Chapter 19:The Dinner, the news.

The next morning, Harry awoke to find the Peverell kitchen busy. Even his mother was helping. Lorna was lounging around as she played with Crookshanks. Remus and Sirius were having beers and compiling the results from their business operations. Later that day, Harry and Hermione apparated to Madam Malkin and gave her an early gift, as they collected the gifts for the Hogwarts staff members.

"Happy Christmas!" Harry replied brightly. He and Hermione then followed with their customary hugs.

"Thank you Harry and Hermione. Now, what is this?" Madam Malkin asked.

"It is a gift. It conjures a shield and it can make you invisible. We are giving you an artefact, just in case. Here let me show you how it works."

Harry then demonstrated the item, as the shield and the invisibility field were tested.

"Both of you made this? No wonder the battle was so one-sided. This is a fantastic piece of magic!"

"Hey, we are pretty proud of this ourselves!" Hermione replied.

"Thank you very much, Harry and Hermione. This gives me peace of mind. As you say, war is coming one day. I hope the robes are up to your specifications?" Madam Malkin asked.

"They are. It was hard getting the measurements, but the elves did a good job of it. I do want to see the Hogwarts staff in these robes sometime. I am glad we made multiple sets." Harry replied.

"Both of you enjoy your Yuletide. And remember, many people are safely home with their loved ones because of your actions. There is much blessing in that. Lilly and James would be very proud of you. And Hermione I am sure your parents are already proud."

Harry and Hermione hugged Madam Malkin again, as they got ready to leave.

"And you Grace! Keep him safe. He needs a babysitter!" Madam Malkin replied. Grace merely shook her head.

"Goodbye!" they both chorused.

ZAP.


It was late into the evening time, and the sun was just beginning to set on the horizon. Daphne Greengrass was now ready. She found it convenient that even out of school, she could talk to Tracey as if she was next to her. She had to admit the communicator was amazing. But then, Harry and Hermione were naturally brilliant.

"So Daffy are you dressing up for Harry?" Tracey teased.

"I am dressing up for myself thank you? Harry isn't like normal boys. I don't think he cares about what I put on?" Daphne responded, as she secretly wanted Harry to notice her. This was the one guy who easily surpassed her standards. No, she was the nincompoop now, and she did not like it one bit. The other issue was that she was just a child with a pubescent body, and Harry was a gorgeous teenager by her standards. Daphne listened to Tracey, as she explained her clothing choice:

"Well, that is why I am rocking my jeans. It is nice, I don't wear it much and I don't think there will be much fuss. You excited?"

"Not sure Trace. I mean, I want to see amazing magic but I don't know who else will be there besides Neville, Luna and Ronald. And this isn't a soirée. Mother has explained that Harry is blunt and hides behind no pretences. That is the opposite of what we do?"

"Dad said he will tell you exactly what he thinks because he does not need to walk a political tightrope. And oh, he tends to curse like a sailor. If you threaten him, it will be the last thing you will do because after that….you will be shot or sliced like a tomato."

"Maybe we can just treat them like Neville and the rest, Tracey. We don't have to hide behind any curtains when we speak to them. Maybe Neville learnt that behaviour from Harry, now that I think about it?"

"Daphne? Time to go!" Ophelia called from the kitchen.

Daphne then walked into the living room and found her father, mother and Astoria, who did not seem the least bothered about anything. But then, Astoria and Ginny roamed the Peverell Manor as they pleased. Her sister had explained that Grace loved dropping them off wherever they wanted to go. Getting around via phoenix, was old news for Astoria.

"Harry's phoenix, Grace will be here momentarily," Ophelia explained to Daphne.

"Oh, I do want to see this…Astoria told me about….her?" Daphne replied.

ZAP!

Daphne found herself looking at the most beautiful bird she had ever seen. Her tail feathers were long and flowing and her colours? They were blue and full of white streaks. Her wings also sported an impressive wingspan, and she alighted gracefully on a lamp and looked around at the environment. If Daphne had not seen her combat capability, she would have mistaken the phoenix for a tropical, exotic bird. Daphne was even more surprised when the bird looked at her for about ten seconds with a hard stare, as she dipped her head forward and did not blink. Daphne eventually looked away, and then heard a chuckling sound. Grace started to behave almost as if…the stare had been a joke? Grace's head bobbed in a laughing motion, as the impressionable avian sniggered at her. Then the bird hopped on her shoulder and gave her cheeks a little rub.

"Well, I like you too?" Daphne replied, as she grinned a little.

"EWE! EWE!"

"Oh, she likes you, Daphne. Grace is a prankster like her owner. She has never won a staring contest against Astoria though!" Ophelia replied as looked at her other daughter. Before Daphne could respond, she felt herself disassemble like in the floo, but this time the direction seemed sure and definite? Before she could ponder any more, her world faded to black and she could feel the energy buzzing on her skin.

ZAP!

Daphne found herself in the Peverell Workshop, and she began to observe the assembled people.


Daphne was not prepared to see the cutting-edge laboratory and workshop. As she looked around, she found the place to be the exact opposite of what she was comfortable with – there were no inkpots and parchment. No, there was only glinting steel, LEd lightning and other things she would associate with being a muggle. Soon enough the Weasley family arrived and Percy and Ginny merely dispersed to their favourite places. Then Tracey and her family were apparated in via Grace. Ronald came over if only to say hello. Tracey was now standing next to Daphne, and she found herself in awe of the place.

"Hello Lord Greengrass, Lord Davis. A pleasure to see you again."

"Likewise, Ronald."

Ronald then greeted Ophelia and Amy with the standard pure-blood greetings, which were a polite kiss on the knuckles. Ronald was the crux of a young scion of a pureblooded house, but his eyes and demeanour seemed more relaxed and laid back. It was full of quiet confidence. Daphne began to understand why Ronald and Neville were beginning to become a topic of conversation, particularly with the neutral witches. Luna would murder any of those girls if they even glanced in Neville's direction. Ronald seemed to be free real estate.

Fred and George the pranksters, were rather quiet as they looked around. Like young boys, they were immediately attracted to the entire wall of weapons. Naturally, they were interested in a practical demonstration. Of course, Fred and George had already been to Peverell manor. Today's difference was that they had never visited the main workshop and the armoury. Bill made his way over to a refrigerator and grabbed a beer as he sat down on the workshop couch with Remus.

Luna and Neville arrived with both Xeno and Augusta respectively. Luna seemed only too happy to curl up around Neville. It had not been unnoticed that they were a couple. Then, Andromeda Tonks and Ted Tonks appeared with their daughter, Nymphadora. The Hufflepuff had seen Daphne and Tracey in the corridor many times, and greeted the snakes with a "Hey Firsties!" before she walked off towards Charlie. He was the only person like herself - a seventh year who was leaving Hogwarts soon.

"Hey, Charlie? You know this bunch a long time?" Nymphadora asked.

"Hey, Tonks! I did, but not their full identities. Today I hear we are meeting the boy who tricked magical England, and the witch who kicked Draco Malfoy in the nuts."

"I know. I can't wait. I like the weapons. This is like the Batcave. Where is the batmobile though?"

