t'were nature," the half-giant lectured. "Fang gorged on meat and stuff I'd throw him. Then he would run around the nursery for thirty minutes or so with the dragons chasing him…"

"They was playing, and when Fang was ready, he'd stand still, then the little fellers would come up to his mouth, begging for food."

"And Fang would barf it all back up," Harry said with a grin. "It was smelly but Flatfoot, Swampbreath, Deathrider, and Whatchamacallit loved the messy food."

"How can a dog feed these four?" Ironstream asked pointing to the four dragons that were already as large as the dog.

"On that only lasted for two weeks," Hagrid explained. "They grows so fast, they t'were able to eat for themselves once they belched flames. Fang just taught 'em what to eat."

Harry added, "Now the goblins bring their food and put it in the den. Fang and his babies eat all their food morning and night."

His eye twitching as he considered this news, Ironstream asked, "Where did those names come from? Flatfoot, Swampbreath, Deathrider, and Whatchamacallit?"

"The dragons told me their names when they were a week old," Harry said. "They like their nicknames too; Flat, Swampy, Death and Whatcha."

"And how are we going to talk to them after you leave for Hogwarts?" the goblin asked.

"They understand Hagrid pretty good now," Harry said. "And Hedwig promised to visit them every week and teach them more about human and goblin speech."

"Hedwig?" asked Ironstream, covering his eyes with both hands.

"Yeah, she'll be carrying letters back and forth from me to Felicity."

*(+++++)*

A Letter for Hermione

The snowy owl made her way to an affluent neighbourhood in Crawley and settled into a tree to watch a certain house. She caught sight of the recipient of the letter and package on her leg quickly and flew closer to the bedroom window. Landing on the narrow ledge, she pecked on the window, catching the girl's attention.

"Hermione, why is an owl at the window?" asked her mother at the door.

"It's a messenger owl," the twelve-year-old said as though that explained everything. "It's got a letter for me."

"Let me see it," Mrs. Granger said. "If that duffer Dumbledore is casting spells on you again…"

Hermione nodded and handed the letter over to her mother. When Mrs. Granger opened the sealed parchment, a book fell out and landed on the floor. As the woman glanced over the letter, her daughter retrieved the book.

"Proper Etiquette for Young Witches and Wizards by Dorea Black," she read aloud.

Smiling faintly, the woman handed the letter to her daughter and watched her read the lines carefully but rapidly.

"Harry Potter invites me to sit with him on the Hogwarts Express of 1 October. 'We will discuss the rules that the purebloods judge us by as muggleborn and muggle-raised magical people entering their world'. A relative wrote the book."

Hermione lifted her head, frowned and said, "I made a mess of it the other day, didn't I? Yelling at Professor McGonagall in the street like that."

"That was not your fault," Mrs. Granger insisted. "Professor McGonagall better hope it is a long time before your father or I see her again!"

Mrs. Granger sat her daughter down and explained, "If it wasn't too late, your father and I would move you to Beauxbatons in France. If these people in Scotland are as crazy as they seem, we'll visit there next summer and see about transferring you."

"Yes, Mom," Hermione replied. She knew her father wanted her to enrol in the French school despite her arguments. He'd been sold on Beauxbatons when he learned the students there were all females. Hermione wanted to learn about magic, and she hoped to make a friend, maybe two, at the new school.

*(+++++)*

Meet Bill Weasley

In the general cafeteria for the human employees, Harry ate his lunch while reading a book about magical animals written by a wizard named Newt Scamander.

"Oi, you can save that book for third year!" said a voice, sitting down at the table with a tray of food. Harry glanced up to see a tall, red-headed wizard take the seat opposite from him.

Harry argued, "Magical creatures are too interesting to wait for third year. It's like runes and potions, they're interesting now."

"But you have to learn to float objects before you can fly," explained the newcomer.

Frowning, Harry shook his head. "I want to learn everything!"

The messy headed kid had a determined look on his face and the strange wizard grinned, "I'm Bill Weasley. You'll want to meet my brother Percy; he's in Gryffindor house. He'll be a fifth year at Hogwarts, and he can tell you where all the good books are in the library."

"Do they have a big library at school?" asked Harry, beginning to smile at the stranger.

