Chapter 11: Frankenstein's Lab
By Monday morning, Cyrus Greengrass and Reginald Davis were still grinning at the fiasco that had occurred in the Wizengamot. As the names of rescued students were discussed, Lucius Malfoy found himself outstripped by the collective anger of the chamber. The Neutral Lords (Rivers and Malone) were so livid that Lucius backed off, fearing that he might not manage to reach the Chamber exit. Lord McMillian had taken off his shoe and tossed it at Lord Nott. Sirius, masquerading as Lord Aurelian Black reiterated that if any of the darker houses stepped out of line, he would be asking the Goblins to repossess what was owed to House Black, immediately. By the time the Wizengamot session was over, the Daily Prophet was already on its way to publishing another article. However, while the debacle was in session, Harry decided to visit one of the more private labs at Granger manor on Sunday morning.
He soon understood the controversial nature of the research.
Hermione had opted to carry out several darker rituals for enhancement. Instead of targeting herself, she had used any number of flobberworms. The other enhancements that were less invasive, had been carried out on smaller critters like Puffskeins and billywigs. There were several microscopes, full of ghastly worm dissections and complex looking rune schemas.
"This place looks like Frankenstein's Lab! Very spooky!" Harry commented.
"Definitely. It is somewhat necessary. The primary use of these samples is to learn how to shape organic matter as easily as you shape physical materials. I have been researching how to fix Aunty Alice and Uncle Frank, and I have made some progress by torturing flobberworms. Ethically dubious, but if it might give Neville his parents back..." Hermione trailed off, somewhat distressed.
"I understand. Sometimes things aren't too ideal. Although, I heard Hagrid creates monstrosities regularly. So freak experiments are not unheard of – what did you uncover?" Harry asked.
"Repeated exposure to the Crucio literally damages the myelin sheet that encases neurons. I was able to adapt one of your mum's spells to regrow the damage after torturing Jimmy the flobberworm. It was very uncomfortable. I…...cried for a long while. It was horrible?" Hermione said, somewhat ashamed.
Harry hugged Hermione and said, "You poor thing. I supposed this is what the whole PETA deal was about eh Mione?"
"Yes, I know, I know. The cost of fixing other's people actions is rather high for us. Some good did come out of it? I developed a new runic array that could regrow the sheath around the damaged neurons. I chose a runic array, because the non-verbal magic and the intent modification, is a ten-page long solution. I have no idea how to word such a spell, so I am boiling down everything to runes and arithmancy. The more targeted the magic becomes, the longer the enchantment, especially when modifying biological material. However, the cost of casting the magic is really small. Those long dark rituals that take hours? It makes sense now. Targeting the sheath alone in the neuron, even your mum found it challenging."
"Well, congratulations Mione. This is big! I suppose we can ask mom for a trial case?"
"Perhaps. But I do have something else that is pretty great. Worth your occasional trip to my place?"
"Which is?" Harry asked.
"Augmentations. They are temporary, partial transfigurations to the human body. We are only borrowing a feature – it is not an entire transfiguration like an animagus. Your internal organs stay the same, only with some slightly different biological structures. I have one already ready to go."
"Holy shit! That is some biological sorcery! How does it work?" Harry asked.
"We can use Morgana's arithmancy runes to borrow features from other magical animals temporarily. After all, that isn't something too farfetched. Not with the ability of normal wizards to do partial animal transfiguration and the existence of animagi. We are fine-tuning a piece of magic that most wizards have never bothered to investigate. The long term idea is to implement the augmentations permanently without having the drawback of becoming a raging psychopath. For now, they are temporary. So, runes and arithmancy instead of goat blood and pentagrams"
"So what feature do you have ready?"
"I have a temporary argument that is based that is an eye lens retune and limited infrared vision. Those features I borrowed from Grace and a horned serpent, respectively. Combined both of them. So basically…...Predator Vision. Here, try it?"
"Time to get to da choppa!" Harry joked, as he attached the small clip to his temple and was surprised to see the heat vision overlayed against his normal vision, which had far more visual acuity. Harry engaged his Mage sight and found that his existing magic continued to work with the augment. And now his eyes were ridiculously sharp.
"Holy shit! This is fantastic! Grace has a pair of eyes on her! I could read fine print on damned roadsigns! Any chance we can get this….permanent? How long does it work for, Mione?"
"The argument disappears after the body becomes fatigued enough. If we use it sparingly, we can use it for very long. Continuously? Fifteen minutes. When the optical pathways get a break and recover you can use them again. Permanent alteration might be very possible if we produce the materials synthetically, and then surgically graft them into our bodies with healing therapies and the right type of occlumency. We will also require some far more advanced potion work."
"Congratulations. This is…ridiculously amazing! What about the other things that you need help with?" Harry asked.
"Oh right, yes I need you to fabricate something rather complex. Today is one of those earth-shattering discoveries days, where you are my sidekick!" Hermione laughed as she went over to a plastic prop. Harry realised what the 3D printed vertebrae had been used for, as he looked over the rough design. She explained:
"I managed to tie this external pseudo-spinal cord into my brain with the protean charm. Here, try it on…..and yes, the magic is bridging the sensation and the feedback. I am not sure what is going on here. I took inspiration from the portrait modification and magic is helping me with the rest. The polymer strands aren't the best work, I had to do the two hundred of them individually."