Nymphadora or Tonks, as she preferred to be called, was not aware that her answer was three minutes out as the large gate began to open slowly.


"Well, that is a lot of people. I had no idea that Hufflepuff was the daughter of Andromeda Black. And we have the entire Weasley family, the Longbottoms, the Lovegoods, and then us." Tracey joked.

"The only other people who generally frequent this place are Hermione's parents, Harry's adoptive mother and her parents, Lord Black and Ms Lorna Findlay who is Ms Singh's friend. I can see that Remus and Bill are having a word on the infamous couch" Cyrus explained.

"Is the couch important?" Daphne asked.

"It certainly is, because they live most of their lives in the workshop. They don't eat formally at a table like us. They spend every scrap of time working. The couch is a bed, a place of discussion, a place for a family gathering, for discussing business deals. Today is a rather planned affair, actually?" Cyrus laughed.

Daphne found that utterly incredulous. Two of the most powerful wizards in England, and they built their entire lineage, their artefacts and had planned some of the most impossible things on this... couch? A disembodied voice was heard within the workshop.

"Ah Cyrus! I see your wife is here, and we have Reginald and Amy too! Bring young Ms Greengrass and Ms Davis, I would like to see them with my own eyes."

"Who is that?" Tracey questioned.

Ophelia led both girls to the most fantastic portrait they had ever seen. With his robes, the vista in the background and general demeanour – he looked like a mythical mage. And the thing that was attached to his painting and all the blinking lights? It made him seem like some great gatekeeper.

"Hello?" Daphne asked shyly.

"Hello Daphne! I am Invictus Peverell, the great ancestor of Harry Potter. Well actually, the real me is dead. And to you Tracey, welcome to my old manor! I used to live here about seven centuries ago. I am surprised nobody discovered it."

"You are a portrait, right?" asked Tracey.

"I certainly am, but I am somewhat different. I was commissioned at a ten feet height. You will find I am far more intelligent than most portraits, and I was painted by Lord Forquet, who was the best in the world at the time. Then I was refurbished recently by Master Painter Clementine Delacour."

"Well you do seem very spunky" Tracey giggled.

"Yes lassie, I certainly am! I was the last of the Artificers in England, until my distant grandson and his sister decided to send us to school?" he laughed.

"What do you do?" Daphne asked.

"In the beginning, I was responsible for teaching Harry and Hermione the basics by helping them get around any number of the tomes that we have. Then, they decided to introduce me to computer systems and now I act as technical support."

"Technical support? What does that mean?" asked Daphne.

"I can manage large amounts of information, do basic research and I keep the manor running – I can control devices. I even do some farming with artefacts that allow me to grip physical objects, and I can also do surveillance if artefacts are deployed elsewhere."

"I suppose your ability to interact with the world are all the blinky bits? I don't understand any of this?" Daphne admitted.

"You will catch on – Harry and Hermione are aware that both of you are quite intelligent. What you lack is creativity, because of your wizard only exposure. As I often said, it was the Muggles or mundanes as we prefer to say, who invented swords, bows, maces and daggers. And these weapons were at some point charmed to make magical implements. So I fail to understand why there has been a reluctance to continue the practice?"

"I never thought about that?" Daphne replied as she realised that the claim was true.

"Is that why Harry made magical guns?" Tracey asked.

"Of course. Do consider the legendary sword of Godric Gryffindor. That is evidence enough. So we decided that guns were the next best thing. Death at one thousand feet is better than death at ten feet. That is why both your parents have our weapons. And to think Harry revised most of them recently, and we might have to give you new ones? Oh, they are properly ferocious now!"

Daphne and Tracey were wondering how one could advance such a weapon. It already seemed overboard. Suddenly there was a communication that came through, the workshop speakers.

"Oi Gramps, we are bringing her in. All shiny and new!" a male voice replied, and both snakes suspected that this was Harry.

"The main workshop gate is already open," Invictus replied.

As the gate fully retracted, the true size of Peverell Manor was seen. The entire compound had been illuminated with high intensity lights. The walls were steel grey and the Peverell crest was now on display. The place was built to fend off a war, rather as an expression of wealth. Daphne was convinced that the place was at least the half size of Hogwarts, even if the manor only sported two floors above the ground floor.

Suddenly a roaring sound could be heard in the distance, and the attention of the new people in the shop had suddenly been captured. Astoria then leaned into her sister and said, "Here it comes. The coolest thing I ever saw."

Daphne began to look at the thing that was approaching, as the brilliant multicoloured lights and the blue coronas from the plasma emissions provided a baleful light that danced against the pristine, moonlight illuminated lawn. The Starfury Prototype slowly made its way into the space and slowly turned around. For everyone who had not seen it before, it was quite an impression. The guns, the floating control surfaces and the detached high visibility cockpit? It looked every bit magical. And somehow, it managed to look sleek and modern – nothing about it suggested was built out of wood or it was traditional. The golden tinged steel and the object look immeasurably strong and fast. And while Magicals were not knowledgeable of modern weaponry, they certainly understood what cannons were – these were the weapons that won the muggles the war in the Middle Ages. As the aircraft came to a hovering standstill, the large dangerous cannon that was on the main underbelly, slowly swivelled around. The visible cables, steel and other high precision components made it look utterly terrifying. One thing was clear – whatever came out of the end of that thing, you didn't want to find out.

There were two people in the main "person carrier". The Rune-Priestess or Hermione Granger was flying the artefact. On the other hand, there was a helmet on Harry's head, and his seat seemed to be somewhat higher. As he looked around, the long scary looking cannon tracked his head movements.

"Wait, he can see stuff from the outside inside his helmet? Holy Hecate! He can probably aim the cannon thingy quickly?" Tracey wondered.

"Harry's brain can multitask so quickly that he can run every weapon platform at the same time, and aim them in all different directions with different spells. That is something you will have to see yourself, one day." Invictus replied as Daphne began to observe the twelve tiny arms that folded back into the body of the object. Feet then extended from the object and it alighted gracefully with the rear facing the crowd. As the artefact stopped humming, the whizzing and the rushing of the wind began to die down, and the blue glow stopped. To further add to the drama, some cold white mist was being ejected from some exhaust ports. Sirus walked in and introduced himself.

"Everybody welcome. Some of you already know me. But for the people who are new, welcome Daphne and Tracey. Charlie, Fred and George? Dora? It is good to see you, once again!"

"What is that? Is that a T.I.E fighter?" asked Nymphadora, who was much too excited.

"Nah. Harry decided on the Babylon 5 StarFury Thunderbolt for his design because it is practical for real spaceflight. But I do like TIE fighters, I did see Star Wars recently. We could build one, but this design had a more practical use for future projects."

"You saw Star Wars?" Nymphadora asked, as she considered her mother's comments. Harry and Hermione had truly taken inspiration from science fiction. The ramp then lowered and the crowd were greeted by the sight of the two people of the moment. Both of them were wearing casual clothes, but the physique on display?

They made their clothes look good.

