Chapter 4
"Any news on Potter?" Snape asked the faculty.
"He's still moving around like he knows the castle better than any of us. Come to think of it, so are his friends." Minerva started.
"How many?" Filius asked the group, but mostly Pomona, who discreetly indicated four.
"All his girls at least, that's five isn't it? The puff first years for certain." Minerva said. "I've heard them say really really fast more often too."
"What did they say really fast?" Hooch asked.
"No, that's what they said, just really really fast." Minerva reiterated.
"I'm lost." Rolanda Hooch admitted. Bathsheda and Aurora nodded their agreement.
"Let's just move on, this does not merit additional discussion so long as they're not in two places at once." Albus suggested, pinching the bridge of his nose.
"Anyone?" He asked after the silence stretched on.
"I do have something," Minerva admitted. "Potter asked about free transfiguration on Sunday, and seeing how difficult that is, I saw no harm in telling him about it. He did start to try in class this week but I haven't seen him progress any yet. Not that I could tell anyway, the way he casts."
"Do you honestly expect him to, that's masters grade transfiguration right?" Charity Burbage asked rhetorically.
"Exactly! You can bet he will figure it out soon." Filius grinned, making Pomona facepalm.
"You put much faith in a first year, Filius? He's not even one of yours." Severus drawled. He suspected his fellow head of house of knowing more than him regarding the Potter boy, him and Sprout.
"Don't worry, I just expect great things from Mr. Potter."
"D-d-don't w-we all." Quirinus stammered.
"So we do." Albus acceded.
"Done with the first year then?" Severus inquired hopefully.
-X-X-
"Time for holidays, are you going home?" Megan asked Harry.
"Nah, my family and I wouldn't want that." Harry said easily.
"Then you must come with me!" She demanded, "I already asked mum yesterday."
"Already using your hard earned skill, are you?" Harry laughed. "Are you sure she wants me to come with you?"
"Yes! My dad would like it too." She smiled, grabbing his hands with her own and looking at him with doe eyes.
"Then I'd be glad to come." Harry said, really happy to be welcomed.
"We could go swimming! And biking, and we could have a picnic!"
"Whatever you want is fine with me. I'm sure it'll be fun."
"Is there anything you would like to do?" Megan asked him.
"Well, I'd like to go shopping if that's alright, I'd just need to get some money from Gringotts beforehand. You see, I've never had much clothes and would like to upgrade what I have."
"Whaa! Of course that's alright!" Megan squealed.
"What's wrong with that kid?" Stella asked, a little too loud as Megan heard her.
Seeing the firsties' fierce glare, she backtracked, a little. "I mean, what boy would want to shop?"
"I've never been shopping before, but it sounds like fun." Harry admitted easily, he'd long since decided there was nothing to be ashamed of, it wasn't by choice anyway.
"Aahh," several girls cooed.
"Damn that kid." Stella muttered, as well as a few nearby guys.
"When are you going to learn, Stella? There's nothing wrong or fake about that boy." Natalie asked her seriously.
"I know!" Stella growled.
-X-X-
"Hi, Mrs. Jones, Mr. Jones." Harry greeted his hosts at the station.
"Hi, Harry, please call us Miranda and Jake."
"Alright, Miranda." Harry acquiesced.
"So, Megan tells us you wish to go shopping, is that true?" Miranda asked hopefully.
"Yes, Miranda, my wardrobe could use some additions."
"We'll make a day of it Saturday then." Miranda decided. She'd always wanted to shop for a boy, but Megan was their only child.
Harry didn't see Jake's face at that news, but Jake did see Harry's face light up. 'What's wrong with that kid?'
"Awesome!"
-X-X-
Miranda watched her daughter help Harry pick underwear whilst giggling, Harry for his part just bore it before joining her.
She didn't like seeing Harry's body, the kid was way too small and scrawny. He doesn't look like an eleven year old at all. 'Better feed him good. Those relatives of his don't deserve the air they breathe. I just wish I could do more.'
They had been having all kinds of fun picking up clothes for the boy. Miranda had really seen their relationship in a new light, it was like they were already married.
There was no arguing or judging between them, just trust and consideration. And fun, don't forget fun.
'It's a wonderful thing when relationships work.' Miranda thought.
That Saturday evening when Jake watched them return - he'd begged off to go fishing with friends - Harry's smile had not diminished, not in the slightest.
"What's wrong with that kid?" He asked Miranda after the kids had gone to bed.
"Whatever do you mean?" His wife replied a little heatedly. "There's nothing wrong with that kid!"
"I mean, shopping, really? Guys aren't supposed to have fun doing that." Jake tried to explain himself. "Besides, he's too small. Shouldn't he have grown up pampered? He's the freakin' boy-who-lived!"
"For your information, it was his first time, and he was never raised to believe that shopping is for girls nonsense."
"First time shopping?" Jake asked with an incredulous expression.
"Yes, it seemed his aunt and uncle didn't think him worth it." Miranda seethed.
"Aunt and uncle huh, are they muggles?" Jake tried carefully. Not trying to upset his wife by sounding accusatory.
