Harry Potter and the I.F.W.
By Micah Nadler
Table of Contents: Chapter 1: Strange Partings Chapter 2: A New Beginning Chapter 3: Disappearances Chapter 4: The Revelation Chapter 5: The I.D. Chapter 6: A Welcome into the Fold Chapter 7: The New Burrow Chapter 8: A Budding Relationship Chapter 9: Owl Post Chapter 10: Hogwarts Chapter 11: New Friends Chapter 12: Relationships in the Sky Chapter 13: The Proposal Chapter 14: A New Life Chapter 15: Unexpected Meetings Chapter 16: Up, Up, and Away!
Author's Note References Pronunciation Guide Maps
Chapter 1: Strange Partings
Hermione Granger sat at her desk on the third floor of her six-story mansion. Hermione, however, was not the only resident of Croftaire. She shared her home with four other people; Harry Potter: Her best friend, Ron Weasley: another best friend, Scipio Aurelius: a friend, and Cho Chang: another friend.
Looking at Croftaire from the outside, you would never imagine that this house also belonged to five twenty-year-old witches and wizards. The outside walls are made of pure white marble that never fades, and the columns that support the upper levels are sleek ivory.
The front garden is bedecked with the rarest and most extravagant plants on earth and the path that leads to the fountain in the middle is made of EverShine brick.
Each floor housed one member of the household except for the first floor. Harry had the second floor, Hermione had the third, Ron had the fourth, Scipio had the fifth, and Cho had the sixth.
The first floor housed the communal rooms of the household, such as the kitchen, the living room, the guest wing, and the study. Croftaire's property also contained green houses in the back gardens, and observatory on the roof, a potions lab in the basement, a library, and a room in which you could create and test new spells.
Of these four people that she shared her home with, Hermione trusted two of them with her life. They were her two best friends, Harry and Ron.
Harry, Ron, and Hermione had known each other since their fist day at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. They had met on their first train ride to the school on the Hogwarts Express. After Harry and Ron saved Hermione from a twelve-foot mountain troll they became best friends.
Harry and Ron were fanatic followers of the wizard sport Quidditch and their dream was to host the Quidditch World Cup, so they were building a Quidditch pitch in their forest that would accommodate 100,000 people.
But Hermione was not thinking of any of this right now. She was sitting at her desk thinking about her job as a doctor. She worked at St. Mungo's Hospital for Magical Maladies and Injuries. Although she worked there, she wasn't as happy as she seemed. She would rather have a different occupation.
_____
*Ding-dong* *ding-dong* the dinner bell rang. Hermione dashed into the hallway and was soon followed by Ron, Scipio and Cho. They ran down the stairs and skidded right around the corner and into the kitchen where a wonderful smell met their nostrils.
Dinner and all other meals were cooked magically and appeared on the table at the appropriate place, when people sit down.
Harry was already sitting at the table with a plate piled high with his favorite food; steak, pork chops, everything [the whole nine yards?]. Hermione sat down next to Harry and Ron sat on her other side. Scipio and Cho sat next to each other on the other side of the table. Cho sat across from Harry and Scipio sat across from Hermione.
As they ate they spoke of what they had done that day, and what they had planned for the next.
"I was in my office all day today working on the Quidditch Pitch plans." Said Ron
"Great!" said Harry, "I'll come up look at them with you after dinner, and we can work out any kinks."
"I was looking over patient reports today." Said Hermione, "One of my
patients' splinched himself." Everybody flinched, splinching is when someone tries to apparate, and leaves some of their body parts behind. "Half of him was in Kent, and the other half in California. It took the Accidental Magical Reversal squad two weeks to find all of his body parts."
"I made plans to travel to France and Italy." Scipio explained, "I'm going to visit everything!"
_____
After dinner, Harry and Ron went up three flights of stairs to Ron's office to look at the Quidditch Pitch plans.
They walked into Ron's office and in the middle of the room, there stood a huge mahogany table covered in graph paper, pencils, pens, compasses, rulers, and an assortment of other tools required for architectural design.
Harry began to walk around and around the table examining the plans, calculations, and dimensions. Finally, Harry stopped walking and turned to Ron and said, "To the library!"
And off they went, down three flights of stairs, left, right, and straight to the Quidditch section. "Look for any books about Quidditch pitches and Quidditch World Cups." Said Harry
"Alright." Replied Ron.
And they searched and searched and searched, and after three hours of searching Harry said "petesthai" and the books became feather-light. He then said, "Mobilus bokus" and the books followed him up the stairs to Ron's office. Harry then said "pontos Quidditch Pitch" and the books began to search themselves for references to Quidditch Pitches. After Harry and Ron looked through those, Harry said, "nIehst surgere!" the books looked for the next reference. This continued all night and until breakfast when Harry and Ron sleepily walked down three flights of stairs to the kitchen.
"Well we di- did learn a lot last night." Harry said, failing to stifle a huge yawn.
"Yeah, I suppose." Ron said through a mouthful of oatmeal. He swallowed and continued, "I never knew that you had to make the goals 100 feet tall and drive them 50 feet into the ground to secure them."
"Yeah," said Harry, "and I never knew that it was a requirement to have grass instead of dirt or something."
The two boys were soon joined by Scipio who yawned as he sat down in his seat across from where Hermione sits.
"Morning." He said
"Morning." Harry and Ron said together
"You two look exhausted!"
"Yeah, we were up all night!" Harry said.
"Doing what?" asked Scipio.
"We were getting info for our Quidditch Pitch." Ron explained.
"Oh," said Scipio, "I see, now when-"
"Good morning everybody!" said Hermione jauntily as she skipped into the kitchen.
"Good morning Hermione." Harry, Ron and Scipio said in sleepy voices.
"Oh," exclaimed Hermione, "oatmeal! Thank you for cooking boys!"
"No problem Hermione." Harry and Ron said tiredly.
"How can she be so lively this early in the morning?" wondered Harry.
"No clue." Ron muttered
Hermione finished her food and bounced out of her chair as if she was made of rubber. "Best be off to work!" she said, "See you later!"
"Bye Hermione!" Harry, Ron, and Scipio shouted after her as she ran to the front door.
This was normal morning routine in the family, Harry and Ron stayed up all night and when they came down for breakfast they are utterly exhausted. Scipio who gets plenty of sleep but is tired anyway soon follows them. The three boys are eating breakfast when Hermione comes down fully awake and she eats and rushes off to work.