Harry was quite surprised as he clipped on the spinal harness to the back of the shirt and pressed the power rune. He found himself able to actuate some rough-looking bundles of polymer muscle strands. It almost felt like he had another set of limbs, that had always been present.
"This…this…..is fantastic! We could make prosthetics! We could help the cripple walk again! I can even feel the feedback. It is a bit strong though?"
"Correct Harry. The muscle polymer while synthetic has some thin copper speaker wire that acts like nerves. I want to use this as a trial interface for the muscle weave, this afternoon. I need you to join your mind to mine, and we are going to fabricate a structure that is similar to my spinal cord for the main interface. I will provide the structure, and you will weave the muscle fibres, gold threads and copper conductors into the polymer."
"What about if we can commit the magic to an emitter, so we can manufacture the material automatically? You might have to do some rune work, but as long as we can commit the arithmantic formula to a wand core we can make the rest easy. How about we….."
By the time late Sunday night had arrived, Harry and Hermione were now grouping the larger synthetic fibre bundles into spare polymer suits. While there were many "dead spots", the majority of the muscle fibres in the torso, arms and legs, back and abdominals were working, and provided neural feedback. A quick test in the gym with the new 'muscle weave' allowed them almost to double their current strength. No complex control system was necessary – as long as they could think about it, the artificial muscle behaviour directly synced to their organic counterparts. Both of the 'spinal interfaces' had been modelled after their spinal cords, and they responded well to their magic.
Harry and Hermione realised that there was a cost when brains communicated so directly, for sustained periods. It required a large amount of energy and focus, and Harry found himself limping back to the shop, as he collapsed on the couch. After all, he had 'hosted' the link, as Hermione began to learn the magical feel of the skill. Eventually, she had taken over when she had gotten the intent right, but Harry was already too tired. Remus and Sirius out of concern, dragged him up to his bedroom as Hermione explained over a call the complex magic they had weaved.
The next morning at Hogwarts, Draco and his goons found themselves unpleased by the article in the Daily Prophet. Rita Skeeter had been forced to publish objective articles by Lorna, and the mad Scottish woman had let the internet memes through. Many of the muggleborn students were laughing at the Star Wars quip:
Sirius Black cleared! Lord Aurelian Black Returns? But who is "Jabba the Hutt?"
- An exclusive by Rita Skeeter
Yesterday was a rather explosive morning session within the Wizengamot. It began with many of the Pureblooded houses discussing the course of action concerning the recent murder of many Heads of Houses. Of course, that discussion did not mention that the same men were all in confirmed Death Eater garb. Also, the spell traces demonstrated that without a doubt, the Crucio was used on random, unsuspecting citizens.
By Lady Hecate, we haven't even discussed the Anti-apparition wards either. Naturally, it was a moment of solidarity for the darker houses until Dame Longbottom descended upon the proposed legislation. Perhaps she has lost her vulture-styled hat, but she still has the political clout.
But interestingly, Lord Greengrass, a person who heads the Neutrals asked some rather interesting questions. He enquired as to if the Storm-bringers were indeed responsible, were they any facilities to hold them? He also tore apart the bill, and even provided a unique perspective – he insisted that the structure of the legislation could be institutionalised, and then the terms could be changed by the prevailing authorities to pursue any agenda. An argument for the case of authoritarian law - a slope that we should not ever cross. He was very astute about such finer issues.
Just when it could not get any more entertaining, a long lost Lord Aurelian Black, brother of Arcturus Black came into the Wizengamot and assumed his seat. He gave the magical vow of his identity, and he even openly displayed the new Black House magic, before financially threatening the Darker houses. I cannot discuss the terms of the threat, as I do not understand them fully. It seemed to be a big enough threat to make the other side think twice. I have never seen a snake with that many heads, nor have I seen house magic that was that large. Lord Black was absolutely livid, and then he started to use a combination of words that left everyone gasping for their sanity. Never have we heard such word arrangements and creatively rich insults.
Lord Black then proceeded to use any number of colourful terms during the session including "Goatmaster, Pond Dweller and red-assed baboon". Lord Black questioned the imprisonment of his grandson Sirius Black and the death of Harry Potter. He even threatened to have an army of retainers at the Ministry's office this morning, if they did not compensate Sirius Black adequately.
But finally, the last bit of colourful behaviour was when Lord Black called Dolores Umbridge, the Senior Undersecretary of Magic, "Jabba the Hutt." After consulting my trusty muggle friend, I was then provided with a picture of this 'movie character.'
As you can see, the resemblance is….uncanny!
I also managed to obtain a picture of the discount peacock as it is called – it is normally a flowerpot that muggles can buy. Lucius Malfoy was technically wearing the same colours. Perhaps I might purchase one, indeed!
My lovelies, stay safe as I bring you the latest news in a world where everything has gone mad!
Any number of Muggle students were laughing as "Jabba the Hutt" became the first meme of the Wizarding world. Professor McGonagall who read the article was only too happy to comment:
"The resemblance is truly uncanny! Although I think Dolores is the worst looking of the both of them!"