The first to arrive was the Storm Priestess. As she walked out, her style was on display. Her blue jacket, black long sleeve jersey and the dark blue streaks in her hair made her look like an utter rebel. She prefered the messy bun, and seemed too busy to style her partially dyed hair. The muscular cuts in her legs were visible and her movements were quick. There was this immense sense of speed and her mannerisms were like a sparrow. The 'Rune-Priestess' then looked back at the 'Storm-Lord' who seemed to be fixing some small problem, as his face remained out of sight, as his body hunched over something. When Hermione had turned around, what the young girls saw was a rather spectacular and firmly shaped posterior - Hermione Granger looked like a teenage fitness model and she was just much too confident. The armour plate that was attached to the legs did not go unnoticed. There was a dagger handle, and another thing that looked like a muggle weapon? It looked slightly bigger than the pistols, and appeared to be personally designed personally for her. There also was a small collection of devices that posessed complicated runes on them. She somehow managed to look arcane and modern at the same time. Daphne felt a tinge of jealously - she wanted her legs and her bum to look that nice.

"She could make armies surrender with a bum and legs like that. Any Death Eater would gladly betray the Dark Lord for some of that!" Tracey whispered into Daphne's ears. The blond girl sniggered, which was something she rarely ever did - Daphne released that there was a lot of truth in that statement, as odd as it seemed.

"Hey you! Where did you guys go?" asked Sirius.

"To drop off some presents for the Hogwarts staff. We also went to Gringotts to redo the paint job, fix the damages and do a gift delivery. King Ragnok and the honour guard are now equipped with muscle weaves, and we showed him our process for modifying precious gems to do energy storage. They got Transporters too. We had a couple of laughs, it was really funny." Hermione explained.

"Those are some nice gifts. Am I getting something nice?" Sirius asked hopefully.

"Yes. Whether you want it now or tomorrow, you decide. We got some early gifts too. We got some rare gems for experimentation."

Daphne and Tracey listened as they realised that King Ragnok was someone who they visited regularly. A person who hated wizards and witches? Apparently not. He seemed to like Harry and Hermione. And they could modify gems? What type of transfiguration was that?

Hermione continued, "We were also not showing our pride and joy, all scuffed up from the other day to our visitors. And yes, we had a Union Jack painted on the side, along with the new company logos and both our house crests on either side. Finally, We also doubled up on the seating. We do have a lot of space."

Hermione was now standing in front of the group.

"Ah, here we have the new people. Fred and George hello again. I hear you have been creating some ingenious pranks lately with the vomiting products?"

"We have!" Fred brightly replied.

"Excellent. Make more! Make enough to cause total pandemonium on the Hogwarts compound. When we need you to prank some moron to kingdom come, you shall be deployed. And oh, if you ever need help with making them terrible…... .well, you have access to a reeeeeally good potions person." she replied with an evil grin.

"At your service Lady Granger. I see that our efforts are appreciated by true visionaries." George replied.

"But of course Gred and Forge. We are pranksters ourselves. We mislead an entire country and the most powerful wizard in the world. We tricked Moldypants too, but more about that later. Why isn't he…."

Hermione then looked at the open ramp again as she yelled, "Harry, what are you doing? We have guests! This is your damned dinner!"

"Tweaking the reactor, I can squeeze a little bit more with the new modifications. I am coming! I had to do it right away!" Harry answered with the rest of his body in view, but his head was stuck into something. Hermione continued:

"Ladies, my apologies. Please just Hermione is fine. Harry will be over soon, he is just interfering with God knows what….."

Harry yelled a string of words, that was incomprehensible to those who were assembled:

"Excuse me, I am interfering with the cycling for the plasma stream! I am getting stability by using prime numbers for the cycles per second. Hello? 7, 13 and then what? Well, 19, 23 and all the other primes are also important…."

"Oh, that is interesting?" she replied, as she genuinely wondered if mathematical theorems about prime numbers interfaced well into arithmantic equations. Hermione then outstretched out her hand and Daphne and Tracey were greeted by a firm handshake.

"Daphne." the blonde replied.

"Tracey." the brunette replied.

"Ah, the frontline snakes indeed. Oh look, Lord Bighead is done!" Hermione replied as Harry turned around, walked down the ramp, and found himself at the group. Daphne found herself looking at an almost fifteen year old looking boy, and he seemed rather relaxed and very down to earth.

His body though was not down to earth. Boy was he ripped.

His arms and legs were huge and there were muscular cuts everywhere. You could almost sense that without an inch of magic that he could crush anything in his way. All the major muscle groups were well developed and his black turtleneck hugged an absolute mesomorph body shape. Even his abdominals could be seen, as they imprinted through the piece of clothing. And whatever he had strapped to his leg? It looked cool. There was a small 'pistol' and another object that had to be his sword? He looked like a rogue, and his beard was short and well kept. And he had decided on a hairstyle she had never seen before – the sides of his head were cut down and razored to perfection, but he had extra-long hair all heaped up in a bun. It was very masculine and even very neat. He had managed long but well-kept hair.

But the eyes, they were so magnetic. His eyes had a small glow. And they were electric green. As she looked into his eyes, she realised that his eyes were not that of a young vibrant boy.

They seemed almost old and full of terrible experiences.

There was serenity, but also a tinge of real pain. He looked like he had seen a lot of battle. He even looked slightly haunted and for all the handsome looks he possessed, Daphne's little heart broke a little. He seemed determined, but also looked like he had the weight of the entire world on his shoulders.

As her mother had explained to her yesterday, Harry had decided that no help was coming and perhaps, Magic had decided to help him. And from there, he decided to save himself. Daphne began to hold her breath and then frowned as Astoria reappeared and almost attacked Hermione and Harry.

"ARRY! MIONE!"

It seemed as if Astoria was on a nickname basis with the pair. And Daphne was surprised to see how Harry and Hermione genuinely adored her sister. But even more shocking was when the pair gave their both fathers hugs. And in the case of Daphne's and Tracey's mother, kisses on the cheek.

"Hello you. Been getting up to trouble I see?" Ophelia asked as she held the boy's face. Daphne was looking on anxiously, as she figured that her mother considered Harry like the son she never had. He, under ideal circumstances would haved been adopted by her mother, after all.

"More like trouble finds us. That is why we like to be prepared. Sometimes I honestly ask why us, I really do. But I suppose we want to change things for others, so that is what is involved…."

There was a momentary pause, as the rather large and tall boy stood in front of the girls.

"Ah! Hello Daphne! Hello Tracey! The one and only Harry Potter at your service" Harry replied as he held both of their hands and gave a small polite kiss, that was very short and almost chaste. This confused Daphne somewhat as young men often liked to take their time. He seemed to treat both of them with a lot of respect. Daphne surmised that being the daughter of his mother's best friend required a certain type of decency. Daphne exhaled the breath that she was holding, and Tracey was sniggering.

"Oh, my stories will get raunchy now that we do know that he is a studmuffin! And he is way bigger and stronger than I initially imagined!" Tracey thought to herself, silently in her mind. The boy continued:

"My apologies both of you girls. I was just tinkering with something in the gunship. I like to squeeze every last bit of efficiency I can get out of the reactor. It has serious firepower as you guessed."