Soon after Hermione left for work Cho came down into the kitchen.
"Good morning." She said sleepily
"Good morning." Harry Ron and Scipio replied
Harry and Ron finished their oatmeal and set off upstairs to work on their Quidditch Pitch plans. Cho sat down next to Scipio and looked at him carefully. She appeared to be searching for the right thing to say.
"Scipio?" She began slowly.
"Yes?"
"I have something that I need to tell you." She said sadly.
"Go on." Said Scipio, hanging on to her every word.
"I will be going away tomorrow and do not think that I shall be returning any time soon."
"But." He trailed off
"Please! Don't ask questions! It's hard enough as it is!" and she ran back to her room dissolving into tears.
Scipio just sat there for a minute eating and thinking. Where was Cho going? Why couldn't she tell him? Why was she going? He finished his breakfast and headed up to see how Harry and Ron were doing with their plans.
_____
"No Ron! We have to add the support beams for the top box before he can build the stairs!"
"Why! We can hold up the box by saying petesthai and flOz, you know that! It would float while we worked!"
"Hey guys," said Scipio
"Hey." Harry and Ron said.
"How's it coming?"
"Okay I guess." Said Harry
"We're having some arguments." Explained Ron
"Yes, I could see that." Replied Scipio.
"The trouble is we can't decide whether to build the stairs first or the top box first." Explained Harry.
"I think I can help you there." Said Scipio, "I personally would build the box first and then the stairs."
"Okay." Ron said, "But what about the other levels?"
"I think the same should apply to the other levels as well but work from the ground up so you don't have to levitate anything." Answered Scipio.
"I propose that we break ground tomorrow!" Harry exclaimed.
"I agree!" answered Ron and Scipio
"Scipio," Harry said
"Yes?" Scipio replied
"You are the advisor and head of operations, understood?"
"Yes!"
"Ron! You are labor force with me! Let's go clear out trees to make room for the pitch. Scipio, you can help too."
_____
In an instant Harry took out thirty trees with one word, "klirosio" the trees just disappeared. Ron and Scipio had their wands out and were doing the exact same thing. With three people working it took no time at all to clear the hundreds of trees needed for the pitch.
"Alright," said Harry to Ron and Scipio, "we now mark the area for the outer wall of the stands. When we are done with that, we need to outline the precise and completely accurate location of the field itself.
This was a much more difficult task. Even with three fully trained wizards on the job, it took them five hours to complete both outlines. Harry vividly recalled the first time he had gone to the Quidditch World Cup. Ron's dad had been speaking with Ludo Bagman, who was now dead, and Bagman had said "taskforce of 500 been working on it all year." Well if that took a taskforce of 500 ministry wizards, Harry didn't know if they would ever be able to host a World Cup without more wizards and witches working with them. While they were building it they also had to consider anti-muggle charms on every inch of it. On top of all that, accommodating 100,000 witches and wizards would be no small feat. They would have to expand their guest wing for close friends, and clear more trees for all the tents.
_____
"Urgh!" Harry grunted as the sunlight burst into his bedroom waking him from a dream he had had many times before. He now understood what it meant, because he had asked Hagrid about it. It was Hagrid on Sirius' flying motorcycle taking Harry to live with his Aunt, Uncle and Cousin, all muggles. Harry had lived with them until after he graduated from Hogwarts and moved to Croftaire with Hermione, Ron, Cho, and Scipio.
Harry got out of bed, stretched and moaned. All his muscles had seized up from working all day the day before. He got up, dressed, and apparated into the kitchen where his eggs, bacon and sausage lay waiting for him. The steam from his hot food began to cloud up his glasses but at this point he didn't care, he was hungry and wasn't going to let steam keep him from his food.
There were two clocks on the kitchen wall. One was completely useless if you want to know the time, but Harry liked it anyway. It had five hands on it; each with the name of one resident of Croftaire and it added more when there were guests. This clock told where members of the household might be. It listed home, work, traveling, Hogwarts, Ministry, lost, and MORTAL PERIL.
Harry had first seen a clock like this in The Burrow. That was the name of Ron's family's house. That clock had had twelve hands on it instead of five but the two clocks were otherwise the same.
Currently only four of the hands pointed to home, but Cho's. *DONG* *DONG* DONG*
Harry rang the bell, everyone instantly and sleepily apparated into the kitchen.
"What is it?" asked Ron.
"What Happened?" Hermione asked.
"Why'd you wake us up?" murmured Scipio. There was a moment of silence in which everybody looked around at each other. Then Harry spoke, "Cho's gone!"
Chapter 2: A New Beginning
"She's gone?" Whispers crept through the kitchen like they did the night of the third task when Lord Voldemort had killed Cedric. Harry remembered vividly, lying in the grass looking at Dumbledore, explaining what had happened. He remembered all the students crying and yelling, "HE'S DEAD! CEDRIC DIGGORY IS DEAD!"
There was silence for ten minutes, but Scipio broke the ice. "She told me that she'd be leaving." He said, "She said she didn't think that she would be coming back any time soon." He paused to let this sink in. "She wouldn't let me ask questions either; she said it was hard enough as it was. She sounded really upset about it."
There was more silence, Harry thought that he heard Cho's voice echoing through the mansion, but it stopped very quickly and he tried to get rid of the thought.
"Why would she leave?" asked Ron.
"Dunno'." said Scipio
The silence that occurred chilled Harry to the bone.
_____
Weeks later, Cho's disappearance remained a mystery but the residents of Croftaire didn't worry about it too much. In fact the boys were so occupied building the Quidditch Pitch that they hardly had time to think of anything other than that. Hermione spent all of her time writing up resume drafts to apply for jobs other than at St. Mungo's, and was so busy revising and re-writing that she also had little time for anything else. She was snappy at people when they disturbed her and she locked herself away for hours on end and wouldn't be seen until dinner.
Out on the construction site Harry, Ron, and Scipio were having much more trouble than Hermione.
"Why can't we put extra levels underground with rooms and everything for all of the people who came to the Quidditch Cup?" asked Ron, "We could charge admission to the rooms as well as to the Cup itself."
"That could work." Said Harry, "except for the fact that.WE DON'T HAVE ENOUGH MAN POWER!!"
"We could recruit people." Suggested Scipio, "I know some people who would be willing to help for free."
