The Guise of Family

by berkeleyjake

Thrown out of the Dursleys before his 11th birthday and sent off to places unknown, Harry's journey leads him astray from the path we know and towards learning archaic magics, bonding with strange creatures, and gaining a little sister with a new family. When his past comes looking for him, he will need new allies as he sets out on a hunt for a tyrant. (very slow build/burn)

36. A Night to Remember

A Night to Remember

---

Harry and Lyra started to follow the throngs of students and parents heading down to the quidditch stadium. Greg's father stuck out due to his height, so they assumed he would be with Arcturus but unfortunately, he wasn't.

"Mr. Goyle?" Harry asked as he rounded in front of the large man.

After his cursory glance at Harry's scar and a quick look towards Lyra, "Yes, Mr. Potter?"

"Can you direct us to Arc… to Lord Black please?"

"He will be in the faculty box for the quidditch match. Though come with me for a moment, I would like a word with the two of you." He turned from the path down to the quidditch pitch and headed towards the lake, leaving Harry and Lyra no choice but to follow.

Feeling a bit nervous, Harry and Lyra both stashed their wands in their sleeves, despite their lack of real combat spells. Lyra did whisper to Harry that Alastor and Tonks were following them. When they got far enough from the crowd, Mr. Goyle conjured a small couch for them and a very large chair for himself and sat down.

"I wanted to meet with you, Lyra, to explain the relation of my house to both the Blacks and the Malfoys," he began, "and I figured that it would benefit Mr. Potter to hear it as well." He looked them both in the eyes to make sure he had their full attention before continuing. "The Goyles began as commoners over five hundred years ago. During a Goblin uprising, a member of our house saved the life of the heir to the Black family. While in a particularly bloody engagement with a large horde of the greedy monsters, Vega Castor Black was stabbed and had his arm severed by the halberd of a Goblin chieftain, though Vega killed the little bastard at the same time. Rallying to their fallen leader, and as they were about to land a killing blow, Gregorius Goyle intercepted the Goblin army and laid waste to their forces with a combination of spellwork and his mighty warclub. There is a tapestry in our ancestral home depicting him stepping on members of the horde while engaged in battle. The halberd of the Goblin chief was taken as spoils of war and hangs over the mantle in Goyle Manor."

The children sat in silence, entrapped by the heroic tale.

"When the battle was over, Gregorius brought Vega back to his home for a healer to treat his wounds. Unfortunately for Vega, his right arm could not be reattached due to enchantments on the weapon that severed it. As a reward for his selfless service, the clan of Goyle was allowed to become an esteemed liege subject to House Black. Among their other vassals, Goyle was placed at the top, and to honor Gregorius's defense of Vega when he lost his right arm, House Goyle was to always defend the right side of their future generations. The name Gregorius has been passed down to every firstborn son in our family since that time."

Both of them absorbed the whole tale, before Lyra asked, "So you are also Greg Goyle?"

"I am."

"You said Gregorius stepped on the Goblins?" Harry asked.

"The Goyles have always been very large," he told them with a little reservation in his voice. "We used to be the size of the Hogwarts groundskeeper, though we have been getting smaller over the generations."

Mr. Goyle was still enormous, at least seven feet tall and very wide as well. To imagine a whole family of Hagrids would be astonishing.

He took over the story again, "Lyra, when your br… When Draco was born, and when my son was born, it was assumed they would stand together, in the same way that I have stood with your Uncle Arcturus and the other Blacks. They have been side by side since they could open their eyes. The same could be said about Vincent Crabbe, though he comes from the Malfoy family vassals. When Lord Black's health began to decline, I took my place on the right side of Narcissa and Lucius Malfoy. However, with the dissolution of their marriage, I have returned to defend Arcturus. My son will also become a protector for the Blacks, and possibly for you."

He turned to Harry, "You Mr. Potter, your parents were enemies of the ambitions of the Goyles and the Malfoys. The Blacks had no official stance during the last war, even if all of their children declared their allegiance to the Dark Lord." Harry made a mental note to study more of the war with Voldemort with two mentions of the allegiances in the last hour. "You are not your parents," Mr. Goyle continued, "just as Lyra isn't her parents. I will leave it to Arcturus and your tutors to explain why so many were drawn to war. My son has spoken to me about how you have helped him in his remedial classes. I am hoping that with your help, he will be able to be back on track by the end of this year. Is there anything you can tell about his methods that might be holding him back?"

