Arthur Weasley Disclaimer: Oh, how exciting! I get to write a disclaimer on this computerizer here! Someone get me some plugs so I can plug it in! What? It's a Labtop? You mean there's no cord and no plug? Wow! That must be magic of some type! I know, I'm supposed to be writing a disclaimer, but let me just see what this button does… 'fizzle'. Erm… Mollywobbles, do you have any idea what syntax error means?
Chapter Four –
Dippet and the Alley
Harry and Ron entered the kitchen at seven o'clock the next morning. They hadn't slept for very long, and Harry's leg muscles felt cramped, since he'd woken up with both legs hanging off the side of the bed as if he'd simply sat down and then fallen asleep on the spot.
Both boys were wide awake now, however, and terribly excited about their trip to the ministry.
The pasture filled with lilies and bushes in the kitchen remained unchanged from the night before. The oak tree stood just as solid in the far corner beside the ice box, but they both grinned at the lack of birds.
"Good morning, Harry! Welcome back, and Happy Birthd- just what exactly happened here?" Harry spun around to see that Mrs. Weasley had arrived, and dropped a couple of bags on the floor behind them. She was staring in awe at the kitchen's new landscaping.
"Much better than before, wouldn't you say?" Ron asked his mother, leading her into the new and improved kitchen. "Harry got a little rambunctious with his new ability to perform magic last night, or rather, early this morning, and decided to do an overhaul of the kitchen."
Mrs. Weasley smiled at Harry. "Good job! I'm sorry I didn't hang around then! It's much more pleasant to look at than those dreadful scuffed up floors you had before, and it certainly adds a bit to the ambiance of these walls."
"Thanks, Mrs. Weasley."
"Call me Molly, dear," she said. "You're seventeen now, after all. All grown up," she sighed, patted his cheek affectionately, and moved over to the counter to magic up some breakfast for them.
Half an hour later, the kitchen was filled to nearly capacity. Hermione had arrived, making Ron stutter and blush. A few other Order members had come to spend the day, and all of the guests were staring about the kitchen in amazement. Arthur Weasley arrived just in time to help his wife finish up the morning meal. Harry looked around the room, which to his surprise, actually felt quite pleasant for once.
Harry, Ron and Hermione finished off their breakfast, and rushed up the stairs to gather their packs. In the upstairs hall on his way back down, Harry turned the corner towards the stairs, and smashed into someone going the opposite direction, sending the smaller person flying backwards.
"Oh, Sorry!" He said, shaking his head and offering his hand to help the other person back up.
"You'd better be, or as soon as I'm feeling more awake, I'd have to hunt you down and torture you. That hurt." Ginny, said, wincing and rubbing her left hip,which had smashed into the banister.
The only thing Harry noticed in that moment was that Ginny was wearing a very slinky long green nightgown. In fact it could easily be said that Harry noticed very little of Ginny other than the very slinky long green nightgown. It took him a moment to actually look at the rest of her.
Her brilliant hair was dull and puffed up on one side of her head as though she had slept on it, and her greying housecoat was slumped down on one shoulder, wide open right to the floor. The nightgown was emerald green, and made of some sort of shiny fabric that flashed tauntingly at Harry as he watched her being pulled up toward him.
He stood and stared dumbly at the girl, no woman, that he had just helped to her feet. He felt a bit woozy, and wondered if maybe he wasn't entirely finished with his agoramorphosis. His hand jerked spastically when he realized it was still clasped with hers.
"Well thanks, Harry." Ginny said, sleepily closing the front of her housecoat, and sidling past him, making Harry's brain slowly engage once more.
"Er… anytime." Harry answered with a croak. "S-Sorry for bumping into you."
Ginny walked the rest of the way towards the third-floor bathroom without looking back at him, and closed the door behind her.
Harry sighed, and turned back towards the stairs. Based on her lack of reaction just then, she was too sleep weary to notice anything he'd done. In a strange way, he almost wished she had.
Ron appeared out of the shadows, a barely suppressed grin on his face, making him appear quite smug. Harry blushed and looked as nonchalantly at the ground as he could.
They went down the stairs together, and Harry decided that despite Ron's apparent acceptance of the issue, he needed to watch himself around all of the Weasley brothers. There were five…er rather four other brothers, after all, and Ginny was getting pretty hot. Not to mention what Mr. or Mrs. Weasley would do if they caught him gawping at their daughter.
He cast the issue out of his mind as they arrived downstairs. Rather – as out of his mind as a seventeen-year-old boy could possibly do.
They met up with Professor McGonagall in the entrance hall. Apparently she had been asked to come along with them for a particular reason, but even she didn't really know why, so she couldn't tell them. She said that everything would be explained to them when they reached the ministry.
Remus came down the stairs a minute later, looking as if he could sleep another three hours or so, and gathered a group of them together in the hall.
"Everyone ready to go? Where's Tonks?"
Suddenly a loud thump could be heard from the top of the stairs. "OW!"
"Oh, there she is." Remus sarcastically rolled his eyes.
"I'm here! We can go now!" Nymphadora Tonks came limping down the steps towards the landing. Today she had short, spiked up, multi-coloured hair, and striped stockings, which quite accurately reflected the same colours as her hair. Her long robe was purple, and one of her clumpy high-heeled shoes was broken, the heel flapping uselessly against her ankle. "Bloody shoes." She muttered, leaning on Remus' shoulder, lifting her foot and pointing her wand at the offending garment. "Reparo." The heel sealed itself back to the sole, and the shoe was somewhat whole once again. Harry could see where the seam of the break in the rubber had been before, and knew that the shoe was undoubtedly doomed to break again.