"Yeah," said Harry, "that's a great idea. Try and get right on that Scipio."
"I will."
"Harry, what are we going to do about accommodations for 100,000 witches and wizards from all over the world? We don't have enough property to have them all camp out."
"I'm not sure yet, but I'll have it figured out well before we host the Cup.
_____
*DONG* *DONG* the dinner bell rang. Harry and Ron instantly apparated into the kitchen, and they were soon followed by Hermione who looked more worn out than they did.
"Aahh." said Ron, "food!"
"I'm starving!" said Harry.
"Me too." Said Hermione.
They sat silently and ate and ate and ate. Harry felt, as though his stomach would burst he was so full that he turned in early. Ron and Hermione however, decided to stay up a little later and talk.
"Where do you think she went Hermione?" asked Ron as if this was a conversation they were continuing.
"I don't know. She doesn't seem like the kind of person to just leave for no reason and not even say where she was going."
"I know that, but you don't think that she went to Him do you?"
"No, I don't think that she would succumb to that."
_____
Harry awoke quickly in the morning from a dream in which He was on his old Nimbus 2000 and he and Malfoy were chasing after the snitch. All of a sudden, the snitch turned itself into Voldemort's glowing red eye, and Harry had fallen off his broom in fright. As he hit the ground he woke up in a puddle of cold sweat.
I had better get ready for work. Harry thought, as he pulled himself groggily out of bed.
"I have to go to work today, it's Monday." Said Harry to himself. "There's probably a lot to do."
He got dressed and apparated into the kitchen. He then prepared breakfast for himself, and after eating he apparated to the office.
_____
At the office, there was a lot to do. Harry was currently working on five different cases, and each was more difficult than building 12 Quidditch Pitches.
Harry worked for The International Federation of Wizards in the Intelligence Department, and therefore, was always working on solving mysteries, and finding dark wizards.
Right now, Harry was working on finding an evil witch named Margonis Draconium. She was wanted in three continents for torturing and killing both magic folk, and muggles.
"Bubble." Said Harry
A dark green bubble appeared at his shoulder.
"Tell Neminious to run a full check on Margonis Draconium."
Neminious was the screener for the I.F.W. and ran all the name checks for other employees.
As the bubble disappeared, Harry said, "Sirius."
A black bubble appeared in front of his desk.
"Hi Harry," said Sirius, "what can I do for you?"
"I need you to run off to Diagon Alley and get me some stuff."
"I can do that, what do you need?"
"I'll send my bubble with a list."
"OK," said Sirius, "talk to you later." And his bubble disappeared with a pop.
"Bubble!" said Harry. His bauble bubble appeared in front of him. "Take this list of items to Sirius' office.
Harry placed a piece of parchment with the list of items he needed in a special drawer of his desk and the bubble sped off with the information.
"Time for lunch." Harry said to himself. "Brakin!" a red bubble appeared.
"Hi Harry." said Brakin.
"Hi," said Harry, "would you like to go to get some food with me? I'm going to the Three Broomsticks for a butterbeer and some sandwiches."
"Sure." Said Brakin, "I'll meet you in the lobby OK?"
"OK." Said Harry. Brakin was one of Harry's associates at the International Federation of Wizards, and she seemed to like him a lot. She sometimes got flirty and is always trying to make Harry satisfied with her.
Harry liked Brakin as a friend, but tended not to return the flirts. He thought that flirting at the office was unprofessional, as did Sirius and Neminious.
_____
Brakin stood in the main lobby of the secret underground I.F.W. building waiting for Harry. This room is unlike any other room in the entire building, it is constructed entirely of marble, except for two statues of diamond. The statue on the right as you come into the lobby is of Albus Dumbledore, who some say is the greatest headmaster of Hogwarts in history. Dumbledore is very well known as he has helped his good friend Nicolas Flamel to create an item known as the Sorcerers' Stone, which produced the Elixir of Life. The drinker of the Elixir of Life would become immortal, and the stone could also turn any metal into gold. Making the user rich and immortal. The statue on the left is always changing, as it is the current Minister of Magic, who is now Cornelius Fudge. Fudge has been regarded a bumbling fool by some, and brilliant by others. It is said that he "pelts Dumbledore with owls every morning for advice." Apart from the two statues of diamond and the marble construction of the room, it also has teleport doors to any room in the complex. You merely walk up to a door, say where you wanted to go, and walk through. There is a catch though, if you do not work at the complex or have not been granted a guest entry pass, then you are thrown out of the complex and have to obtain a pass from an employee before attempting to enter again. Not only that, but there are no apparition allowances directly to any of the offices, you have to go through the lobby doors.
_____ "I had better go." Said Harry, "Brakin's waiting." "Bubble!" Harry said, his dark green bubble appeared at his shoulder, "Take me to the lobby." And they were off. Although Harry had worked at the I.F.W. for about three years, it was still impossible for him to find his way around. The halls and passages always moved so that even if somebody managed to infiltrate the building, they wouldn't be able to find anything. The Bauble Bubbles were designed to direct employees to their destination, and to allow long distance conversations without muggle phones or fireplaces. As Harry walked down the long white labyrinth of corridors, he thought about how he was going to find Margonis Draconium, and as he walked into the lobby where Brakin stood waiting, he decided that after lunch he would check out Neminious' screening of Margonis and then see if the library would be of assistance. "Hello Brakin!" exclaimed Harry as he walked into the lobby ten minutes later. "How are you?" "Fine, thanks. How about you?" "Oh I'm okay, been working really hard lately on cases and a Quidditch Pitch I'm building with my friend Ron Weasley." "Okay, well shall we go then" Brakin asked. "Sure." Said Harry, and they apparated out of the complex.
