"What about the others, Harry? Hermione, I mean, and my other brothers and Ginny? Are you going to tell them about all this?"
"Yeah, eventually, but I wanted to let you know first. Get some sleep, Ron. We'll talk more tomorrow. I want to get your input on some ideas I have."
"Right. G'night, Harry."
Harry nodded and left for an empty room across the hall, leaving Ron to ponder exactly what he had just committed himself to.
Chapter Ten: Raising the Red Army – To Gringotts Again
Preliminary Author's Note: After some consideration, I've decided to move this into the Harry/Cho section, as that will be a part of my main pairing design. I've more or less decided that Harry will have two main partners, and anybody who's been reading and paying attention can probably figure out where I'm going. There will still be other girls on the outside, for various reasons, but none of those will really develop into anything beyond sex. For whatever Harry/Cho fans start reading because of that pairing, I will be getting a start on it within the next three chapters or so. Enjoy, everybody.
Disclaimer: If you've seen it before, it belongs to J.K. Rowling. Otherwise, it's mine. Naturally, I'm making no money off this.
Harry woke early the next morning, having spent several hours after leaving Ron's room absorbed in thought. Pleased with his success in talking over his volatile best mate, he decided to approach his other friends soon. Ginny would be first, as Harry felt rather confident in his ability to win her over. After all, the darkness had already touched her soul once before, and aside from that, she owed Harry a life bond from the Chamber of Secrets episode, though had no intention of using it to force her over to his side. He had no need for unwilling allies. As for Hermione, she would be much more difficult. Harry had managed to get past Ron's prejudices by stroking his ego, but the female member of the Golden Trio was far too clever to fall for such a device.
Deciding that he wasn't going to get any more sleep that night, Harry casually brightened up his room with a quick flick of his masterpiece wand. His control over his magical core had slowly progressed during his training in the village to the point that he was now capable of invoking small bits of magic without any need for an incantation, though the skill was rather limited in its use. He stretched his wings slightly and got out of bed, intent on a hot shower.
Once showered and dried, Harry returned to his room, slipped on a gold yukata with sapphire blue print, donned a pair of straw sandals that had somehow ended up in his bag from the village, and headed downstairs, hoping to perhaps find somebody awake. After all, Grimmauld Place was the Order's headquarters, and never really fell asleep. Grindelwald and Khariana remained sleeping on the floor at the foot of Harry's bed. Downstairs, Harry saw that the place was mostly darkened, likely indicating no significant movements from Voldemort. Only a small study in an obscure corner of the rear lounge was brightened. Harry crept over to investigate, discovering a certain muggleborn witch poring over one of his rare Dark Arts books. With a flare of indignation, Harry realized that she must have stolen it from his bags while his attention was diverted elsewhere. Still, the fact that she had it in her possession now at least indicated that she hadn't gone running to Dumbledore. Harry filed that fact away for the moment.
"Studying hard, Hermione?"
A look of abject terror crossed Hermione's face upon the realization that she wasn't alone. She quickly and quietly closed the book and placed it down at her side, obscuring the title with her hand. Looking up hesitantly, she flushed a bit at the sight of Harry's forest green eyes looking down at her with amusement.
"H-Harry, what are you doing awake so early? You nearly scared me to death!"
"Just couldn't sleep. So, what are you up to at this hour? We still have a month left before school, you know. No need to pull all night homework sessions yet."
"Oh, I wasn't doing homework. I was just looking over some advanced transfigurations. The Black library has some of the most wonderful books, Harry. Of course, Dumbledore made sure that all the Dark Arts texts were removed before he would let me go in. I don't understand some of this stuff, though. I'm probably going to ask McGonagall to help me with it later."
"Can I take a look? My dad was great at Transfiguration, you know."
Hermione suddenly became very interested in the floor.
"I can't, Harry. Dumbledore made me promise not to let anybody else use these materials without his permission. We'll ask him if you can go down and pick out a few books when he gets here this morning, okay?"
Harry arched an eyebrow, adding another bullet to his mental list of Hermione's erratic patterns of behavior over the course of the past day. She had seemed less than sincere when defending the old man's incalculable methods previously, but now she was using his name and authority to cover a blatant lie. She had quite willingly asked to borrow one of Grindelwald's tomes, but then quietly stole an equally questionable book from Harry's stash soon after. Something was up with her, and he couldn't quite figure out what it was.
For the time being, Harry decided to keep his distance from Hermione concerning the subject. He could tell that she had some conflicting issues to resolve, but attempting to interfere would only push her away. The corrupt and unqualified authority of the Ministry, by which Hermione had been directly oppressed during the previous term at Hogwarts, had seemingly shaken her blind trust in authority figures, leaving her unsure of herself. Harry could sympathize, but wanted to get her away from her books for a while and talk to her.