"How fast is it?" Tracey asked, hoping to hear some ballpark figure like five hundred miles per hour. Many of the people also had the same expectations too. Cyrus and Ophelia already knew the real figure.

"Oh, we made 3100 mph. But we could not fly for that long. It puts our bodies under undue stress. Just imagine feeling like a person was standing on your chest, because of the acceleration. We generally cruise at about 1,000 mph for a more comfortable experience."

That was when everybody went silent.

"Er 3100? 3100mph?" Tracey asked.

"Sure," Harry answered nonchalantly. That was when the trio who had stepped away, fell into the group, and Neville began to laugh.

"Going to the moon soon?" Neville asked.

"When we can make 25,000 mph sure. That is escape velocity for the planet. About nine times faster. We might need to eliminate g-forces too." Harry replied, almost as if they already planning the entire affair.

"I like how you give exact answers to things other people consider wild. But the mundanes got there first, so it only is a matter of time. Come on, you need to work faster you wrench monkey!" Neville replied before he hugged Harry and Hermione. Then the hugs began to alternate between Luna and Ronald.

"Hey – I know Mione was criticizing me for tweaking the thing, but we plan to give everyone rides. We even extended the seating. We can seat ten beside ourselves. It is a bit cramped, but you know what?

RIDES FOR EVERYONE AFTER DINNER!" Harry replied brightly.

Tracey and Daphne were excited. They were going to see inside?

Priya walked in with Lorna and then she introduced herself. The Priya began to look at the StarFury and she walked around and examined the floating detached engines, the control surfaces and the weapon mounted systems. Then she walked backed over and looked at Harry and Hermione with an expression that was clearly admiration. Then she addressed the group.

"Hello everyone. Priya Singh and my friend, Lorna Findlay at your service. Harry and Hermione did you build a fighter jet?" she asked.

"More like a gunship. We used it in the last mission and that thing saved twenty three souls. We did surpass SR-71 record for ten seconds." Hermione answered.

"Want to try for a space shuttle son?" Priya asked.

"Already have the design? I just need to figure out how to beat gravity with a far more efficient method," he answered cheekily, and Priya took up a magazine and hit him on his shoulder, before coming over to Daphne.

"Hello Daphne. I would like you to stay still. We have something we need to remove from you. The last lure. After this happens, that is the end of the Greengrass Bloodcurse. Trust me, okay."

Harry had stepped close to her and then held her hand. His green eyes glowed and Priya's brown irises were golden. It looked eerie, and she could feel the torrent of energy coming from Harry. She knew from the pensieve recollections that they were sharing each other's magic, which was quite a novel discovery already.

Priya took out her wand and began to make a complicated set of flicks as she began to draw something off. There was a small tinge of pain, followed by the feeling that something that had been living off of her, had been detached. Immediately, Daphne was breathing more easily, as a black inky wiggling whisp was now being held on the tip of the wand. Hemione then grabbed the lure, and held the magic in a containment field. Harry casually threw a flick of lightning at the ball, and the contents disappeared. The lightning had come from his fingers and it represented a rather brilliant application of fine control.

Luna then stared at Daphne's feet and said, "All clean. They are gone."

"Alright. That is the official end of that. Harry why don't you give the newbies a tour of the weapons and armour and we can head off to dinner? Aunty Molly and mum are almost done." Priya replied.


Harry began to tell an abbreviated version of his story, as he explained the reasoning behind how he had developed his armour. Daphne began to realise not only were science and mathematics highly useful, but it allowed them to concretely quantify things that could not be seen. And magic very much was quantifiable. Hermione also explained the basics of linguistic theory and both snakes found themselves flabbergasted by some of the deeper questions being asked. Things that they had accepted for granted. Not only was Hermione an absolute genius at runes, but her work combined with Harry's insight they could make things that baffled the mind. Daphne knew enough magic to understand that some of the things that they experimented with, were problems that others had been trying to solve for centuries.

Repeatable behaviour? Controllable power delivery? Power storage devices? Materials that could resist magic? Magicals detectors? Predictable and conditional logic? Control structures? Magical flow as it related to the planet?

And it got even more wild, as the snakes saw materials and tools that they could not conceive. Harry and Hermione had been happy to show off their 3D printers and manufacturing software. Finally, they discussed their latest innovations. Building and transfiguring materials to mimic muscle fibres? Connecting their brains directly into the operation of artefacts? Daphne had to ask the obvious question:

"Isn't it dangerous that we know these things? What if someone obtained the information from us with the mind arts?"

"Makes no difference. And if they tried, time for bullets. The bracelet protect your mind. They even fooled Albus Dumbledick?" Harry replied.

"How though, does it make no difference?" asked Tracey.

"Let me explain why, although it is bit...long winded.

Wizards would require an entire education in the Muggle world to understand what we know. Then they would need to understand how to approach the design and how to fix problems as they arise. We have spent more than 5000 hours building hundreds of projects and they would need access to parts, components and money. And then, they need access to our House Magic." Harry replied.

Hermione gave her contribution to the argument:

"They would at least twelve years of education, in at least six subject areas. I can assure you that mastery of those subjects isn't easy like magic. You should try some advanced mathematics. The magical world has its advantages, but in other cases, you guys are smart as a rock. I can't see Wizards managing with third-order differential equations and trigonometric identities."

"It is that hard?" asked Tracey.

"Well as you know, there is a rune theorem that says you can't solve a cascading rune array with three different or valid solutions. Supposedly some big issue to solve. Take a look at the solution with just a simple cubic equation here. I don't understand what is the big deal." Hermione answered, as she grabbed a piece of paper and explained how she had boiled down the Gringotts problem to pure numbers.

"The Death Eaters historically were not brilliant at magic, they were just motivated by fundamentalism, and they love terror tactics. So far, they have been struggling with truly well-trained individuals. Us. And we plan to get much better." Hermione explained.

Although the explanation sounded arrogant at first, the snakes realised that the claims were true. And the issue was that the pair knew both works equally well, and were not beyond using the best ideas from either society. Harry finished the explanation with a idea that was rather insightfull:

"This operation at this place works because we love and trust each other and we take genuine pleasure in the building of things. Those who destroy all the time, cannot build anything. People become what they do all the time?" Harry replied as he concluded his explanation, and hinted at Voldemort's problem.


The tour went on and the pair explained that they still owned a lot of standard muggle weapons which were deadly. Of course, the girls didn't understand until the shooting range was lit up and Harry and Hermione began to shred rounds on P-90s and SCAR-17s. For them, seeing guns in action had been an eye-opener, and it was clear that the magical would be wiped out easily if they had really posed a threat to the Muggles. And these weapons had been used by Harry and Hermione to develop far more dangerous versions that were magical.

As the weapons demonstration was completed, Harry had cheerfully shown "Craig" off to the Greengrass family, who was now in a shielded and refrigerated container. Then, Tracey had asked about the numerous bookshelfs. As Daphne looked at the whole wall of books, the pair freely admitted that they often rechecked many things as necessary, even though they had read most of the titles. Finally, Harry was explaining his latest armour system together with Hermione:

"And this is my latest iteration of the armour. The muscle weave gives us strength and we generally use spinal interfaces for everything. This allows us to almost triple the force we can deliver via our arms. We can jump higher, run faster, and land blows that shatter objects?"