_____ While Harry was taking a break for lunch, Ron was having absolutely no fun or leisure. Ron was carefully and precisely calculating the angles that needed to be used in order to successfully build the Quidditch Pitch. "30 degrees to.hmm, let's see.um.330 degrees." Ron muttered to himself "How are you coming along?" asked Hermione kindly
"Fine." Snapped Ron who was upset that this was taking him all morning
and into lunch, "what have you been doing if you don't mind me asking?" "Well I was actually sending applications to many different businesses because I'm looking for a new job." Explained Hermione "Why do you want a new job? You seem so happy at St. Mungo's." Said Ron "I'm not particularly happy there, it's not what I thought it would be." "Well, you could always help Harry, Scipio, and I build the Quidditch pitch." Said Ron hopefully, as Hermione's intellect would be a huge advantage for them. "No I don't think so Ron." Said Hermione, "I'm looking for a profession more than a job." "Dammit!" exclaimed Ron, "I was hoping that you could help us because you're so smart and.logical! That would help us a ton Hermione! Could you help a little bit? Please!" "Well.I thank you for your compliments, and.hmm let me think here.okay how about this," said Hermione; "I will help you with the Quidditch pitch if you help me with my applications." "Umm.give me a second." Said Ron Ron and Harry shared an interesting ability that they had developed together in the Gryffindor common room in their seventh year at Hogwarts. They are able to telepathically communicate with each other. This came in handy on many occasions such as this one. Harry and Ron are very far apart, and owls take too long. "Harry." Said Ron telepathically, "Harry, can you hear me?" "Yes, I can hear you, what can I help you with?" "I asked Hermione if she would help us with the Quidditch pitch and she said yes but only if I help her with her job applications. Should I do it?" "Sure. I don't see any reason not to.but make sure you don't get stuck with all the paperwork." "Okay, thanks Harry." "No problem, always ready to help a friend. Talk to you later." And the connection was broken. "Okay Hermione, I've decided." "Well." "I have decided to accept your deal. Thank you so much!" "Okay, I have some paperwork I'm going to need you to do, bu-" "I don't want all the paperwork! Can I do something else?" Ron said quickly. "Umm.sure, you can address the envelopes and seal them and send them off. Is that okay with you?" "Yes, when do I start?" "Right now."
Chapter 3: Disappearances
Addressing envelopes and sending off letters was a lot harder than Ron had anticipated. Hermione had literally hundreds of letters to send, and some of the recipients lived out of the country so their address had to be spelled out in its native language, but meanwhile, Harry's lunch with Brakin was going well.
_____ "So, Brakin." Harry began. "Yes" "Do you like working with me?" "Yeah," replied Brakin immediately, "I love working with you. You're funny, dedicated, and you get the job done. I'm." she paused, "honored to work with you and I enjoy it." "Hmm." said Harry pensively; "so you wouldn't be disappointed if you were umm. how do I phrase this." he paused, "if you were asked to be my personal assistant both in the office and the field?" Brakin's face lit up like a light bulb and a broad smile cracked upon her face. Stuttering she said, "O-of-of c-cou-course not, b-but." "No buts!" Harry interrupted. "If you would like I will promote you to my personal assistant." "I-I-I would lo-lo-love that." Brakin stuttered "Very well then" said Harry; "I hereby promote you to personal assistant to Harry Potter." Brakin nearly passed out and she had to steady her self by holding onto the table before she could even sit strait. She feebly muttered "thank you" and fainted.
_____ "Very good job," said a deep voice from a red armchair, "you have done well." "Thank you your lordship." Said the woman standing behind the chair. "Your first assignment will be to infiltrate the IFW and gain access to a Bauble Bubble." Said the voice "Of course my lord." "Then you shall report back to me." "Most definitely your lordship, whatever your lordship desires." Responded the woman. "Then go! Report to me every three days, as well as after you acquire a Bauble Bubble, understood?" "Yes your lordship, I understand my lord." "Good. now go!" "Of course my lord." And she left.
_____ By now, Lord Voldemort had risen again and has many new accomplices. Margonis Draconium is one of them, Jupiter Connelly is another, and the most deadly of the group is, Draco Malfoy. But it seems that there is a new dark lord beginning to rise. This new lord of darkness holds all of the powers of Lord Voldemort and many more, his name, Lord Valdiferous. Lord Valdiferous, the new dark lord, strives to take over the Wizarding World and lay a shadow of darkness over both it and the Muggle World. He is recruiting and soon will have amassed an army of Mangemortes. His followers will be more loyal than those of Lord Voldemort and his mark shall be a red bloody palm. His newly crafted spell of death will kill more swiftly than even Lord Voldemort's, and will kill many more.
_____ "Brakin," Harry said, very concerned, "Brakin are you okay?" "Huh? What?" Brakin muttered as she came to, "What happened?" "You passed out when I promoted you to my personal assistant." Harry said calmly. Brakin swayed uneasily in her chair but she steadied herself quickly. "Oh my god!" she exclaimed, "It's incredible Harry, thank you so much." "Well I need all the help I can get," Harry said, "When we get back to the office, Neminious will have a screening of Margonis for us and tomorrow we go into the field." "Oh my god," said Brakin, still in disbelief, "Oh my god." And again she fainted. Harry immediately said, "Accio Firebolt!" and his shiny Firebolt came zooming to him. He mounted and placed Brakin in front of him and flew back to the office. He gently woke her up and brought her inside. By now she had gained back her composure and was ready to go into the building. They each walked to a teleport door and said their own names; they walked through the doors and were at their offices. "Neminious!" said Harry, and Neminious' face popped up in front of him inside of a white bubble. "Did you get the screening for me?" "Yeah, I'll send it right away." "Thanks," said Harry, "It's greatly appreciated. "No problem." Suddenly, Harry heard a loud *POP* and he opened the special drawer used to transport documents from one office to another via Bauble Bubble, and all the paperwork on Margonis Draconium was there.
_____ "Wow Hermione," Ron said, "this is a lot harder than you'd think!" "I know, that's why I wanted somebody to help me." Hermione replied "How many of these are you sending out anyway?" "Umm.I'm not exactly sure," Hermione said slowly, "probably around two- hundred or so." "Blimey Hermione!" Ron exclaimed, "How can you send out so many job applications?" "I don't know," Hermione replied, "but I'm very interested in a lot of these positions and right now I just want to get out of St. Mungo's." "Whatever," said Ron with a hint of aggravation, "let's just get all this done as fast as we can." "Yeah," said Hermione, "good idea." As Ron sat there addressing envelopes, he tried to think of a spell that would write all of these addresses for him as he spoke. Finally he had a brain flash. "Hermione!!" Ron burst out suddenly. "What?" "Couldn't I just use the scripture charm to write these?" "Well.I suppose but-" "Scribulous" Ron said "Never mind." Said Hermione with the tone of someone who was upset.. With Ron speaking instead of writing, the addresses were written down much more quickly. Hermione berated herself for not thinking of that while she was writing her resume but she kept working anyway.