Harry felt very on the spot and didn't know what to say. He looked back at his memories of the transfiguration and potions classes he shared with Greg. He seemed to find that while the boy's concentration was very focused, he wasn't putting enough power and force into his actions.

"He's not using enough magic, almost as if he's afraid of using too much," Harry told Mr. Goyle. "His focus is very controlled, but he's holding back the power behind his spells, ingredient preparation, and stirring in potions. I found that giving him a solid punch in the shoulder seems to draw out the power that he's holding back. That's about it, I guess."

"I understand, Greg broke a lot of things around our house when he was still experiencing accidental magic. My wife was not as understanding or tolerant as I was when her possessions were destroyed. I will make sure he understands to not hold back as much." At that, the large man stood up, Harry and Lyra following suit. "We better get going so we don't miss the start of the quidditch match, I will take you to Arcturus in the faculty box" and with that, he vanished the couch and chair.

The quidditch stadium was packed to the limits, there were nearly no available seats anywhere in the stands filled with students, parents, and aurors. Harry and Lyra followed Mr. Goyle as he parted the crowds with people jumping out of the way as he didn't slow his stride a bit. When they finally reached the top box, he entered to reveal the full teaching staff as well as a few extra guests.

"Wait here," Mr. Goyle instructed them as they stood in the doorway.

They could see out of the front of the box that they were in the tallest tower of the stands, overseeing the entire stadium from the midfield mark. A small platform extended out the front of the box where there was a podium currently occupied by Lee Jordan and Professor McGonagall, they were in the middle of a conversation. Many of the extra guests were staring at Harry and Lyra, though no one approached.

After a minute, Mr. Goyle returned with Arcturus and Brandt. Arcturus looked at the children and asked, "Is there something wrong?"

Lyra looked around at all the people staring at them and pulled a black and orange feather from her pouch. Focusing on it for a moment, it released a few black sparks, and a bubble of silence expanded around them. Brandt ran a diagnostic charm and cast a few other privacy charms as well.

"Nothing is wrong, we just had some questions," Harry said. "We met a woman named Molly Weasley who didn't like Lyra for being a Black. Among some of the things she said, she mentioned one of Lyra's cousins betraying my parents to their deaths and that Dumbledore was the one responsible for placing me with my aunt and uncle."

The three adults nodded their heads. Harry could see that they already knew about this.

"We will need to discuss this at another time," Arcturus told them. "Just enjoy the day today, as it would not be appropriate to discuss this with Albus on his birthday. Before your winter break, we will have at least one meeting to cover all of these issues."

Both children frowned a bit, they were hoping to get answers right away. However, neither of them was used to pleading or begging and accepted his decision.

Just as they were going to turn away, Brandt spoke up, "After the game, please meet me in your common room. I will be assisting both of you with your wardrobe for the feast tonight." Both children nodded and exited the box to join their classmates.

Lyra pierced the quiet as they walked to the Scamander section, "At least we know we will get answers before winter break."

"Winter break! We're going to get to go back to the island!" Harry realized with a burst of joy.

Lyra realized it too and her face brightened, "We need to talk to Newt, and we should send a letter to Nestor."

The two of them sat down next to Colin who looked around them and out at the quidditch pitch with a strange look on his face before saying, "Are you doing this? It just got super quiet."

Lyra's eyes widened and then looked incredibly embarrassed as she pulled the orange and black feather from her pocket again and released the silencing effect causing all the sounds of the stadium to rush back. People were cheering and yelling and chatting all around the outside of the stadium. The energy of all these people was amazing.

A few minutes later, they heard the booming voice of Professor McGonagall from up in the top box:

"Welcome one and all to the second match of the Hogwarts quidditch tournament!"

Cheers rang out through the stadium, Harry could see that Colin's parents were having the time of their lives cheering at the game. Greg was sitting further down the bench, but with his father up in the top box, they called him over to sit closer. Harry made sure he noticed that he gave up sitting on Lyra's right side so he could claim that spot.

McGonagall's voice continued to echo through the arena:

"Today's match will be between the daring Eagles of Ravenclaw and the fearsome Badgers of Hufflepuff!" After waiting for the cheers to die down, "Providing commentary on the match today is Lee Jordan of the new Scamander House!"