"Oh, he bought a whole wardrobe too. He paid with a card, apparently those goblins of yours give out cards too."
'Phew, that went better than expected, or did it? No, she probably didn't notice.' Jake thought, before the rest of her statement caught up with him. 'His relatives hate him but he has enough money to buy a wardrobe? Definitely muggles!'
Miranda saw him relax and tense up. She decided to press her silent attack. "He even bought us dinner, said it was the least he could do. Such a nice boy. We should go to dinner more often too, it's such a good way to relax."
'Of course I noticed, but you'll pay for that later, with dinners.'
"You know, those two seemed awfully chummy." Jake tried, not that he was against it or anything, but there was something wrong with that kid's situation.
"Oh yes! I give them two, three years tops. You should have seen them shop, they were like the perfect team once Harry got the hang of it."
'Well damn, that's checkmate, that is.' Jake thought to himself, it wasn't easy being an advocate of the devil sometimes.
'He had better not try to interfere. This boy will be my son-in-law someday.' Miranda thought viciously.
'I love that woman's fire. Now, how to get her upstairs?' Jake ogled his wife.
'I love how he keeps me on my toes, now I'll show him who's boss by dragging him upstairs.' Miranda saw her husband's gaze and grabbed his face to kiss him roughly, before taking his hand and leading him upstairs.
'It is a wonderful thing when relationships work.' Jake thought.
-X-X-
"So, did you two have your picnic?" Su asked Harry and Megan on the train, they had already told the rest of the compartment about their shopping trip.
"Yeah, we did, it was great! Just food and sun and lying on top of each other." Megan gushed.
"Lying on top of each other?" Su asked, one eyebrow daintily raised.
"Apparently I'm not that great of a pillow though. I'm going to have to eat more to be better in the future. Miranda kept feeding me too." Harry said.
"You are a bit scrawny, that's true." Su admitted. "You should eat more."
"Hey, I eat enough! I eat more than at home anyway." Harry groused.
"Harry, you eat roughly the same as me, and I'm smaller than you. You should eat more" Su told him sternly, getting her a thumbs up from Megan behind Harry's back.
"Harry, you do want to be a better pillow, don't you?" Megan pouted.
"Alright," Harry caved. "But you better not complain when I become as fat as my whale of a cousin."
"Don't worry so much, we'll tell you when it's enough." Megan said, getting a nod from Su. Both girls hugged the boy from his side who took it stoically. Their arms easily reached the tiny boy's other side.
Seeing this broke a certain bookie. "What the hell is wrong with you, kid?" Stella's watery voice broke through her silencing charm. Stella left the compartment with tears spilling from her eyes.
"What did I do?" A massively confused Harry asked Natalie. The two fifth years had joined them a little while back to avoid certain people.
"She can't help but love you and that scares her big time." Natalie told him seriously, "don't worry though, this might be exactly what she needed to see and feel. I better go find her before she embarrasses herself any further."
Natalie looked at him one last time and said. "Harry, change into your Hogwarts robes before leaving this compartment." And then she was off.
"I don't understand." Harry said, looking a little lost.
"Harry, you look like an eight year old in those muggle clothes. You know how the shop attendant thought you were my younger brother. Well, my mom told me the same thing, obviously Stella and Natalie thought the same."
"Is that because I eat too little?"
"Yes, we need to see the nurse when we get to school." Megan told him.
Seeing his expression, both girls moved to hug him again. They had not seen this side of him until now.
-X-X-
"Hello, Mr. Potter, Ms. Jones, what can I do for you two?" Poppy Pomfrey asked nicely, Harry was looking a little scared which was very much unlike what she had seen of him before now. Besides, being nice didn't cost her a thing.
"Nurse, Harry is eating too little and says eating more hurts him. Can you take a look at him? Robes off and all."
"Of course, dear, let me just curtain this section off."
After signaling that Harry could take his robes off, she watched her apparent patient. He was acting nervously, almost trembling really. Then she saw the boy in his tiny muggle shirt and she got an inkling of what he was here for, she didn't like the idea much.
Harry without his shirt on told the entire story. This was something wholly unexpected. Whilst there were few scars that proved her theory of an abusive household, he was quite clearly malnourished, something that had likely been accruing damage internally for quite some years.
"Mr. Potter, how is your homelife, if I may ask?"
"Better than before, madam. They just don't feed me much, saying I haven't earned my food."
"Alright, that's what I thought. Well, good news first, I can get you back most of your lost growth potential as well as make you healthy again. This would mean a few months of potions and a growing diet. Bad news is, I'm going to have to tell some government officials, they are going to inspect your family. If they should find what I suspect they'll find, you would probably have to leave them and live somewhere else. What do you think about that, Harry?"
"Honestly, that's amazing! I'd rather live anywhere else really, can't be worse, right?"
"Well… It might be worse, though not in the same way obviously, we magicals treat our children right for the most part. Who would take you in would probably depend on politics if nobody would take you in before you entered the system. Mind if I tell the headmaster? He would be able to help, I think."
"Can't he live with us?" Megan asked Poppy with all the innocence of a child.
"Would your parents agree with that? It's a big decision after all." Poppy decided to humour the girl.