By Micah Nadler
Table of Contents: Chapter 1: Strange Partings Chapter 2: A New Beginning Chapter 3: Disappearances Chapter 4: The Revelation Chapter 5: The I.D. Chapter 6: A Welcome into the Fold Chapter 7: The New Burrow Chapter 8: A Budding Relationship Chapter 9: Owl Post Chapter 10: Hogwarts Chapter 11: New Friends Chapter 12: Relationships in the Sky Chapter 13: The Proposal Chapter 14: A New Life Chapter 15: Unexpected Meetings Chapter 16: Up, Up, and Away!
Author's Note References Pronunciation Guide Maps
Chapter 1: Strange Partings
Hermione Granger sat at her desk on the third floor of her six-story mansion. Hermione, however, was not the only resident of Croftaire. She shared her home with four other people; Harry Potter: Her best friend, Ron Weasley: another best friend, Scipio Aurelius: a friend, and Cho Chang: another friend.
Looking at Croftaire from the outside, you would never imagine that this house also belonged to five twenty-year-old witches and wizards. The outside walls are made of pure white marble that never fades, and the columns that support the upper levels are sleek ivory.
The front garden is bedecked with the rarest and most extravagant plants on earth and the path that leads to the fountain in the middle is made of EverShine brick.
Each floor housed one member of the household except for the first floor. Harry had the second floor, Hermione had the third, Ron had the fourth, Scipio had the fifth, and Cho had the sixth.
The first floor housed the communal rooms of the household, such as the kitchen, the living room, the guest wing, and the study. Croftaire's property also contained green houses in the back gardens, and observatory on the roof, a potions lab in the basement, a library, and a room in which you could create and test new spells.
Of these four people that she shared her home with, Hermione trusted two of them with her life. They were her two best friends, Harry and Ron.
Harry, Ron, and Hermione had known each other since their fist day at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. They had met on their first train ride to the school on the Hogwarts Express. After Harry and Ron saved Hermione from a twelve-foot mountain troll they became best friends.
Harry and Ron were fanatic followers of the wizard sport Quidditch and their dream was to host the Quidditch World Cup, so they were building a Quidditch pitch in their forest that would accommodate 100,000 people.
But Hermione was not thinking of any of this right now. She was sitting at her desk thinking about her job as a doctor. She worked at St. Mungo's Hospital for Magical Maladies and Injuries. Although she worked there, she wasn't as happy as she seemed. She would rather have a different occupation.
_____
*Ding-dong* *ding-dong* the dinner bell rang. Hermione dashed into the hallway and was soon followed by Ron, Scipio and Cho. They ran down the stairs and skidded right around the corner and into the kitchen where a wonderful smell met their nostrils.
Dinner and all other meals were cooked magically and appeared on the table at the appropriate place, when people sit down.
Harry was already sitting at the table with a plate piled high with his favorite food; steak, pork chops, everything [the whole nine yards?]. Hermione sat down next to Harry and Ron sat on her other side. Scipio and Cho sat next to each other on the other side of the table. Cho sat across from Harry and Scipio sat across from Hermione.
As they ate they spoke of what they had done that day, and what they had planned for the next.
"I was in my office all day today working on the Quidditch Pitch plans." Said Ron
"Great!" said Harry, "I'll come up look at them with you after dinner, and we can work out any kinks."
"I was looking over patient reports today." Said Hermione, "One of my
patients' splinched himself." Everybody flinched, splinching is when someone tries to apparate, and leaves some of their body parts behind. "Half of him was in Kent, and the other half in California. It took the Accidental Magical Reversal squad two weeks to find all of his body parts."
"I made plans to travel to France and Italy." Scipio explained, "I'm going to visit everything!"
_____
After dinner, Harry and Ron went up three flights of stairs to Ron's office to look at the Quidditch Pitch plans.
They walked into Ron's office and in the middle of the room, there stood a huge mahogany table covered in graph paper, pencils, pens, compasses, rulers, and an assortment of other tools required for architectural design.
Harry began to walk around and around the table examining the plans, calculations, and dimensions. Finally, Harry stopped walking and turned to Ron and said, "To the library!"
And off they went, down three flights of stairs, left, right, and straight to the Quidditch section. "Look for any books about Quidditch pitches and Quidditch World Cups." Said Harry
"Alright." Replied Ron.
And they searched and searched and searched, and after three hours of searching Harry said "petesthai" and the books became feather-light. He then said, "Mobilus bokus" and the books followed him up the stairs to Ron's office. Harry then said "pontos Quidditch Pitch" and the books began to search themselves for references to Quidditch Pitches. After Harry and Ron looked through those, Harry said, "nIehst surgere!" the books looked for the next reference. This continued all night and until breakfast when Harry and Ron sleepily walked down three flights of stairs to the kitchen.
"Well we di- did learn a lot last night." Harry said, failing to stifle a huge yawn.
"Yeah, I suppose." Ron said through a mouthful of oatmeal. He swallowed and continued, "I never knew that you had to make the goals 100 feet tall and drive them 50 feet into the ground to secure them."
"Yeah," said Harry, "and I never knew that it was a requirement to have grass instead of dirt or something."
The two boys were soon joined by Scipio who yawned as he sat down in his seat across from where Hermione sits.
"Morning." He said
"Morning." Harry and Ron said together
"You two look exhausted!"
"Yeah, we were up all night!" Harry said.
"Doing what?" asked Scipio.
"We were getting info for our Quidditch Pitch." Ron explained.
"Oh," said Scipio, "I see, now when-"
"Good morning everybody!" said Hermione jauntily as she skipped into the kitchen.
"Good morning Hermione." Harry, Ron and Scipio said in sleepy voices.
"Oh," exclaimed Hermione, "oatmeal! Thank you for cooking boys!"
"No problem Hermione." Harry and Ron said tiredly.
"How can she be so lively this early in the morning?" wondered Harry.
"No clue." Ron muttered
Hermione finished her food and bounced out of her chair as if she was made of rubber. "Best be off to work!" she said, "See you later!"
"Bye Hermione!" Harry, Ron, and Scipio shouted after her as she ran to the front door.
This was normal morning routine in the family, Harry and Ron stayed up all night and when they came down for breakfast they are utterly exhausted. Scipio who gets plenty of sleep but is tired anyway soon follows them. The three boys are eating breakfast when Hermione comes down fully awake and she eats and rushes off to work.