Draco and his gang were quiet as everything that they had been hoping for had fallen through, and it seemed like nothing could go right. Another Triumvirate meeting had been scheduled, and once again Pansy Parkinson made a beeline for Daphne Greengrass. The Ice-Princess with her natural display of political prowess explained:
"A lot of you are supposedly all about exercising power. And yet, you freely mention your House business here in these discussions, with no concern for the future ramifications! I say, keep your friends close and your enemies closer. I am under no obligation to explain my long-term goals. I am going to get comfortable with everyone, and then decide what to do…..like a true Slytherin…"
Most of the darker houses, who were grasping at straws, automatically assumed that the Greengrasses were secretly planning to support them perhaps at a more opportune time. Others had doubts about the arrival of a new Lord Black. In reality, Daphne had merely crafted the right statement, that would allow for several parties to consider their one-sided interpretation.
The next three weeks passed quickly, as Hogwarts settled into its usual lull.
Albus Dumbledore found himself quite surprised as Luna Lovegood had produced correspondence from Master Painter Clementine Delacour. This situation has been doctored by Harry, and Albus did not suspect anything. Rather, the promise of restoring many old portraits was something Albus was excited about - he generally used them to spy around the castle. Luna had mentioned that her touch-ups would provide the portraits with more vitality. He assumed that he would be granted even better surveillance. Arrangements were made for Luna to spend the Saturdays at Delacour Manor, and her transportation was handled by Gringotts. A portkey was provided (with Ministry of Magic clearance) and Luna found herself in the presence of the spunky old woman from the second week onwards. Of course, this visit had been accompanied by Sirius Black, Harry and his mother, Priya. As Clementine spent the evening instructing the young blond haired girl, Luis then explained his reasoning for the South American operation:
"Harry, I think we need you for this. I already have the documentation ready. The Minister himself lobbied for you to be given a 'Kill Team Permit' and we have some dossiers on the kind of monsters you will be dealing with. We have lost many men to the jungle. We have never carried out operations in such humid and dangerous places. I am hoping you may have the advantage, with your unique talents. Human trafficking, Organ trade, Drugs and Narcotics? It seems that the magicals are working with corrupt local authorities. Of course, we have to negotiate a bounty"
After Harry looked through the files he was quite distressed.
"I want their heads on a dammed pike. Give me that, and Hermione and I will handle everything for free. If we see any weapons or explosives worth taking, then that too. You will be given a video feed and instantaneous communication if you need specific objectives. Mr Granger is also quite talented, he can run the operation. "
"The Minister will find that agreeable. Shortly before Christmas, we will deploy you. And oh, those dinners my mother promised you? She has been busy with business. We will have to get that etiquette session in, probably later on. The whole of France is rushing in, it has been hectic."
"I understand. Been busy myself. The weapons and Armor are undergoing the third phase of advancement. When I am ready, I will let you know what I can sell." Harry explained.
"Merci, Harry. The initial weapons have been successful. We are just waiting for funding to clear. We are interested in another 500 pistols. We were pleased with the safety features. We have been able to recover every single pistol that was stolen. We are also ready for 1500 Allure suppression bracelets, and 1000 magical flashlights."
Harry took notes of what the French needed, as Luis teased him about the multiple Order of Merlins that he was supposed to receive.
Harry and Hermione were now arms dealers.
Meanwhile, Clementine in the far end of the studio was only too happy to speak to Priya and Sirius. Finally, she had met the woman who had started Harry on his journey to greatness, along with the man who had survived a decade of Dementors. Clementine soon realised that even with Harry's long list of accomplishments, he still was a child in many respects. He liked to lie down on his mother's lap and loved being poked, tickled and pinched. Sirius was often on the end of many small, but harmless pranks. As the boy's mother, her insight into the experience of raising him had been hilarious and saddening. The boy was already taking care of himself before she had met him, and he continued to operate in such a manner. The only difference was that he was now supported, and he received as much affection as he wanted. The woman had even opted to share her experience of being kidnapped, as Clementine understood that if Harry had truly reverted to behaving his age, she would have been missing or dead after they had raped her and Lorna.
"Such heavy burdens he has as a boy, and he is stubborn. The only thing I could do is to promise to patch him up. Although, he hasn't sustained any injuries as yet." Priya commented sadly.
"They will arrive one day. My son is an Auror and I have seen enough injuries. My advice is to keep calm, and handle him like any other patient." Clementine replied.
Late into the evening, Priya had spoken about being an immigrant muggleborn witch in a "Western Magical School". She was distinctly aware that several indigenous magical practices in India were positively ancient, and she had been planning to learn those methods. She was currently piecing together a complex piece of research, and when she was ready, she would embark upon the land of her ancestors, to reclaim much of her cultural and magical heritage.
Magic in India was not taught in schools – it was taught in ancient Ashramas that were hidden from prying eyes on certain mountain peaks. Institutions that had been present for many millennia. Places that predated Western Society by utter aeons.
Sirius had been only too happy with explaining his role as Harry's supporter and Godfather. He ruefully admitted that in any case, he often felt like the child in the relationship and that Harry as a boss was "demanding business." He had also discussed any of the prospective business opportunities concerning the new items and services that were being created. Clementine received an updated data slate and communication earbud that was in its fourth revision. She was quite happy to have instant access to Invictus, and she was going to see if she could acquire any additional books.