"Shall I go ask, Harry? Would you like that?" Megan looked at him with big pleading eyes.
"Of course I would like that, Megan, if they would want me that is."
"I'll go ask right now!" The girl declared before blinking away.
"What just happened?" A flabbergasted Poppy asked.
"Eh, she went to ask her mom really really fast." Harry answered her, only a little bothered about Megan porting in full sight of the school nurse. This qualified as an emergency use in his mind.
"What does that mean? How could she ask her mother other than with an owl?"
Harry sighed. "Can you keep this a secret? I'll tell you then."
Poppy, of course, had recognized his use of 'really, really fast.' The vexing thing that Minerva had said to have overheard on multiple occasions. This was it, and now she would find out.
"I will." Better to know than not, even if she would have to keep it to herself. That was the usual in her line of work anyway.
"Alright then, I've found a way to pop like elves, though not the exact same, we're able to port through wards or more accurately avoid them altogether. Going really, really fast was our way to keep the secret."
Poppy closed her gaping mouth and took a minute to process the information. Harry waited patiently.
"Better than apparition? No risk of splinching?" She asked him, not knowing anything better to ask. 'Focus on the important stuff.'
Harry nodded.
"Well that's something. Thank you for telling me, I'll be sure to keep it quiet."
"Thank you, madam. About those potions?"
Thankful for the assist back to familiar grounds, Poppy explained about the potions he was going to need to take.
"Hi, I'm Miranda Jones." A woman Poppy hadn't noticed coming in said, reaching over to shake her hand.
Blinking, Poppy only noticed Megan next to Harry when the introductions were over with. "Here for Harry then? How about we talk in private first, and I'll tell you about the situation before we take this any further."
Closing the door after Mrs. Jones she turned around and took in her hopeful face, 'she must really like him, but how? They shouldn't have even met yet.'
"How do you know Mr. Potter, if I may ask?"
"Well," Miranda started, "you know about the teleportation thing right? Anyway, when Harry had just invented it he went to get me for my daughter's birthday, apparently they have been friends since the train ride. It made Megan's day let me tell you. Besides that, he spent the past holidays with us. I learned that he is a splendid young man with a probably less than optimal home life."
"So, he just wound up at your doorstep, huh? How did he even find you?" Poppy asked, confused.
"He told me he had googled me. I've no clue why my contact information can be found online but it seemed likely enough."
"Uhh, I've no clue what you just said but the google me spell is another of his inventions, probably inspired by your Google. Here, let me show you."
"Google me, Harry." And a yellow arrow appeared, pointing at the wall of her office.
"Ooh, that's amazing! I can see how useful that could be." Miranda laughed, delighted.
"Back to Mr. Potter, did he tell you about his home life?"
"No, we went shopping and I saw and heard some things that just didn't add up, for instance his body is too small and it was apparently his first time to shop, ever. Strangely enough, he seems to have lots of money, and no concept of costs."
"He probably got the key to his vaults after he turned eleven, that's pretty standard for orphans. Anyway, I tested him and there's lots of things wrong with his body, chief amongst them the long-term malnutrition. Usually I'd hand his case over to the authorities but in his case that could prove problematic."
"Problematic how?"
"If made aware, lots of people would want to have a say in his case. Meaning his placement would be the result of politics. Not only would it become a media circus, but he could, conceivably, be taken in by a family that would not have his best interest at heart, simply because they are politically powerful."
"And how can we solve this?"
"As a school nurse, I have some contacts in that department. If you would consent to adopt him, there's things that could be done. We could do this quietly and quickly. The fastest way would be to have all parties in agreement before even stepping to the department, meaning you, Harry, and his family. If not, we'd have to have it ruled in a committee which would greatly decrease the odds of keeping this quiet."
"Seeing as I am here, I'd guess the only thing we still need is his family to agree? My husband is another but I'll convince him if need be." Miranda declared passionately.
"I see. Yes, that's my take on the situation as well. I'll contact someone for the relevant forms then. Knowing those kids' unprecedented abilities, remaining in contact should prove no obstacle."
"I fully agree." Miranda said proudly. "Let's tell the kids."
"Right, and I must say, this is a great thing you're doing." Poppy told the woman earnestly.
"Don't thank me yet. Besides, I've known the kid for a week and I already know he's worth every effort. I'm also hoping he'll be my son-in-law someday, you should see them together, it's the sweetest thing!"
"An ulterior motive, huh? One of the best reasons if you ask me!" Poppy laughed. "I've been hearing talk of a betting pool on those two actually, we should talk about that sometime."
"Definitely. Now how are you going to fix that kid, is there some sort of potion for malnutrition?"
Poppy nodded. "It'll have to be a combination of potions, one to reset his organs, to make them grow as strong as they should be, another to make him take more nutrients out of food, and lastly, one to improve his weakened constitution. He'll have to take them for a year at most."
"Hmm, and how will that be provided? I imagine those don't come cheap."
Poppy's tone darkened a little. "This school is responsible for the healthcare of all muggle-raised kids, sponsored by our government. He'll get nothing but the best potions, don't you worry."