"Sure, I'd appreciate that. So, want to go grab a bite to eat? I'm famished."
Hermione smiled, though Harry could see an underlying feeling of uneasiness darting through in her eyes. His changes had obviously rattled her just as much as they had Dumbledore, and she wasn't quite sure what to make of the "new" Harry. One thing was for certain, the dakaathi charm had taken its hold on her as well. The flush that crossed her face when Harry had made his presence known still remained.
"That would be great, Harry. I've been sitting down here for hours, and I'm due for a short break. There still ought to be sandwiches and a few bottles of butterbeer left over from lunchtime."
Harry led the way into the kitchen, as Hermione reached into the small icebox in the corner and withdrew a half-empty platter of sandwiches. Harry grabbed four bottles of butterbeer, thanking himself for not having imbibed too heavily of the firewhiskey with Ron earlier. The redhead would be waking up with a nasty hangover. As they ate, Harry and Hermione chatted about more mundane topics, such as study plans for the next year and the goings on around Grimmauld Place. He told her that he intended to start taking his studies a bit more seriously this year, but that he would likely drop Snape's class.
Harry briefly asked about Lupin, wondering why he hadn't seen the old werewolf around the previous day. Hermione told him sadly that Lupin had savagely mauled Kreacher during one of his last werewolf transformation, despite the taming influence of the Wolfsbane Potion, and that Dumbledore had sent him away on a mission to try to convince some of the werewolf packs to join hands with the Order. Harry harbored some suspicion that Snape had purposely botched the potion in hopes of being able to rid himself of the last of the Marauders, but kept the thought to himself.
Of greater interest to Harry was the slight reproving tone his friend had taken upon describing Lupin's departure. She didn't support what he had done, as she had always been an advocate of that traitorous old house elf, but she also seemed rather displeased at the old man for sending Lupin away when he needed emotional support. Losing Sirius had hit the old werewolf hard, and Harry's sudden disappearance only made matters worse. Perhaps Hermione wasn't as staunchly in Dumbledore's camp as Harry had originally thought, but still, he wasn't ready to approach her yet. The lingering doubt that Harry had seen in her eyes back in the study slowly subsided as they spoke.
Soon enough, the sun began to poke through the windows at Grimmauld Place, and the house's occupants slowly rose for the new day. Hermione rose from the table and gave Harry a friendly hug, saying that she appreciated the company, but wanted to get back to her studies. Harry decided to let her hold onto the stolen book for awhile, seeing as it contained only basic Dark Arts, and wouldn't be sorely missed should something happen to it. Besides, letting her fall into studying the darker side of magic would help to drive a wedge between Hermione and her revered authority figures, which suited his purposes. Perhaps he would accidentally leave a few things lying about where she would be sure to happen upon them.
Bill was the first person to come downstairs for the morning, looking not in the least disheveled as he took a seat across from Harry.
"Morning, Harry."
"Morning, Bill. Didn't sleep well at all last night."
"Happens sometimes. If you haven't been sleeping, what have you been doing. Love the robes, by the way. You look good in gold."
Harry smirked slightly.
"Thanks, and I haven't been up to much. I've mostly been talking to Hermione. She just went back into the rear study. I don't think she's slept."
Bill nodded.
"Yeah, come to think, she's been acting rather oddly as of late. I mean, I haven't really known Hermione, though I've picked up that she's always been a bit of a bookworm. Still, she rarely ever stops reading these days. She's been spending less and less time with Ron and Ginny, and doesn't seem to trust anybody. I imagine she only went upstairs yesterday for an opportunity to interrogate you."
Harry lounged back slightly in his chair, taking a quick glance around to make sure nobody else was approaching.
"That's not the half of it. She was reading one of my Dark Arts books, one that she took from my bag without asking. I asked her what she was reading, and she lied to me. Still, I dragged her off into the kitchen for awhile, and she seemed to warm up after a little small talk."
Bill arched an eyebrow.
"Dark Arts? Well, that's certainly unexpected. Dumbledore wouldn't be pleased if he found out."
The smirk remained on Harry's face.
"Exactly, which is why I fully intend to encourage her extracurricular studies. I'm sure that if I accidentally leave things sitting around for her, she'll take advantage. I'll just have to keep an eye on her from a distance. I don't want to turn her into our generation's answer to Bellatrix Lestrange, after all."
At his mention of that name, Harry closed his eyes slightly, indulging in a quick fantasy of ripping the insane Death Eater's entrails out and feeding them to the tigers. Still, he was worried about Hermione, and mentally vowed to look out for her.