Remus pushed towards the door. "Right, we're off. Everyone stay together, and keep your eyes out, and wands ready. To the ministry first, we have to deal with something specific, then we have a couple of hours to just hang out a bit. Maybe shop?"
Harry smiled, and looked down at the remnants of Dudley's old cast offs. Remus had brought over his trunk, but the clothes he'd been wearing when he began his agoramorphosis were the best ones he had. It wasn't really saying much. He'd been especially worried, knowing he'd be basically getting tested by professional aurors today, and they expected more from his appearance than stained grey jogging pants, and a three sizes too big black tee shirt.
"Molly and Arthur will be bringing Ginny along to the Leaky Cauldron at two o'clock, and we should meet up with the Lovegoods and the Longbottoms there too, so we can all go to the ministry for your tests at the same time."
They took the underground to the ministry. The whole way, everyone kept a watchful eye out for suspicious movement. That included any motion a person nearby made that might construe either moving to arm themselves with a wand, or a motion of an arm that might be a wand already in motion. Very few wizards were able to perform wandless magic, and even fewer still could perform wandless and soundless magic at the same time, so they kept a sound ear on the conversations nearby too.
The fact that Remus, Tonks, and McGonagall were there as protection meant almost nothing to the three students, and they kept their own wands close at hand.
There were a few chillingly close encounters, but luckily, nothing that wielded any results. A man who had reached into his pocket for a lighter took a trip jinx from Tonks, and slid nearly the whole length of the car. Muggles crowded around to help him up, but luckily no one suspected any foul play. A woman who had reached over to hand a few crumpled up bills to a friend suddenly found herself fast asleep when Remus pointed his half-hidden wand at her and did a silent stunning spell. When Remus sheepishly revived her at the next stop, she leapt to her feet, looking frantic, and ran off the train without her bag.
Harry had hesitated a little too long when a man reached into a briefcase to remove some documents, but luckily it wasn't anything dangerous. He had to remind himself that he could legally do magic out of school now. The only person still unable was Hermione, and Harry and Ron by mutual consent hovered over her the entire trip.
(AN: To those people who have been reviewing to remind me that Hermione is older than both of the boys, I actually started posting the prequel to this story before that news was made available to the general public. I had already mentioned something about Hermione being younger at that point. I apologize but I'm keeping it this way for my own continuity. Thanks!)
When they arrived at the ministry, Tonks took them in through the broken telephone booth entryway, and Harry shuddered at the memory of the last time he'd been there. It had been the day Sirius had died, just over a year ago.
Although he was slowly coming to understand that Sirius was never coming back, and he was a bit more accepting of his loss, the thought of him still often brought Harry pangs of loneliness. There were some moments he'd been glad that he'd been young when his parents died, since the pain of their loss would have been too overwhelming after he'd known that sort of affection.
Remus stopped at the front desk in the foyer only briefly, and one of the security wizard quickly weighed and measured each of their wands. The man held Remus back a second longer, so he could show him some ID, and then let them pass toward the bank of elevators behind him. The guard gave Harry fleeting fearful looks the throughout the exchange.
Harry noticed that there were now three security witches and wizards at the desk, two more guarding the wall of fireplaces for those who could floo in, and one other beefy looking wizard standing near the elevators. The Minister of Magic seemed to have decided to go all out, stocking up his security. Too bad he wouldn't pay the same sort of attention to his other duties. The man was truly insufferable.
"Right," Remus said, shaking out his wand arm. "We're heading to the families bureau first." He led them all into the elevator, past the threatening looking security wizard and pressed the button for the third floor. When they exited on their level, a youngish brown-skinned man with carefully coiffed black hair, wearing a fluorescent pink robe stepped forward to greet them from around the edge of a long secretary's desk. "Professor McGonagall." He said, bowing slightly, and shaking her hand simultaneously.
"How are you Mister Dippet?"
"Very well, thank you, professor." The man answered heartily, smiling at her with innocent looking brown cherub-round cheeks.
"Good to hear." McGonagall said crisply, with a light grin
"Mister Lupin?" mister Dippet shook Remus' hand. "Good to finally meet you in person. Miss Tonks, then?" he added, doing the same the woman on his right, of whom one part of her hair now matched that of his brilliant robe. "Yes, I recognize you now. I believe we were in the same house at Hogwarts. You were a few years below me. And Mister Potter!" He said, pumping Harry's hand and sounding quite a bit more certain of himself.
"These are my friends, Ron Weasley and Hermione Granger." Harry introduced, stepping back.
"Indeed." Mister Dippet said, catching both of their hands in turn. "Alexander Dippet at your service."
"Er… Grandson of 'headmaster' Dippet perchance?" Harry asked carefully.
Mister Dippet smiled enthusiastically. "Great Merlin what do they feed you boy? I heard you were good…"
Harry blushed again. He'd only wanted to know. He hadn't meant it as showing off or anything. Dumbledore had always had paintings of the previous headmasters in his office, and he'd remembered that one of them had been named Armando Dippet. Not to mention that he'd once seen a pensieve recording in which the old headmaster figured. Alexander somewhat looked like a rounded off version of his grandfather. Where the ex-headmaster had been long and lanky, the man that stood before them was shorter, and had lightly toned muscles evident beneath the garish fabric of his pink robe.