-X-X-X-
"Why aren't you at school?!" Petunia screeched a few days later. "And who are you?" She asked Miranda, who'd ported with Harry to get their documents signed. Miranda had wanted to meet this woman ever after hearing what was wrong with Harry's body.
Seeing Harry make himself as small as possible at the woman's screeching, Miranda took over, she'd planned this conversation.
"Madam, I wish to take over custody of Harry. Will you sign willingly or do I have to threaten you?"
It looked like Christmas had come early for the bony woman, disgust rose up immediately in response to Petunia's hopeful reaction. "Where do I sign?"
Harry took her hand, probably sensing her state. She wanted nothing more than to rip this woman to pieces, but not before she had signed the papers.
Petunia eagerly signed the lot without even a cursory reading of the material. Seeing this, Miranda wanted to get revenge for Harry. But the tugging on her hand convinced her otherwise.
"That might be the kindest thing you've ever done for Harry. Now is there anything of Harry's that we should take?"
"No, he took all his things with him in that trunk of his." Petunia told her dismissively.
Miranda looked at Harry for confirmation and got it. She had seen that trunk and all it had in it, not much, in other words. Miranda once again had to take strength from Harry's hand.
"Ready to go, Harry?"
A nod and they were gone without a sound. This triggered another wave of sadness. Not that Miranda had expected tears with that goodbye but there hadn't even been that. Surely Harry merited at least a goodbye? Miranda vowed to be better.
"Will you come in for a bit before going back to school? I could show you your new home." She asked him.
Harry's frown turned around really fast, he glowingly agreed.
-X-X-
"You're going to live with Megan and her parents?" Su asked incredulously, she had not really suspected it was that bad in his old home.
"Yes!" Megan answered for Harry.
"How does that work? Did her parents just take you in, just like that?" Hermione asked.
"Yes actually, they took me in after hearing all about my stay in the hospital wing. But I'd like you to keep it a secret, at least from anyone that doesn't already know why I was in the hospital wing." Harry said.
"We understand, Harry." Susan and Hannah assured him. "Now tell us, did you pick a room already? Is it close to Megan's?"
"Yeah, it's the same I used when I visited over the holidays. Right next to Megan's actually." He affirmed, not understanding the resulting squeals at all. 'Girls are strange,' Harry thought to himself. 'Though I must admit, having picked a room makes it more real.'
"You know, discussing secrets in the common room, out in the open like this. Isn't this stupid or do you trust everyone here?" Natalie asked the younger Puffs, sharing a look with Stella.
"Definitely too trusting, though for some reason nobody pays attention to you when you're here." Stella put in.
"No, that's not it at all," Hannah said, "we've learned a few spells that ensure privacy. I'm ensuring that nobody but the people I chose to trust hear us, or rather, hear what we are saying."
"You what!" Stella asked her. "Teach us!"
"Yeah, people you don't trust hear something else entirely, something you have to keep in mind when casting the spell. Right now, all everyone else is hearing is a dissertation on all the different flavours of pie I have tasted."
"You're kidding me?!" Natalie exclaimed. "That's awesome! Did Harry create this again?"
"Yes, but we did the research." Hermione explained. "We know his process now. All he needs is a spell that does something similar to what you want. This one was made from the Muffliato charm that originally let's you hear mosquitoes buzzing."
"Does he do requests?" Stella asked eagerly.
"Yeah, I can do that." Harry answered for himself.
"Can you make an adjustable vibration charm?" Stella asked the group hopefully.
Natalie laughed. "I'll tell Tonks and Samantha."
Harry frowned, "Them? I guess this is one of those things that you won't tell me the use of because I'm too young?"
The girls' blushes answered his question, they had already figured it out too. 'Just what am I missing?' Harry thought, before sighing. 'This isn't fair, at all.'
"I won't ask questions as long as you don't act weird on me again." Harry told his friends.
"We'll try." Susan laughed, still flushed, though it was nothing compared to Megan's continued redness.
-X-X-
Jake Jones finished remodeling the guest room that was now Harry's. "There that's done. I hope she's happy." He told the room a little surly.
He remembered their last discussion about the subject vividly, if you could even call it that. It started right after Miranda came back from seeing Harry in the hospital wing at Hogwarts.
"Hi honey!" He had greeted his wife after a long day at work. His wife's expression immediately told him there was something wrong.
"Oh Jake, that poor boy!" She had cried, falling into his arms.
'Thank god, it's not Megan!' Had been his first thought. Quickly followed by, 'What has that boy done now?' He didn't need to ask her as she immediately began talking.
"They didn't feed him, that's why he's so small!" She wailed, Jake got a bad feeling as he said. "That's very sad, so I assume he's going into the system then?"
"Not if we adopt him." Miranda stopped crying immediately. There it was. Game, set, match. Jake had missed the train. That ship had sailed.
It wasn't that Jake would have a problem having Harry in his home, he liked the kid. What Jake couldn't take however, was the absence of choice. That, and the manipulation. Besides, having the boy-who-lived in his home could very well create a few problems if that news got out. 'Better take care of that now.'