"That's not a bad idea, Harry. So, did you enjoy that firewhiskey?"
"Yeah, though I doubt Ron will be when he wakes up. The bloke finished off about three quarters of the bottle."
"I'd better go whip him up a Hangover Potion, then. Mum will skin him alive if she finds out he's been drinking. Why did you let him have it, anyway? Trying to loosen him up and talk him over or something?"
Bill's facial expression indicated that it was meant to be a joke, but looked curious when the younger wizard kept a serious expression.
"That's exactly what I did, and it paid off. He's in."
"Are you sure we can trust him? I mean, he's my brother and all, but I have a hard time seeing him going against our parents and Dumbledore..."
"I've been dealing with Ron for a long time. I believe him."
Bill nodded in acceptance, and Harry continued to talk.
"So, you and Fleur, you're serious?"
Bill smiled slightly, and Harry was instantly glad that he hadn't responded to the French sex kitten's playful teasing the previous morning. She was beautiful, no doubt, but he wasn't about to alienate the man who had recently come to be one of his closest friends over a brief adventure underneath her robes. There were plenty of other women.
"Yeah, we are. We've been together for just over a year now. It's odd, you know? She's not the type of girl that I ever envisioned myself ending up with, but nowadays I couldn't imagine myself with anybody else. Anyway, she's gone back to France for a long weekend. Says she's missed her folks."
"Well, I'm happy for you two. Going to ask her the big question anytime soon?"
"At Yule, if all goes according to plan."
"She'd be lucky to have you."
Bill smiled a bit.
"Well, I'm certainly glad one of us thinks so. I'd better go brew that potion for Ickle Ronniekins."
Bill left, and Harry went upstairs to rearrange his things. Neither of them had noticed a certain redhead eavesdropping on their entire conversation from the middle of the stairs.
After organizing his possessions in what would be his bedroom for the remainder of the summer, Harry returned downstairs, shadowed by his two pets. He found Mrs. Weasley cooking breakfast in the kitchen. After the usual exchange of morning pleasantries, Harry ventured into the sitting room, where Ron was seated on a couch.
"Morning, mate. How's the hangover?"
Ron glanced over and shot Harry a grin.
"You know, if you and Bill hadn't become such good friends, I think he'd have probably let me puke my bloody guts up just to teach me a lesson."
"Probably. I hope your mum finishes with breakfast soon. I just ate a few hours ago, and I'm already hungry again. You know, I think I'm starting to understand what it's like to be you."
Ron laughed loudly and then turned to Harry with a serious look.
"Harry, did we really have that entire conversation last night, or was it just some weird dream of mine?"
Harry fixed his friend with an appraising look.
"It was no dream, Ron. Why, having second thoughts now?"
Ron shook his head in the negative.
"Nah, just making sure..."
The redhead was interrupted by the sound of his mother calling the house in to breakfast. Almost as if synchronized, the two young wizards darted for the kitchen, finding Arthur and Ginny already seated at the long table. For some reason, Ginny kept staring directly at Harry with an unreadable expression. He met her gaze for a moment, but turned away at the sight of Hermione coming in from the study. Taking a closer look, he saw bags under the young witch's eyes. She looked like Hell. She did brighten a bit, smiling as she took a seat next to Ginny. As the eight o'clock hour approached, Order members began to pop into the house like so many fireflies and the entire room filled with loud conversation. Harry tried to tune the majority of it out as he and Ron had a short contest to see which of the two could inhale the most sausage and scrambled eggs. The tall redhead remained champion, if such a title existed, but Harry gave him a good run for his money.
Quickly enough, breakfast ended, and a good number of the assembled Order members left to pursue their daily tasks. Glancing at the far end of the table, Harry spied Mad-Eye looking in his direction with a contemplative expression. Dumbledore must not have told the rest of the Order about Harry's wings, though Moody would be able to see them through his yukata. Looking down at himself, Harry briefly decided that he needed a katana to complete the look. He noticed Hermione and Ginny carrying on a conversation, which pleased him somewhat. He still wasn't sure when had brought on Hermione's sudden tendency to isolate herself, but he was certain that it wasn't good for her to be completely shut in with her book, especially if she was dabbling in Dark Arts.
Harry's good temper was quickly soured, however, as a certain bearded Headmaster strode into the room, looking sickeningly resplendent in robes of lime green and carrying a trio of envelopes. He could feel almost Ron's irritation flaring up beside him as well. His mate's dissatisfaction with the old man was apparently something that had been brewing for awhile. Either that, or Harry had really awakened something within his mind during that one conversation. Albus smiled serenely at the small group of students.