"Yes, he was indeed my grandfather. Anyhow, I work in the families department of the Ministry, and I'm here to straighten out a few things for you. If you wish to know, my position is quite a mixed bag. Something like that of a family lawyer or consultant in muggle terms. I also act as a family counselor and mind healer." As he mentioned this, he looked carefully at Hermione. She nodded to let him know she understood. Apparently Dippet had been somewhat briefed on her situation before this meeting. "Since our wizarding world is reasonably small, youngish witches and wizards such as myself often find ourselves more 'liberally' employed. I've been working part time for the auror division, and I was told I might be seeing you later today as well. It made sense for me to deal with you now since I'll probably be assigned to you three later as your auror confidante."
Harry thought that Mister Dippet's knowledgeable grin made it seem like his liberal employment might have more to do with Dippet's broad intelligence than his youth. Harry made it his mission then to try out a bit of legilimency on the man today, just to make sure he was trustworthy. He was an engaging fellow, but Harry knew that for his friends, trusting just anyone was not something he could really allow. It was too dangerous these days.
"I've been asked to provide a private room for this discussion. Follow me. We'll go to my office." He said, and they followed his brilliant robe past desks, cubicles and several interesting-looking gadgets that Harry only belatedly realized must have been magic detectors at work, since they were spewing out smoke signals of various types of magic and letting out squeaky little cries of 'projectus!', and 'transmutas!'. Two witches were hurrying around collecting and checking little slips of paper from the machines.
Mister Dippet led them into his office, closed the door behind himself, and carefully placed a silencing charm around the room.
"Mister Potter, we shall begin with you, since your case seems to be more open and shut than the others. I understand that the person previously stated as your official wizarding guardian, done so directly by your parents in their stead, has passed away recently?"
"Not so recently, but yes. Sirius was declared dead this past spring." Harry answered carefully.
"I'm very sorry to hear that." He said, and Harry believed him. "Am I right in saying that in his will was written the terms that Remus Lupin would be declared your new official wizarding guardian?"
"Yes, those were the terms."
Lupin pulled a rolled parchment from his robes, and handed it over.
Dippet nodded his thanks, but kept speaking to Harry. "The only drawback to said terms being that Mister Lupin is a known werewolf, and cannot officially be seen to be your wizarding guardian unless you've registered yourself as an animagus?"
"There were other –less desirable- options, but I'd like to go with the animagus registry. It's much less… oppressive… to Remus."
"Right, understandably so. So I've heard that as of this afternoon you will be registered as an animagus?"
Harry didn't really know what to say. It was supposed to be secret that that they were registering, and he didn't like the fact that this man was asking these things so blatantly. They had trained as animagi secretly, and they hadn't gone through the proper channels to get their certification. The minister had offered this set-up so they could all be tested quietly.
Dippet looked carefully at Harry. "I spoke with minister Fudge directly at the beginning of this month and he gave me a run down of the basics. I also spoke with Mister Lupin here by floo this morning, and he, at least, deemed it necessary to explain some specifics. I promise on my oath as a wizarding family services member that I will not lie, or break your confidence in any way. It's not only illegal for me to do so, It would also be quite beneath me."
Harry broke into a grin. Dippet had just given Harry more reassurance than at first evident, since Harry had just performed a sort of legilimency on him. Dippet, above all people, was to be trusted. It seemed that although he was a master of legilimency and occlumency himself, he had just let Harry have access to his mind. He was completely open to all three students, and Harry felt himself relax. Dippet would be well able to keep their secrets.
"Yes, I'll be registered by this afternoon."
"Right. Then, that solves quite a bit of your problems. If we can fill out these forms…"
"Sir, if you don't mind, why exactly do I need a wizarding guardian still, if I'm already of age?"
Dippet nodded. "To be honest, it's a formality only, saying that you've had someone to guide you to adulthood. You are now in charge of your own choices as a wizard, but a wizarding guardian takes charge of your continued education, and allows you certain strategic places in Wizarding society. It's a formality, to be sure, but sometimes a necessary one."
"Is that so?" Harry asked carefully. "What sorts of things would I be denied without the consent of a wizarding guardian?"
"Well, technically speaking, you could be denied the right to go to Hogwarts this year…"
"What? Really?"
"Your muggle guardians are the only ones with the right to completely deny you anything, since in the muggle world you are still considered to be underage, however a wizarding guardian takes precedence if the muggle guardians deny you something that is –in our society- seen as necessary. Such as education. And for the most part muggle born students don't have that to worry about. Most parents are quite open to the idea, since they've been having magical outbursts in their house since as far as they can remember. Most of them see it as a blessing that their children are not abnormal. However," he added carefully. "Without a record of having had a wizarding guardian when you come of age, you had no opportunity for a wizard to officially say that you came of age. That is mister Lupin's job. To give you adult status as a wizard. If he weren't helping you in this way, you would become a rogue wizard with no childhood identity other than your position in the muggle world. Children come of age one year later in the muggle world, so your Muggle guardians still legally have precedence. You may, as such, be denied future access to Hogwarts, if your relatives wish it to be so."
"WHAT?" Harry spat, feeling decidedly nervous for himself.