More cheers erupted with Harry and Lyra both pulling out their staves to pound on the bleacher seats to celebrate their classmate. Each strike released a pulse of white and orange magic that didn't do more than ruffle some hair but was still impressive to be seen across the stadium.

Lee's voice sounded out now:

"Thank you! Thank you! Particular thanks to Scamander house and to Lyra and Harry for that impressive display of magic! To everyone in attendance, I suggest visiting the quidditch museum after the game to see the new exhibit dedicated to Harry Potter for the unbelievable feat of denting a bludger for the first time in recorded history. The dented ball and an animated pensieve sketch will be on display for anyone to see. Let's hear it for The Boy-Who-Bludgeoned!"

A wave of cheers erupted for Harry and he instinctively ducked his head in embarrassment.

"Today's game will be a good one for sure. The overcast skies are perfect quidditch weather making the snitch easy to spot. Both Ravenclaw and Hufflepuff will be debuting new seekers today after losing Cho Chang to Slytherin and Cedric Diggory to Scamander during the resorting. Let's welcome the two teams to the field!"

Lee then proceeded to call out the names of the quidditch teams with incredible enthusiasm as each player burst out of the locker rooms at the base of the field and did laps around the pitch displaying various acrobatics as they circled. From the faculty box, Madam Hooch emerged with a large box hovering behind her. Grabbing her broom, she leaped from the platform that Lee and McGonagall were standing on and flew down to the center of the pitch on the ground, the box floating down to the ground next to her.

One player from each team landed next to her as she opened the box. Harry could barely see from where he sat that the box contained two silver bludgers that were rattling back and forth, secured by leather straps as well as a reddish-brown quaffle like they had played catch in their flying class and a tiny sparkle of gold as well. Harry looked at Lyra expecting to see a bit of alarm at the sight of the bludgers, but she seemed to be focused on the box with interest in her eyes instead of fear.

The two players shook hands and mounted their brooms to hover thirty feet above Madam Hooch. She pulled out the quaffle and let it rest on the tip of her wand. Around her neck, she had a string with three whistles, Gold, Silver, and Blue. Placing the silver whistle in her mouth, she blew hard at the same time launching the quaffle straight up into the air. At the same moment, the two silver bludgers and the tiny golden snitch all shot off in opposite directions, and the game began.

Everyone watched and cheered as the players zipped around. It was often hard to keep track of what was going on, even with Lee calling out every maneuver and transfer of the balls. Lyra didn't seem to be following the plays at all and was just staring in amazement at the flight of the players around the field. Harry kept his grip on his staff as he watched the beaters control the bludgers. Surprisingly no one was getting hit, all the players were dodging the iron balls when they could, and the beaters were keeping their teams safe the rest of the time.

Each team seemed to have a different strategy for dealing with the bludgers. The Ravenclaws had a beater assigned to a specific iron ball. They would only strike that one ball making sure to always be near the one they were marking. Occasionally he could see some kind of hand signal between the beaters and they would switch targets. The Hufflepuffs, on the other hand, had one beater assigned to defend the chasers and one to defend the seeker on their team. The keeper seemed to need to watch out for himself.

The play style of each team was different for the other players as well. The Ravenclaws adopted to carry the quaffle for as long as possible before executing long passes away from the zone they were currently in. The Hufflepuffs chose tight formations with their chasers and would favor short passes to maintain their formations, simply drop the quaffle, or have one of their teammates take it from their hand when the allotted time limit for holding it was close to expiring.

Both strategies seemed to have their advantages and disadvantages. The strategy of the Eagles allowed for passes to be picked off with greater ease while it allowed the individual player more freedom to cross the field and pull off evasive maneuvers without running into their teammates. The Badger strategy protected the player with the quaffle and sometimes disguised which of them had control over it. The formation did make them move slightly slower than their opponents and an easy target for the bludgers, which is probably why they had one of the beaters assigned to guard them exclusively.

The seekers also had different strategies as well, the Puff seeker stayed relatively in one place near the center of the field above the chaos searching for the snitch while the Claw seeker patrolled endlessly. Harry wasn't as concerned with the seekers and how they played since they only had something to do when the game was over. He kept most of his attention on the beaters' defense of their teams.