Luna had explained her gift, and Clementine wa too happy to see her rather impressionist perspective on the various creatures that lived between the veil. Some of them seemed to be harmless and playful, and others seemed to be aware of Luna, but chose not to interact with her. She even spoke about her encounter with a giant spectral caterpillar in the Hogwarts greenhouse, who had chosen to speak to her.
"Why hello there, you have Rowena's sight indeed. News gets around. We heard your friends killed Craig. Mind you his real name was The-eternal-darkness-that-binds but we named him Craig."
"Craig? Why Craig?" Luna asked.
"He hates humans, so giving him a human name was our way of insulting him. Prefers young girls, as he had a fetish for them. He had almost paedophilic tendencies. He was the oldest, but also the most vicious among us in Wizarding England. Some of the others who float around your friend's house saw the entire battle."
"Oh – alright. I didn't even ask your name. It is nice to meet you. Do you have a name?"
"I was not born with one, but as I picked up many languages over many centuries, I decided on Steven! I like it. An average name for an average fellow!"
"Well Steeven, Luna Lovegood. If you are ever bored, you can hang out with us. My friends can't see you, but they trust that you are there. I am getting good energy off you."
"Very observant young lady. Anyway, I am off. I generally visit the London theatre regularly. Going to find myself a nice post and curl up. Then I am going to enjoy the show. Laaaaater Lunaaaaaa!"
For the Slytherins who were nearby, this only cemented the idea that Luna Lovegood was a stark raving mad looney bin. Luna, on the other hand, could care less. Steeven the spectral caterpillar had the sort of vibe you would associate with a bespectacled character from a cartoon. She hoped that maybe he could tell her about the interesting things he had seen over the centuries, one day.
"So yes Clementine, I spoke to a rather colourful spectral caterpillar. He was just passing through, it seems. They get up to their own business." Luna explained.
"Perhaps a children's storybook about your adventures would be fantastic. You could even do your artwork!" Clementine suggested.
Luna continued to draw with the inks and pigments, as Clementine began to help her weave the portrait magic with her fingers and her intention. Tipsy and Mipsy continued to learn from the Delacour Elves in the kitchen, all of who were recovering rather nicely with the aid of the cradle.
Daphne and Tracey had been sent black sportswear, and found themselves with the assistance of the hoodies, able to come and go from the Slytherin common room every morning for exercise. Slytherins tended to be late-night owls and heavy morning sleepers. While Daphne and Tracey did not publicly interact with the trio, it did not matter much. They often spoke to each other regularly and Daphne and Tracey were only too happy to meet Fleur Delacour of Beauxbatons. For the Slytherins, Daphne and Tracey were their frontline witches at year one, as they seemed to be right behind the trio.
Of course, the rest of the Slytherins were not aware that their top snakes were getting help. Soon enough, Daphne and Tracey passed under the radar, as the children of the darker houses could not make the contributions that they made regularly. It was alway assumed that they were working in Slytherin's interest. Daphne and Tracey would often remark that they were the only people keeping Slytherin in the race, and that "If you love your House here at Hogwarts, you should leave us to work constructively."
Draco had not let go of "Lungbuttum" and "the Weasel". His inquisitorial squad attempted to accost the trio in the hallways, but they could never seem to be found. It almost seemed like they were ghosts. Many times, the deployed groups mistook other students for the trio, and House Slytherin continued to lose points, even after Horace Slughorn had made any number of attempts to reign in his more enthusiastic students.
The trio had been invited back to Potions class, with the arrival of Horace Slughorn. Ronald Weasley was now the new brewing star of Hogwarts. He also made himself available to Fred and George, who were only too happy to get advice on how to finetune their more gastronomically spectacular joke products.
"The flobberworm slime isn't poisonous, but it will definitely make people heave the contents of their entire stomach. That and the snail slime might be very ghastly."
"Right, that one is going into our Puking Pastille. Ronald, you are our primary potioneer for our business." Fred explained.
"As long as I am learning coin, why not? Don't put them out yet. After Christmas, we can make some decisions, as I know something that you don't." Ronald explained.
"We are getting tired of that expression, but alright. Deal. We are going to run Zonko's out of business, and you ickle ronnekins are our research and development team"
"I don't know, ickle ronnekins doesn't exist anymore. I might surpass both of you in height and size soon enough. You will have to get a new nickname?" Ronald joked.
He was busy with his personal exercise program, and he often ate many small meals in the Hogwarts kitchen. The Hogwarts elves were only too happy to help "Mr Weezy" and Ronald often gave them whatever magic he could muster through his fingers.
A drone was eventually dispatched to the forbidden corridor, and Harry was able to ascertain that a important object was stored behind some type of obstacle course. The teachers would gather on Saturday and enchant objects and defences. Truthfully, Harry found all these obstacles almost childish and of no real challenge.
Then it hit him – this was a training course for Neville and the rest.