"This is amazing!" Daphne said as she found hyperactive cat Harry to be endearing. He became very excited when he explained his projects.

"This – this is the best magic I have ever seen! I am glad that I got a chance to finally come into the main workshop!" Charlie replied.

"So, if we had an idea, and we were getting trouble...could we ask for assistance ?" Fred queried.

"Sure. You can ask any of us. Moony! Fetch some of the experimental things from the vineyard. We can get a little drunk off the wine tonight, at the table." Harry insisted.

"Is his name Moony? Is he the Moony?" asked Fred.

"Which Moony?" Harry asked.

"Marauder Moony?"

"He is. The marauders were James Potter as Prongs, Sirius as Padfoot, Remus as Moony and Peter Pettigrew the traitor as Worm Tail. My father even named me Prongslet."

Something seemed to buzz the twins, as Fred and George tried to remember something. Fred decided that if there was ever a time to show their employer the Marauder's map it was now.

"We have something that was made by them. You know this?" Fred asked as he handed the Marauder's Map to Harry. As soon as Harry touched the Map, and the ink faded into existence, he knew.

"SIRIUS! THEY FOUND IT! THEY FOUND THE MARAUDER'S MAP!" Harry yelled. Sirius and Remus came rushing over as they began to look at the item. Fred and George found themselves being hugged by Harry, and there were tears in his eyes.

"I have been looking for this for so long. It is one of the last heirlooms that my father owned. Since you found it, will you accept a finder's fee? This is important to me."

"Could you upgrade the map?" George asked. Harry's face took on a curious expression, as he listened.

"Image if we could see the entire castle in three dimensions like on the computer. Or like those cool things over there, like your helmet? We would prefer to not take the money and have a newly updated map for our nefarious purposes." George explained.

"We want to see..what is the new word…right a cross-section of multiple Hogwarts floors stacked upon each other. We have some other specific needs as pranksters." Fred replied.

"Hermione? We could tie this into what we have for total coverage?" Harry asked.

"Project for the 26th?" she replied, with her eyes brimming with excitement.

"Remus get the gift for Fred and George?" Harry asked, and it seemed that he was almost on the edge of sobbing.

Daphne had felt sorry for him. Apparently, the object was something his father had created, and it was one of the few things that Harry now possessed from his parents. Remus then disappeared, before reappearing with two books that were wrapped with a bow.

"Fred and Geroge, even if you had not brought this map for me, I had already planned this gift for the both of you. I present two copies of Marauder Made Magical Mayhem, a copy of my father's pranks. May you terrorize wizarding England with these notes."

Fred and George were now on their knees as they waved their hands in the air, in prostration. The rest of adults were laughing at the twin's antics.

"All hail the greatest Lord and Lady of all pranks….Progslet, son of Prongs and Teethsie!" Fred replied.

"All hail the glorious overlords. Teach us your great ways. Make us into a menace that is feared by all who would frequent the hallowed halls of Hogwarts!" George said out aloud.

"Perhaps we need to reform the marauders for real. Neville, Luna and Ronald were inducted. So was Percy." Hermione explained.

"I will pass on the pranks" Charlie replied.

"So will Astoria and I. I don't mind helping around the shop." Ginny answered.

"You have a place for two snakes?" asked Tracey.

"Sure. Now we will have political genius available to us!" the twins commented. Harry and Hermione were nodding.

"Ah, this warms my heart. Now we have every house involved. This is how it is supposed to be!" Sirius laughed. The spectacle was punctuated by Molly who had entered the shop:

"Hello, you lovely people. We are done! Come on in!" Molly called off in the distance.

Harry decided to explain the issue at hand:

"The reason why we decided to start the night with some fun is that dinner will not be nice tonight. I have something terrible to reveal. I would rather have us all seated so we can discuss it.

And after that bit of bad business, we are giving you your gifts tonight. Come on let us eat, the kitchen has been tempting me for a long time."

Everybody followed Harry.


Molly had made all of the dishes that one would associate with a British Christmas experience. There was perfectly roasted Turkey, Roast Potatoes, Pigs in Blankets, Stuffing, Gravy, Cranberry sauce, Mince pies and Christmas Pudding. However, she had help from the elves who had visited Clementine regularly and there were some French items on the table. Of course, these items would usually be served within specific courses if a traditional meal was being observed. Harry decided to just have the elves serve whatever was requested. And so, Gratin Dauphinois, Green Beans Almondine, Quails, Capons, Chestnut soup, Pain d'épices and various plain cheeses were present on the table. Even Lorna had gotten her favourites too – Roast leg of lamb, Glazed Ham, Clapshot, Clootie dumpling, Tipsy laird, Cock O Leekie soup?

It was all there.

And for the desserts? There was Pudding, Trifle, Scottish Shortbread, Stollen Cake, French Lemon Tart, Dark Chocolate Truffles, Apple Cider Pound Cake, Poached Pear and Crème Caramel. The women at the table were openly waiting to tear into the dessert, after eating the main meal.

Soon enough there was clinking, as the food arrived on the plates. Some attempted to get a little of everything on the plate, and others just prioritised their favourites. But most heartening was that all of Harry's elves when they were finished serving everyone else, ate at the table. While that was considered odd for other Wizarding houses, for Harry and his family it seemed it was just….dinner?

Daphne and Tracey admired his treatment of his elves – He and Hermione had done everything to fix them, give them decent clothes, and treat them well. And they in return for the magic and the thanks they received, made like as easy as possible for their family. It had not gone unnoticed that Harry and Hermione could eat multiple plates of food, and they consumed sizeable portions. And while the quantity seemed almost savage, their forks and knives were silent and dainty as they ate their food.

As the meal ended, Harry explained himself.

"Usually, it is not polite to discuss heavy business before dinner. And after dinner is usually reserved for small talk. I am aware of the protocol very much – but with some of the terrible things that we are required to know, sometimes a hot meal and some tea are the only things that can calm us down."

"That is fair enough. Standing in ceremony is important for formal occasions, but I would like to think we are extended family." Augusta answered.

"Correct gran. So yes, I am not going to beat around the bush one bit. You were told the necessary information about who we are because I didn't have any time to explain that from scratch. As for this terrible news, some people already know. But you deserve to hear it from my mouth. Especially the young people."

Everybody was now silent.

"The Dark Wanker, Lord Moldy Pants lives under Quirinius Quirrell's turban as some kind of disembodied spirit that has forced a permanent possession. He is literally behind the man's head. Complete with a mouth, eyes and whatever counts as a nose."

The new people were looking at Harry, utterly shocked and even unconvinced.

"The evidence? Gramps, play the audio log…."

Daphne could not believe what she was hearing. Nor could Tracey – yet their parents already knew. It was literally the voice of the Dark Lord himself, and Harry had to explain how he had bugged the entire castle, and attached a surveillance device to his clothes when it had gone to the laundry. That, for the snakes, was a new level of devious plotting. And that was after Daphne and Tracey considered that Harry and Hermione had built most of the recent magical products, that were fashionable.