"Good morning, children. I think that some of you will be pleased, or perhaps terrified, to know that your OWL scores have been released. Rather than tire out a set of perfectly good post owls, I have decided to deliver them to you personally."
Hermione's eyes lit up at this piece of news. Harry glanced over at her with a bit of amusement. Again, he thought, some things never change. Dumbledore handed Harry his envelope, which he quickly opened. Skimming over the pointless introductory paragraph from the people at the Ministry, Harry looked down to the actual scores.
OWL Results for: Potter, Harry James
All scores are given as a percentage.
Potions: Professor Severus Snape
Theory: 43 (Poor)
Practical: 59 (Acceptable)
Overall Rating: Acceptable, one OWL awarded
Transfiguration: Professor Minerva McGonagall
Theory: 72 (Exceeds Expectations)
Practical: 85 (Exceeds Expectations)
Overall Rating: Exceeds Expectations, one OWL awarded
Defense Against the Dark Arts: Professor Dolores Umbridge
Theory: 99 (Outstanding)
Practical: 103 (Outstanding)
Overall Rating: Outstanding, two OWL's awarded
Charms: Professor Filius Flitwick
Theory: 84 (Exceeds Expectations)
Practical: 97 (Outstanding)
Overall Rating: Outstanding, two OWL's awarded
Care of Magical Creatures: Professor Rubeus Hagrid
Theory: 68 (Acceptable)
Practical: 76 (Exceeds Expectations)
Overall Rating: Exceeds Expectations, one OWL awarded
Herbology: Professor Fiona Sprout
Theory: 60 (Acceptable)
Practical: 67 (Acceptable)
Overall Rating: Acceptable, one OWL awarded
Divination: Professor Sibyll Trelawney, Professor Firenze
Theory: 17 (Dreadful)
Practical: 49 (Acceptable)
Overall Rating: Poor, no OWL awarded
Astronomy: Professor Clara Sinistra
Theory: 45 (Poor)
Practical: 71 (Exceeds Expectations)
Overall Rating Acceptable, one OWL awarded
History of Magic: Professor Mortimer Binns
Written Examination: 11 (Dreadful)
Overall Rating: Dreadful, no OWL awarded
Due to an unscheduled interruption of the Astronomy practical, all scores have been curved to the minimum point requirement of the next level up from the raw grade.
Total OWL's awarded: 9
Again, Harry ignored the congratulatory paragraph at the end, instead choosing to reflect on his scores. He wasn't particularly surprised by anything, except that he had somehow passed the Divination practical. His mediocre performance in Potions meant that he would likely have to endure some degree of taunting from the greasy bastard, not that he had any intention of taking Snape's class regardless. He was pleased with his Charms score, but not so much with his Herbology mark.
Ron looked impassive as he glanced at his scores, while Hermione was about to burst with barely concealed glee. The former looked over to Harry, while Dumbledore took a seat and observed.
"How'd you do, mate?"
"Nine, O's in DADA and Charms, and failed Divination and History of Magic. How about you?"
Ron shrugged.
"Here, take a look."
Ron passed his result sheet over to Harry. Well, Harry thought, Molly wouldn't be having a fourth Head Boy in the family. Weasley, Ronald Bilius had earned five total OWL's, with an Outstanding in Defense Against the Dark Arts, and passes in Charms, Herbology and Care of Magical Creatures. Still, he had some near passes in other subjects, namely Transfiguration and Astronomy. Harry gave Ron a reassuring pat on the shoulder and passed his sheet back to him, fully aware of his reluctance to discuss the matter out loud. There would no doubt be worse scores than five, but telling him so wasn't likely to improve his disposition. As for himself, Harry didn't particularly care. He would be on the fields of battle within the year, and had no intentions of being around Hogwarts by graduation time.
Meanwhile, Hermione was glancing apprehensively between Harry and Ron, willing them to ask her about her scores. With the slightest roll of his forest green eyes, Harry turned to his female friend.
"And how about you, Hermione?"
The girl literally beamed, a fact that Harry thought was almost worth having to stomach her forthcoming gushing. Still, he supposed she had a right to be proud of her accomplishments.
"Nineteen, Harry. Nineteen OWL's. All my hard work paid off. I'm so happy!"
Harry forced a smile onto his face, while Ron turned his head to the floor, trying not to say anything to rain on her parade.
"Wow, that's great, Hermione. Straight O's, I take it?"
She simply nodded and turned to Dumbledore, already intent on discussing her course options for the upcoming term. Harry decided to take advantage of Dumbledore's preoccupation and head back upstairs with Ron, hoping to avoid an unnecessary question and answer session with the old man.