There were numerous times when a bludger was hit near their place in the stands and he would be seconds away from raising his staff before it would veer back toward the players in the air. In his mind, he imagined that after he killed the first one, the others knew not to get anywhere near him. After around thirty minutes of continuous play, the score was 60-50 in favor of Hufflepuff.

It was right after the Hufflepuffs had broken the tie with their sixth goal that Lee could be heard shouting, "Chambers has seen the snitch! Look at him go!"

Everyone watched as the Ravenclaw seeker shot across the pitch heading nearly straight towards where the Hufflepuff seeker sat in the center above the field. He looked all around him to see what the Ravenclaw seeker was seeing and decided to start moving in the same direction so he could spot it before the Eagle arrived. As soon as he started moving away from the area, Chambers cut directly downwards towards the center of the pitch.

Lyra tracked Chambers's new direction and shouted, "There it is!"

Sure enough, floating lazily, about two feet above the center of the field, was the golden snitch. As if it understood that it had been spotted, the snitch zipped off towards the side of the pitch staying just above the ground.

Lee announced the situation, "It was a feint! Chambers is on it now!"

The Hufflepuff seeker immediately corrected course and dove toward the snitch. Chambers was nearly on top of it, about twenty feet away. He stretched out his arm as he got closer, and when he was nearly within reach suddenly rolled to the side as a bludger nearly missed his head, bouncing off the ground and choosing a new target. The avoidance cost him a few seconds as the Hufflepuff seeker gained on his position from the opposite direction, with the two of them heading to crash into each other. Right at the last possible second, the snitch decided to turn straight up and with the reaction time to match, Chambers pulled up to grab it with the other seeker shooting underneath moments before they would have crashed into each other.

"Chambers has the snitch! Ravenclaw wins 200-70!" Lee and McGonagall both yelled out at the same time. While everyone was distracted by the snitch, Hufflepuff managed to score another goal.

Cheers and applause were heard around the stadium as Chambers did a victory lap with the snitch raised in his hand.

As the stadium started to clear out, Harry and Lyra were stopped by Cedric.

"So, what did you think of your first game?" he asked them.

Lyra excitedly replied, "It was amazing! They won't let us go over twenty feet during flying classes, and my hands are too small for throwing the quaffle around. I want to fly like them!" She pointed towards some of the players who were still flying around the stadium.

Cedric looked towards Harry who responded with slightly less enthusiasm, "It was fun. I could see the strategies they were all using, and they didn't get hit with the bludgers nearly at all. I was expecting at least a few injuries."

"I could see you watching the strategies, you have a good eye for the game. I'm still hoping either of you would be interested in playing for the house team next year," Cedric told them.

Lyra looked interested, but Harry was still uncertain, "I really don't want to hurt someone as part of a game. Pain should be for people who deserve it, not for friends. Ron Weasley told me that only the keepers get to wear helmets as the others need full visibility."

Cedric was nodding along, but his eyes widened a bit at Ron's comment, "While Weasley is correct about the helmets, all of the uniforms have some cushioning charms built into them to minimize the damage, and since the charms to attract the bludgers are in the uniforms, they are more likely to hit them there than the head."

That made Harry feel a little better but said, "The lack of helmets is still a problem."

Cedric nodded along, "OK, we can discuss this more later."

They all started to exit the stadium. On the way back to the castle, Harry was stopped many times by students from all the houses commenting on his museum exhibit and asking if he was going to play as a beater for the Scamander team next year. He told everyone that asked that he didn't know and he didn't want to hurt anyone. His quote of "pain should be for those who deserve it, not for friends" started to circulate as well.

---

Brandt was waiting for them outside their common with a large wardrobe next to him.

"We have limited time to prepare, both of you need to take a bath, and then you will get dressed properly. Lyra, how long does it take to do your hair after you wash it?" he asked.

"Now, it's a little over an hour, and recently, I've had a few friends helping me."

"An hour? OK, who are your friends who help you? I will fetch them while you are washing up."

Lyra told him about the Gryffindor girls as they entered the room, Brandt effortlessly pulled the large wardrobe after him. He left it in Harry's room and raced out for the seventh floor. He cursed a few times as he had to wait for the staircases to re-adjust to the correct destination. When he got to the floor, he realized he had no idea where the entrance was. After wandering around, he saw a child in red and gold walking with his parents.

Approaching the group, "Excuse me, I am trying to find the Gryffindor common room, I need to speak with Parvati Patil and Lavender Brown."