"Right so we have that – I have also figured out that it was he who let the trolls into the school. Dumbledore has an object that can restore him to full health, and it has been planted to lure him out. Dumbledore wants him to reveal his hand, so to speak. Play the other log Gramps…."

Daphne and Tracey were surprised and shocked to know that Albus Dumbledore expected Neville to fight Lord Voldemort. And worse, Ronald and Luna would be involved. The comments about Harry were illuminating. He was being groomed initially, to be sacrificed. Now Albus was looking for a replacement. Daphne closely observed how her mother was absolutely livid, when Albus mused to himself about his foreseeable regrets.

Harry then explained why Moldypants had decided not to move against any of the students:

"He suspects that he has a single opportunity to run and make a grab for whatever this thing is, so he won't risk attacking students. Grab the artefact, cure himself and bide his time and return to full strength. He can't fight a war alone. He is likely to take a backseat until Dumbledore is indisposed."

"Maybe that isn't a bad thing? I think Quirrell hearing propaganda about my family planning to be dark, would really allow us to embed without suspicion. We can say the Wizengamot is a false trail. You will need operatives in Slytherin House." Daphne suggested.

"Harry, you can check what places he frequents and use your spy devices. Those places will be Death Eater listening outposts. Keep an eye on Lucius Malfoy as he was Voldy's right-hand man." Tracey added.

"About that suggestion Harry, I do have a wonderful gift – I have a confirmed location for Malfoy Manor in Wiltshire. Latitude and Longitude. I also have some audio logs too. Remember the assassins?" Invictus asked.

"Holy! I forgot about that!" Harry replied.

"Their wards were never designed to keep magical drones out of their houses. Too bad the drone has infrared vision, and is magical but has no heartbeat to be classed as a living being. Merry Christmas Harry!" the portrait brightly explained.

"Gosh, that is a great gift!" Harry replied as the adults considered the audacity of Invictus. Daphne and Tracey who were just getting exposed to Harry's shenanigans, realised that Draco was screwed. And that was after he had gotten a chokehold and gotten his nut-sack compressed.

"If we get the new Marauder's map completed soon, could we prank the students into..ah….safety? Something so damned foul, that it should cause the entire population to run out of Hogwarts. Something itchy and putrid, when you decide to er...…shoot Voldy?" Fred suggested.

"You just say when you need it and we twins will ensure that the students are running for their lives" George laughed. Hermione was scribbling some notes and the rest of the adults began to wonder if this was the formulation of some master plan to deal with the issue.

"How do we fit into this? We are expected to fight the nutcase?" Neville asked.

"There is an obstacle course. You will attempt the course successfully and you will be apparated out before you are finished. I want Dumbledick to think you are doing your best to be his vanguard, and I interrupted." Harry explained.

"When do you think he will make his move?" asked Bill.

"End of the academic year. People will be getting ready to go home and the security will be relaxed. Albus is required to travel as he consults for the ICW examinations. How has the Wizengamot been going?" Harry asked.

"They have moved away from discussing 'muggles' and they are discussing magical animal control bills. They are also trying to tighten restrictions on werewolves. They are trying to pass laws that would allow the Wizengamot to request the records of a business, that are considered a 'threat to magical England'. They are also pushing to tighten the regulations on the misuse of Muggle Artefacts" Augusta answered.

"I have been able to hold off many of the pureblood houses – the minor ones. But Malfoy paid off for himself, Nott, and three others. They don't seem to be interested in pushing the laws. Rather they just seem to draft them, make a scene and then waste time." Sirius commented.

"Perhaps they are preparing legislation to be implemented when Voldy returns. And if they take control of the Ministry they can exercise the laws through the Aurors." Remus suggested.

"They want to eat plasma? Fine by me.

Anyway, the most important thing for the students here is to play it cool. Quirrell will continue to teach and he will be too focused on Dumbledore. As long as we have surveillance, we will be fine." Harry mentioned.

"What is the next big project?" Ronald asked.

"So two things I guess? The first project is brand new wands for everyone if you don't have one already. I bought the best materials, and I am stocked up. I will enjoy this very much. Even I and Hermione will be building new wands for ourselves. We will see people during January." Harry explained.

"We won't be able to leave Hogwarts?" Tracey commented.

"Incorrect. We have two things to facilitate you. We have figured out some personal transporters. They allow you to slip through Hogwarts wards undetected and come directly here? Think about something like a portkey, but multi-use and selectable locations. Emulates Grace's magic to bypass all wards?"

Daphne and Tracey could not believe their ears. They had an untraceable portkey system? How much magic did you need to know, to create such a thing? Even his mother was shocked. Was this the transporter item he had gifted to the Goblins?

"How is that possible?" asked Priya.

"Oh, right mom I didn't tell you. You figured out a way to emulate Grace's apparition. It is a power hungry process but as we improve it, it should be possible to travel instantly across the world, undetected. For now, a single power crystal can carry a person about 1300 kilometres. When it is refined, we hope to apparate into obit, directly."

"You planned this, didn't you? I have to admit, that is an impressive piece of magic. Good one, but you haven't come close to what I pulled in November." Priya replied.

"We can't top that mum, because it wasn't a prank. It was just classy. About the transporter – we have a much bigger one that is integrated into the ship. The ship already has a short-range jump function. We could do two hundred kilometres by emptying the entire power array. Transporting three tonnes is no joke. We used it multiple times and it is reliable." Harry replied.

"So, what is the other thing, besides the transporters?" Luna asked.

"We are almost done with an apartment in Hogsmeade, that looks old-fashioned from the outside but will have a personal space and a gym for you to relax. All five of you can sleep there, or meet there to do homework, make a meal, or watch a movie. It is your personal space to do whatever you want. That was one of the things that allowed me to grow. So, you apparate from Hogwarts into the apartment when you need it. Of course, we plan to use it as a hideout for the war."

"Was it you who renovated the Shrieking Shack?" asked Fred.

"Yes. I did enjoy your attempts at getting in. We will give you the keys if you want to hang out there. It was a Marauder hideout but it has been made fairly safe. We used to charge my older power cells, but we don't need it anymore. As to why you could not open the lock, it is a biometric lock. It utilises your thumbprint to open. The bolt cutter that Jordan gave you could have worked, but we placed the hinges on the inside deliberately."

"Locks that require fingerprints?" the twins asked.

"Pfft. The more complex ones scan your iris and require you to speak. I will show you one in a bit. I don't use any mechanical locks in my house. Once again, the Muggle Studies syllabus is hopelessly out of date. Assuming you were using the Marauder map to locate us in the castle, not bad. Yes, we left the rubber ducky for you in the middle of the corridor.That was funny!" Harry replied.

Fred and George began to howl before Neville interrupted:

"That will be the best gift I have ever received, I think? An apartment for all of us? I like to take my time and shower." Neville replied.

"The privacy won't be a problem. I bet I can do better actually. Think you are up for a really good prank?" Harry asked. Augusta was smiling as Alice and Frank looked on, through her eyes.

"Try me!" Neville said confidently.