Soon after Hermione left for work Cho came down into the kitchen.
"Good morning." She said sleepily
"Good morning." Harry Ron and Scipio replied
Harry and Ron finished their oatmeal and set off upstairs to work on their Quidditch Pitch plans. Cho sat down next to Scipio and looked at him carefully. She appeared to be searching for the right thing to say.
"Scipio?" She began slowly.
"Yes?"
"I have something that I need to tell you." She said sadly.
"Go on." Said Scipio, hanging on to her every word.
"I will be going away tomorrow and do not think that I shall be returning any time soon."
"But." He trailed off
"Please! Don't ask questions! It's hard enough as it is!" and she ran back to her room dissolving into tears.
Scipio just sat there for a minute eating and thinking. Where was Cho going? Why couldn't she tell him? Why was she going? He finished his breakfast and headed up to see how Harry and Ron were doing with their plans.
_____
"No Ron! We have to add the support beams for the top box before he can build the stairs!"
"Why! We can hold up the box by saying petesthai and flOz, you know that! It would float while we worked!"
"Hey guys," said Scipio
"Hey." Harry and Ron said.
"How's it coming?"
"Okay I guess." Said Harry
"We're having some arguments." Explained Ron
"Yes, I could see that." Replied Scipio.
"The trouble is we can't decide whether to build the stairs first or the top box first." Explained Harry.
"I think I can help you there." Said Scipio, "I personally would build the box first and then the stairs."
"Okay." Ron said, "But what about the other levels?"
"I think the same should apply to the other levels as well but work from the ground up so you don't have to levitate anything." Answered Scipio.
"I propose that we break ground tomorrow!" Harry exclaimed.
"I agree!" answered Ron and Scipio
"Scipio," Harry said
"Yes?" Scipio replied
"You are the advisor and head of operations, understood?"
"Yes!"
"Ron! You are labor force with me! Let's go clear out trees to make room for the pitch. Scipio, you can help too."
_____
In an instant Harry took out thirty trees with one word, "klirosio" the trees just disappeared. Ron and Scipio had their wands out and were doing the exact same thing. With three people working it took no time at all to clear the hundreds of trees needed for the pitch.
"Alright," said Harry to Ron and Scipio, "we now mark the area for the outer wall of the stands. When we are done with that, we need to outline the precise and completely accurate location of the field itself.
This was a much more difficult task. Even with three fully trained wizards on the job, it took them five hours to complete both outlines. Harry vividly recalled the first time he had gone to the Quidditch World Cup. Ron's dad had been speaking with Ludo Bagman, who was now dead, and Bagman had said "taskforce of 500 been working on it all year." Well if that took a taskforce of 500 ministry wizards, Harry didn't know if they would ever be able to host a World Cup without more wizards and witches working with them. While they were building it they also had to consider anti-muggle charms on every inch of it. On top of all that, accommodating 100,000 witches and wizards would be no small feat. They would have to expand their guest wing for close friends, and clear more trees for all the tents.
_____
"Urgh!" Harry grunted as the sunlight burst into his bedroom waking him from a dream he had had many times before. He now understood what it meant, because he had asked Hagrid about it. It was Hagrid on Sirius' flying motorcycle taking Harry to live with his Aunt, Uncle and Cousin, all muggles. Harry had lived with them until after he graduated from Hogwarts and moved to Croftaire with Hermione, Ron, Cho, and Scipio.
Harry got out of bed, stretched and moaned. All his muscles had seized up from working all day the day before. He got up, dressed, and apparated into the kitchen where his eggs, bacon and sausage lay waiting for him. The steam from his hot food began to cloud up his glasses but at this point he didn't care, he was hungry and wasn't going to let steam keep him from his food.
There were two clocks on the kitchen wall. One was completely useless if you want to know the time, but Harry liked it anyway. It had five hands on it; each with the name of one resident of Croftaire and it added more when there were guests. This clock told where members of the household might be. It listed home, work, traveling, Hogwarts, Ministry, lost, and MORTAL PERIL.
Harry had first seen a clock like this in The Burrow. That was the name of Ron's family's house. That clock had had twelve hands on it instead of five but the two clocks were otherwise the same.
Currently only four of the hands pointed to home, but Cho's. *DONG* *DONG* DONG*
Harry rang the bell, everyone instantly and sleepily apparated into the kitchen.
"What is it?" asked Ron.
"What Happened?" Hermione asked.
"Why'd you wake us up?" murmured Scipio. There was a moment of silence in which everybody looked around at each other. Then Harry spoke, "Cho's gone!"
Chapter 2: A New Beginning
"She's gone?" Whispers crept through the kitchen like they did the night of the third task when Lord Voldemort had killed Cedric. Harry remembered vividly, lying in the grass looking at Dumbledore, explaining what had happened. He remembered all the students crying and yelling, "HE'S DEAD! CEDRIC DIGGORY IS DEAD!"
There was silence for ten minutes, but Scipio broke the ice. "She told me that she'd be leaving." He said, "She said she didn't think that she would be coming back any time soon." He paused to let this sink in. "She wouldn't let me ask questions either; she said it was hard enough as it was. She sounded really upset about it."
There was more silence, Harry thought that he heard Cho's voice echoing through the mansion, but it stopped very quickly and he tried to get rid of the thought.
"Why would she leave?" asked Ron.
"Dunno'." said Scipio
The silence that occurred chilled Harry to the bone.
_____
Weeks later, Cho's disappearance remained a mystery but the residents of Croftaire didn't worry about it too much. In fact the boys were so occupied building the Quidditch Pitch that they hardly had time to think of anything other than that. Hermione spent all of her time writing up resume drafts to apply for jobs other than at St. Mungo's, and was so busy revising and re-writing that she also had little time for anything else. She was snappy at people when they disturbed her and she locked herself away for hours on end and wouldn't be seen until dinner.
Out on the construction site Harry, Ron, and Scipio were having much more trouble than Hermione.
"Why can't we put extra levels underground with rooms and everything for all of the people who came to the Quidditch Cup?" asked Ron, "We could charge admission to the rooms as well as to the Cup itself."
"That could work." Said Harry, "except for the fact that.WE DON'T HAVE ENOUGH MAN POWER!!"
"We could recruit people." Suggested Scipio, "I know some people who would be willing to help for free."
