Gringotts
While Harry was on his way to meet Ragnok, Susan went to the Bones Account Manager, Grimjaw. She didn't take long. In mere minutes, she and Daphne were on their way out and back to Hogwarts.
Ironjaw accompanied Harry to Ragnok's chamber. When Harry entered, Ragnok greeted him warmly as a goblin would greet an old friend, "May your enemies bleed under your sword, Lord Peverell."
Harry nodded to him respectfully, "May your gold always flow King Ragnok." He took the seat across the desk from the Goblin King before continuing, "I received your letter the other day. I must say my curiosity was piqued. What do you have for me?"
Ragnok asked him, "What do you know about taking Vassals?"
Harry told him what he had been taught by Rachael, "Vassals are sub-ordinate to a liege lord who is responsible for them. They can demand asylum, protection etc. of him when they need it."
Ragnok thought for a moment before he said, "That's only half of it. Don't you think this should be a two- way thing? Like the vassals would have to give something in return to their liege lord."
Harry nodded, "True. I can ask them to do acts of service, forbid certain actions, but I don't know all of that part."
Ragnok smirked, "As you know, the family magic of the liege lord can help protect the vassal, similarly the liege lord can call upon his vassals to help him boost his magical powers if he needs it. For example, if you are involved in a duel where you are on the brink of exhaustion, you can supplement your power through your vassals who are honour bound to provide it. If they fail or refuse to honour their commitments, mother magic has prescribed very harsh punishments for them."
Harry's eyes widened in surprise as he replayed Ragnok's words in his mind. He said with a tone of amazement in his voice, "Do you mean to say that it's a symbiotic association? Where I help them in return for them helping me?"
The Goblin King nodded, "That's exactly what I mean. I know that you are in the middle of a war. You will need to fight. Even though you are immensely powerful, you are only one person. It wouldn't hurt you to have some back-up ready. Would it?"
Harry nodded, "So, what're you proposing?"
Ragnok's eyes had the gleam which one gets when something desirable is about to fall into his lap, "Lord Peverell, as I wrote in the letter, Albus Dumbledore had asked me the price for the inheritance ritual to be conducted for the muggle-born students. From what I can tell, there are about 200 muggle-born students at the castle right now. Taking 100 Galleons per student, the price would be pretty steep for an average wizard. There are many muggle-born outside Hogwarts who don't have children in the school at the moment. They may have been descended from some old families. I want you to take in as many vassals as you can. It may make the difference between winning and losing."
Harry asked him, "I don't suppose that you're telling me this out of the goodness of your heart. What do you get out of it? Is there a catch?"
Ragnok smirked, "Nothing gets past you does it? With the muggle-born getting their heritage back, many vaults which have been sealed for years will be active again. Gold that has been lying around in those vaults can be of use again. Not to mention, it would give a boost to the economy of the wizarding world. So do you agree?"
Harry took his time answering, "You can conduct their tests and give them their inheritances. Why do you need my help with it?"
Ragnok sighed deeply, then with the patient air of a long suffering grade two teacher explaining to a very backward child that two plus two equals four, he explained, "In addition to the reasons I already gave, there are three more. Firstly the laws state that we can't do this ritual for any muggleborn unless they're sponsored by one of the houses. Secondly, this ritual will cost a lot of gold and there aren't many families out there who can afford it. Thirdly you are an ally of Gringotts so we will look out for your interests as you would look after ours."
Harry nodded, "Very well, King Ragnok. I agree to sponsor any muggle born who wants the test and to pay the costs. For your part, every person who wants this test must first understand what being a vassal means. You can write to Professor Dumbledore to tell him to announce the ritual and the conditions."
Harry was about to leave when he remembered something, "King Ragnok, there is something I have been meaning to ask you."
Ragnok nodded, "Please go ahead."
"If someone's magical ancestors lived in another country but their ancestors moved here, how would they get their inheritances?"
The goblin smirked, "Since the parchment tells us about their ancestry, we can have those results run by our branches in other countries to find their ancestry and assets. Is that sufficient?"
Harry nodded and took his leave of the Goblin King.
That was today's business done. Tomorrow Viktor Krum was scheduled to arrive. Harry would be there to greet him and take him on a tour of the Puddlemere Stadium where he had been invited by the manager.
He apparated to the Cottage on the Hill where Sirius was staying with Emmeline after he had brought her there from the hospital. The healers wanted her to take a couple more days of bed rest before she got back to the business of being an Auror. Sirius had taken it upon himself to ensure this.
Ministry of Magic
Alastor Moody was in a war conference with Minister Longbottom, Alice Longbottom, Rufus Scrimgeour, and Bartley Higgins who was in for Sirius Black who was on leave to take care of Emmeline. To everyone's surprise Arthur Weasley was there too.
Moody was asking, "Do any of you have any idea as to how we can ensure the safety of the muggle-born? The fellytone idea was good but we need something more. I mean it takes about 5 minutes for us to send a team when an attack is happening. That's when we already know where we're going. In the cases where we have to make a portkey before we go, it takes even longer. With a couple of killing curses, a lot can happen in just a few minutes. They aren't starting with Killing Curses yet but that can change anytime. When it does, Nothing will stop them from killing a lot more people."