A plan began to form in Harry's brain. Harry would allow Neville to complete the challenges, but at the last moment, he would pull him out and storm into the situation, with guns blazing. Dumbledore would get his trio to fight whatever was coming to Hogwarts from his perspective. As Harry considered who would be interested in upsetting the magical world, he realised that some other piece of Lord Voldemort was out there, from Dumbledore's office musings. On suspicion, he teleported into Hogwarts and examined Quirrell, based on what Luna had seen.
What he saw under the turban, made the entire situation make sense.
Harry then visited Bloodaxe and Lord Ragnok right after and explained his entire encounter with the locket that he had destroyed, along with the back of Quirrell's head. King Ragnok who believed that he was ready in any case, explained the practice of creating Horcruxes or Soul Containers. Suddenly, Harry's past altercations made sense, and Harry suggested:
"We are going to track all of his Horcruxes down. We will keep them alive and well at a secure off-site facility, and we will incinerate all of them at the right time. We don't want to tip him off."
"An excellent plan Harry. Yes, deal him a crippling blow when he least expects it." Ragnok replied.
"By the way Bloodaxe – I am melting down everything in the Peverell vault for engineering materials. Take the suggested cut. I am going to need all of it, soon enough. I also need two companies set up and they will own various brands and items in Diagon Alley. Also, I plan to donate to Hogwarts, so that I can use the funding to pressure Dumbledore or the Ministry."
"Oh! Devious indeed!" Bloodaxe replied.
King Ragnok nodded as they spoke about how they could go about with another phase of goblin expansion, and what would be an effective way to manufacture the right kind of tunnels. Harry explained that there were millions of tons of plastic over the world in landfills, and if they could convert the trash into tunnel structures, they would have millions of tons of free material available to them.
"I will ask Timilf to investigate – we can shape any material but we have a preference for steel." King Ragnok explained.
"Perhaps I can make a large enough mould and we can try enhancing the strength of the plastic with additives. Maybe by helping you with this, I may not have to resort to using steel for the development of the battleship." Harry wondered.
"My guard and I are also interested in getting Goblin-sized armour with the same features as your own. I am aware that further advancements will come, but the shields and melee weapons would be welcome for now."
"If Timilf will forge the correct size of plates for you, Hermione and I can do the other enhancements," Harry replied, as he took notes about what features to prioritise.
Quidditch practise was in progress for the Gryffindor's upcoming match against Slytherin, on the 10th of November. For the Slytherin onlookers, there was hardly any difference in broom performance. Charlie had tuned all the Weasley brooms to standard Stormbolt levels of performance to mislead the onlookers. Slytherin had already taken the bait. Perkins and Diggory were happy and excited to hear that Ronald had acquired a broom from a "private manufacturer". The redhead under supervision in utter darkness, practised goalkeeping as he exercised his powered gauntlet and his Morrigan to its full capacity.
"I am telling you…we could win the cup this year!" Cedric explained to Ronald.
"Don't be so sure….Charlie is good as they come and he has a broom that is far faster and agile than the Stormbolt. He was paid to test the Stormbolt, he understands the broom better than anybody. The broom that he currently has, will arrive for Christmas. The Rudra – it happens to be the replacement."
"Top speed?" asked Perkins.
"After his tuning and whatnot, 245 mph," Ronald replied
"That is fast! What do suggest? I can see you have an idea." asked Perkins.
"Put the whole team on him to keep him unbalanced, and let me guard the goalposts. I am not letting the Quaffle in. As long as you can keep on him, we can keep the game at 0-0. However, if he catches the snitch, we will lose. Although, if we do lose, he will be out by next year. So then, we the badgers will rule the Quidditch pitch."
"Brilliant! Alright, we will work on learning his flying patterns. Ravenclaw should be no issue. We have to start figuring out your brother, early. Looks like the Badgers versus the Lions for the cup then." Perkins replied as he realised that Ronald was quite possibly professional quidditch material.
Hermione's birthday came on the 19th of September, and for the first time, she had visitors besides Harry. Now with the trio in the loop, it was quite easy to leave the castle with Grace's assistance. Ronald who wanted to impress her, found a magical wardrobe and a magical clock.
Hermione had installed as many hands as possible for her entire extended family. What made the gift funny, was that Hermione had divided the clock's descriptions into "Academic Studies, Magical Studies, Workshop Shenanigans, Personal Lab time, Out for food, Exercise, Family time, Plotting, Household chores, Combat Practice and Something else" Now the hands on the clock were swinging all over regularly, as her immediate group were rather busy.
Hermione hugged Ronald, as she considered it a rather thoughtful gift. Neville and Luna who were in on the joke merely grinned. Harry had picked up on the tiny blush that Ronald had on his face, but had chosen to say nothing for now. Harry had gifted the bookworm an expensive microscope, and other assorted lab equipment. Luna and Neville had gotten Hermione a blue dress that was perfectly her size. As the party wrapped up, many containers of food and party items were packed up for Tracey and Daphne, who were informed their "guy's" sister had her birthday recently, and that next time they would receive an invite.
September was now over and the trio had settled well into the school. Now, Ronald Neville and Luna often led the rankings, and Horace Slughorn sensing that these three magicals would become utterly powerful, even allowed them to function as a group. According to him, "you seem comfortable enough, and you three hardly require supervision"
Truthfully, he wanted to cash in on whatever perks he could get in the future.