"Honey, of course we can take him in. But we have to keep that a secret, we'd never get any peace otherwise."
"You're right of course. Thank you for agreeing." Miranda agreed. "I'll set things in motion."
'Well, at least that went well.' Jake thought with a grimace. 'We'll see how long this stays a secret. If only I wasn't such a pushover when it comes to my lovely wife.'
-X-X-
"The paperwork has gotten through on the normal side." Miranda told Poppy back at Hogwarts. "How are we going to keep this quiet? Doesn't the school and the ministry get a notification? How does this work?"
"That's actually only half true. The head of house of the child needs to be informed, of course, but not anybody else. I'm sure I can convince Pomona to keep this under wraps. Besides, the ministry of magic doesn't care about kids much before they're paying taxes."
"That's a relief."
Poppy frowned. "I think you need to worry more about Harry and Megan, they need to keep it quiet too. Besides, if anyone visits you and sees Harry, that would give it away as well."
"I don't think that's such a problem. The kids developed a spell just for this. They say they can talk about anything under it, and anybody else will just hear what they thought while casting the spell." Miranda said proudly.
"That does sound ideal." Poppy admitted. "Developing spells is supposed to be really dangerous though. But I've never heard of eleven year olds developing spells anyway, so this might be entirely different."
"Megan did say that Harry was the only one who could do it, but afterwards, everybody could learn. Could it be a skill?"
"Yes, it certainly could. I should ask him about it, to make sure it isn't dangerous."
"Then please do so. Now, tell me about that betting pool." Miranda changed the subject.
Poppy smiled. "Well, I've heard some fifth and seventh year girls talk about it. Only girls for whatever reason. Anyway, I asked the bookie, a fifth year student called Stella about joining the pool and she told me she'd get back to me. What I did get though, was the spread. Most of the competitors agree that they should end up together in two to four years. They agree that kissing in public should conclude the bet and that….."
-X-X-
"Of course I will, there's no reason to tell anyone anyway. This should be a private affair, I agree, even if it wasn't Mister Potter." Pomona agreed with Poppy, who had expected no less.
"That's good then. The paperwork on the muggle side is done, and they don't intend to register as his magical guardians, so there's no reason for the ministry to catch notice of this." Poppy said.
"That kid is getting way too many secrets." Pomona grumbled.
"Oh, you know then?" Poppy asked.
"Know what?" Pomona asked suspiciously.
Both women stared at each other.
"There might be a way to ensure we know the same secret." Poppy mused. "Let's just say one word that doesn't give the entire secret away but should clue the other in about whether they know the secret."
Pomona thought about it and nodded.
"On three then."
"One,"
"Two,"
"Porting." "Popping." Both women said.
"Like an elf." Pomona agreed.
"You know, I do know something else that I can tell you about."
"Tell me then." Poppy demanded greedily, she liked gossip just as much as the next witch.
"You know that meeting with the witch's secret Babbling had me confirm in that staff meeting?"
"Yeah?"
"Potter found spells that make sodomization easier. All the seventh years agreed to teach their younger years at the end of the year. They're calling it The Potter Deal. The best thing about the situation is that Potter doesn't even know what he did!"
When Poppy remembered to close her mouth, a light bulb went off. "So that's why," she mumbled.
"What?!" Pomona demanded.
"Some girls, all sixth and seventh years, had been stopping by for abdominal pains for quite some time. They haven't been by for a while now. I now find myself wondering if it was the result of using cleaning spells down there, such as Scourgify. Oh, that must have been painful."
Now it was Pomona's turn to gape like a fish. "Oh my god. This makes the story so much better, we have to tell Bathsheda and Minerva!"
"I guess Potter really did deserve their gratitude." Poppy laughed. "I have to verify this with what used to be the more frequent visitors. I'll box their ears for being so stupid."
"There's this muggle thing called lubricant. Tell 'em to use that, it works wonders."
"E tu, Pomona?" Poppy laughed.
"I'm not that old." Pomona grinned.
-X-X-
Stella and Natalie argued for about three minutes before extending the betting pool to include adults, namely Poppy, Sprout and Miranda.
-X-X-
"Hello, Miss Park?" The school nurse asked Samantha, who had received a summons.
"You summoned me?" Samantha said.
"I've recently heard some information that might help you with your abdominal pains."
"Oh, that won't be a problem anymore, nurse. The pains have stopped." Samantha told her a little red in the face.
"Yes, and I think I now know why. Did Mr. Potter's spells help?" Poppy smirked.
"Eeh." Samantha was flushing furiously now.
"I see, let me assure you that I'll keep your secret. I need to know though, did you use spells before? Is that why you were in pain?"
"Yes." Samantha simply said, greatly embarrassed.
"That's what I thought. Now, I have a tip for you. There's this thing the muggles use called lubricant. That should prevent any more injuries."
Samantha thought about it and smiled. "I know just what to do, thank you for the advice, Madam."
-X-X-
"Here we are." Harry said to Miranda and Jake, he had been glamoured by Jake before they popped to the Alley.
"Right. Let's go to the bank then." Jake said. He had proposed this trip because he wanted Harry to do an inheritance test, which would give them a lot of information they needed. Also, the goblins needed to know his change in circumstances.
