Chapter 5: Time Marches On
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Because Sirius had taken all of the money out of the bank, the cost of living had skyrocketed in magical Britain. The cost of gold was now twenty-five pounds to a galleon. A book that used to cost a few sickles now was a galleon. The price of potion ingredients alone was more than most could afford.
The muggleborn were hit hard. Those, like the Grangers, who were well off, would weather the storm. Those, like the Creevys, who were poor, would have to take loans to keep the kids in books. Purebloods that were rich felt the sting, though they would survive. However, those like the Weasleys would be hard-pressed to come up with the funds to keep their children supplied for the next year. Since the school was ministry funded, tuition was not a thing, which helped a lot.
People that made bribes would find themselves in dire straits as well. Since the cost of living was on the rise so was the amount of bribes. What used to be a few hundred galleons was now a million. Malfoy's pockets were not that deep, especially now that he could not dip into the Black accounts anymore. Narcissa was not amused.
Fudge was out on a limb. What used to be his honey pot was now a boiling cauldron. He couldn't get anyone to give him any money and was now in debt up to his eyeballs. Malfoy's money had run dry, and so had his. He was being sued by the goblins and they had suspended all his accounts until the trial was over. He was being hounded by bill collectors night and day. His wife was not amused.
Dumbledore was not doing any better. His wardrobe was not cheap, and he hated wearing the same thing twice. Alas, he could not afford to buy anymore robes, so he needed to start from the beginning of his closet and hope that no one remembered seeing him in those old ones. They shouldn't most were dead since he wore them. His accounts were also suspended until the trial was over. He was not as concerned as the others; he didn't think the goblins had a leg to stand on. After all, he didn't put Harry's name in the goblet.
Hogwarts, itself, was hit hard. Teachers' salaries had been reduced by 5%, and they were not amused. The meals there had been particularly diminished to the point that most of the students were speculating on the staff's ability to manage money.
Instead of Beef Wellington, they had roast beef with brown gravy. Instead of roast duck with the trimmings, they had baked chicken and potatoes. Instead of Eggs Benedict, they had scrambled eggs with cheese, and things like that. A full English breakfast was a thing of the past.
The meals went from lavish, to plain. They were filling, but dull.
There was an abundance of vegetables, eggs, potatoes, pork, and chicken at every meal, including breakfast. Done in a variety of different ways, but still vegetables, eggs, potatoes, pork, and chicken. Pumpkin juice and tea were what was to drink for lunch and dinner. There was orange juice and milk for breakfast. Water was at every meal.
Desserts wasn't much better; they were giving a choice of a variety of biscuits and ice creams. There was no spotted dick, no treacle tart, no fountains of chocolate, no cakes, no layers of pastries or other such sundries.
The international dishes that they had had on the table on Halloween were not seen again, much to the displeasure of the visiting guests. They made their unhappiness known to all every moment they could. They did not make any friends at Hogwarts. Well, the ones from Beauxbatons complained. The ones from Durmstrang could care less what they ate, as long as it had the calories they needed to survive.
The Heads of those two schools did their best not to stir the pot. While they themselves were not being sued, their governments were, and they were under strict orders not to cause any trouble while there. They did their best to make their students understand that, but the French students were spoiled and didn't understand the ramifications of their actions.
"I see that you have noticed that we are currently underfunded," Albus Dumbledore stated one day at dinner when the students were complaining about the sparce fare. "I would like to point out that the whole of Britain is now in a financial crisis. We are self-sufficient, to a point, here at Hogwarts; however, we did rely on outsourcing for many things, such as spices and sauces. We can no longer afford those things and must rely on what we have on hand. You will not suffer from malnutrition. As in, you will get all you require to have a balanced meal, however the extras will not be available. Thank you," he finished his speech and sat down.
"You can blame Potter and Black for this," Snape said, just loud enough to be heard. He knew what he was saying and was doing it on purpose. He wanted everyone to blame the boy and man. He hated them with every fiber of his being.