The boy looked at him curiously for a moment before turning to his parents, "I'll be right back," and ran off.

Brandt stayed with the parents and introduced himself. They were the Towler family, Brandt identified Mrs. Towler as a muggle by the red stone charm she wore that enabled her to ignore all the muggle aversion, illusion spells, and some of the warding around Hogwarts. Mr. Towler had shown his wife magic on many occasions, but nothing could compare to seeing Hogwarts in person and attending a quidditch match for real. They chatted for a few more minutes before their son, Kenneth, and the two girls returned.

"Thank you, Mr. Towler," Brandt addressed Kenneth. Turning to the girls, "My name is Brandt, I am Steward to House Black. Lyra informed me you have been helping her with her hair?"

Kenneth nodded to Brandt and then left with his parents, Parvati responded, "Yes, we helped her before, and we've been teaching Whispers new braiding styles." Lavender smiled and nodded along with her.

"Excellent, Lyra is preparing for the feast now, I was hoping the two of you could assist her with something fancy for the party. House Black is prepared to compensate you for your efforts with the loan of a dress and jewelry to wear to the feast." He hadn't prepared for this in advance, but he could certainly resize some of the garments he had brought along with him for these two girls that would hold a little past midnight for sure.

Both of the girls' faces lit up at the offer. "That would be amazing!" Lavender gushed. "All we had were our school robes and a couple of earrings. Thank you, thank you very much."

"No, thank you, both of you. I had absolutely no idea how long it would take to do her hair. Mine of course just requires a bit of water and a comb. Go ahead and gather anything else you need and I will wait for you at the top of the staircase." He let out a big sigh of relief and headed to the staircase to wait.

Only Parvati brought a bag with her, though it was mokeskin, so who knew how much could be inside? He escorted them down to the Scamander common room and spoke the password for the door to appear. The girls had been there before for the party, but it was still amazing to see them in the daylight of the room. There were so many parents and guests in the room already that no one commented on the two Gryffindor girls.

Brandt brought them to Harry's dorm and the large wardrobe. Harry was just getting out of the bathroom and was wrapped in just a towel. After being on the island for so many years, Harry didn't have modesty issues with being naked, so he certainly didn't see a problem with walking up to Brandt and the two girls in just a towel wrapped around him. Both girls were blushing furiously while taking small glances at his shirtless body. Harry still had a partial tan, and his physique was better than anyone else in the castle his age. Brandt also was stunned for a moment by Harry's brazen behavior before asking him to wait in the bathroom for a few minutes.

Once Harry was back inside, Brandt opened the wardrobe and turned to the girls, "Please pick out something for yourselves quickly, along with any of the jewelry you want to wear."

He pulled a sleeveless dress off the rack, purple on top and fading to pink on the bottom. With a wave of his wand, it changed to deep orange on the top, slowly fading to yellow and then green on the bottom. Both girls oohed at the change and then set off trying to find something for themselves. Moving to the other side of the wardrobe, he opened it to search for jewelry. He decided on a necklace of sapphire and pearl beads and silver bracelets with enchantments to keep the wearer warm.

After tapping his foot loudly, the girls managed to finish picking out dresses. They then switched to finding jewelry which was sped up by louder foot tapping. Brandt cast resizing charms as he waited on the robes to make them larger than Lyra's size and told the girls he would shrink them back down once they were wearing them. He then escorted them to Lyra's dormitory. As they were crossing the common room, Whispers jumped out of the trees onto Lavender, causing her to scream and nearly drop her dress. She yelled at him for a moment before grabbing his little hand and pulling him along with her. Brandt deposited the girls into Lyra's common room along with her dress and jewelry. Not being able to enter himself, he entrusted them to help her get ready.

As he left them, he told them, "Please do the best you can, we can make this a regular arrangement if you do. I can't enter myself to help, nor do I have the skills necessary to dress a young lady, so thank you again."

Lavender turned back, "Lyra's hair is just so much fun, even if it takes forever. You didn't do a bad job with the dress you picked, it has Lyra's favorite colors, and the jewelry has good complimenting colors, I would have expected a boy to pick something dreadful." She realized that might have been insulting as she blushed with a little guilt before closing the door.