Rufus said, "Couldn't we place guards near their residences."
Moody looked at him skeptically, "You know that we're already stretched thin as it is. We're talking about a hundred or more residences here, Rufus. We just don't have enough people. Besides, when the blighters do show up, they typically do so in groups. I'm not sending people out there to die."
Bartley said, "We can use the same system as we use for under-age witches and wizards. I mean the tracers which we use can detect if magic is cast, right? Since the students are at the school it stands to reason that 9 times out of 10, it'll be a death-eater attack. We can keep the tracers active at all times, keep an eye on the map which locates where magic has been used. A small team of ministry employees can be put together for this task. One group can keep an eye on the map while another would make portkeys to the location and hand them over to the Aurors. We could put them right on the Auror floor."
Frank nodded, "That sounds like a good suggestion. Let's give everyone a chance to speak before we decide on anything."
Alice spoke, "Can't we raise wards around their property or something?"
Alastor shook his head, "That's a problem for three reasons. First, they're muggles. They don't build on ley-lines. Without someone to constantly refresh the wards, they would quickly run out of power. Second, as I said before, we're talking about more than a hundred households here. We don't have that many ward masters. And the third reason is that muggles depend on eklec.. elekritity for many of their needs. Wards would stop that from working."
Arthur asked, "Why can't we remove them to safe-houses?"
Alastor asked, "How many safe houses do you have, Arthur? There could be nearly a thousand of 'em. Then there's the disruption to their day-to-day lives."
Frank asked him, "Alastor as I understand it, many of those students come from rich families. As such, their parents can afford private security for their residences. Besides muggle technology would be foreign to the death eaters. They can, maybe save themselves with the help of those firelegs or whatever they're called."
Arthur interceded, "They're called firearms. They aren't so common, especially among the muggles of Britain. Mr. Creevey only had one because he was retired from military and he has a farm. The muggle government takes a dim view of most muggles even being in possession of the things."
Frank nodded, "So as Bartley suggested, we can employ a team of wizards to keep an eye on the map and pass information of every instance where they detect magic is being used at a muggle-born residence. Any instance shouldn't be overlooked no matter how big or small. As soon as we receive a report, we will dispatch teams to the location. Further we will try to find out who among the muggle-born can care for themselves so we don't have to try to protect them. Those which are totally helpless can be moved into the safe-houses. We can ask the Chief Warlock if his order can find safe-houses. Is that agreed?"
They all agreed and the meeting was dismissed. There wasn't much more they could do to protect the muggle-born with all the conditions attached so they had decided that they would have to make do with what they had.
Cottage on the Hill
You didn't get to be an Auror by being the type of person who likes sitting around and Emmeline was getting restless. Since she had been discharged from the hospital, Sirius had been fussing over her. He wouldn't even allow her to leave her bed. It was a loving gesture but she couldn't just lay there all day. Sirius had gone out to run some errand this evening. She got out of bed to come and sit at the table. She was also thinking about their impending marriage. What they had to decide upon was the date of the wedding. Sirius didn't want to wait too long and Remus was of the same opinion to marry as soon as they could.
They however had decided that they wouldn't be fixing a date for marriage before they talked to Harry. They wanted the boy to be there for their weddings because he was dear to all of them in addition to being the Lord of the family. Remus's father had been a pure-blood but nobody had heard from Lyall Lupin for a long time. Nobody even knew if he was still alive. Emmeline had her father, Mr. Vance who had told her that she was free to marry whomever she wanted to and he wouldn't assert his will over her. "I'll be there to give away the bride", were his exact words. Andromeda, by reason of being Regent of House Black and the mother of one of the brides, had invited Mr. Vance to the Black Manor for the next day. Then they would decide upon other matters and make the arrangements.
Suddenly, Harry appeared out of the air soundlessly before Emmeline and said, "Boo."
She was so edgy that before she could think, she had shot a stinger which hit the boy on his hind-quarters and made him yelp. He said indignantly, "What was that for?"
She grinned, "That was your punishment for being a bad boy."
Sirius chose that moment to come back. He saw Harry at the table and exclaimed, "I thought you would be at the castle, pup."
Harry grinned, "You would hope so. Wouldn't you?"
"Oh yes. He has been trying to dissuade me whenever I raise the topic of marriage", said Andromeda who followed him in.
"Auntie", he said joyfully before he hugged her tightly, "What are you doing here?"
She informed him, "You should know that just after you left St. Mungo's the other day, Sirius decided to dispense with all the pomp and grandeur and just propose to Emmeline. I've been trying to persuade them to marry sooner rather than later. Bill Weasley is slated to marry the day before Beltane. It would be the perfect time for a magical union. I've been trying to persuade them to marry on Beltane. I have heard that you suggested that Remus and Sirius could have a double wedding. I like that idea too."
Harry grinned while rubbing his hands in anticipation, "So why not have the double wedding for Sirius and Remus on Beltane?"
She nodded, "That's what I thought too. Since it is Beltane, you lot would have holidays too so everyone can attend."
Harry nodded, "Great! With that decided, we can start on the arrangements. I will spare no expense. Everybody who is anybody will attend. It should be a marriage as befits a Black."