"Stand up. Stay right here, and let me cover your eyes. No peeping." Hermione said. Neville was now waiting for the surprise, and Frank and Alice rolled in on their floating wheelchairs.


Everyone else who was not aware of the experimental procedure found themselves flabbergasted. Cyrus and the others knew exactly who was in the chairs. This implied that the procedure has been successful - Hermione and Priya had cracked the problem. For the rest, they quickly put together that Harry and Hermione had done something to bring back Neville's parents. Even the four other friends were very shocked.

"Stay still, we are attaching something to your back. There." Harry replied.

The runic transmitter powered on and the short length of pseudo-polymer nerves became active. Neville felt the presence of something he had long forgotten. Then he opened his eyes and found himself looking at his parents who he was scheduled to visit tomorrow. Then he felt them speak to him in his mind.

"Neville my darling boy. Hello!" Alice replied, in a very motherly tone. Neville shook his head, as he wondered if this was for real. Frank upon seeing his confusion explained, "Harry and his talented family brought us back."

Neville was still trying to process the shock, along with everyone else.

"We can't speak, but we are communicating through the spinal interfaces. We can move our upper bodies a little. We have been observing you all evening." Alice replied, with a smile on her face.

"Is this real?" he asked with tears in his eyes.

"Of course. We aren't perfectly cured and we had to settle for some arrangements. But we are here. Come here let us hug you." Alice replied, gently.

Neville was now sobbing and Alice gently caressed his face as she said, "For so long I dreamt of doing this."

Frank held his hand before he said, "You have a strong grip. Good. I can feel a little through this second skin that I am wearing. You have made us proud."

"Thanks. I guess Harry, Hermione and the rest got the upper hand?" he said in a small voice, mentally.

"We thank Lady Magic that he has his father's spirit and Lilly's brains. We also thank Lady Magic for giving him a talented family." Alice replied.

The conversation continued, as sentences and emotions were traded, and the process felt somewhat draining. But Neviile felt content and happy. The people at the table guessed that the communication was occurring mentally, as he spoke to them and the faces of the former Aurors were expressive and happy.

"Harry is that...Frank and Alice?" asked Cyrus.

"It is. You are wondering what we did? Ask Hermione and Mum. I was just the wrench monkey for the night?"

"That is a story we must hear, if not now…sometime…..this is a miracle!" Ophelia replied. Harry slanted his head at Hermione and nodded, as he prompted her to explain the procedure:

"In short, we came to realise that Bella-jackass injected them with a poison that absorbs magic. It can't be directed by wands. Upon absorption of the magic, it causes lead poisoning, which is something not even Wizards can survive. So, we did brain surgery. We had had to cut out a lot of tissue that probably was a response to the magic trying to protect the brain. We also flushed their magical cores and even used a fair amount of phoenix tears. We also developed runic arrays to hijack body systems, and use them for other things." Hermione replied.

"It sounds complicated!" Amy replied. Priya decided to explain the rest of the procedure, as Harry and Hermione were too busy looking at Neville. Great satisfaction could be seen on their faces.

"It was very complex. We developed a surgical tool that can operate inside the brain, without actually cutting into the skull. We did not manage to get them to speak and they are paralyzed from the throat downwards, so they are using the muscle weave to move. The spinal interface is also being used for them to communicate directly with Neville. It happens as he is born of their magic, the device will work without training. Harry and Hermione fly the ship the same way but they did not require long to utilise the spinal interface. The possible reason is that their House Magic built the devices, so the rules may not apply to them so much."

"We want people who have lost limbs or who are unconscious to have a chance. We aren't finished with them, but for now, they are healthy enough and Neville can speak to his parents. We are working on our next case - a charming Beauxbaton student named Noémie, who had lost an arm." Hermione replied.

"The only downside is that it isn't advisable to use the device too much, as it is magically draining. The brain uses the largest amount of energy in the human body, so it isn't surprising. Neville won't be able to sustain constant communication." Harry replied.

"I think this gift isn't only for Neville. It is a renewed hope, and I think we are all happy to share in it. It is auspicious that on this Yuletide, that Neville's parents have come home." Reginald replied.

"How could House Potter stand by and let a Longbottom suffer? I am Lord Peverell, sure. I will be Lord Potter. And it was my sworn duty to assist my godbrother. And I have to thank my mother and Hermione along with everyone else. It was a combined effort," Harry replied before he put his hand on Neville's shoulder. The boy got up and hugged Harry. Harry then replied firmly and softly.

"Easy now, it will be all right. No, when they arrive no children and parents will be harmed if I can help it. But they? He and his supporters?

I will crush them into nothing. All of them. They will kneel to House Peverell. They will kneel to magical might. They will kneel to technological supremacy…."

As he pronounced his intentions, his eyes glowed somewhat dully and then they faded into nothing.

Daphne Greengrass grass looked on in awe as she realised that Harry and Hermione had both saved not only many random people in the street, but her sister, herself and even Neville's parents. How could they give of themselves, so much? That was when she received a note from Ronald Weasley.

"You can't fool me. You saw the goods and you like the merchandise. You like the #1 and I like the #2. Perhaps we can help each other. We should talk…."

Daphne scribbled with the provided fountain-tipped pen, as she loved the way it inked on the paper. Ophelia was watching on and smiling as her daughter wrote her reply, and passed it on while everyone else was not looking:

"We will talk. Now I understand why you work so hard. I think we are going to be the best of friends. You have a deal, Ronald."

Tracey was now crying as she considered the love on display so pure – and she wasn't the only one. Many eyes had teared up. As far as she was concerned, Harry and Hermione were heroes. Harry then explained the big surprise:

"All right before we all drown in a sea of tears, we do have some early gifts…so let us give them out because I am going to Church tomorrow to speak to someone. I will be indisposed. The people who are close to me, well tomorrow night is our family dinner.

We are dropping all of you home via the StarFury.

We are making several trips. So yes, a detour to Portree for the Longbottoms, Caernarfon for the Davis family, and then Inverurie for the Greengrass family. The second trip will be Norwich for the Tonks residence followed by the burrow for the Weasleys and the Lovegoods."

"I am excited to see the…gunship….as you call it?" Ophelia commented.

"But of course. This was the product of our little period of absence. We tripled the size of the fuel tanks and we installed more power crystals. Remus get her filled up?" Harry asked kindly.

"Sure!" the hulk sized man answered as he left the kitchen.


As the group arrived at the workshop, the gifts were distributed.

Cyrus, Reginald, Arthur and Xeno all received jet bikes. They had been built from scaled down and less potent versions of the StarFury designs. They could fly at 100 meters of altitude, but were ideally designed for travel over solid ground. And they came with seating for three via a sidecar arrangement along with full electromagnetic cloaking that covered visible, radar and infrared wavelengths. Most of the components had been manufactured in the workshop. Only the main body had been cast at Gringotts.

"How are we getting these home?" asked Cyrus.

"We will fly them to your houses via autopilot. I am hoping you will carry Aunty Opie for a ride. Riding gear, face masks, and everything else in the cargo bay."

"Thank you. I am wondering if we should have walked with our gift for you?" Cyrus asked.