"Yes, but you'll need your own copies of the classroom texts. There are a few in the bookcases in Gryffindor too. Used ones are fine and sometimes they have notes inside that help you with answers and clues."

Harry shrugged and returned to his book.

"Now, when you're sorted into Gryffindor with Percy, you'll also meet my twin brothers, George and Fred. And I'm sure Ron will be a firstie in Gryffindor."

Harry froze and slowly placed his fork back on the plate, before slipping his wand out of his wrist holder. He rose from his chair, grabbed his book and backed away.

"Did Dumbledore and McGonagall send you?" he asked coldly. "Why are they so determined to put me into Gryffindor?"

Bill Weasley didn't pay attention for a minute and finally he realized that no one around him was talking. He looked up and found the kid standing behind his chair with a strange looking wand pointed in his direction.

"Here now, put that wand down before you hurt someone!" he ordered the boy.

Bill made to draw his wand, but the boy moved quickly and pushed the table over onto the curse-breaker, throwing plates, cutlery and food all over the red-head, throwing him to the floor with other wizards and witches quickly moving away.

"What the Merlin was that?" Bill asked as he looked around. The kid had vanished.

*(+++++)*

"Weasley! My office now!" bellowed Sowsbreath in the bullpen for the curse-breakers.

Bill hurried into the office from where the ancient goblin assigned, rewarded and punished the fifty curse-breakers working at Gringotts.

"You needed to see me, sir?"

"I need to check you for compulsion charms," the goblin replied. "Do I have your permission?"

"Compulsion charms?" Bill asked in surprized. "Sure boss, check away."

The ancient goblin used a knife as his magical focus; he drew a runic figure in the air before Bill's face and then stabbed the knife into a sheet of parchment on his desk top. The knife sank a full quarter of an inch into the hard surface, but the goblin kept his eyes on the young wizard standing before him.

"I have high hopes for you – had high hopes for you – before today. You performed well in Erie last year and you've proven adapt at teaching the newbies a thing or two about draining the curses off dark items here in the bank."

The goblin frowned and ordered, "Tell me what you were thinking by attempting to influence the Potter boy about Hogwarts."

"I…" Bill froze as his mind replayed the conversation. How many times he had said 'Gryffindor' in the few short sentences he'd shared with the dark-haired kid.

"Merlin…" was the only thing he could say at that point. Sowsbreath handed him the parchment with the details of the compulsion charm.

"Do you recognize the magical signature?" Sowsbreath asked as the young man examined the parchment and the information on the compulsion charm removed from him only a moment earlier.

"She wouldn't have meant…" he tried to say.

"Do you recognize the magical signature!" demanded the goblin.

Bill swallowed and then admitted, "Yes sir, I do."

"Good," the old goblin said. "I give you tonight to visit with this benefactor and explain to them that their actions have cost you the plum assignment to the Egyptian tombs. You will report tomorrow morning to the construction offices here and you will receive your cold weather gear for a year in Iceland. We're behind schedule with digging the caverns for our long-term storage facility there. At noon, you'll use a portkey to travel to our offices in Reykjavik."

Bill stood perfectly still – a year in Iceland was a punishment assignment but he realized it was just.

"Yes sir," he said without hesitation.

The goblin stared at the young wizard, examining his eyes for twitches and his hands for twitches that might indicate hidden anger. Finding none, Sowsbreath nodded.

"Good. Work hard for the next twelve months and don't interfere in anyone's business again. Then I can move you to Italy. We're going to look for untouched Etruscan tombs."

"Thank you, Sowsbreath," Bill said before he turned and left. He went immediately to his apartment in the bank to pack his belongings. For a moment, he thought about taking his trunk home to the Burrow but then decided to leave his spare belongings in storage here at the bank.

He went to the common flue and after throwing in a handful of flue powder, he called out, "The Burrow". Then he stepped into the green flames and disappeared.

*(+++++)*

Discussion at the Burrow.

"Bill! Welcome home!" greeted Arthur Weasley as he rose from his chair to hug his eldest son. "I thought you were headed for Egypt?'

"There's a problem I need to talk to you and Mom about."

"A problem?" Arthur asked. He walked quickly to the doorway to the kitchen and called for his wife.

"Molly, Bill's come home from Gringotts for a visit. He needs to talk to us."