"Yeah," said Harry, "that's a great idea. Try and get right on that Scipio."
"I will."
"Harry, what are we going to do about accommodations for 100,000 witches and wizards from all over the world? We don't have enough property to have them all camp out."
"I'm not sure yet, but I'll have it figured out well before we host the Cup.
_____
*DONG* *DONG* the dinner bell rang. Harry and Ron instantly apparated into the kitchen, and they were soon followed by Hermione who looked more worn out than they did.
"Aahh." said Ron, "food!"
"I'm starving!" said Harry.
"Me too." Said Hermione.
They sat silently and ate and ate and ate. Harry felt, as though his stomach would burst he was so full that he turned in early. Ron and Hermione however, decided to stay up a little later and talk.
"Where do you think she went Hermione?" asked Ron as if this was a conversation they were continuing.
"I don't know. She doesn't seem like the kind of person to just leave for no reason and not even say where she was going."
"I know that, but you don't think that she went to Him do you?"
"No, I don't think that she would succumb to that."
_____
Harry awoke quickly in the morning from a dream in which He was on his old Nimbus 2000 and he and Malfoy were chasing after the snitch. All of a sudden, the snitch turned itself into Voldemort's glowing red eye, and Harry had fallen off his broom in fright. As he hit the ground he woke up in a puddle of cold sweat.
I had better get ready for work. Harry thought, as he pulled himself groggily out of bed.
"I have to go to work today, it's Monday." Said Harry to himself. "There's probably a lot to do."
He got dressed and apparated into the kitchen. He then prepared breakfast for himself, and after eating he apparated to the office.
_____
At the office, there was a lot to do. Harry was currently working on five different cases, and each was more difficult than building 12 Quidditch Pitches.
Harry worked for The International Federation of Wizards in the Intelligence Department, and therefore, was always working on solving mysteries, and finding dark wizards.
Right now, Harry was working on finding an evil witch named Margonis Draconium. She was wanted in three continents for torturing and killing both magic folk, and muggles.
"Bubble." Said Harry
A dark green bubble appeared at his shoulder.
"Tell Neminious to run a full check on Margonis Draconium."
Neminious was the screener for the I.F.W. and ran all the name checks for other employees.
As the bubble disappeared, Harry said, "Sirius."
A black bubble appeared in front of his desk.
"Hi Harry," said Sirius, "what can I do for you?"
"I need you to run off to Diagon Alley and get me some stuff."
"I can do that, what do you need?"
"I'll send my bubble with a list."
"OK," said Sirius, "talk to you later." And his bubble disappeared with a pop.
"Bubble!" said Harry. His bauble bubble appeared in front of him. "Take this list of items to Sirius' office.
Harry placed a piece of parchment with the list of items he needed in a special drawer of his desk and the bubble sped off with the information.
"Time for lunch." Harry said to himself. "Brakin!" a red bubble appeared.
"Hi Harry." said Brakin.
"Hi," said Harry, "would you like to go to get some food with me? I'm going to the Three Broomsticks for a butterbeer and some sandwiches."
"Sure." Said Brakin, "I'll meet you in the lobby OK?"
"OK." Said Harry. Brakin was one of Harry's associates at the International Federation of Wizards, and she seemed to like him a lot. She sometimes got flirty and is always trying to make Harry satisfied with her.
Harry liked Brakin as a friend, but tended not to return the flirts. He thought that flirting at the office was unprofessional, as did Sirius and Neminious.
_____
Brakin stood in the main lobby of the secret underground I.F.W. building waiting for Harry. This room is unlike any other room in the entire building, it is constructed entirely of marble, except for two statues of diamond. The statue on the right as you come into the lobby is of Albus Dumbledore, who some say is the greatest headmaster of Hogwarts in history. Dumbledore is very well known as he has helped his good friend Nicolas Flamel to create an item known as the Sorcerers' Stone, which produced the Elixir of Life. The drinker of the Elixir of Life would become immortal, and the stone could also turn any metal into gold. Making the user rich and immortal. The statue on the left is always changing, as it is the current Minister of Magic, who is now Cornelius Fudge. Fudge has been regarded a bumbling fool by some, and brilliant by others. It is said that he "pelts Dumbledore with owls every morning for advice." Apart from the two statues of diamond and the marble construction of the room, it also has teleport doors to any room in the complex. You merely walk up to a door, say where you wanted to go, and walk through. There is a catch though, if you do not work at the complex or have not been granted a guest entry pass, then you are thrown out of the complex and have to obtain a pass from an employee before attempting to enter again. Not only that, but there are no apparition allowances directly to any of the offices, you have to go through the lobby doors.
_____ "I had better go." Said Harry, "Brakin's waiting." "Bubble!" Harry said, his dark green bubble appeared at his shoulder, "Take me to the lobby." And they were off. Although Harry had worked at the I.F.W. for about three years, it was still impossible for him to find his way around. The halls and passages always moved so that even if somebody managed to infiltrate the building, they wouldn't be able to find anything. The Bauble Bubbles were designed to direct employees to their destination, and to allow long distance conversations without muggle phones or fireplaces. As Harry walked down the long white labyrinth of corridors, he thought about how he was going to find Margonis Draconium, and as he walked into the lobby where Brakin stood waiting, he decided that after lunch he would check out Neminious' screening of Margonis and then see if the library would be of assistance. "Hello Brakin!" exclaimed Harry as he walked into the lobby ten minutes later. "How are you?" "Fine, thanks. How about you?" "Oh I'm okay, been working really hard lately on cases and a Quidditch Pitch I'm building with my friend Ron Weasley." "Okay, well shall we go then" Brakin asked. "Sure." Said Harry, and they apparated out of the complex.