"Not to worry, once these papers are signed, you are officially granted the right of having had a wizarding guardian, so the issue becomes null and void, since on paper, you have had a wizarding guardian. See what I mean? It's sort of a formality, but it's an important one. Especially for someone like you. Once you turn eighteen it wouldn't make a difference, since you would be of age in the muggle world too, but I guess it's always best to play it safe in these instances. A year can really make a lot of difference you know."
"Phew." Harry let out a sigh of relief. It was certainly a confusing thought, but if Mister Dippet said it was necessary, then it was necessary. He guessed that even if he hadn't had a wizarding guardian, he would have been safe as long as the Dursleys never discovered that they could legally deny him rights to go to Hogwarts.
"But this brings me now to the second issue at hand. Miss Granger." Mister Dippet looked over at Hermione, and suddenly Harry realized the problem. Hermione, as a muggleborn witch, wouldn't have ever had a wizarding guardian. Hermione was looking decidedly nervous about this too. Ron was holding her hand in what might have been construed as a comforting gesture.
"You should be aware of the fact that most muggleborn witches and wizards are assigned a wizarding guardian when they come of age. It is something that also may be done prematurely if the muggle parents decide they don't have sufficient knowledge of wizarding custom to make decisions based on their child's welfare. They remain the official guardians, but someone else, someone wizarding, may take on the responsibility for their education, and for allowing them adult status in our society."
"I didn't know this." Hermione said carefully.
"However, in your case it is quite a bit more difficult, as I've heard that the issue with your parents is not quite so straightforward?"
"That's right." Hermione said quietly. "We think they're under the Imperius curse."
Dippet nodded. If he was at all surprised, he didn't show it. "Do you have any proof of this?"
Hermione faintly shook her head in denial. "They've been incredibly helpful and accepting of me as a witch and of the wizarding world in general thus far. Just a few weeks ago though, they did a complete about-face, and told me that witches were immoral and ungodly people, and I wasn't to go back to Hogwarts, or contact any of my friends in the wizarding world. I don't know what started it. Our family has never even regularly attended church! I just know that I would go completely mad if I had to leave Hogwarts for good."
"So you are now saying that you wish them not to have educational power over you? You don't believe that they currently have sufficient knowledge of the wizarding world to make that decision on your behalf?"
Hermione nodded, looking quite upset about it all.
"The part about this that becomes complicated is the fact that since they are apparently incapacitated, we cannot get a specific name from your parents of whom they might wish to appoint as your wizarding guardian."
"Oh. Is there a way to circumvent it?" Hermione asked, looking a lot more sturdy than she had on coming in. Dippet certainly seemed to know his stuff. They could all tell that he had something already in mind.
"There is." He said. "We need you to fill out this form stating your suspicions about your parents, and reasons why, etcetera, etcetera… Just fill in the blanks. Then you will have three upstanding persons of the wizarding community sign in place of your parents that say you are telling the truth as a minor, and we will mark down that those three wizarding persons will henceforth be seen as your tandem wizarding guardians. You will need signatures from all three before any educational decision on your behalf can be made. It will be frustrating for awhile, but hopefully we can sort out this problem with your parents soon enough."
Out of the corner of his eye, Harry saw Tonks stiffen, and he whipped his head around to look at her.
"Does that explain the reason that all three of us needed to be here?" she asked carefully.
Remus nodded. "I'm sorry. I couldn't tell you specifics before. I only knew it might be necessary to have a couple of highly regarded wizarding people to sign some forms. Do you think you could?"
Tonks looked quite nervous, but McGonagall only looked pleased. "I've taken on other muggleborns as their wizarding guardian before. I have had a total of fourty-two muggleborn charges already." She explained. "I won't mind doing it again."
"So it isn't a difficult job?" Tonks asked her carefully. "I won't have to be… well... a parent?"
"Is it so odious a task for you to set rules to be followed? If so, speak now." Remus asked, his voice coming out in a bit of a harsh growl. Harry had to wonder what had Remus in such a snit. He scanned the auror and the werewolf's demeanors, and concluded that something beyond the current issues were clearly being fought.
Tonks thought about it a second longer, eyeing Remus carefully as she did. Remus would not meet her eyes, and continued to stare insolently at the door. "No. It's not necessarily odious. Just… unexpected. I don't know what's involved." Remus visibly relaxed at her statement.
"It's not difficult." McGonagall said quietly. "It means you have to keep track of the people you are charged with, and give references for employment when asked. It's a good position to be in, really. You can use it on a resumé as volunteer work, and it makes quite a difference to the muggleborn student in question."
"So will you do it?" Hermione asked Tonks, the desperation clear in her eyes. "Please?"
It seemed that the insistent begging of an underaged witch was too much for Tonks, and she caved. "All right. I'll do it."
"Splendid!" enthused Dippet, coming neatly out of his lawyer act.
He produced page after page of documents to sign, and all forms were dutifully filled in and stamped. Tonks looked especially proud of herself once the papers were filed, and Hermione gave her a brief hug of thanks.
Hermione got her new wizarding guardians to sign a permission form stating that she could use magic while in the ministry during her Auror tutorials. Although this didn't allow her much of a chance to practice, she wouldn't have been able to do anything at home anyhow, since her parents thought she had gotten rid of everything wizarding she owned. Luckily enough, Hermione was better at learning things from reading books anyhow, and she had a very reliable hiding place in a bag with an expanded interior that she'd gotten from a shop in Hogsmeade. She had it hung on the back of her bedroom door, and told her parents it was her knitting bag. They heartily approved of this, especially since she could produce half finished knitting materials from it upon command, and often brought it out to the living room to work on making sweaters and and scarves to put them off the trail.