Albus Dumbledore, Headmaster of Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry, was having a most difficult week. Minister Fudge had been giving him no end of annoyance about finding Harry Potter. Cornelius had seemingly changed his position on the boy overnight after the Department of Mysteries episode, now believing him to be the savior of the wizarding world, and somebody he looked to "as if he were his own son". Albus sincerely hoped that Harry would never catch wind of that comment, as the results would likely be most unpleasant. And, indeed, Harry was at the source of his own difficulties as well. He had disregarded both his own safety and that of his relatives by leaving Privet Drive, and had subsequently disappeared for a month, grinding the Order's operations to a standstill as they searched for the boy around the clock. Thankfully, he had just recently turned up at Headquarters, but not before assaulting Severus with a borderline illegal dark curse, rendering him unconscious and in need of medical treatment.
And that presented yet another problem. Severus's resentment towards Harry would no doubt be greater than ever after this latest encounter. Albus was becoming rather annoyed with having to referee between the two, and found himself tempted to simply allow them to have it out and settle it once and for all. Still, judging by the degree of power he had felt from Harry's curse in Diagon Alley, he doubted that there would be much remaining of his Potions professor and spy should that happen.
Most worrisome for Albus was the fact that Harry had been revealed to be the blood heir of Lord Grindelwald, and the new lord of the Evans line. He was not happy to see Harry with that degree of political clout and financial independence, not that the old man was aware of him having made any significant use of either. He wasn't ready to handle the level of responsibility, especially since the boy already had the Prophecy and his godfather's untimely demise to cope with. Still, he had succeeded to the lordship, and there was little that Dumbledore could do but accept that fact now. Also, Harry had recently sprouted a mysterious pair of wings, that Albus could only assume were of veela origin. Thatnews was of no particular concern, as Dumbledore wasn't worried about the boy sowing his oats among the female population of Hogwarts. Perhaps some attention from the opposite sex would even help to calm Harry's volatile temper to a degree.
For now, Dumbledore fully intended to get the story behind his favorite student's disappearance. He had left the previous morning in order to ponder these recent developments, but was now prepared to deal with Harry. Albus kept an eye on the young wizard as he attempted to field young Miss Granger's questions about the upcoming term. He had also been concerned about the girl's increasing tendency to withdraw from her friends. At least she seemed back to her normal self, at least for the time being. Harry's return had no doubt contributed to that. Albus felt that the boy had no idea how important he was to those around him, and not just as the hero of the wizarding world. That was simply all the more reason to protect him. Oh, and now he and young Ronald Weasley were rising to leave the room.
"Harry, I believe that we still need to have a discussion?"
Albus watched as Harry returned to his seat, no visible reaction on his face. That fact alone troubled the Headmaster. Harry's thoughts had always been quite visible, so much that he really had no need to employ Legilimency in order to be able to read him. Now, however, he was able to keep a straight face that would make any Slytherin envious.
"Of course, professor. I almost forgot."
"Very well. I see no reason why your friends cannot remain here. I'm certain that you have already told them of your whereabouts this past month. Now, would you mind telling me the story as well, Harry?"
Harry only shrugged slightly. Albus listened as he relayed a tale of staying with a retired auror in Knockturn Alley that was currently in the business of crafting wands. If Harry's story was to be believed, he had learned advanced spell work and dueling technique during his unexpected hiatus. Apparently, he had been given a new wand as well, one crafted especially to be compatible with his own magical signature. That was the likely source of his increased magical power from his encounter with Severus. For some reason, Alastor decided to interject himself into the discussion.
"A retired auror, you say? What was his name, laddie?"
Harry glanced over at Moody, who was taking a swig from his hip flask.
"Alberto Rodriguez. Do you know him, Professor Moody?"
Moody spat up his drink all over the table. Thankfully, Albus mused, most of the Order had left, leaving Alastor more or less alone at the far end of the room. Moody spoke in a low growl that could barely be discerned.
"Aye, laddie, that I do. A damn good auror, he was, but mind that you don't end up like him. Still, if he taught you how to fight, then you had a damn good teacher. And you say he's crafting wands now?"
"Yeah, he helped craft this for me."
Harry lazily drew his masterpiece wand from the waistband of his yukata and exhibited it. Albus couldn't help but admire its quality, but also realized that it probably didn't have the standard Ministry detection charms. Even so, Harry was now a legal adult, meaning that the underage sorcery laws didn't apply to him. Dumbledore resolved to fine tune the detection wards at Hogwarts, and attempt to key them to target Harry's magical signature. He had already used one dark curse on a faculty member, albeit outside of school, and if Albus remembered the circumstances of Alberto Rodriguez's dismissal from the auror force, the man had likely taught Harry many others. Albus vowed to be more vigilant concerning Harry, and to guide him and ensure that he did not stray. He would not allow a second Tom Riddle to pass through Hogwarts on his watch. Yet, Harry was the only hope of the light.