"Send it tomorrow. I am indisposed. I need some personal time. Remus had mentioned that you still follow the old ways. I was too busy over the last couple of weeks but I would like to join from next year. I would like to celebrate the Imbolc, with you. I understand my father celebrated it?"

"We would be happy to show you the old ways if you will remember your father through them. I would like that very much." Cyrus replied as he hugged the young boy.

The Weasleys had received their bank statements from Lorna. None of them were certainly millionaires, but the profits from the business ventures varied from fifty to eighty thousand galleons. The portfolios would only grow as the years went by, and it was hoped that the Quidditch broadcasts would push the sale of the products and services. Even though those earnings were considered meagre by Harry's standard, that was easily far beyond the earnings of Hogwarts professors for only one month of sales.

The women had gotten appliances which had been rebuilt with magical modifications. In many cases, Harry had retrofitted magical motors, runes and othet advancements in the devices. He had even replaced some of the physical attachments with Protego based versions that required no cleaning. Also included were recipe books, wine, port and a lot of high quality chocolates. Hermione had shared some of her personal notes with Ophelia and Amy, who was excellent at runes and potions, respectively.

Augusta had been given some quality robes that were tailored to the designs that Harry and Hermione usually wore. Augusta began to realise that the casual touches on her shoulder recently were very sneaky attempts to measure her and they had succeeded.

"Good one Harry. Although I thought I had already received my gift?" Augusta asked.

"Perhaps, but I wanted to give you something stylish. Eventually, there will be a day I will say that we are storming the Wizengamot in full robes. We have to look good. Consider this batch a test run?" Harry laughed.

"Agreed Harry, agreed. They can't get enough of the business wear." Augusta answered.

Xeno had been exploring a lot of music, and he had a lot of fondness for Frank Sinatra. He had been given a modified record player and an entire vinyl collection.

"Thank you Harry and Hermione this is a fine gift. Oh, I do like to collect music. It is a new hobby!"

"We hope you enjoy it!" Harry replied.

Percy had been given two thousand pounds of vouchers for a local bookstore in London. Harry already suspected that he was going to shop until he dropped.

"This is appreciated, Harry. I do actually have my own space in the new house. I think I will configure the shelves for a nice library space. And I am getting Penny something from this! Oh and a new owl too. I am just done with Scabbers."

"sorry about the pet rat. No new leads yet?" Harry asked.

"No. All I know is that the Chamber of Secrets is supposedly this place that exists in Hogwarts and we have some kind of magical animal or beast that was supposed to guard Hogwarts. It was not only to protect against Muggle wars but even magical mercenaries too. Anyone who would threaten Hogwarts."

"What did he put there? A giant Boa Constrictor? Does the magical world have those? How would you feed such a creature too?" asked Harry.

"We don't have many magical snakes that could be that large. Maybe the beast likes mushrooms?" Percy answered.

"We will find out soon enough," Harry replied.

Charlie had been given a shielding system and some modified cloth that could easily take fire from a Dragon all day. He was planning to study Dragons eventually and considered the gift to be very valuable.

"Thank you. You do know mum and dad have gifts for you right? We were planning to bring them ourselves tomorrow. After all Yuletide day, is generally the gift-giving day." Charlie commented.

"I know but I have something to do tomorrow. Most likely, you will have to leave them at the manor."

"Oh, I understand. Well, no argument from me." Charlie responded.

Luna, and Neville and been given small, thoughtful gifts. Neville had been given a Stevia plant along with a weapons package, and a fencing mannequin. The mannequin could be animated to drill him in many of the European styles of sword fighting. Luna had been given a subscription to the Adobe Cloud, and now she could use whatever products she wanted, which included Photoshop and other software titles.

She was also given a shielded Yahama Workstation keyboard, with accompanying speakers. Harry and Hermione were wondering if she might resume her piano playing – she had mentioned in passing that she took lessons many years ago, and was interested in the band practice.

Ginny and Astoria had been given some of Harry's old tools and equipment that he was no longer using, and the prime highlight was the 3D printers and the Arduino electronics kits that would allow them to do even more projects.

"Am I graduating out of cardboard projects?" asked Ginny as Astoria rummaged into the spanners, wrenches and other things.

"Yes. Time for some bigger toys!" Harry laughed. Astoria whispered to Ginny, but Harry heard every word.

"Think we can manage the go-kart?" Ginny asked.

"Yes?" Astoria giggled.

Harry had presented his trusty hard shell cases to the snakes, which contained all the equipment that the trio already used.

"So, Daphne and Tracey we have shields, cloaking, personal transporter and improved communicators. We also have updated data slates, and these are linked to Invictus. You can always ask him to find something. We also have one drone each, along with shielded laptops. Full internet connectivity. As for you Tracey, while you have all those things, did you think we forgot about your drumkit? We even made it portable and it assembles itself."

Tracey was now screaming like a little child as she hugged Harry and Hermione. "Yeeeeeeees!" she screamed.

"Hey, now I have a drummer!" Ronald whispered into Harry's ears as Hermione left to prepare the gunship for its flight.

"Did you think I forgot you? I have two Ola Stranberg NX 7's waiting for you. We even modified a bass guitar and shielded an Ampeg amp too. We eliminated the guitar amps. With our pocket amps, you will have enough tones to experiment with?"

"Well, Neville sometimes plays my guitar during practice in the Ravenclaw wing. I think he is interested. He says that he usually sings to his plants and that is how he got to practice his singing. He never thought that he was any good, though?" Ronald replied.

"Starting a band is very cool. I don't have any musical talent. Ask Fred and George to help you out with the bass, twins make for good bassists or guitarists. Or you can find somebody else? " Harry suggested.

"Flyers around Hogwarts. I am sure people play instruments. Time for auditions?" Ronald laughed.

Daphne and Tracey were now looking at their suitcases and then Daphne decided to be brave.

"I didn't get you anything for Christmas. Had I known, I would have tried?" she explained.

"That is kind of you, but not everything is transactional. Your utter surprise was the best gift you could have given me!" Harry laughed.

"Won't you and Hermione take a hug then? You and your family saved my sister. And even me?" Daphne responded.

"Alright, you come over here silly!" Harry replied, with a genuine smile on his face.

Daphne found herself blushing as the hug while nice, was full of raw strength. She could barely reach around his large torso. When she was finished, she stilled her face and wiped any giggling or blushing out of it. Now there was genuine respect in her facial expressions, even though her chest thudded.

"Thank you," Daphne whispered. Hermione was just out of earshot, and she insisted, "Come here you."

Hermione's hug was very sisterly. Even her magic felt protective and happy. She genuinely took delight in making others happy. Daphne whispered, "I want to be as cool as you, and I want to look as fit as you!" Daphne admitted.

"Just study hard and take care of yourself, and will do the trick. I heard you like runes? I need a plus one for a long term project. We will see if you are up for the challenge. As for the looks, it is just cardio, weights, and martial arts. That one is very achievable. We will talk."

"Come on Daphne, we are carrying your lot first for a little nighttime flyby," Harry replied, as he wrapped his hand around her shoulders and dragged her off. Daphne would not openly admit it to anyone, but she wished the small walk to the "gunship" had been much longer.