She chuckled, "Your enthusiasm is contagious, Harry. Alright tomorrow, Mr. Vance is coming. We will sit together and work out the details."
Harry asked her, "Aunt Andromeda, will it be a bonding ceremony as per the old customs or a marriage as modern days?"
She said, "As I remember, the House of Black and House of Potter both preferred the bonding ceremony which suits us better than a modern marriage ceremony. Being unified with mother magic as witness is the best thing that can happen."
He nodded, "So where do such unions take place?"
She thought for a minute before she said, "For all the old families, they generally had a place sometimes in their manor or a place which is steeped in magic. The Blacks always had their marriages in the copse of trees on the grounds of the manor. The Potters had it on the grounds of their manor."
He nodded, "Alright, Aunt Andromeda. To you I entrust the duty to look after the preparations for their marriages. I'll write a letter to Ripfang to give you as much gold is required and any other resources that you may want. Both of the marriages will take place on the grounds of the Black Manor unless Uncle Ted has some place else in mind."
She shook her head, "No Ted will have no problem with the marriages taking place at the grounds of Black Manor."
He remembered something, "And Aunt, if you want, you are free to go to any of the vaults of House Black and take anything you fancy. This should be a marriage worth remembering."
Unknown Castle
Bellatrix was trying to cast some of her choicest spells but it just didn't happen. She had been fitted with a new wand when she was rescued from the prison because the Ministry had snapped the wands of all the death eaters. The snapped wands were left in the inventory of the prison for the death eaters to see and fume. A taunt to them from the ministry.
She decided that the problem must be that the wand she was using wasn't her best match. Dragon heartstring, iron-wood, 13 ¼ inches, unyielding, should have been a good match for her, but something was wrong. She decided to confront the wand-maker in residence. When she entered the room, he was busy fitting another death eater with a wand.
She glared at the other death eaters in the room, "Leave us."
They all left in haste. The moment the last one left the room, with a few quick gestures of her wand, she slammed and locked the door, then cast silencing wards to be certain that none of their words could be overheard. She turned to the wand-maker, "I have a question for you."
The storm in her eyes, the venom in her voice was enough to make the wand maker shudder. He said meekly, "Yes Madame, how can I serve you?"
She curled her lips at the corners and sneered, "Before we talk further, I want you to take an oath on your magic that you will not ever speak about what we discuss here."
The wand maker looked a little hesitant but took the oath.
She took a deep breath before she started speaking, "This wand that you crafted for me doesn't suit me. It fails to do my bidding. Can you explain that?"
The wand maker took her wand and examined it for a few moments before he spoke, "This wand's allegiance is clearly to you. There should be no difficulty. What kind of spells will it not cast?"
"I learned my family magic when I was little. I know those spells like the back of my hand. I haven't been able to cast a single one of them with this wand. What's more is that some of the family magic which I got from the Lestrange's. I can't cast those spells either."
The wand-maker asked her, "Do you have trouble using this wand for other spells too, Madame?"
She replied, "Other than family magic, this wand is as good as my old wand for anything that I want to do."
The wand maker said with a little meekness in his voice, "Is it possible that you have been ousted from your family Madame and your marriage with Signore Lestrange was dissolved? If that is the case, it would explain why you can't use those spells."
She protested, "You are lying, you worthless fool. I am a…" She couldn't say she was a Black as if she was choking on something.
She glared at the wand-maker, "A word of our conversation goes out and you will die."
With that she stormed out of the chamber to go and find Lucius Malfoy. If it turned out that the wand-maker was right then there would be a lot of pain in store for the Malfoy Lord for having failed to tell her. She however couldn't say anything about it to others because that would make them think that she had lost her prowess. Her reputation would be so tarnished that it couldn't be salvaged.
Lucius Malfoy was in his chamber. He was pondering about what his life had been since the Dark Lord rose again. When the Dark Lord was resurrected, he thought that perhaps he would be able to indulge in his practices as he had during the first war. He thought to get the run of wizarding Britain as soon as the Dark Lord had over turned the government. He had done everything as the Dark Lord desired and even squandered half of his family wealth for him. His fortunes turned for the worse when Cornelius Fudge was ousted from the position of Minister.
Lucius hadn't even thought that the light side could actually fight back but they did and they bloodied the Dark Lord's nose with the first strike. The light faction was unified by one and even the neutral faction followed suit. He had failed to get wind of what had been coming. When out of nowhere, Potter came out to claim the Lordship of four houses of the Wizengamot, Lucius knew that the Dark Faction was about to have their collective butt handed to them on a big silver platter. The Longbottoms' recuperation and Frank Longbottom's ascent to the position of Minister of Magic was another blow.
Unlike Fudge, Longbottom understood what was at stake. He wasn't influenced by Lucius's ministrations either. He danced to Light's tune from the start. He did whatever they wanted him to do. He, unlike Fudge, seemed to believe Potter's word from the start that the Dark Lord was back from the dead. Under the guise of long overdue changes; they had started their war preparations. Since Longbottom became Minister, he hadn't allowed Lucius to be in the ministry fishing for information if he could avoid it. Except for the sessions of the Wizengamot, he had refused to meet with Lucius for any reason.