As they walked into the bank Harry smiled. It was good to see the goblins again, they thought as efficiently as Harry did.
"Hi, I'm Harry Potter, and I wish to do an inheritance test." he said loudly to a goblin behind the counter. Jake squeezed his shoulder, "do you think you should announce that to anyone son?"
"Nobody but us heard that, I used magic to make sure." Harry answered. The goblin who had watched this byplay opened his mouth with a sneer. "No wand work in Gringotts, young wizard. You are lucky you weren't seen."
"I didn't use a wand, Mr. Goblin." Harry told him simply. Jake didn't know what to believe but decided that now wasn't the time. The goblin nodded his head in apparent respect.
"Stonechuck." He groused. "Follow me then." They followed him into the bank.
"I'll need 3 drops of your blood." Stonechuck said, holding out a sharp dagger and a small ink bowl. Harry just did what was necessary, finding no reason to complain. He handed the ink bowl to the goblin.
Stonechuck chanted something in his language and emptied the bowl above a sheet of parchment. The blood formed words that filled the page. Stonechuck copied the paper and handed the other to Jake, who took it.
"Hmm, it seems you have plenty of money. Ah, you're also the Black heir, for some reason. Sirius Black is your Godfather and magical guardian. Also, it seems you've gotten plenty of deposits from total strangers after the Dark Lord was defeated." Jake read. "Now we know there's no way we can become your magical guardian. Mmh, doesn't that mean that he is innocent?"
He saw the goblin nod at that but say nothing. "Can you confirm or deny that, Stonechuck?" Jake asked.
The goblin shook his head up and down repeatedly. "I cannot confirm or deny that, wizard."
"I see, that's a shame, isn't it?" Jake grinned. Then he sighed. "We can't leave him there. But I can't prove anything. Guess I'm going to have to ask for some advice."
"We can take this, right?" Jake asked Stonechuck, earning him another nod.
"Thank you. We'll leave right now, unless Harry wants to see his vault?"
Harry shook his head. Though it was obvious he had a lot of questions, those were for later.
"Not something you need to know at this time, Harry. But we'll tell you later, first I need to check something out."
"Alright."
-X-X-
Harry emerged from his rooms still tasting the vile potions he was taking to get his body up to spec, making Megan laugh at his scowling face. A shudder ran through him as he recalled that he'd be taking those for close to a year. Eugh! "You know, it's not funny to enjoy my pain, Megan."
Megan grinned unapologetically. "I'm not enjoying your pain, just your facial expression."
"A loophole, huh. Good for you." Harry's lips quirked upwards, unable to stay irritated in the face of her joy. "So, Sunday. You ever want to sleep in, because I sure do."
"It's eight thirty, Harry, you already slept in." She grabbed his hand and dragged him onwards. "Come on, time to eat."
Well, if anything, he needed to get the foul taste from his taste buds, so he let himself be dragged without resistance.
The girls spent the whole day dragging him out to do stuff, and he gave in every single time.
"So, how's Su's project going?" Hannah asked Harry since Su wasn't there.
"Eh, she learned how to fly, but can only stay airborne for two minutes before being completely drained, so I have her keeping low to the ground." He explained. "It's a bit of a letdown if you ask me, but Su seems very happy with it."
Susan gave him a considerate look and asked, "and how long can you stay in the air?"
He wiggled his hand. "Mmm, I've only tested for about six minutes, but I could've gone on longer, I suppose."
"You must be powerful magically!" Hannah grinned, impressed.
"It's probably more the fact that I designed the spell and understand it better." Harry disagreed. "Su will get better with practice, I expect."
Hannah shook her head at Susan, who was in complete agreement; Harry just couldn't take a compliment sometimes.
"Stella also wanted me to adapt a spell for her and the girls." Harry shared with a slightly confused look. "It's a water conjuring spell that they want converted to lubricant, like oil, but not. It has to have a neutral taste and smell and not dry out too. It's quite an interesting project, if a bit harder because they have so many demands. If only I understood why they wanted it…"
Megan couldn't readily comprehend the purpose either, but she understood the goal just from who asked him for this spell, as did the other girls. "Perhaps they want to stop doors from creaking, or prank someone."
Harry noted the blush on her cheeks and sighed. "I'll understand when I'm older, right?"
Susan put her hand on his shoulder and squeezed softly. "If it makes it any better, I don't understand this one either." Hannah and Megan agreed. "I guess we're all too young for this one."
"That does actually make me feel a bit better," Harry smiled. "Anyway, they got the base spell, and I'm still finetuning the results because they don't like the taste, smell, or feel or whatever. I'm not allowed to see the tests either, so it's a bit of a time waste when I'm there waiting for feedback."
"You're doing a good thing, Harry, of that I'm sure." Hannah smiled with her own faint blush.
"Thanks, Hannah." He smiled and lay back down on the grass, he had earned some relaxation time.
-X-X-
"Love, how would you suggest we tackle the Godfather issue? I can't just send an owl to a random law enforcement person and hope for the best." Jake asked his wife.