"Bill!" shouted multiple voices and the curse-breaker's siblings poured down the rickety staircase as their mother, a smiling red-headed woman came out of the kitchen, drying her hands on a towel.

"You missed supper! I'll have to make you bacon and eggs to feed you," she told her son.

"Can I have some?" asked the youngest boy but everyone ignored him.

"I've had supper," Bill explained. "I came home to show you this parchment and explain what it means."

"A parchment?" asked Percy. "Did you get a contract or a report? May I see it?"

Bill nodded and handed the parchment to the third of the six brothers. Slipping around her many brothers, Ginny, his only sister, came to Bill for a hug which he gladly provided.

"This doesn't make sense," Percy said as he handed it to his father with Molly staring over her husband's shoulder reading the parchment as well.

"Compulsion… Harry Potter… Gryffindor… Percy, Fred, George, Ronnikins…" Arthur read aloud before he turned to his wife and asked, "This is your magic. What did you do Molly?"

With a sour look on her face, Molly Weasley muttered, "The poor boy has been in the hands of the goblins for almost three months. He's bound to be confused and Dumbledore wanted to help direct him to the right house at Hogwarts."

"So, Dumbledore asked you to place me under a compulsion charm?" Bill asked.

"He called me on the flue and asked me if I could get you to help the boy," Molly said. "I have used mild compulsion charms on all of you from time to time."

Arthur ignored his wife for a moment and turned back to his eldest son, "What happened?"

Bill frowned but explained, "The compulsion forced me to approach Mr. Potter and talk about how Gryffindor was the only good house… the house where all of my brothers would be, and he would be happy to be with them…"

"That's right!" Ron agreed. "He'll be my best friend and we'll have lots of adventures at Hogwarts!"

Molly frowned when Bill pulled out his wand and cast a spell at Ron and then directed the results onto a scrap of parchment. He handed the parchment to his father.

Then he turned to his mother and explained, "You almost destroyed my career. I could have been cast into the dragon pits to shovel dragon dung for the rest of my contract! The spell you cast on a curse-breaker changed his behaviour – I wasn't acting under my own control. It could have impacted my work and gotten me or someone else killed!"

"It's bad enough that I scared a child in the care of Gringotts Bank. As a consequence, I lost the assignment in Egypt."

"Oh no," Arthur moaned. "You worked so hard to get that job."

"Then you can stay here in England and work at the ministry!" Molly said. "First Charlie runs off to Rumania and then Bill wants to move to Egypt. I'm glad the charm messed up your work."

"I have explained fifty times! My assignment to Egypt would have only been for two or three years, and it would have made my reputation with the goblins. Now…" Only a moment later, Bill shook his head and explained, "Mother, I have been assigned to Iceland for the next year, excavating storage caverns under the mountains there for the goblins."

"Iceland? Cold there, I think," offered one of the twins.

"Land plus ice, I would say so," replied the other.

"Are you going to freeze?" asked Ginny, holding onto Bill's leg.

Bill sat in a chair and pulled Ginny onto his lap, "I will have to wear magical padded clothing, but I won't freeze. I might be able to come home and see you occasionally after your bratty brothers are gone to Hogwarts."

"There then, it's all worked out," Molly said, dismissing the problem and returning to her kitchen.

Arthur followed her with the two parchments, "Molly, this has to stop! You can't use compulsions on the children willy-nilly. You know constant exposure to compulsions lowers a wizard's intelligence! You cost our Bill this assignment he worked to get for over a year just because Albus Dumbledore asked you to!"

"Dumbledore is worried about the boy-who-lived. I had to help the poor boy."

"And you cast one on Ron already to think he's best friends with the boy-who-lived. They've never met!"

"They'll meet on the train and be best friends by the time they reach the castle!"

*(+++++)*

In the lounge, Bill taught Percy, Fred and George the spell to detect and then remove compulsion charms from themselves and others. Ron wasn't interested in learning that spell, so he didn't pay attention while Ginny watched and tried to remember every movement of Bill's hand. Once the boys were taught, Bill used his own wand let Ginny use his wand to practice and cast the spell.

"You're going to be a very strong witch, Ginny," Bill assured his sister.

"What was Harry like, Bill?" asked the girl. "I'm going to marry him someday."

*(+++++)*