"Now, Severus," Albus said, though he wasn't convincing enough for people to take him seriously. He was lackluster in his convictions. He too knew it was Black's fault, and just couldn't bring himself to defend the man strongly.
"They took all their money and left," the dour man stated, throwing his napkin on his half-eaten plate, and standing. "If they had not, then the country would not be in the dire straits it is right now." He then stormed out of the room, with his cloak billowing.
"He's not wrong," Flitwick said, steadily cutting his roast beef though longing for something else, like a rare steak. "Though I can't blame the boy for bolting," he added, taking a bite of his meal. "I would have skedaddled too, if I had had to put up with as much as he had in this school at his age," he added when he had finished chewing.
"I am sure you are exaggerating," Dumbledore said, knowing he was lying through his teeth. However, he had to keep up that grandfatherly image that the students saw him as. Now Harry he would support. He knew he had to defend the boy's right to stay here at Hogwarts. He would never support that the child needed to run from the most secure place in Scotland. As long as he, Albus Dumbledore, was here, nothing would hurt the child. It was a lie he told himself every night.
"You can lie to yourself all you want," the diminutive man said, cutting another piece off, "but we all know the truth," he said, finished speaking for now and applying himself to his less than satisfactory meal.
"Albus, you can not let this go on much longer," Minerva said, putting her glass down on the table.
"Let what go on, my dear?" Albus asked, not sure what she was talking about.
"The gossip," she said, waving to the children who were listening, though trying to look like they were not.
"They are children," Dumbledore stated, like that explained everything. "What harm can it do?" he said, chuckling a bit.
"On your head it be," she said, standing up and storming away, though her robe did not billow.
The students that had been listening to the teachers, turned and relayed it all to their neighbors and the words spread from there. Soon it was all over the school that it was all Harry and Black's fault that the country was in the state it was in, but there were few that blamed them. They speculated that it was somehow the old man's fault, both Flitwick and McGonagall thought so too. The word spread fast and furious.
Dumbledore just ate his dinner, contemplating his wardrobe and how he was going to rearrange it, so no one knew he was wearing it over again.
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Harry and Sirius had done their clothes shopping, getting a bunch of local lightweight colorful outfits and sandals, and were well into Harry's schooling. He was getting tutored this year, in both non-magical and magical. They decided that Sirius would do most of the magical and they would outsource what he couldn't teach. Which wasn't much since Harry was only in his fourth year.
Harry was quite behind in his muggle studies. He had a lot to catch up on. They managed to get a tutor that specialized in British education, as well as some of the Peruvian studies. That way Harry would be caught up with the students in the school he would be attending next year.
Mr. Peters, the tutor, had asked how he got so far behind, and they had come up with that he had been sick for the past three years and that he had not been able to study. The man had bought it and they went from there.
Harry was shocked at how much he had forgotten and how far he had to go to get caught up, but he was determined to surpass what was needed to be in his age group. So, he studied every waking moment. He was never seen without a book in hand. Even during siesta time, there was a book propped near him.
That had been something they had had to adjust to but liked immediately. Nothing was more calming than taking a nap during the hottest part of the day. The whole world just seemed to slow down and even the birds seemed to nap during that time.
Sirius was worried about how much the kid was revising, but let him to it, as long as he took time to eat and sleep. The older man made sure that Harry took a few moments a day to fly around the grounds on the days that there weren't any of the non-magicals on the island.
Mr. Peters left at 3 p.m. on the dot daily, so Harry had an hour to unwind every weekday. Sirius wanted him to take at least half of that to fly.
They used three hours nightly for his magical education. They skipped things like Herbology and Astrology and Care of Magical Creatures. Those were things Harry could study on his own. Sirius also didn't assign homework, Harry had enough of that with his tutor. Practical work was enough for the dogman. As long as Harry got the spell right, and knew why he got it right, Sirius was okay with it. Potions was something they were going to have to get a tutor for come summer. Sirius just wasn't sufficient enough to teach it.