Dippet signed all the papers as well, did copying charms on all of them, tucked the originals into a file drawer, and handed them their copies to show around.
Once Ron had understood that Hermione and Harry were both safe in the eyes of wizarding law, he'd sat back in his seat looking bored, and waited until the formalities were over with, before hugging both of his friends, and congratulating them on acquiring new wizarding guardians.
"Hey, Harry!" He said after everything was finally put away. "Does this mean you and Hermione are siblings? What with Remus being both your guardians and all?"
Harry and Hermione locked their eyes in surprise. "I hadn't thought of that!" Harry said.
"I guess we are!" Hermione answered, shrugging. "I've never had a brother before."
"Well I've never had a sister, so there you go." Harry said, feeling utterly enthused about the whole thing. He gave her a one armed hug, and they walked out of Dippet's office together, calling thank-you's and other such pleasantries to the counselor as they went.
They made their way back up the elevator, and out the red telephone booth visitor's entry. Professor McGonagall bade them goodbye, and promised that she would meet up with them once more later that afternoon to sign some more forms for Hermione. Immediately upon her exit, all five remaining witches and wizards went on guard, and began the trek to Diagon Alley, where they would begin their shopping.
"So now that's done, how have you two been? How have your summers been so far? Other than the Memorial of course." Hermione asked, trying to keep at least a semblance of conversation, while her eyes darted to and fro, and her wand hand remained hovering above her waistline.
Ron and Harry, who were in much the same position, made to answer her. "It's been actually pretty interesting for once." Harry answered at the same time that Ron said. "It's been a real madhouse."
"Oh yeah?" Hermione asked, sounding as if she wasn't really listening to either of them.
"Yeah." Harry said. "I don't know if you heard, but I went through my agoramorphosis."
Harry heard Tonks gasp loudly from behind him, and Ron visibly stiffened. Harry rolled his eyes.
Hermione grinned enthusiastically, and turned to face him. "Did you really? Is that why Mrs. Weasley said you had been ill? Have you noticed any interesting new skills?"
Harry decided to just answer the last question. "No, not really. I haven't had much of a chance to try them out though, so I'm sure I'll find out something interesting today when we do the testing. I did discover a penchant for shooting lightning out of my fingers." He wiggled his fingers for her, letting the blue-green lightning crackle a bit between his digits.
Hermione laughed, and Harry wondered for a second if she knew what the lightning was exactly. She would probably research it for him if he asked.
The group of them wandered down the street. The Leaky-Cauldron Pub, where the entrance to Diagon Alley was located, was only a few blocks from the ministry visitor's entrance.
"I hope it won't be anything too surprising. We don't want to be bowled over by one of your hexes or something." Hermione finished their conversation, as they crossed the street.
"Yeah. It'd probably be best for me if we can get in a bit of practice ahead of time. My agoramorphosis might have screwed me up a little."
"Can't hurt, can it."
"We've had a very busy summer so far." Ron said loudly, obviously trying to change the subject.
"Really?" Hermione asked, with a smirk on her face that said she could see through his ploy, but didn't mind indulging him. "How so?"
Ron suddenly looked sorry for having spoken, but felt he had to finish. "Well, you were there at Charlie's memorial, so you know how stressful that was for everyone, and afterwards mum and dad had to go on a few trips to deal with a few things Charlie had been working on. One to Romania, to the Dragon enclosure where he worked last year, and one to Wales at the wizarding museum, since he was in charge of the dragon exhibits there." Ron sounded so wistful and sad now, that Harry couldn't help patting him on the back.
"I don't think I told you about this, Harry, but apparently while he was visiting Wales three years ago, he met a girl, and he's been off and on living with her ever since. When he found out about the job at the museum, he pounced on it just so he could be near her. He didn't even tell mum and dad that they were together."
"No way! I didn't even suspect!" Harry had always thought that the Weasleys were a model family, always telling each other everything. Charlie above all had seemed like the perfect son to Molly and Arthur. He was very surprised that he'd been able to keep the news of this -apparently serious- girlfriend quiet.
"Yeah," Ron said distractedly. "It was a lot more serious between them than even we thought at first. Whenever he didn't stay with my parents, he stayed with Tephra and her five year old daughter. My mum was devastated when she found out, since he hadn't told any of us about her beyond mentioning her once or twice as just a friend. He was acting as a father to Morgana, Tephra's daughter and everything!" Ron sighed, looking like he already regretted bringing the subject up, but felt he had to finish telling it anyhow. "Tephra, the poor girl, didn't even know that Charlie had died, and the first she heard about it was from my parents. She'd been trying to get a hold of him for three weeks before my parents showed up and explained to her what had happened. Mum and Dad both came home that night all shaky and crying… it was horrible."
"Oh, Merlin." Hermione muttered, as they stepped in the door of the Leaky Cauldron Pub. "That's awful. The poor girl." She placed her arm behind Ron's back, and squeezed.
Ron shrugged, but Harry could see that the whole thing had affected him more deeply than he was letting on. "She'll probably be coming to visit at some point this summer, so mum and dad are going to want us to stay at the Burrow while she's there."