_____ While Harry was taking a break for lunch, Ron was having absolutely no fun or leisure. Ron was carefully and precisely calculating the angles that needed to be used in order to successfully build the Quidditch Pitch. "30 degrees to.hmm, let's see.um.330 degrees." Ron muttered to himself "How are you coming along?" asked Hermione kindly
"Fine." Snapped Ron who was upset that this was taking him all morning
and into lunch, "what have you been doing if you don't mind me asking?" "Well I was actually sending applications to many different businesses because I'm looking for a new job." Explained Hermione "Why do you want a new job? You seem so happy at St. Mungo's." Said Ron "I'm not particularly happy there, it's not what I thought it would be." "Well, you could always help Harry, Scipio, and I build the Quidditch pitch." Said Ron hopefully, as Hermione's intellect would be a huge advantage for them. "No I don't think so Ron." Said Hermione, "I'm looking for a profession more than a job." "Dammit!" exclaimed Ron, "I was hoping that you could help us because you're so smart and.logical! That would help us a ton Hermione! Could you help a little bit? Please!" "Well.I thank you for your compliments, and.hmm let me think here.okay how about this," said Hermione; "I will help you with the Quidditch pitch if you help me with my applications." "Umm.give me a second." Said Ron Ron and Harry shared an interesting ability that they had developed together in the Gryffindor common room in their seventh year at Hogwarts. They are able to telepathically communicate with each other. This came in handy on many occasions such as this one. Harry and Ron are very far apart, and owls take too long. "Harry." Said Ron telepathically, "Harry, can you hear me?" "Yes, I can hear you, what can I help you with?" "I asked Hermione if she would help us with the Quidditch pitch and she said yes but only if I help her with her job applications. Should I do it?" "Sure. I don't see any reason not to.but make sure you don't get stuck with all the paperwork." "Okay, thanks Harry." "No problem, always ready to help a friend. Talk to you later." And the connection was broken. "Okay Hermione, I've decided." "Well." "I have decided to accept your deal. Thank you so much!" "Okay, I have some paperwork I'm going to need you to do, bu-" "I don't want all the paperwork! Can I do something else?" Ron said quickly. "Umm.sure, you can address the envelopes and seal them and send them off. Is that okay with you?" "Yes, when do I start?" "Right now."
Chapter 3: Disappearances
Addressing envelopes and sending off letters was a lot harder than Ron had anticipated. Hermione had literally hundreds of letters to send, and some of the recipients lived out of the country so their address had to be spelled out in its native language, but meanwhile, Harry's lunch with Brakin was going well.
_____ "So, Brakin." Harry began. "Yes" "Do you like working with me?" "Yeah," replied Brakin immediately, "I love working with you. You're funny, dedicated, and you get the job done. I'm." she paused, "honored to work with you and I enjoy it." "Hmm." said Harry pensively; "so you wouldn't be disappointed if you were umm. how do I phrase this." he paused, "if you were asked to be my personal assistant both in the office and the field?" Brakin's face lit up like a light bulb and a broad smile cracked upon her face. Stuttering she said, "O-of-of c-cou-course not, b-but." "No buts!" Harry interrupted. "If you would like I will promote you to my personal assistant." "I-I-I would lo-lo-love that." Brakin stuttered "Very well then" said Harry; "I hereby promote you to personal assistant to Harry Potter." Brakin nearly passed out and she had to steady her self by holding onto the table before she could even sit strait. She feebly muttered "thank you" and fainted.
_____ "Very good job," said a deep voice from a red armchair, "you have done well." "Thank you your lordship." Said the woman standing behind the chair. "Your first assignment will be to infiltrate the IFW and gain access to a Bauble Bubble." Said the voice "Of course my lord." "Then you shall report back to me." "Most definitely your lordship, whatever your lordship desires." Responded the woman. "Then go! Report to me every three days, as well as after you acquire a Bauble Bubble, understood?" "Yes your lordship, I understand my lord." "Good. now go!" "Of course my lord." And she left.
_____ By now, Lord Voldemort had risen again and has many new accomplices. Margonis Draconium is one of them, Jupiter Connelly is another, and the most deadly of the group is, Draco Malfoy. But it seems that there is a new dark lord beginning to rise. This new lord of darkness holds all of the powers of Lord Voldemort and many more, his name, Lord Valdiferous. Lord Valdiferous, the new dark lord, strives to take over the Wizarding World and lay a shadow of darkness over both it and the Muggle World. He is recruiting and soon will have amassed an army of Mangemortes. His followers will be more loyal than those of Lord Voldemort and his mark shall be a red bloody palm. His newly crafted spell of death will kill more swiftly than even Lord Voldemort's, and will kill many more.
_____ "Brakin," Harry said, very concerned, "Brakin are you okay?" "Huh? What?" Brakin muttered as she came to, "What happened?" "You passed out when I promoted you to my personal assistant." Harry said calmly. Brakin swayed uneasily in her chair but she steadied herself quickly. "Oh my god!" she exclaimed, "It's incredible Harry, thank you so much." "Well I need all the help I can get," Harry said, "When we get back to the office, Neminious will have a screening of Margonis for us and tomorrow we go into the field." "Oh my god," said Brakin, still in disbelief, "Oh my god." And again she fainted. Harry immediately said, "Accio Firebolt!" and his shiny Firebolt came zooming to him. He mounted and placed Brakin in front of him and flew back to the office. He gently woke her up and brought her inside. By now she had gained back her composure and was ready to go into the building. They each walked to a teleport door and said their own names; they walked through the doors and were at their offices. "Neminious!" said Harry, and Neminious' face popped up in front of him inside of a white bubble. "Did you get the screening for me?" "Yeah, I'll send it right away." "Thanks," said Harry, "It's greatly appreciated. "No problem." Suddenly, Harry heard a loud *POP* and he opened the special drawer used to transport documents from one office to another via Bauble Bubble, and all the paperwork on Margonis Draconium was there.
_____ "Wow Hermione," Ron said, "this is a lot harder than you'd think!" "I know, that's why I wanted somebody to help me." Hermione replied "How many of these are you sending out anyway?" "Umm.I'm not exactly sure," Hermione said slowly, "probably around two- hundred or so." "Blimey Hermione!" Ron exclaimed, "How can you send out so many job applications?" "I don't know," Hermione replied, "but I'm very interested in a lot of these positions and right now I just want to get out of St. Mungo's." "Whatever," said Ron with a hint of aggravation, "let's just get all this done as fast as we can." "Yeah," said Hermione, "good idea." As Ron sat there addressing envelopes, he tried to think of a spell that would write all of these addresses for him as he spoke. Finally he had a brain flash. "Hermione!!" Ron burst out suddenly. "What?" "Couldn't I just use the scripture charm to write these?" "Well.I suppose but-" "Scribulous" Ron said "Never mind." Said Hermione with the tone of someone who was upset.. With Ron speaking instead of writing, the addresses were written down much more quickly. Hermione berated herself for not thinking of that while she was writing her resume but she kept working anyway.