Even with all the hard work, Harry was glad they had decided to come here. He had never felt so free in his life. He could eat as much as he wanted, and he could do whatever he wanted, within reason. When he wasn't learning, he could study as much as he wanted, he could sleep as much as he wanted, and Sirius didn't say a thing if he wanted to go swimming in the ocean. Sometimes he did nothing but lay in the beach for hours. He was so tan, he looked native.
Sirius was a great guardian, he only made sure that Harry was taken care of, and let the boy do his thing. As long as he didn't hurt himself.
Harry did worry about his friends back at Hogwarts, but he knew that it was better this way. He knew that Hermione could take care of herself. She had punched Malfoy last year, and she knew how to hold her own in a fight. She was the smartest witch in her year. He only hoped that she made more friends now that he was gone.
"Sirius," he said, one day when he was taking a break from studying, "do you think that everyone back home is doing okay?" He hadn't broached the subject before, because they were adjusting to the new life, but now that they were fully emersed in their new lifestyle, he wanted to make sure everyone was okay back home. Well, Hermione at least.
"I'm sure they are. Why? Did you want to go back?" the man asked, knowing the answer, but asking anyway.
"No, it's not that. I love it here, and I don't what to leave. Ever. I'm just worried," the boy said, plucking at a string on the pillow in his lap.
"Did you want to send a letter? You can send it from a mailbox from a different country. Or get a diary that works both ways. Or I can magic up a mirror. There are ways, but they will eventually cause someone to find us," Sirius said, knowing that Harry was missing his friends. "Anything that connects to us, can be traced back to us," he stated, making sure that his godson understood.
"What about Dobby?" Harry asked, thinking that maybe using the elf was safest.
"You can use the elves, but it's still a risk. I would do it on the sly. Like have her leave the notes in a secret place, and never see the elves get them or place yours. It would be safer that way. somewhere outside the castle. I wouldn't put it past Dumbledore to put up wards to trace the elves," Sirius said, thinking on how to get around that.
"There's the tunnel to Honeydukes," Harry said, tapping his chin in thought. "She can leave it at the end of the tunnel and never even leave it," he added, worrying the string again.
"That might work for a while," Sirius agreed, smacking the kid's hand from the pillow before he unraveled it.
"I'll write right away," Harry said, jumping up and doing just that. He ran from the room and up the stairs to his room and started writing as soon as he sat at his desk. When he was done, he called Dobby.
"Harry Potter is needing Dobby?" the elf asked when he popped in.
"Can you leave this on Hermione's pillow?" he asked his friend, knowing he didn't have to tell him not to be seen.
"Dobby can. I wills be careful," the little guy said, taking the paper and popping away.
Harry sighed, and flopped back on his bed, hoping he did the right thing.
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Hermione was doing well; she was making friends with her dormmates and some of the other girls in her year. She was never alone and was constantly surrounded by giggling females. It was quite different than hanging out with Ron and Harry.
While she missed the quiet Harry, she did not miss arguing with Ron. The girls were not bad to interact with. While they did tend to be on the flighty side, they were true to themselves, and were genuine in their advice about her hair and makeup.
She was not overly concerned about her looks like they were, and they were not overly concerned about their grades like she was, but they compromised. They gave her beauty tips, and she helped with homework. Unlike the boys, she didn't have to nag to get them to get it done. The girls had already set aside time each day to do their schoolwork, they just had to concentrate enough to get it done. Considering they were gossips by nature, it was hard to keep them on track.
Still, it was fun to have girlfriends, other than male friends. She did miss Harry something fierce. She only hoped that he was doing well wherever he was. She knew that he was with Sirius and that they had taken all their money with them. She knew that the goblins were suing the government because of that. Something about lost revenue or some such. She knew that no one could find them, and that they were still looking.
She also knew that the first task was coming up and that there was rumor going around that Harry might lose his magic if he didn't show. She was of two opinions on that. One, was that it was no big deal to a boy that was raised without it. Two, was that it was a tragedy to lose something so magnificent as magic.