When Severus Snape who became a full-time dungeon dweller heard that Ronald Weasley was the top potions student, he drank a substantial amount of his scotch that night. At the same time, Harry continued to track Quirrell. One evening the discussion that occurred was:
"Should we tell them Harry?" asked Hermione.
"No – we will advise that they don't stay in proximity of him. Moldy knows something is on to him, but I think he is more threatened by Dumbledore. He had been snooping around the trap door. Let us not tip him off. Snape has been following him from what I am seeing. Christmas, we will tell the group. I don't want them receiving information and running off with a half-loaded gun."
As Sirius began to exercise his financial threats, most of the darker houses became quiet. It seemed that whatever financial power that Lord Black held over the houses had been enough to scare them shitless. Lucius Malfoy began to sell all of his heritage art and began to accumulate the one million galleons that were owed. He also lent Lord Nott and many other notable former Death Eaters, large sums of money. The idea was to be free of Lord Black's political manipulation and suddenly Malfoy Manor lost a lot of its charm and there was only barren stone on the walls.
"This should keep us free of that filthy muggle lover. Just imagine House Black has lost all of its prestige. Among us as brothers who are in service to the Dark Lord, no interest. We will seize everything they own when our Lord returns." Lucius insisted.
"Thank Lady Hecate for your foresight Lucius. Now that we are free to pursue our agenda, how much will he collect in all?" asked Lord Nott.
"Approximately six million galleons from us. The other smaller houses are still under pressure, so it will be up to us to lead the charge."
"Lucius, he must be punished. What about our assassins?" asked Lord Gibbon.
"They assured me that they could break the wards on the Black residence. They are working on executing their plan" replied Lucius.
"Perhaps we need a different strategy. Perhaps we must work in the shadows. We need to embed deeply in every single Ministry department. Perhaps we can set up the necessary mechanisms and when our Lord returns, we can spring a trap" suggested Lord Jugson.
"What about the Storm-Lord? He killed Crabbe and Goyle. Parkinson believes that he also killed Cassius. We haven't been able to pin him? What if he moves against us?" asked Lord Nott.
"Perhaps we can lie low. Do you think he can survive a Dragon? Or perhaps a Nundu? There are any number of truly dangerous magical beasts that can finish a man no matter how strong he is!" replied Lord Gibbon. The men in the room nodded, as they hoped that eventually the right time to deal with the Storm Lord would arrive. Most of the pureblood students who preferred to celebrate Yuletide with their parents would arrive for the holiday season to a very different reality.
It was now the middle of October.
The trio had been invited to Hagrid's Hut. The half-giant wanted to explore the interaction between the Squid and the students. Ronald had been only too happy to provide some snickers that he was carrying around in his pockets, and Luna explained how creatures could sense magic – sometimes a wand was not necessary if a person could project their magic.
"Why do you think you are so successful with animals Hagrid? They can sense that you are a jolly good fellow. They know that they can trust you." Neville replied.
"Thanks yer lot. Yer very observant. Maybe I oughtta think about tha' some more eh? You think any of yer are interested in a career wid' magical creatures?" Hagrid asked.
"Not a career as per se, but I would be interested in side-line research. I think I would like that very much." Luna answered.
"Wha about da rest of yer?" Hagrid asked.
"We are going into careers that require runes and arithmancy. However, we do plan to visit you regardless of what subjects we choose to do. And if we can get anything for you to help out….sure! We might make stuff to make your life easier?" Neville replied.
"As long as you yer comin to visit me, I am right happy bout that!" Hagrid replied brightly.
"We should do this more often. I often think about Harry. I am sure he would have liked you a lot. Thank you for the tea. I think those creatures you have created, I would like to send some samples to a friend." Neville replied.
Hagrid's face softened, as he nodded silently.
"Yer lot are always invited to my cabin, any time yer feel like it, and I aint busy!" the half-giant replied.
At the end of October, Harry had finally finished with the retrofits to Gringotts. While they had been using certain innovations of his selectively, now they were completely outfitted for Solar power. There were any number of magical and shielded muggle tools. The Goblins being technically minded took quickly to welding and fabricating steel. Remus offered his knowledge and on other days and the pair conducted small lectures on their discoveries and other common scientific tools. Bill, who had sat in for many of the lectures was now leveraging Cubic equations and other algebraic methods to solve arithmantic problems far more efficiently. The senior Wardmistress had gotten her problem cracked and as Hermione looked over the calculations, an idea came to her head about how Grace's transportation possibly worked. As Harry and Hermione scribbled the calculations in the cave, above the surface other events were happening.
Augusta had decided that in her spare time, she would work in the kitchen. Amba and Molly were only too happy for another warm body to help with the daily operations as they functioned as Gringotts' official caterer. Molly's methods became even more streamlined, and the Goblins who were introduced to coffee found "Lord Peverell's choice of drink" to be a mental buzz.
Soon enough as new equipment was purchased and the place next door was renovated. Now the Weasley-Singh Kitchen possessed a small private dining area and even a floo, that was linked to one of the Hogwarts rooms that were used for staff meetings. Most of the professors preferred to have Hogwarts lunch and dinner for most of the week, but coffee and other small finger foods were often purchased and Friday seemed to be the "eating out day".