They walked into the Leaky Cauldron less than a minute later.
The group couldn't afford to lose their concentration now that they were in wizarding territory, and Remus reminded them each with a nudge that they needed to be on their guard at all times. From now until they were home, it might be best to keep the conversation on more mundane issues. Harry sighed with frustration, but nodded to his guardian.
"So how has the Wheezes been faring these last few weeks?" He asked, as they moved toward the back of the pub. Harry felt the horrible rippling sensation of many sets of eyes following his movements. He put in an extra effort to look comfortable and casual. When he had the nerve to look over at one witch in particular, she quickly averted her eyes, and took a casual sip of her tea, and held up the newspaper in front of her face.
"Not too bad, and hopefully you'll get the opportunity to take a look for yourself today." Ron answered. "I should probably stock up on some of their stuff anyhow. Who knows the next chance I'll get to come to Diagon Alley, most likely not until Christmas. Maybe not even then!" Ron sounded horrified.
"And Merlin knows you can't possibly go off to Hogwarts without buying the merchandise to properly torture some poor first year." Hermione said, rolling her eyes.
Remus tapped the bricks on the back alley wall to let them out in to the wizarding shopping centre.
Diagon Alley was quite silent for it being a Sunday, and those people who were out and about didn't look like they were there for any sort of leisurely stroll. The figures bustled hurriedly by, shifting their eyes from side to side, keeping their hands close to their wands.
They all took on the same attitude for the next few minutes as they made their way carefully over to the bank. Once they were there, Remus took Hermione over to one of the desks to change some pounds over to galleons while Tonks, Ron and Harry went underground to visit their vaults. Ron scooped a few silver coins from his family's dwindling pile into his pouch. In his own vault, Harry tried to hide the sparkling mounds of gold from his often envious friend. Harry wondered if he'd even made a dent in this pile since he'd been introduced to the Wizarding world. If he had, he couldn't tell. He decided to grab a little extra, since he knew he'd have to soon buy auror texts and supplies, as well as his Hogwarts things.
On their way back to the main level, the goblin who was steering their cart mumbled something rather startling to Harry.
"Would you like to visit your other vaults sir?"
"Huh?" Harry asked, not really paying attention.
"Your other vaults, Mister Potter. Would you like to perform any transactions in your other vaults today?"
"Other vaults?" Harry's heart began to hammer in his chest.
The goblin gave him a curious side glance. "Your transaction sheets told me that the vault we visited is not the only one you own. You have recently come into possession of two others."
"I have?"
"Indeed. One would be the Black family vault. I understand there are considerable funds there still, although portions of it were already distributed to other vaults through the will, I believe the remainder is yours to do with as you wish. It was passed to you only today, since you have turned seventeen. Pratwreath has been overseer Goblin since just before the passing of old Mrs. Black. You'll have to discuss it with him if you wish to gather any more information regarding this vault."
"Oh," Harry said, suddenly understanding. It was his inheritance from Sirius. "And the other?" he asked cautiously.
"That one I can not tell you. You must know it for yourself before I can admit you." The goblin smirked like he knew a secret of some sort, and his eyes momentarily prompted Harry as if he were supposed to just jump up and say, 'Oh, that vault!'
Harry crinkled his brow in confusion, and Ron looked at him suspiciously. "He has to know about it before he can be told where or what it is?"
The goblin nodded officiously, and turned back to his cart, saying no more about it. The expression in his cunning little eyes held little to no clues anymore of what it was about. In fact he seemed to think that this was a normal occurrence in the bank.
Tonks rolled her eyes at Harry behind the goblin's back.
"That's a bit backward isn't it?" Ron mumbled to Harry, shaking his head in bewilderment.
Harry ignored Ron's comment, as he needed to think for a second. He felt that if he were to do anything with the money in Sirius' vault, it would be like sacrilege. The money was really all he had left of his godfather, and it wasn't as if he even needed it. As for the other, well there wasn't much he could do about it unless someone told him which one it was, and why he now had it. "I think I'll leave the Black vault as it is for today, thanks," he said quietly to the goblin, who nodded, and a minute later they pulled to a stop in the lobby.
Ron gave him a curious look as they climbed out of the cart, but said nothing.
They met up with Remus, Tonks and Hermione and the five of them silently left the bank, and headed over to Madam Malkin's Robes for All Occasions.
"So, what sorts of robes did you want to try Harry?" Remus spoke up for the first time since leaving the bank. As they walked in the front of the shop, Madam Malkin waved to them from the back, and called out that if they'd like to look around, she'd be with them in just a moment.
"Er…" Harry didn't really know the answer to Remus' question. He'd never worn a proper pair of robes, unless you counted his school uniform, and to be perfectly truthful, Harry didn't. He'd seen plenty of the other students wearing casual robes on Hogsmeade weekends and in fact he could now see a few witches and wizards wearing the same sorts of casual robes outside. He just didn't know what sort of clothes were fashionable right now. He embarrassingly realized at that moment, that he'd never bothered to check. "Couldn't we all try on a few things?" he asked tentatively. "I don't want to feel ridiculous." He figured that if everyone else were trying on something than at least he could see what sorts of things they chose, and go with something similar.
"Oh, don't worry about it." Ron said, "It's practically impossible to look ridiculous. There are so many different styles of robes out there right now that none of them are really wrong. As long as you look tidy, no one will care."