Miranda tapped her chin in thought and recalled Poppy's contacts. "I might have an idea on who to ask for a proper contact. You remember the school nurse I talked about? She should know someone with the right mindset."
With a sigh of relief, Jake nodded. "That's a good idea, love. As much as I think I should be able to solve this, I need to remember it's not my own world or even my government we're talking about."
Miranda patted his knee with a proud smile on her face. "I'll set up a meeting soon. Don't worry about it."
It was good that Jake recognised his limitations, she would take care of the magic problems.
-X-X-
"Alright, I can't take this anymore!" A brawny sixth-year Hufflepuff growled in the common room, and he approached the group of firsties.
They saw him coming and shut up, before the young Bones waved her wand to dispell some magic they had up. "What's wrong, Bart?"
"I would love to know what the fuck you guys are talking about, and I'm sure I'm not alone?" He demanded, feeling more than a little awkward pressing firsties for information like this.
Harry looked around the common room and saw nothing but agreement. "Alright, what did you hear?"
Bart scratched his head and started talking. "A lot of stuff I've never heard about. I heard stuff like Furies and Sentries and Elements and Quadrons, even a guy named Jim Butcher! What sort of magic is that?"
Chuckling, Harry looked at the girls. "Who put up the spell? That's impressive, that is!"
Susan, Hannah, and Megan all raised their hands. Susan spoke first. "I thought of the roman empire." Hannah grinned. "War for me." Megan blushed, "I might have decided on Pokemon."
Harry's eyebrows shot up, "Huh! That means that the spells combined and merged the concepts somehow, though I have no idea why and how that spells Jim Butcher… Anyway, it might be a good idea to assign a single person to do the spell next time."
Bart couldn't take it anymore. "Can any of you explain in simple words?"
Megan smiled. "It's a spell that makes anyone not included hear stuff we designate when casting it. This just taught us that it can combine when more people cast it, which means you heard gibberish."
The whole common room fell silent, before one shouted. "What! Teach us!"
Naturally, the day's plans were completely scuppered.
-X-X-
"No, she was flying, without a broom." Hooch insisted. "I heard students talking about it and went to watch for myself. There's no doubt in my mind."
"Did you ask them how she was flying?" Minerva asked her.
Hooch scowled. "She said it was a secret, and wouldn't share."
Laughter followed because they all knew just how much Rolanda Hooch wanted that spell for herself. "It's supposed to be impossible!"
"Yes, it is, so where was Mister Potter in all this?" Snape's oily voice drawled.
"Nowhere to be seen." Hooch admitted.
"Then it was probably just a prank, someone held her up with a Leviosa or something." Filius broke in. "Let's start this meeting proper, I see the rest have arrived."
Indeed they had, and as Dumbledore sat down last, he started the meeting officially. "Bla, bla, bla, any strange conversations overheard this time?"
They all had, but most knew enough to keep it quiet. "I heard some new rumours about a girl secret, but nothing dangerous or important for educational or safety purposes." Batsheda waved it off. "Let's skip this rumour mongering and talk about facts."
Albus actually lived for the rumours, because he'd heard all the facts a million times by now, but he pushed his disappointment away and asked Severus about his students, prompting the usual denigrations and insults, if a bit lacking in conviction. The sooner this meeting was done, he could get back to dealing with his paperwork.
"Right, thank you for that summary, Severus. Minerva?"
-X-X-
Poppy and Pomona were facing a stern Stella in the hospital wing. "Right, we agree to leave all the men out of the betting pool. Do we have your permission to point the ladies in your direction? We can't deny them this prime entertainment any longer, they're getting suspicious!"
Stella sighed in disgust. "Fine, but only the female adults. It's bad enough that authority is in on this, I'm not dealing with a single man!"
"Isn't the whole bet about a man?" Poppy asked cheekily. "Or does Mister Potter not count?"
Stella's cheeks gained a bit of colour as she tried to scowl, but her facial muscles wouldn't allow it for some reason. "Potter doesn't count, he's a boy yet, anyway. Not a man."
Pomona gave her a blinding smile, "thank you, dear. I'm off to spread the word!"
Poppy watched as Stella walked out of her hospital wing without another word. "So much anger." Her lips curled up into a miniscule grin. "But there are cracks forming, aren't there?"
-X-X-
The group of older female students waited for Potter to round the corner before breaking out into cheers. "This is amazing!"
If one were to look at the classroom, they would see a very odd sight indeed. Major puddles of slick lube lay on all horizontal surfaces, dripping from everything in sight, with a light minty scent saturating the air.
Some girls were licking some of the lube and spitting it out with slightly manic grins on their faces. "It even tastes nice!"
"And it disappears after an hour, or with a single finite! That boy is a wonder!"
Natalie and Samantha exchanged meaningful looks and nodded. "Listen up, we all owe that boy a lot, there's no denying that anymore!" Nods all around showed their agreement. "Well, we can owe him some more once we come up with some more nifty spells we can use in our 'personal lives.' So think on that and come back to us so that we can ask Harry for more help. Also, when you see him in trouble, help him, but that goes without saying!"
"Yeah! Right! Of course."