Arthur had left his job at the Ministry and between himself, Reginald and Cyrus they had officially completed their equipment sale to Gringotts Africa. Gringotts China and India who had split the previous order of equipment, required replacement "power cells" and new "emitter cores". Harry would pop in occasionally as he continued to design modules with minor incremental upgrades. Arthur, Cyrus and Reginald found themselves flabbergasted when the Gringott's statements arrived.
"Had you told me I would be multimillion galleon rich before the end of this year, I would not have believed you," Cyrus commented as he shared a celebratory drink with Reginald and Arthur.
"Had someone told me that I could meet the Wizengamot fine, and have extra to spare I would not have believed them either," Arthur commented as he sat down and rubbed his head.
"When Harry had mentioned such a high commission, I still was in denial about how much money that was….but to see that amount of gold in my account, it is something else…." Reginald replied.
Harry then appeared in tow with Hermione and Sirius, as they took a seat. He had been at Gringotts earlier, and he was already informed about the status of the successful sale.
"Congratulations on the successful sale! While technically you are wealthier than most Wizards, we still have more work to do. We had some recent breakthroughs and Hermione and I need more time to experiment. We are hoping that you guys can run all the secondary businesses. And you are getting handsome commissions." Harry enquired.
"All of them?" Reginald asked.
"Yes. We are flirting with using Fiendfyre to generate magical power in a constant controllable method, and that challenge is no joke. We also have A-Level studies to balance. We can study and invent, but not anything else."
"I think we can handle it. These ventures have been rather lucrative and we are enjoying the success very much. I can see the rather severe look on your faces. Is something wrong?" Cyrus asked.
"Yes. We are having problems with two projects. We are on the cusp of having a personal transporter but there seems to be one missing variable. We are talking about something that far outstrips personal portkeys. This would allow us to go anywhere we wanted based on coordinates. The mathematics, well I have been trying.
The other project is that we are making progress with Alice and Frank. The procedure is very experimental, but we have an idea of how to attempt it. We want to repair the damage to their nervous system, but we have never done the procedure before. It could cause them great pain, and the ethical implications are rather dicey if the runes aren't correct?" Hermione commented.
"That is a pickle…." replied Cyrus.
"Yes. We want you Uncle Arthur to run all of your children's projects, Uncle Cyrus you can run mine, and Uncle Reginald you can run Hermione's portfolio. Or maybe you can run all of them collectively and share everything up. We will organise your commissions. We are heading off to the lab, once again, to tear our hair out. Grace!" Harry yelled.
ZAP!
"I suppose we can't complain?" asked Cyrus.
"I think we will have a lot of fun. I think we can certainly manage the many items that the women in our life, have requested of us." Reginald laughed.
"Perhaps it might be time to update our manors – I think I like the office illumination far better. The candles are a bit of a pain now. Many of the standard things around the office would work well at home." Cyrus mused.
"About that…take a look at what Harry is building at my place. I understand he is testing certain features for his…spaceship? He did the architecture?" Arthur explained.
Both men looked at the pictures.
"He surely has an eye for design. Looks fantastic and modern. We want tours when it is done?" Cyrus laughed.
"Certainly. I am glad Harry came by and gave us a kick in the behind. The rings and the other things are being dusted, and recommissioned as necessary from this evening…" Arthur replied.
"Excellent. I think it is time for the Weasleys to return to politics." Cyrus approvingly replied, as Reginald nodded. Arthur contemplatively looked at his drink, and thought about how profoundly things had changed.
Harry had celebrated his grandmother's birthday. It was a rather big affair and Luna, Neville and Ronald had been grabbed from Hogwarts via Grace. Harry had truly smiled all night long – it was the biggest birthday bash he had ever experienced. He now had his adoptive family, and the family of his three "students." The entire Peverell Kitchen had been laid out, and even Clementine and and the rest had attended. The Greengrass and the Davis family (minus Daphne and Tracey) were quite happy to meet the legendary Master Painter.
Fleur and Gabrielle were only too happy to finally meet "Harry's students" and their English had improved quite a lot. The trio had even picked up a fair amount of French from the girls. Fleur in particular, seemed to have little trouble pronouncing words that were normally troublesome for French English speakers.
Sirius now had stepped into a fatherly role and he was enjoying himself. He even seemed to enjoy a lot of giggles and laughs with Priya and then it clicked for both Harry and Hermione. Hermione had pulled Harry aside much later on and had whispered into his ears:
"They like each other but won't admit it. You realize that right?" Hermione insisted.
"I am not saying anything, but I am praying really hard?" Harry laughed.
"I know why. You deserve this. Anyway, let us get back. Oh, tonight was nice – everybody got to meet everybody else! Gabrielle seems to love hanging around Ginny and Astoria! They are so cute! Fleur was eyeing Bill, and I ship them!" Hermione laughed.
After Hermione had disappeared, Harry then whispered to himself, "All that observational power and you haven't noticed that you like talking to Ronald. Mione sees everything else but is blind when it comes to herself. Heh, funny!" Harry smirked.