Harry raised his eyebrows a little, and pointed to a frilly purple thing hanging from one of the mannequins in the window. "Then what do you call that?"
"That's a girl's robe Harry, of course it would look funny on you!" Ron said, snickering into the palm of his hand
"Well, that's why I need your help, Ron." Harry insisted. "I don't even know the difference. Can't you all just choose something to try on too?"
"I don't think so." Said Tonks, cautiously eyeing the frilly robe with a touch of distaste. "I'll just keep an eye out, if it's all right." Harry thought that perhaps she had a slightly more discerning sense of taste than the rest, and Madam Malkin's regular style wasn't quite her cup of tea.
"I don't mind trying something on." Remus said carefully. "But I don't think I'll be getting anything for myself today."
Ron shrugged. "I'm in the same boat. I guess I could try on a few things."
Harry sighed, and felt a little guilty. Neither Ron nor Remus had ever had much money. Harry could tell that Ron's robes were ill fitted to his lanky frame, and wondered which brother he'd inherited them from. Remus, as a werewolf, was unable to keep a steady job, and was consistently patching and repairing worn old clothes, since he couldn't afford new ones. The clothes he wore today were repaired once at the hem and had rather shabby looking brown patches over the elbows.
Harry mentally considered his bulging money pouch. "Tell you what, if you find something you like, I'll buy it for you. Just please, make sure I don't leave here looking like a total dunce!"
Ron looked ready to argue. Hermione wrinkled her nose in distaste. Obviously she felt that she should be excluded from this, but wanted Ron to feel as if he wasn't being singled out because his family was poor. "Sounds all right to me." She said cautiously, looking at Ron.
Remus also nodded. "I can live with that sort of trade."
They all went through the store, and selected armfuls of robes off the racks. Madam Malkin came by after awhile to help, but it was evident that she had other business to attend to, and after a few suggestions of colouring and style for each of them, she left them to their own devices.
Harry ended up with three casual robes that he thought were rather comfortable and nice. They were simple-looking designs, but each had a slightly different style to it. One was dark blue with bits of yellow trim here and there, one slate grey, and one forest green, as Madam Malkin had suggested, 'to match your eyes'. He took a minute to look at a few formal robes, but didn't buy any, since he wasn't sure he'd have the need for them in the near future. The formal robes weren't too expensive for him, but he really didn't want to bring attention to himself by wearing something too flashy. He could always come back once he had his apparition license. At least he now knew what sorts of wizarding clothes were what.
Ron came away looking moderately pleased with a maroon robe that had black lining. He'd only given in after Hermione had insisted that it was indeed the best colour for him. She had cooed over the robe enough that Ron was able to forget his distaste for the colour and place it in with Harry's pile.
Hermione hadn't taken long to find a nice yellow robe she liked, and Remus was the last one to find a robe which faded slowly from dark brown to navy blue as it went top to bottom. Despite Harry's initial thoughts regarding the combination of colours, the robe looked quite handsome on his new guardian, and the price wasn't too high, so Remus added it to the pile. Tonks had rolled her eyes at his selection at first, but seeing it on him had her grinning and blushing.
Harry had been reading the sign behind the desk when Remus dropped the robe onto the pile.
"We'll take the muggle alternate charm on all of them if it's possible to get it done quickly." He told Madam Malkin as she tallied up the totals.
"No, Harry! That would be too expensive!" Ron said, his eyes widening in alarm.
"Don't worry about it. I've got enough with me. I won't need to go back to Gringotts."
Ron looked confused for a second. Clearly, he had meant that the charm would be too expensive to give away as a gift, but Harry had made it seem like the only complaint was that Harry wouldn't have enough cash with him. The redhead winced, but kept his mouth shut after that other than to say a tense thank you.
Madam Malkin nodded to Harry with an encouraging smile. "Right, I'll be just a moment with them then." And she carried the pile into the back room.
The charm that he'd requested was so that in order for them to blend in with muggles, the robes would look like regular muggle clothing, but only to the eyes of a non-magic person. He thought it was an ingenious idea, and it meant he could wear his robes without worrying too much about where he was going.
When Madam Malkin came back, she handed him four bags. "The charms have to be renewed every year or so, or they fade. If it's been awhile since it was done, then make sure you don't go walking amongst muggles without checking the charm first. You can tell it's working if the fabric glows faintly when you touch your wand to the hems."
"All right, thank you." Harry said, taking one of the bags.
Hermione who had just rejoined them, was looking a little flustered when Harry finally had his purchases together. "Right then, you just pay for those, and then we'll head over to Fred and George's. That's right. Hurry it up, and we'll be on our way." She looked over her shoulder, then her hands began to twine around each other nervously.
Harry narrowed his eyes at her, and Ron looked worried. "Hermione are you all right?"
Hermione nodded, but her face flushed as she did so, and Harry could tell she was lying. She was trying very hard to keep her eyes away from his, but the evasion in her eyes itself was something to note.
"Hermione…" He warned, and she winced. "What's happened?" he asked. Whatever it was that was getting Hermione all rattled couldn't have been anything good.
"Oh, Harry!" She moaned. "I don't know how she found out, but…" She walked over to the seats by the front of the shop. She'd been sitting there reading magazines while the others had finished selecting their robes. She picked up a page, which Harry could tell was out of that day's Daily Prophet. The first page had obviously been torn off, and Harry briefly wondered what was so important on the front page that a person would tear it off. Then he realized that the lack of front page made the black and white picture of himself on the second page stand out.