Brandt rushed back to Harry's dorm getting a little short of breath at this point after all the running. Harry was sitting on his bed and putting on socks. Brandt stopped him there. "Sorry for that before. In the future, try to avoid walking half-naked into a room with other people, especially if they are women, even if it is your room. I understand it is my fault they were there, but still."

Harry didn't fully understand why it would be a problem, though he did remember that he wouldn't have gotten away with something like that at the Dursleys, so just made a mental note for the future and nodded to Brandt in understanding.

"Now, you haven't had a tutoring session on fashion yet, so I'm just going to lay out an outfit for you to wear for the evening. After you've learned about fashion and color matching, you'll be able to do it on your own, OK?"

Getting Harry's nod, Brandt closed the door to the wardrobe and reopened it with a different set of knobs. Now, there were men's outfits inside. Going through them quickly, he pulled out black slacks, a deep green buttoned shirt, that was nearly black unless the light struck it just right, a dark silver leather vest that looked like it had plumes of smoke carved into it, and a long-tailed outer robe with a high collar, entirely black. He placed them on the bed for Harry and dug out a pair of black socks and black leather shoes. Placing the socks on the bed and aimed his wand at the top of them. Focusing hard, his wand pushed out bluish smoke which coalesced into a small demiguise at the top of each one.

Harry's face lit up at the sight of them.

"No one sees the tops of your socks," Brandt grinned. "So it's fun to have something there that will make you smile when you think about it."

"What do you have?" Harry asked.

Brandt pulled up his pant leg to show a mermaid on each sock, though these were animated and they swam around the top edge. Harry giggled.

"Sorry, I couldn't animate yours. My socks were purchased in a store, so they came that way."

As Harry got dressed, Brandt retrieved a leather belt for Harry with a silver buckle. After consulting a book to find the Potter family coat of arms, he transfigured the buckle into the head of a stag, and passed the belt and buckle to Harry. Harry finished getting dressed and Brandt cast a charm on him that would keep any food or drink from staining his outfit. From there, he closed the wardrobe again, using a third set of handles to open it and take a full set of dress robes out of it for himself. Excusing himself for a moment, he ducked into the bathroom and locked the door. Reminding himself of his time at Durmstrang, and the days when there was no hot water, he took the quickest shower possible, using magic instead of soap and then drying himself with magic as well. He finished dressing as quickly as possible and only six minutes had elapsed since he got in.

Harry was startled when Brandt exited the bathroom. The potion ingredient book he was reading was closed quickly as he jumped to his feet, "How'd you go so fast?" he asked.

"Practice, lots and lots of practice," Brandt responded, he shivered at the memory of the freezing water on the days when he had turned in a sub-par assignment.

The two of them exited the dormitory to the common room, Brandt cast another charm on their shoes so they wouldn't track dirt around. Several people commented on their outfits and they prepared tea in their small kitchen.

Colin and his parents approached them and joined them for a drink. Colin opened a bag and pulled out some interesting-looking cheeses and placed them on Astray's plate.

"I asked my parents to send some fancy cheese for Astray, they were able to bring them along in a cooler, but I don't know how long they will keep like that." Colin was smiling merrily as he placed them on the plate along with some crackers. "I don't know if he'll like the crackers, but most people do, and he should have the chance to try it."

Brandt nodded to the boy, "If you bring me the cooler, I can place an enchantment on it that will keep them cool without needing more ice."

Colin ran off to get the cooler as Harry and Brandt sat down with Colin's parents to drink their tea.

"Can you tell us a little more about Albus Dumbledore?" Colin's mom asked. "He seems to be almost worshipped in your world."

"This is true," Brandt agreed. "During what you call World War II, there was also the First World War among wizards. The antagonists in the wizard war were led by a man named Gellert Grindelwald. There was a lot of bleed-over into the muggle world and some of his war wizards even made alliances with muggles in the axis powers. Leaving out many many more details; towards the end of the war, Albus Dumbledore engaged in a fierce duel with Gellert Grindelwald which lasted nearly three full days and flattened an entire town near the French border with Germany. Dumbledore was able to defeat Grindelwald and have him imprisoned in the prison he built for his enemies, where he remains to this day. The defeat of Grindelwald and his war wizards also led to many victories for the allied powers on the muggle side of things."

Colin's parents were a bit shocked to know that there was a magical side to World War II, but they took it in stride with the other revelations of magic they had already been getting.