During the next couple of days, the two main shell companies had been put in place by Gringotts. Snakebite Luxuries and Viper Vanities operated only via magical catalogue and they were offering luxury items. Harry was preparing for the launch of the data slates, Molly's kitchen appliances, Fred and George's beater bats and Charlie and Luna's codesigned Quidditch Armor and robes. The Quibbler, along with several selected textbook authors were already onboard for having their content accessed by the data slate.
The plan was simple – Albus Dumbledore would run off on a wild goose chase to locate these secretive shell companies. As people became fascinated with the items, the variety would imply that several groups of powerful wizards were responsible for their production. That would allow him and Hermione to fade into the background – they were the sole owners of everything and people would not realise that they were grabbing control of the market.
Of course, Lorna had been brilliant in making up some cock and bull story about the Artificing Guild of Rivendell. Even the name was a giant trolling exercise. As of recently, the secretive order had decided to return home to their ancestral home of England. They were interested in offering magical products that were "luxurious" and for "individuals of discerning taste". Lorna knew exactly what type of lingo made the Purebloods aroused, and she had lured most of them in even before the catalogues were ready. She had also released rumours that the Artificing Guild were purebloods and that the "Storm-Lord and the Storm-Priestess were renegades, and they would be killed for betraying the Guild."
They would make no public movements in Wizarding England, as they lured the Purebloods into a false sense of security.
Lorna had explained her methodology – The trio would take the lead as the main vanguard against the Dark Lord, and Harry and Hermione would only reveal themselves after silently collecting information and setting up targets beforehand. Harry and Hermione found this new direction to be confusing – Why after making such an effort to become visible, should they suddenly disappear?
The both of them had a eureka moment: They began to suspect that Lorna probably had seer blood in her.
No wonder she had been able to line up events in a certain, executable order. Both of them had decided to broach the issue politely at a much later time, just to be sure that their suspicions were correct. In any case, Lorna had always given them the best advice and she was talented at subtly manipulating political events.
Finally, the I.C.W Quidditch board had agreed to view a Quidditch test broadcast amongst the executives. Sirius would demo a small set of drones that could avoid other players while capturing video footage. If the test run was successful, then the service would find itself all over the I.C.W countries. The Chudley Cannons were meeting their new owner, Mr Padfoot Snuffles, and they would be flying on the best possible gear. Douglas, the new keeper had been secured for early next year, and they would use their current seeker and play an entire season until Charlie could be signed into the team next year May.
November the 1st had arrived with a true reason for celebration, after a continuous Worskhop sprint. From the 29th of October, the pair had hunkered down and worked non-stop. Hermione had finally cracked the problem as she realised that once again that science was linked very much to magic. Peverell Manor had been a ruckus that day, as there were multiple trips to the kettle, that morning. She had decided to factor in the earth's gravity (g), a well-known constant in physics, into the arithmancy equations. Suddenly, many of the more complex calculations had merely boiled down and became far simpler. Hermione was now looking at an arithmantic solution, if combined with the right runes that could theoretically transport an item anywhere, as long as they could power the device adequately.
And it was driven by latitude, longitude, and elevation.
Nothing was for free – you want to visit a place you have never seen before? You wanted to carry a large mass? You wanted your orientation and velocity respected? Every conditionality added into the runic array increased the power demands. Harry would need almost fifty BMPs to power this array for a trip to the Delacours. And that was only for himself.
However, Harry had managed to apparate to an unknown location, a small distance away by merely punching in latitude and longitude coordinates. While the one-way transport had eaten up an entire powercell worth of energy, the project had been considered a success. Now the issue was to get a power source, instead of pumping magical power from the environment. Harry decided that for the rest of the year he would focus purely on advancing the muscle weave, and designing a magical reactor to power the new monstrosity. Hermione had decided to focus on the augmentations and the solution to Franks and Alice's conundrum, as she worked with Priya.
Sirius and Remus were slowly creating large amounts of stocked products so that they could take on other projects. They had gotten a fair amount of experience with the Gringotts retrofits were now outfitting Greengrass, Davis and Longbottom greenhouses with modern Hydroponic facilities. Ophelia and Amy found themselves dealing with magical plants that grew far more quickly. Amy seemed to be a natural at growing rather large leafy green crops. Of course, they did not need to do all the work by themselves. Harry had repurposed a lot of old projects to create an entire fleet of agricultural drones, and Invictus often joked that he was "now a humble farmer, tending to his crops." His drones were mostly driven by many obscure Longbottom and Greengrass herbology spells, a mixture of Hermione's runes and AI algorithms that Harry had bootstrapped. Only minimal maintenance was needed - Harry had a talent for pathfinding tensors, now that Hermione had taught him the ropes.
Astoria and Ginny were now proud grease monkeys and tom-boys as they secretly flew brooms, shot pistols, played videogames and even practised magic with many of the spare wands that were lying around the workshop. They looked at muggle movies, ate from the kitchen regularly and were enjoying their year before they too would join the fray. As Harry and Hermione continued to live in the workshop, Astoria and Ginny found themselves attempting to use wandless magic regularly.
All of these extensive preparations were to facilitate Harry's plans. Gringotts was far more efficient, and the products would corner the Wizarding Market. Finalky, a grand Christmas reveal was in place. Now, it was time to plan for the mission.