"That is a most beautiful wand, Harry. Now, about returning you to Pri..."
Albus was not going to attempt to send Harry back to Privet Drive. He had no doubts that the goblins had already informed Harry of his newfound adult status, being the staunch supporters of his ancestor that they were. Dumbledore had been pleasantly surprised to hear that they had not corrupted Harry with skewed interpretations of Grindelwald's story. Perhaps they were unwilling to alienate the hero of the light by telling him of his connection to a dark lord. Regardless, Albus had no actual authority over Harry, at least until the start of term, and not provoking an unnecessary clash with the boy would be the most prudent course. The loss of the blood protection would be regrettable, but there seemed to be no help for it. The Headmaster was snapped out of his thoughts by the arrival of a spotted owl bearing a letter for Harry. Albus folded his hands while Harry read, and accepted the letter as the young wizard wordlessly passed it over for his inspection.
Greetings, Lord Evans:
The purpose of this letter is to inform you that the reading of the last will and testament of Sirius Orion Black, of whose estate you have been named a beneficiary, will take place on 31 July, at ten o'clock sharp. The presence of your lordship is required. Please be prompt, and dress formally if possible. You need only ask the goblin at the front desk to escort you to the reading. You have our condolences for your recent loss.
Sincerely,
Department of Probate
Gringotts Wizard Bank: Diagon Alley Main Branch
Albus sighed inwardly, knowing that this was inevitable. After all, Harry had already been contacted by the bank once and told of his status as Sirius's heir. This letter was only a formality. He was particularly dismayed to notice that the goblins had addressed Harry by his official title. He supposed that he had no choice but to allow Harry to attend the reading, as loath as he was to allow him even greater status within wizarding society. Harry needed to be kept under control, both for his own good and for that of the entire wizarding world. His potential political clout was growing to be too much for Albus to be able to realistically keep a handle on, and it would only become greater when he came into the lordship of the Potter line as well.
"I see, Harry. Of course, you will be attending the reading, as is your duty as your godfather's invested heir. However, I would ask that you allow me to be present as well, in order to act as your advocate. These political intrigues can be quite messy, you know."
Albus saw a brief flash of something cross Harry's eyes, but he quickly nodded congenially. For not the first time since yesterday, Dumbledore couldn't help be feel a bit annoyed at his refusal to make eye contact. A quick Legilimency scan would make solving the mysteries of this new Harry Potter much simpler.
"Of course, Professor. I would appreciate that."
"Then it is settled, Harry. Since I am certain that the Weasleys and Miss Granger have not yet gone shopping for the upcoming term, perhaps we should all schedule the day for Diagon Alley. Does that meet with your approval, Molly?"
The plump Weasley matriarch smiled happily.
"Of course, Headmaster. That would be perfect."
"Very well, then. I shall be off. Do not concern yourself with returning to Privet Drive, Harry. I see no reason why you should return now. Just relax and enjoy the remainder of your summer. I have a conference to attend for a few days, but I shall see you all on Tuesday morning."
Harry watched as the old man again strode out of the room. Petting Grindelwald and Khariana, he wondered why Dumbledore had failed to mention them during the rather annoying inquisition. Surely he was able to see them, as large as they were. Well, he thought, no use worrying about it. He waited until he was certain that the old man was gone and headed back up to his room, rather suddenly feeling extremely sleepy.
Harry slept well past lunch, and only awoke due to a soft knocking on his door well into the afternoon. Sitting up, Harry stretched his wings slightly and yawned.
"Door's open. Come on in."
Half-expecting Ron, he was a bit surprised to find that his visitor was...
"Ginny. Can I do something for you?"
The Weasley girl walked over to the foot of Harry's bed and sat down, looking at him with the same unreadable expression from breakfast.
"What are you up to, Harry?"
The immediately put him on the defensive. He slowly inched his hand toward his wand as he answered.
"Well, I was sleeping until just a second ago..."
"Don't play dumb with me, Harry! I overheard you and Bill this morning in the kitchen."
"Did you, now? And what exactly did you overhear?"
"Enough to know that you're not on Professor Dumbledore's side in this war, and that Bill and Ron are both in on whatever you're planning. Why didn't you tell me?"
Harry smirked slightly and made a move to cut off any escape attempt. Ginny blushed slightly at the look on his face, but made no effort to run away from him.
"Because I hadn't gotten around to it yet. You were next on my list, just so you know."
Ginny smiled slightly.