"After the war," Brandt continued, "many positions were foisted onto Dumbledore. He was made to be the Chief Warlock of our judicial system and given the role of Britain's representative to the International Confederation of Wizards, similar to the United Nations. Currently, he also holds the title of Supreme Mugwump of the ICW, similar to the President of the UN."

The Creeveys were shocked, "And he's also in charge of a school? That seems a bit much to me," Colin's dad remarked.

"You're probably right. From my point of view, and Lord Black's, we believe that these responsibilities were given to him to attempt to keep him from overthrowing the government on his own. He probably wouldn't have done anything like that, but politicians being what they are were afraid of the raw power at his disposal and tried to make him as incorporated into the government as possible so his power would be able be more focused on their interests and passed on to the next generation of wizards. He probably also has some way to make sure he has enough time for all his responsibilities."

"I'm guessing it's coffee," Mrs. Creevey grimaced a bit. "Lots and lots and lots of coffee. Maybe magical coffee."

Colin returned at that moment lugging the giant cooler filled with cheese. They unloaded about half of them so Brandt could enchant the inside of the box to stay cold by etching rune sets into all four sides. Then he activated them causing a rush of cold air to blow out of the box. Colin stuck his hands in for a moment to feel the cold air before closing the box, thanking Brandt, and heading back to his dorm with his parents.

Harry and Brandt moved to the other side of the room next to Lyra's dorm and the mango trees to wait for the girls to get ready. After they had been in there for an hour, Brandt took to pulling out his pocket watch, looking at it, and sighing loudly. Some of the other families in the room had already started to leave. Greg and his father joined them in waiting, they were wearing matching robes that had the outer layer made from tanned dragon skin giving it a very solid look. They also wore silver bracers along their forearms that had the crest of House Black etched into the one on their left hands and what must be their own crest on their right. Greg's father also carried a large wooden club, saying briefly that it was ceremonial to represent the one carried by their ancestor, Gregorius. Two other sets of parents and an older man with the same blue eyes as Luna were waiting for their daughters to come out of their room as well.

When the girls had been preparing for nearly an hour and a half, Luna exited the room, closing the door behind her. She was wearing her school robes but had several different rings on her fingers, a necklace made of bottle corks, and her earrings seemed to be made out of a small silver ring with around a dozen needles hanging from each. Harry guessed that they were all transfigured matchsticks. She also had sky-blue eyeshadow on.

Standing next to the door, she made a flourishing gesture and reopened the door. Out first came Daria Delacroix and Meli Draghici; over the past month, the two girls had become best friends, partnering for every class and studying together. Both were wearing their school robes as well. Daria wore a few silver necklaces that all clipped together on a pendant on her chest and had silver eyeshadow with flecks of black in it. Meli wore a thick bracelet on one arm that had several six-petaled flowers on it, the other arm had a thin bracelet that had a chain up to a ring around her middle finger. She wore a gold necklace with three of the flowers from her bracelet and earrings to match. The two of them walked over to see their parents.

Next came Parvati and Lavender. Parvati wore a midnight blue dress that had loose sleeves and gold sequins in the shape of stars that seemed to twinkle as she walked. She had ink drawn on her hands in several patterns that took the place of any jewelry there. Her necklace was a string of diamonds with six teardrop-shaped rubies on the front along the string and one more hanging straight down at the center. Her earrings matched with two teardrop-shaped rubies connected by strings of diamonds. Her eyeshadow was a slightly lighter blue to compliment her dress.

Lavender wore a red dress with thin straps and ruffles going down from her waist to the floor. She wore a beaded gold necklace with three small emeralds along the chain and one large oval-shaped one hanging from the center. Her earrings had one small emerald at the hole with a larger oval-shaped one hanging from it. Her eyeshadow seemed to change from red in the center to silver on the sides.

The two girls' dresses were a little loose, but Brandt didn't dare interrupt the show they were putting on to adjust their fitting. They stepped to the side and everyone waited for Lyra to come out. After a few seconds of waiting, Whispers jumped out from the side of the dorm. He was wearing a Scamander tie of orange and green, tied in a handsome knot. One of the girls had given him deep green eyeshadow and he danced around in front of them. Greg and Harry burst out into laughter as Brandt spat out the mango juice he was drinking. Mr. Goyle managed to keep from laughing by biting his lip, but it was a tough battle. The other girls who had already come and their parents out also broke down into laughter along with Harry and Greg.