He should have seen the warning signs when Bones presented the motion for recruiting Aurors by lowering the requisite qualifications but they failed to see it. Then they brought Alastor Moody out of retirement to take over for Rufus Scrimgeour and they were still none the wiser. Moody was easily the best Auror by reason of having filled half the cells in Azkaban with the Dark Lord's followers. He had pursued his vendetta against them with renewed fervour. The change of the hierarchical system in the Ministry should have been a danger sign to them but they chose not to see it. All the purebloods sympathetic to the cause had been sidelined under the new regime and their interference was kept to a minimum.
Then there was the battle of the Ministry Atrium where they simply walked into a trap. If the Dark Lord hadn't the foresight to take so many followers with him, Lucius would have died that day. Last, there was the boy who was the lynchpin to the entire thing. Lucius had thought he was a mediocre boy when he had heard about him from Draco. On that day in the graveyard, when he saw the boy facing the Dark Lord; he had a premonition that if this boy lived, he would be the bane of death eaters. In the duel in the atrium, he had watched the boy fight with the Dark Lord. He had made the Dark Lord look like a puny kid. The Dark Lord's extensive repertoire of spells looked like naught when he faced the boy. He didn't just beat the dark lord, he had toyed with him. Lucius had never seen the Dark Lord look so helpless. When they had a battle of minds, the boy had caused so much damage to the Dark Lord that he couldn't wake up for 9 days! Merlin knows what would have happened if Lucius had faced him.
"Lucius, I want a word", growled Bellatrix who had just stormed in his chamber.
She broke Lucius's reverie as he was sitting on his bed in his chamber. Bellatrix was getting on his nerves but he couldn't do anything to her. She was a favourite one of the Dark Lord and formidable with a wand. Lucius wouldn't have tried to match with her. He would have tried to leave the Dark Lord's service if he thought he could. But the Dark Lord didn't take kindly to traitors. They typically ended up being hunted down and killed. He was also a wanted man in the Wizarding world with a bounty on his head. The ministry had posted a bounty of 500G for his head. He knew that Bounty Hunters would be searching for him. He had never learned to live like a muggle so he couldn't go out in the muggle world either. His only recourse was to live with the Dark Lord and serve him with all his devotion and hope that he would emerge victorious in the end.
He noticed the angry looking witch standing before him and drawled, "Of course Bella. What do you want?"
She raised a privacy ward and asked him, "Tell me my full name, Lucius."
Lucius actually smirked, "Bellatrix Nameless. That's what you are known as now."
She barked, "I am a B…" Again she choked when she tried to say what used to be her family name.
Lucius smirked, "Has no one told you yet that Harold Peverell-Potter-Black-Rosier who is the new lord of House Black banished you from the family and dissolved your marriage with Rudolphus? Have you been performing your duties as a wife towards Rudolphus since you escaped from prison without knowing that he isn't your husband anymore?"
She screeched, "How can he do this? He cannot both throw me out of his family and dissolve my marriage! He can't! He can't! He can't!"
She looked like she would like nothing more than to kill Lucius, "Why didn't you tell me? When did it happen? How can a half blood be a Lord of Black?"
Lucius took great relish in telling her, "This summer, Harold Peverell took up the Lordship of House Black as the adopted son of Sirius Black. The first thing he did was to prune his family tree. Also, he isn't a half-blood because his mother, Lily Potter who really was a pureblood was a daughter of Vincent Rosier and Emilia Weber of House of Weber of Germany. He dissolved your marriage then kicked you out."
She pulled out her wand and pointed it at Lucius, "Now swear an oath on your magic that you will not utter a word of what we have talked about to anyone or I will simply kill you and tell the Dark Lord that you were trying to betray him so I killed you."
Lucius perhaps understood what had got her worked up and said smugly, "So you can't use most of your curses anymore because that was family magic, eh? Now imagine how poor Bella would fare before the Dark lord who would banish her from his presence."
This was sufficient to get Bellatrix's dander up. She levelled her wand at him and intoned, "Crucio."
Lucius started withering under her curse. He bent double with pain while Bella cackled like mad. She kept it up for about 2 minutes before she lifted the spell. She said, "I haven't lost my cruelty Lucius. I can still make you wither before my might any day. Now are you taking that oath or do you want more?"
Lucius knew this mad witch could do as she said. He pulled out his wand and grasped it in both of his hands, "I, Lucius Abraxas Malfoy, do hereby swear on my magic that I will never disclose a word of what has passed between me and Bellatrix nameless in this chamber to anyone. If I break my vow, may mother magic smite me. SO I say so mote it be."
As he finished taking the vow, Bellatrix levelled her wand at him again and shrieked, "Crucio."
Black Manor
Mr. Vance arrived at Black Manor by the portkey which Sirius had sent him. They had decided not to share the floo address too much since if Merlin forbid, someone unwanted knew of it, they could get inside Black Manor. That would jeopardize their security.
When he arrived in the floo chamber, Kreacher was there wearing the livery of House Black. He welcomed him, "Kreacher welcomes Mr. Vance. My master is waiting for you."