"That's good to hear. So, what're you planning to do?"
Harry shrugged.
"First, I'm going to see Voldemort dead. Then, I'm going to take the fight to the Ministry, and to Dumbledore if he gets in the way. I'm going to take over the government and fix the abuses that have turned our society into shit. I'll finish what Lord Grindelwald started, as sure as his ring rests upon my finger. But for now, I'm going to keep gathering followers and supplies and exploit my information network, and plan for a way to destabilize Hogwarts from the inside. Maybe I'll kill off a few Voldemort supporters inside the school. Really, I'll act as circumstances dictate. Yeah, Ron and Bill are on my side, but they aren't the only ones. So, how about you?"
"I'm going to help, obviously. Do you really think I would have come to you if I had planned to do anything else? I'm not stupid, Harry."
Harry arched an eyebrow.
"Just like that? I tell you that I'm going to start a war and kill people, and you don't even want to consider staying out of it?"
"I owe you my life, Harry. I know you wouldn't try to force me to join you because of that, but a life debt is not something to be forgotten. I have my pride, you know. And besides, you're right. Something needs to be done about the Ministry, and Dumbledore obviously isn't going to do it..."
"Well, I'm glad you agree, Gin. I didn't want to have to fight you in the end, and I know your brothers feel the same way."
"So, I take it from what I heard this morning that I'm not the only one that's noticed something off with Hermione this summer? Do you know anything about that, Harry?"
"Not much, you probably overheard everything I know, other than that she doesn't seem to trust anybody right now. She seemed to get back to normal a bit when the OWL results came in this morning, though."
"That's only a temporary fix. She's been acting weird ever since the Department of Mysteries, now that I think about it. Almost getting killed must have really messed with her head."
Harry thought back to the battle at the end of the previous term, when Antonin Dolohov had lashed Hermione with a fiery whip of dark magic, indeed very nearly killing her. Of course that was what had her systems fried. It didn't change his plans for dealing with her, though. Harry fully intended to let her work out her issues, and then she would choose where she wanted to align herself. Hermione was easily perceptive enough to figure out that Harry was up to something sooner or later. When that time came, she would either come to him or go to the old man, and that would answer Harry's doubts one way or the other. Harry nodded to Ginny.
"I could imagine so..."
Eventually, Ron came back upstairs as well, after finishing off three helpings at lunch. Harry and the two Weasley siblings made small talk, as Ron smiled a bit proudly at hearing that his little sister had gotten in on the grand scheme. Eventually, talk turned to such subjects Quidditch and plans for the year's Gryffindor team, and academic plans. Soon enough, a pair of familiar owls came, the first being Pig, carrying a letter for Ginny from her boyfriend, Harry's Gryffindor classmate Dean Thomas. Ron's ears reddened a bit at the sight of Dean sending love letters to his sister, but he wisely kept quiet. The other owl was Harry's own Hedwig, apparently bearing Hogwarts letters for him, Ron, Hermione, and Ginny. Harry supposed that she had been taken to the school after the Weasleys left the Burrow for the summer, and now Dumbledore was returning her to her rightful master. Suddenly, he recalled his need to owl Grilthauk concerning the entire Narcissa Malfoy affair. Hedwig didn't seem to be too angry with him, somehow knowing that he really wasn't able to come back for her, and gladly took his scribbled note to Gringotts. Harry tossed the other letters onto the bed and opened his own.
It was only the standard letter from McGonagall detailing the books he would need for the upcoming term, along with his course options for the remaining two years. The letter also came with a parchment on which to select his schedule, requiring that he take as many core subjects at the NEWT as that he was eligible for, up to a bare minimum of three. For the rest, he could choose from several advanced elective courses that were only offered to sixth and seventh year students. Harry absentmindedly chose to continue his studies in DADA, Charms and Transfiguration. Herbology wasn't worth bothering with, and Astronomy was completely useless. On a second thought, he also signed up for Care of Magical Creatures, knowing that Hagrid would be heartbroken if he didn't. He also signed up for a course in muggle weapons training, and one in stealth and tracking. The former might prove useful, and the latter would be a breeze after his training with the Shinn Kohaku. That brought his load up to the minimum of six courses, and he really didn't want to bother with more classes than he had to take. He had better things to do with his time than sit around learning useless information.
The days passed idly, with no particular incident. Voldemort was apparently keeping quiet after losing most of his Inner Circle at the Department of Mysteries, and had stopped trying to send Harry dreams. The last the young dakaathi hybrid had experienced was another hazy episode, after a particularly intense session one night with his kunoichi companion in the village. Harry had intentionally left a book with some nastier dark curses sitting on a small table in the upstairs hallway and found it missing later in the day. Close by, his previous tome had turned up mysteriously, indicating that Hermione had finished with it. She was playing a dangerous game, Harry thought. Still, he had also delved rather deep into the Dark Arts, more or less unsupervised, over the course of his month in the village.