"What about the vibration spell?" One girl asked.
Her closest neigbour snorted. "He's already got that one working, didn't you hear?"
"No, I was, ah.. unavailable last session. I was, ah… testing his other spell." She admitted awkwardly.
"Aww yeah! That's what we like to hear!"
"Don't worry, I'll teach you that one tomorrow."
Samantha took charge again. "Anyway, get out there and do some more testing." She smiled as the rest chuckled. "We'll see each other soon enough, I'll clean up the room."
Only Natalie stayed with her to help, as it wasn't a difficult job dispelling all the lube. "Graduation is coming closer, you got the alumni channels working right? I'd hate to leave all those witches without Potter's new inventions."
"Don't worry, they were all highly motivated after I told them what it was about." Samantha laughed. "All that is running smoothly, my word on it."
Natalie snorted, she should have known.
-X-X-
"Mister Potter, I'd like you to transfigure this into a Gerbil." Minerva McGonagall said, her voice only shaking minutely.
Harry tilted his head. "Ma'am, do you have an equivalent I might actually be able to visualise? I have no idea what a Gerbil even is."
"Guinea pig?" She offered.
Harry flicked his wand and the goblet in front of him smoothly transitioned into a Guinea pig. Not a word said, just like all the other times she had asked him for a transfiguration.
"You pass." She managed.
"May I leave, Professor?" The boy asked her, to which she could only nod silently.
That boy already used Mastery-level transfiguration, just because he didn't want to memorise the wand movements or incantations, and easily performed two years above his grade-level. If he continued on like this, he would manage his NEWT at the end of his third year at the latest…
"I… Oh, Merlin!" She was jealous! And she could only give him an Exceeds Expectations!
He had failed to fill in a single incantation or wand motion on the written test, which meant he only scraped an Acceptable on the theory portion. And yet, he was so far above his peers it was ridiculous.
-.-
Flitwick smirked as he watched Mister Potter perform all his spells with a simple flick of his wand. "Nicely done, Mister Potter."
"Thanks, Professor." Harry chirped happily, as if unaware that he had just performed better than some NEWT students.
And yet his cumulative score rated only an EE. Oh well, it would only keep him off Albus' radar a bit longer, so no harm done. Filius was already planning a quick visit to Minerva to ensure she thought the same.
-X-X-
"It was doable, I guess." Megan said about the exams.
"I did well." Su shrugged. "It wasn't that hard."
Harry nodded. "Yeah, I liked the practical portions, but the theory was hard."
Megan and Su rolled their eyes. Megan patted his arm, "I'm sure you did alright, Harry."
"We probably all did." Harry smiled unconcernedly. "I guess we get to come back next year."
"There's that." Su grinned at the ridiculous statement.
-X-X-
"How did Mister Potter do?" Dumbledore asked finally, having reserved that for last.
Minerva and Filius exchanged looks. "He did fine, Sir." They said as one.
Albus looked from one to the other before shrugging. "Anyone?"
"Well, he seems to be uninvested in the theory, but the practicals went perfectly." Pomona shared with the group. "I suspect he's a bit bored with the subject. Merlin knows few people care about the right ways to prune a plant, it's not that uncommon."
"His friends did well, I must say." Babbling put in, as she had overseen the DADA exams for the first years. She knew enough not to blab about Harry Potter's abilities, so sought to divert attention elsewhere. "So, what happened to Quirinius, Albus?"
Albus waved her off. "I'll make a school wide announcement tomorrow, but the short of it is that his health was fast declining, and he decided to seek professional help while he still could."
That was a bald faced lie if Filius had ever heard one, but at least the subject had changed.
-X-X-
"Professor Quirrel's health fell and he decided to leave," Dumbledore said to the mostly uninterested students. "Now, the train leaves in one hour, be sure to check your dorms to see if you missed packing anything. Until next year, students."
They found a train carriage with an empty compartment and all squeezed in. Harry and his girls, with Megan sitting right beside him, just as he preferred.
"What will we do in the summer?" Hermione wanted to know.
"Visit, of course!" Hannah laughed. "You're all welcome to floo over anytime!"
Agreements and plans were made, and Harry was almost glowing with happiness, he was going to a home, HIS home! But first, he had another announcement to make.
"Ah, girls, I have to share a little something." Instantly all sound dropped, making him raise his eyebrow in surprise. "Huh. Ah, I can do wandless magic, and I want you to practice as well."
Su cocked her head. "Of course you can, porting doesn't need a wand, nor does flying."
He chuckled, she had a point. "I mean regular spells, actually. Here, let me explain the process."
Susan laughed and shook her head. "Err, no offense, Harry, but why don't you explain your process to Megan first and see if she can't put it into words. I think we'll be able to understand it better that way."
Even Hermione seemed to agree with her words, however reluctantly. "But you'd better share fast, you hear!"
They all smiled at the expected response. "I am curious though," Hannah smirked. "Were you going to say, it's just like pointcasting, except without the wand?"
Harry's sheepish look said it all, that was basically it.
Megan shook her head and laughed. "Don't worry, girls, I'll make it something rational. Now, let's talk about summer vacations!"