Mr. Vance followed the ancient looking elf to the main manor house where Sirius received him at the front door with a firm handshake. The older man embraced Sirius warmly, "Sirius Black, how are you?"
"I'm fine, Mr. Vance. Thank you for asking."
Harry was in the Lord's study in the manor where Sirius was leading him. He hadn't liked the idea and he had told Andromeda so. Andromeda had advised him that it was a power show which they were expected to put on. Failure to do so would make him feel like Harry was a novou in these matters which he clearly wasn't. He had to abide by her words at last.
When Mr. Vance was at his office door, Kreacher announced in his loud bullfrog voice, "Mr. Vance to see you, Lord Black."
Harry stood from his chair as Mr. Vance entered. The older man bowed very low to Harry for House Vance was a minor house with the designation of Ancient House while Harry himself was head of an Ancient and Reverent House. In return of his low bow, Harry returned a curt nod. This was noticed by Mr. Vance but he chose not to comment upon it. He had expected this sort of thing with the House of Black.
Harry waited for the man to extend his hand first because Rachael had taught him that the one who was less in stature always extended his hand for shaking and not vice versa. When Mr. Vance extended his hand, Harry shook it warmly, "It is an honour to host you under my roof, Mr. Vance. Welcome to Black Manor."
Mr. Vance took the offered seat. Harry asked him, "Mr. Vance, I would prefer that the present negotiations take place in a more informal setting however I would like to hear your opinion regarding this."
Mr. Vance knew of this wordplay. While Harry was asking his opinion, he was indirectly asking him to agree with his words. He nodded, "I am also of the same opinion, Lord Black."
Harry snapped his fingers and Kreacher popped in. Harry directed him, "Kreacher, please bring some refreshments to the sitting room. Also ask Lady Regent Black and Mr. Tonks to join us there, please."
As Kreacher popped away, Mr. Vance asked him, "Do you usually request your house elf to do his chores that way, Lord Black?"
Harry nodded, "They have emotions and feelings like we do, Mr. Vance. Giving them a little respect for all they do for us and treating them as beings rather than beasts can make all the difference. It makes them all the more loyal to us. In my view, a little respect for undying loyalty isn't a bad bargain. And please call me Harry."
Mr. Vance chuckled, "Call me Stephen then. I must say I was curious about you and you are as interesting as others claim you are."
When they reached the meeting room, Winky had laid some informal setting to the room. Refreshments had been laid out on a low table beside a low sofa.
Andromeda joined them about 5 minutes later. As was tradition, she bowed a little low while raising her robes a little to show her ankles, "You called, my lord?"
Harry scowled, "You know how much I dislike that, Aunt Andromeda. You are my family. You should order me around rather than doing this."
She chuckled, "Tradition, Harry. Now what do you require of me?"
Harry turned to Mr. Vance, "Stephen, I must accept that I'm not experienced at these sorts of things so Aunt Andromeda will be handling these negotiations with you. This isn't done to slight you or to show any disrespect to you."
Mr. Vance waved him off, "Not at all, Harry. I understand it and I agree to it. Of course I know Andromeda and Edward."
The talks lasted about three hours including a sumptuous lunch. Beltane was agreed upon as the date for their marriage and Teddy dutifully took the notes while his wife worked the meeting as per her own ministrations.
Harry vehemently protested that they didn't need any money at all while Mr. Vance forced it from his end. He said that it was tradition for the father of the bride to pay for the wedding expenses while Harry argued back that since it was a double wedding and he had his own agenda for the occasion that he would not allow Mr. Vance to bear more than one quarter of the total costs. When they agreed on that part, the discussion continued on into dowry. At last they had decided that he would give the customary dowry and property. Mr. Vance insisted that his Emmeline would get a proper dowry from him. Harry insisted that since he had more houses than he had any use for, that they would receive a house from him. They would be doing him a favour because one less house would be one less headache for him. Mr. Vance was not a very wealthy man, but he had done well for himself and he was able to provide a good start in life for his daughter. With the general terms agreed, Harry took his leave. He left it up to his very shrewd and admittedly somewhat scary aunt to work out the details.
Since it was about time for Harry to go and receive Viktor Krum at the portkey station, he apparated to the portkey station located at the muggle Airport.
The Portkey Station
Wizarding Britain had a portkey station set up for International portkeys in a part of the muggle Airport. A desk manned by a few wizards did the work of security and customs.
This day, there was a clamor among those witches and wizards to shake hands with the boy-who-lived who had come to receive someone from an International Portkey. Harry knew that he would be mobbed as soon as he went out yet he was here because he was to personally welcome his guest.
He shook hands with some, patted the backs of a few others. He patiently worked on the masses until he heard a shriek, "Its VIKTOR KRUM!" At that moment, all of the attention was shifted from him to the new comer. Viktor found himself to be helpless and uncomfortable with all the people around him who wanted to touch him, to ask for his autograph or to just see that he was real.
Harry chuckled as he stood aside to watch Krum trying to extricate himself from the masses and failing miserably. He let it go on for about 5 minutes before he decided that it was enough. With a bang from his wand, he attracted the crowd's attention to himself, "Mr. Krum has had a long journey. He would prefer to get some rest. I hope that you all would understand and give him the space he deserves. I am sure you will all get a time in the future to see him and even get some pictures with him since he is going to stay here for some time."