Quickly enough, Harry's birthday came along, and the morning saw Harry, Hermione and the Weasleys assembled in the sitting room of Grimmauld place waiting for Dumbledore. Harry was dressed in his black formal robe and had his wings folded up against himself, not caring to draw any more attention than necessary. Surely enough, the Headmaster apparated into the room as promised, dressed garishly enough to draw more than enough attention for the both of them. The old man surveyed the group with twinkling eyes.
"Are we ready to depart? We shall be going to Diagon Alley by Portkey this morning."
Molly Weasley answered for the entire body.
"Whenever you're ready, Headmaster."
With a nod and a smile, which Hermione returned, as did Harry, albeit forced, Dumbledore held out an old pair of socks. Ron and Ginny kept their faces impassive as they grabbed the offending footwear, followed by the rest of the group. Harry felt that familiar tug behind his navel, and quickly found himself outside in front of the main entrance to Gringotts. Albus placed a gnarled hand on Harry's shoulders and turned to Hermione and the Weasleys.
"Please, retrieve your gold from the bank and feel free to commence your shopping while Harry and I are at the reading. We shall meet you for lunch in the Leaky Cauldron at noon and continue as a group from there. Do not be concerned with security, as I have already seen fit to double the Order presence within the alley for the duration of our visit. Now, perhaps we should get a move on, Harry."
Harry simply nodded and smiled to the rest of the group.
"We'll see you lot at lunch. By the way, I have an order to pick up at the robe shop, so can we all wait and go there after the reading?"
Molly gave Harry a warm smile of her own in response.
"Of course, Harry. We'll wait. Now go on, you wouldn't want to be late."
With that, Harry turned and strode into the bank, intentionally slowing his pace to allow the old man to keep up. As much as he didn't appreciate Dumbledore's meddling, he did see some advantage to having him along today. Harry knew that there would likely be some less than savory characters at this gathering. Narcissa and her worthless son would most certainly be there, along with a smattering of other Voldemort sympathizers. With a small mental sneer, Harry reflected on the fact that he could easily handle them well enough on his own, and two small pops from behind him indicated that his two tiger guardians had chosen to follow him along as well. Still, none would dare make a hostile move with Albus Dumbledore present, and Harry would prefer to avoid an unnecessary fight. The pair soon reached the front desk, but were immediately served, leaving no need to ring. Harry was a bit pleased to notice that Griphook would be their guide.
"Ah, young Lord Evans. It's a pleasure. What can Gringotts do for you today?"
Harry could almost feel the old man's grimace upon hearing his honorific, and the fact gave him no small amount of vindictive pleasure.
"Headmaster Dumbledore and I are here for the reading of the Black testament. Could you show us the way, Griphook?"
The goblin grinned and nodded.
"Of course, Lord Evans. It pleases me that you still remember my name after so many years. Right this way, please."
With a nod, Harry followed Griphook, as did Albus. They hadn't far to walk, as a quick trek down a carpeted hallway led them to the room in which the reading was scheduled to take place. Griphook pushed open the double doors and motioned for the two to enter. Paying no mind to the gathered crowd of lesser beneficiaries, Harry took his indicated place at the head of the long table, as the old man conjured a cushy armchair and sat down to his immediate right. It was time for the investiture of the Black estate.
(End Chapter Ten)
Author's Note: Here's the tenth installment of this increasingly long saga. First, about the phantom chapter ten fiasco from earlier, that was an author's note that I had posted to notify readers of the chapter nine rewrite. I deleted it soon after, not wanting to see my story banned. Not much action here, I know, but now that I'm through most of the important conversations before Hogwarts, we're finally about ready to get down to business. Still, I think I got through some important stuff in this chapter, providing further insight onto the whole Hermione situation, Dumbledore's thoughts on the new Harry, and Ginny's addition to Harry's small army of supporters. Next chapter will be the will reading, obviously, a small bit of shopping, Harry's birthday party, a summary passage of the last month of break, another encounter with Narcissa, and we'll be aboard the Hogwarts Express to end the chapter.
Again, thank you for all the input. I'm ecstatic with the level of reader interaction I'm getting from this story. I hope that I'll get as much feedback for this one, though I'm not going to ask any particular questions this time. I want to know what you guys and girls feel about any particular subject in the story. I hope to get the next chapter out a bit faster than this one came along, so look for it around Friday evening, or sometime Saturday at the latest. Keep reviewing, everybody!