He stared dumbfounded at the glaring headline.
Harry Potter Has Explosive Agoramorphosis:
Boy-Who-Lived, In For Powerful Surprise.
His eyes darted over angrily to read the name of the author.
"Rita Skeeter, again!" He practically exploded. "Just what in the name of Merlin does that horrible… No good…" he was trying desperately not to lose his cool, but in the meantime, his face was turning horribly red. He was pleased to see that his photograph was doing the same, and trying to hide behind the edge of the frame. He wondered who had taken it, and when. He was still a little young-looking, so he suspected it was one left over from the tri-wizard tournament of his fourth year.
Ron grabbed the paper out of Harry's hands, and read the same headline. Remus looked over his shoulder, and they both also went bright pink as the words sunk in.
"People were staring at me in the Leaky-Cauldron. I thought it was just normal stares, but they knew all about this." Harry said in a low and dangerous voice. "Isn't anything in this world allowed to be kept relatively private? I want to know how she knew about this, and I want her dealt with! It's slander, isn't it?"
Hermione bit her lip nervously, and looked carefully at the paper. "You should probably read the whole thing, Harry."
Harry Potter Has Explosive Agoramorphosis:
Boy-Who-Lived, In For Powerful Surprise.
By Rita Skeeter
Harry Potter, known to many as the 'Boy-Who-Lived', nearly burned down his family's home this past July 22. An unnamed witness to the proceedings was willing to give an exclusive interview with yours truly, and the story of his coming of age is indeed fascinating.
Apparently Potter's magic went so out of control that he knocked a muggle boy unconscious, shot lightning from his hands, set quite a horrific fire blazing in the front hall of his family's house, and spouted off a few hissing sentences in parseltongue. (Which is well known to be one of the darkest arts.)
No one was seriously hurt in the blaze, or from any of Potter's other magical outbursts, but the magical detectors in the ministry registered a quiet 2.5 reading on the area around Mister Potter's house, growing to over 8.7 in a matter of mere minutes. That reading is nearly unheard of for pure untamed magic, and the families bureau at the Ministry had to be notified of the extenuating circumstances by one of Harry's mentors, Remus Lupin. Mister Lupin caught them just in time, since a team of investigators was all ready to head over to Mister Potter's house to snap the boy's wand.
According to another unnamed source, Potter was removed from the premises immediately, and taken to a secure location for the amazingly full eight days of his agoramorphosis.
Since Mister Potter's magnificent duel with He-Who-Shall-Not-Be-Named back in June, many people have been wondering; how dangerous is he really? Should he be allowed to use such awesome power without acceptable ministry guidance? Just what, exactly, can this boy do?
Now that he's come into his majority, and gone through the most powerful agoramorphosis recorded in more than a century, I believe we're about to find out.
Harry sighed, and dropped the paper back onto the table. "Well, it could have been worse. She certainly is a nosy witch, isn't she?"
Hermione nodded, but didn't say anything.
"I'll bet anything that her witness is Dudley." Harry said, his lips pursing tight in anger. "Now that I'm seventeen and I've left the Dursleys, the wards won't be as strong as they were. She might have somehow been able to convince 'Big D' to talk to her. Maybe she flew there in animagus form or something."
"Right!" Ron broke in, and turned to Hermione. "Didn't you warn her that if she ever wrote rubbish about one of us again, that you'd tell the authorities that she was an illegal animagus?"
Hermione nodded. "I could do that, but the damage is already done. I might just do it for spite, to get back at her, but then we wouldn't have anything else to hold over her and threaten her with. I think she's just called my bluff."
"I just can't believe…" Harry started, his face going brilliantly red again. He'd thought he would be proud of the fact that he'd had such a powerful agoramorphosis, but it seemed that some of Ron's anti-agoramorphosis sentiment had still rubbed off on him. Now he was just embarrassed about the whole thing, and he knew, in the back of his mind that his change of heart was really what made him frustrated.
"That she would stoop this low?" Ron asked, finishing Harry's sentence.
"No," Harry said, trying to pretend that Skeeter's article itself didn't bother him as much as it did, "that stupid Dudders would bother speaking to just anybody about my agoramorphosis. He obviously doesn't like magic, so why would he be bothered with anyone in this world? Why does he hate me, and apparently not her?" Harry was almost whispering by the end, and he knew that he was unintentionally admitting to some of his very deepest darkest feelings about Privet Drive. He was glad that both Ron and Hermione understood completely.
"It'll be all right, Harry." Hermione promised. "You don't have to go back there, ever again. They never deserved you."
Harry nodded, feeling a bit comforted by her words. "Now, if Skeeter would just leave me alone…"
"I've got an idea." Hermione added, suddenly changing the subject. "Why don't we all wear our new robes for the rest of the day? I wouldn't be surprised if some of the testers decided to fail us today just because we look like ruffians!"
"Yeah." Ron agreed, grabbing his robe from one of the bags. "It might make them respect us a bit.more… not that they don't respect muggle clothing or anything, but…"
"That makes sense." Harry nodded, and shuffled through the bags for his new grey robe. He knew that there was a good chance that one or more of their testers were biased against muggles. It wasn't really something they had the power to change, so they'd best at least look like decent wizards.
They all headed back into Madam Malkin's fitting rooms to change.