He walked to Krum who shared a warm one-handed embrace with him whispering, "About damn time you got here, Potter. I was getting mobbed."
Harry chuckled, "They adore you Viktor. They wouldn't do any such thing."
Harry saw the flash of a camera in the crowd. He decided that he had enough for the day.
Catching Viktor's arm, he disapparated to Hogsmeade. There, a cottage had been set aside for the Quidditch star.
The cottage was fairly bare with just a few basic furnishings. When they apparated in, Krum asked in amazement, "Am I to live here with nothing? I mean a man has some requirements."
Harry chuckled, "Hold your horses, Viktor.". He raised his voice and called, "Matty!"
An elf appeared who was about 3 feet tall, had the trademark bat-like ears, snout like nose and red tennis ball sized eyes. She said in a tiny voice, "What can Matty do for you, Lord Black?"
Harry addressed her, "Matty, Mr. Krum is going to live here in this cottage from now. You will serve him as your master until I say otherwise. You are to fulfil all his wishes starting with furnishing this house according to his wishes. You will serve him with as much dedication as you have served the House of Black."
The elf bowed, "Yes Master." She turned to Krum, "What are my orders, master?"
Harry turned to Krum, "Settle in Viktor. We will meet tomorrow. This place contains some very strong war wards. The ward book is on the mantle. If you want to avoid any potentially gruesome accidents, I advise you to study it first and set the wards. It wouldn't do to be lax in the present environment. Also a word of caution, we are very near Hogwarts so if I were you, I wouldn't go outside without taking some precautions unless you like dealing with screaming fans."
Krum chuckled at that.
GUILD HEADQUARTERS, GERMANY
Voldemort was getting frustrated. He had been fighting for every step that he took in the fort which served as Headquarters to the guild since he had entered. Still he was nowhere in sight of his target. He was sure that he had killed at least 60 of them but their numbers didn't seem to abate. He had been casting relentlessly. He had lost count of how many killing curses he had used yet he was nowhere near conquering them.
He had entered the Fort in a very unusual way. Others may have expected him to blast his way in or mount an outright attack, he had chosen a subtler way and thought it would have surprised them. He had flown directly to the guild headquarters and had tried to enter through a vent on the roof. The vent however was guarded by some very nasty jinxes. They wouldn't have killed Voldemort but severely inconvenienced him so he had to land on the roof. As soon as he landed on the roof, he had tripped the ward scheme covering the entire roof and it seemed to have exploded beneath his feet. If Voldemort didn't know how to fly, his body would have been blasted into smithereens. That would have been a set back from which he would have taken a great deal of effort to recover from if he could do it at all.
After he was sure that the ward scheme had destroyed itself, he set foot on the roof again. Since then he had been fighting. He took a hit as he landed when a colourless spell hit him but it seemed to not to be affecting him. Since then he had been killing them one by one but it seemed that they had an infinite number of soldiers to send against him.
He hadn't taken a lesson from his duel with the brat a month ago. He was still relying on his favourite Killing Curses. He remembered that at any time there were 160 guards in the fort. As per his reckoning, he had killed at least 60 of them already but their numbers didn't abate. Why were they all wearing the same dress? They even looked the same!
He turned on his heels to blast away one of those who had crept up behind him. This one too looked exactly like the others who had been attacking him since he started fighting them. Did they have the same eyes too? No that couldn't be coincidence. It was like all of them had taken polyjuice potion to turn into the same guy. Now they were all attacking him one by one. He also realized that his magical reserves were getting low yet there was no end in sight. Where had the damned illusionist Weldhem Meyer found so many...? He couldn't complete his own line of thought as another dreadful thought occurred to him.
He remembered that Weldhem Meyer was an illusionist. He was so good that his illusions could force anyone to do his bidding. Now he was heading the guild. Maybe Voldemort hadn't been really fighting anything but illusions? He suddenly remembered that when the blasting ward went off, he had felt a spell hit him. He had dismissed it as a trick of the light. What if Meyer had cast such a spell on him at that moment making him see these illusions? This also explained the uncanny similarities between his assailants.
He decided to take a chance and not attack the next person who was going to attack him. He lowered his wand and let his opponent run at him with his wand raised. True to his thoughts, his assailant passed through him as if he was made of air. Using all his power he cast a finite and presto! He was still standing on the roof without all the dead bodies that he was seeing just a moment ago. With just one spell, Meyer had made him exhaust himself and Voldemort was still where he had started.
Raising his wand, he carefully walked down towards the lower floors of the structure. Despite all his precautions, he was caught in the next trap. The stairs were trick stairs. As he placed his foot on the first step, the stair vanished and his foot was caught in it. Bloody tricks! He blasted the stair to release his leg and decided to fly down.
He drifted downwards without any trouble whatsoever. On the second floor, he ran into the regiment of guards. There were at least 40 of them. Without giving him a chance to cast, they started casting at him. Unlike him, they didn't cast Killing Curses at him but entrails expelling curse, bone liquefying curse, bone shattering curses, black lung curses etc.