"Hermione," Lavender said from her right, "you're spacing again." She poked her friend in the side to get her attention.
"Sorry," the bushy-haired girl said with a bright smile. "I was thinking on Harry." She did seem to space out more and more when thinking about the boy.
"Is it love?" the other girl teased, batting her eyelashes at her. They all knew it wasn't, Hermione had made that abundantly clear.
"Goodness, no," Hermione said with a laugh, giving the other girl a small shove. "I'm just worried about the first task," she said, sobering up a bit.
"I think we all are," Parvati stated from her left, looking around the table at all the serious faces.
"Yeah," quite a few Gryffindors said, their faces long.
"Well, I'm not," a seventh year said, still under the delusion that Harry put his name in the goblet. He wasn't alone in this thought. There was a minority that agreed with him. They were nodding their heads with him. "He deserves whatever happens to him," the older student stated, folding his arms over his chest.
"We don't care what you think, Franklin," Fred said to the jerk, pointing his fork in the boy's direction. "We know the truth. Dumbledore stated it loud and clear for everyone to hear. If you don't believe the headmaster, then you're just stupid," he finished, stated something he'd stated many times before.
"Whatever," the now named Franklin said, sniffing and turning his head away. It was an ongoing argument that had no winners.
"You'll see," George stated, poking his finger in the other boy's direction. "When some other person loses their magic, you will see that Harry didn't do it," he finished, folding his arms in a defiant manner.
"Again, I say, whatever," the boy said, not even turning around.
"Just leave it," Hermione said to the twins. "Some people will never agree with you," she added, looking at Ron who was still miffed that Harry left. He didn't think that Harry put his name in the goblet, but he thought him a coward for leaving. He and Hermione weren't speaking anymore.
"Yeah," the twins said as one. Both looking at their brother. They too weren't talking to the boy. it wasn't that they disliked their brother, just that they didn't agree with him. Ginny was on the fence on the issue, so didn't side with either one of them.
Dinner went on with little fanfare and soon it was time for curfew, and everyone trooped upstairs. Hermione pleaded a headache and went to bed. There she found a note from Harry.
Dear Hermione,
I hope this note finds you in good health.
I know I said that my last note was my last one, but you are my friend, and I just couldn't leave it like that. I want to let you know that I am doing well. Sirius is taking good care of me, and I am getting a good education. I can't tell you where we are, but it's a great place and I'm learning a lot about the local customs.
I plan on going to a muggle school next year, this year I will be tutored. Sirius is taking care of my magical education for now. When he can't, we'll outsource. I know how important you think this is.
Tell me what's going on there. Are you okay? Are you and Ron still friends? Is he okay? How is the school? Anything you can tell me is fine.
Just leave the note at the end of the tunnel to Honeydukes. The twins can tell you where that is. The end of the tunnel is outside of the wards to Hogwarts. Sirius thinks that the headmaster can trace house elves from Hogwarts.
Don't wait for Dobby to pick it up. Please, don't. He won't come if someone is there, or if there is magic on the letter. So don't let anyone put a tracker on it either.
It would be best if you don't tell anyone why you need to get to the end of the tunnel. You can tell the twins that you have a craving for chocolate. Like most women your age do. Hint, hint. That should keep them from asking questions.
Please don't take me contacting you as a sign that I might come back. I won't. I do miss you, but I won't come back. Please, don't ask. I hope you understand.
You are my friend, and I miss you.
Well, I hope to hear from you soon,
Your friend,
Harry Potter.
To say she was floored to hear from Harry was an understatement. She had resigned herself to never hearing from him again. She was thrilled, and she was almost tempted into keeping the letter, but set it afire with her bluebell fire immediately. She wasn't going to leave any evidence that Harry was in contact with her. She would have to figure out a way to keep in contact over the summer, but for now she had a letter to write and a tunnel to find.