He landed quickly and raised a mage shield. To his relief, these weren't very powerful wizards so his shield would last longer. He kept at defending himself for a few minutes before he decided to go on the offensive. His duel with the brat had made him skeptical and doubt his own strength. These couldn't hold a candle to him. Dropping his shield, he turned on his heels to apparate behind them. With a wave of his wand accompanied with a roaring 'Fiendfyre' his opponents were running for cover. Tragically only a few were able to apparate out before he burned at least half of them to cinders. He decided to liberally give a dose of his brutality to those who had provoked his ire. He had thought that perhaps they would be amicable and agree to serve him. But if they were bent on fighting him then so be it.
He started spreading his fire around, burning down everything that he could see in his sight when a team of wizards appeared near him.
Meyer was at the head of them. He shouted, "Stop it Voldemort. You pass."
Voldemort ended the fire and levelled his wand at Meyer, "Since I have vanquished you, you should grovel before me and kiss the hem of my robes."
The wizard sneered, "Do not delude yourself that you have vanquished us, Voldemort. You have merely proven that you are worthy of our aid. Tell me what you want of us and go your way."
Voldemort laughed evilly, "You shall all serve me as I take my rightful place in Wizarding Britain."
Meyer shook his head, "We will lease 100 of our mercenaries to you. That's all. If we send any more, the ICW may learn of it and send the war wizard contingent to Wizarding Britain to oppose you. You will treat my men as the highly skilled professionals that they are. You will not abuse them, force them to swear magical oaths to you or brand them like cattle as you do with your own followers. When you emerge victorious in Wizarding Britain, you will, in return, assist us to overthrow the ICW. Are we agreed?"
Voldemort would promise them anything they wanted as long as they gave him the 100 men he wanted from them. Perhaps it was better not to risk attracting the attention of the ICW for now. Later he could butcher them for treating him as if he were a common wizard. He drawled, "Of course Meyer. I agree to your terms. Now tell me where is Master Abbadon?"
Piddle Town, Dorset
The headquarters of Puddlemere United was situated somewhere along the Piddle River in Dorset. The club house and stadium dated back about five centuries. The original structures that were built in 1163 when the team was founded had been destroyed by fire when an oil burning lamp had fallen from a crumbling mounting. The burning oil had lit up the old structure like a tinder-box. By the time anyone noticed what was going on, the entire structure was engulfed. The only things that survived the inferno were the goblin wrought silver championship trophies.
The new building was a mansion type structure. Just inside the main entrance was an open reception area. The main floor also contained the dining hall, the ball room, the game room, the conservatory, the infirmary, the kitchens and the servant's quarters. Quarters for the team members, the coaches, medical staff and the manager were all upstairs. The basement contained a small indoor pool, lockers, showers and state of the art muggle exercise equipment. The stadium appeared to be an open air Quidditch pitch with seating capacity for about 20 thousand fans. Besides the open area for the pitch with its three golden 50 foot high hoops at each end, there was a very ordinary four lane track just in front of the first row of seats. What was not obvious was the elaborate scheme of wards and charms that kept the weather out of the stadium, watered the grass, improved acoustics and protected players from serious injury if they happened to come into contact with the ground at high speed. Taken together, it was more effective than any muggle engineered retractable roof.
They also prided themselves for providing Firebolt brooms to all players who joined their ranks. It was one of the chief reasons for the team's prowess on the field. Also this team bragged of fans in the shape of Albus Dumbledore among countless others.
The Manager of Puddlemere United, Jeremiah Wright was excited today. Of course he had been on cloud nine since he learned that one of the owners of the team with majority shares was none other than the boy-who-lived. His excitement had doubled in the last few months since Lord Peverell's steward Remus Lupin had sent a letter asking if Puddlemere United could accommodate Viktor Krum as one of their seekers. That was laughable because Mr. Krum was known to be one of the best seekers in the world. To have him as one of the starting seekers would shoot the team's popularity through the roof.
Harold Peverell had made arrangements for his stay so Krum didn't have to stay in the Team clubhouse. Jeremiah was paying him fifty thousand Galleons per season more than the last opening seeker. Today, Harold Peverell was supposed to be bringing Viktor Krum for the signing up and a tour of the stadium, something that Jeremiah could use to boost the popularity of his already popular team. He already had arranged for a press conference after the signing though the signing would depend on Krum's satisfaction.
Jeremiah had been serving Puddlemere for two decades now. He had decided to be in office for the next two years before he retired in favour of Phillbert Deverill. He had been the new assistant manager for the last 3 years now. Jeremiah wanted to make his last 2 years a success before he retired. Krum's joining was going to be the biggest thing to happen in his 2 decade long career.
At the appointed hour at eleven o'clock, Harold Peverell and Viktor Krum flooed into the headquarters of the team.
Jeremiah warmly shook hands with Krum saying, "Welcome Viktor. We are honored to have you here playing for our team."
Harry stood at his side, smirking and gave a look to Krum which said, "Told you so."
After Krum had been introduced to everyone on the support staff, it was time for the tour. A lot depended on the tour which they were going to take. Krum would sign if he saw that everything was to his satisfaction.
The first place was the reception where a pretty witch was sitting behind the counter. Harry could see that she was blushing in the presence of Krum. She had hastily put up some make up charms on herself. He mentally snorted thinking what Krum would think of her. Krum, like Harry never really liked the whole fan following thing. Krum was putting up a good show of liking everything.
The reception hall was tastefully decorated. Large, solid sofas were placed in the hall for visitors. The massive reception desk was made of solid Teak wood. The gymnasium was in the basement of the building. Many of the team members were there going through their work outs.
Jeremiah entered the gymnasium and introduced them, "everyone this is Viktor Krum. This is Harold Peverell."
That got their attention. While most of the players mobbed Krum, a shout was heard above all the din, "Harry, is that you?"
A compact well-muscled young man with a broad grin on his face came charging over in the person of Oliver Wood. He greeted Harry with a thump on the shoulder and remarked, "You've bulked up Harry. "
Harry returned the gesture and said, "You're not doing too bad yourself, Oliver. Looks like being a professional Keeper is agreeing with you. Jeremiah is giving Viktor here a tour of the place. They were kind enough to let me tag along."
Jeremiah asked him, "Are you already acquainted with Oliver, Mr. Peverell?"
Oliver chimed in, "Yes sir. He started playing Seeker for the Gryffindor team in my captaincy. He was the youngest seeker in a century. In the three years that I played with him, he never missed catching the Snitch."
Harry grinned, "We beat Slytherin in the opening game this year too. Katy is the captain now. Malfoy is still sulking over the pasting we gave them."
Viktor whispered to Harry, "You forgot to tell me, Harry Potter, that you play Quidditch too and Seeker at that?"
Harry waved him off, "Yes Viktor but I play for the house team, not the national team like you. I didn't think it was worth mentioning."
Jeremiah hadn't heard the little banter. He was saying, "Mr. Peverell's family owns 55% of the total shares of the club. He also volunteered to introduce us to Mr. Krum who I believe would play for our club if talks go well between us."
As the tour continued, Oliver tagged along with them. He kept talking to Harry while Krum paid attention to what Jeremiah was saying. Oliver asked him about everything that had happened since he left Hogwarts. The tour lasted for 2 hours before they arrived at the Managers office. There was a big desk in the middle of the room and an ornate high leather chair behind it. The desk was covered with training modules, parchments and even parts of brooms while the walls were covered with photos of teams, posters of the star players.
After they were given seats in the office, Jeremiah began to introduce the terms of the player's contract to Viktor, "Mr. Krum, our standard contract is an exclusive agreement for a two year term. While you are under contract to our team, you agree to certain conditions. First, you will not play for any other team. There are exceptions to participate as a member of your national team and authorized charity events. Second is medical care. You will submit to all treatments and procedures which are in the interest of keeping you fit and healthy while you are playing for us. During our tour, I noticed that you have some posture issues. Our team will get you straightened out. When you are coming to the end of your contract term, we have an exclusive 60 day option to pick you up for the next year before you can consider any other offers. As a foreign national, our legal people have arranged for your work visa conditional on you signing our contract. Your compensation package includes 250 thousand galleons annually to be paid in two week increments, full access to our training facilities, meals when you eat at the club house, full medical, trainers, a house in Hogsmeade while you are playing for us and a signature series Firebolt broom in the team colours that's yours to keep. In the unlikely event that you should sustain an injury that would prevent you from playing again, you or your next of kin will be compensated to the end of the term of your contract. In such an event, you will remain under contract to the team and we will make every possible effort to restore you to full health. If you do not choose to sign immediately, you have 48 hours to consult with a contract lawyer before this offer is withdrawn. For your reference, our previous Seeker, who has joined another team, had a 200 thousand galleon salary. We recognize you as world-class talent and offer to compensate you accordingly. We hope that you will like it here. Do you have any questions?"
He presented a copy of the contract to Viktor. Viktor perused the document at great length. He asked about a few of the legal phrases in the contract as he went along. When he was satisfied that the terms were all in good faith, he signed.
After they were done, Jeremiah rubbed his hands in anticipation. He said excitedly, "I don't know if you people like this sort of thing. We have to do a press conference and present you as the newest addition to our team."
Harry nodded, "Viktor doesn't really like all the attention, but to play for our team, he'll put up with it. As for me, you'll be better off if I stay out of it."
Jeremiah's expression Looked like someone had just taken his favourite toy from him, "but Mr. Peverell, your presence in the Press Conference will be good for the image of the Club."
Harry shook his head, "If Voldemort ever learns that I have something to do with this club, he'll stop at nothing to destroy everything. No, it would be better if you don't include me in this conference. You can take Viktor to this conference. I'll wait up here."
Jeremiah understood and nodded. They left the manager's office to go back downstairs to the ballroom on the main floor. They returned after an hour to find Harry dozing in his chair.
When they finally left the Puddlemere United Headquarters, Harry failed to see the photographer who clicked their picture together before he disappeared.
A/N- So someone was going on about the werewolf shot by Mr. Creevey. My theory is that once the bullet entered his head and destroyed his brain, he would remain dead. He is not an inferi but a werewolf.