After everyone had stopped laughing, they turned their attention back to the open door and Lyra came out. Harry was happy to see his little sister looking beautiful. The dress she wore started orange at the top and faded to yellow by the time it was just below her waist, then quickly changed to green before it reached her shins. She had several silver bracelets on each hand and around her neck was a string of alternating pearl and sapphire beads. She wore no earrings as her ears weren't pierced. Her eyeshadow was a reddish-orange with gold dust glittering on top. Her hair had a braiding pattern down her back that crisscrossed the flowing hair, forming an S braid going back and forth all the way down to the tips just above her knees. There was one long braid on the front of her head that hung loose and wrapped around her ear and hung from her shoulder. As usual, there were red and yellow hoohoo feathers stuck in various places in the braids.

Harry stood up to hug his sister, "You look amazing!"

"I look like a giant mango!" Lyra said happily. Harry laughed along with the others at her statement.

Brandt approached Parvati and Lavender and conjured a large mirror. "Stand in front of the mirror and I will shrink the dresses a bit, just tell me when to stop." Both girls got their dresses quickly adjusted. "I would like to thank both of you for your help, Lord Black would welcome both of you and your families to sit with him at his table if they would like. Even if they don't I would ask you to escort Lyra into the main hall before heading to your families."

"Thank you," Lavender smiled. "My parents weren't able to make it today, so I would be happy to join you."

Parvati needed to ask her parents as she also had a sister in Ravenclaw they would need to sit with.

Before they left, Colin took many pictures of everyone there in different groups, going through three disposable cameras before they even left the room. His mom was carrying an entire backpack filled with spares for the day.

---

As they arrived at the great hall, the area outside the main doors was filled with people, some standing around raised tables with some tables of food scattered around the hallways near the entrance. Arcturus was standing to the side with Agustus Stevens, who was politely speaking with people who approached them, though he always stayed just in front of Arcturus and his hand never left his wand. Arcturus saw the group approaching and tapped Stevens on the shoulder who dismissed everyone who was speaking with them to allow for their approach.

He greeted Lyra first, "You, my dear, look beautiful. Brandt, you have done a splendid job."

Brandt gave a small bow, "I wouldn't dare take credit from these two charming young women. I would like to introduce you to Parvati Patil and Lavender Brown. They are wearing outfits from Lyra's wardrobe and I have offered them seats at our table to show our thanks for their help getting Lyra ready for the evening."

Parvati gave a formal bow while Lavender performed a slightly awkward curtsy.

Arcturus nodded to both of them. "Thank you both for your assistance, we would be honored to host you and your families for the evening."

With that, they entered the great hall which had been expanded beyond the limits that it had during lunch earlier in the day. There were no more long tables in the room, instead, they were replaced with round tables for between eight to sixteen people. Some of the tables were marked reserved. They found the Black table near the front of the room. Dumbledore sat at the top of the stage as usual at the faculty table. He and Arcturus exchanged a nod before sitting down. Lavender sat with Lyra while Harry sat with Greg. Parvati ran off to try to find her family.

Brandt sat between Harry and Lyra, "I suggest you eat in small amounts," he told them. "After everyone fills in, you will be taken around the room and introduced to various people in attendance. You will be expected to eat with them briefly while we meet, so don't stuff yourselves here. You will also be approached by others for various purposes, if there is something you are uncomfortable talking about, please come to me immediately."

Harry put a little spread on a cracker and handed it to Lyra before making one for himself.

"One more thing, Lyra. Your mother is here tonight." Lyra looked around anxiously trying to spot her. "If you do not want to speak with her you will not need to. However, your Uncle would like it if you would do so, even if it is brief. We can even wait for the end of the evening if that would be ok."

Lyra turned to Harry to look for support. He looked her deep in the eyes and stood up to take out his staff. He walked around behind Brandt and tapped her on the head with the antler. She stood up and smiled, then hugged Harry.

"I'll meet with her at the end of the night," Lyra told Brandt.

"But Draco stays away," Harry made sure to add.

Brandt nodded. They started to notice people turning towards the entrance and when they looked, a group of ten men in white cloaks had entered the room, they were led by the druid - Glen Albanwr. As they approached their table, a young man in their group split off and approached Arcturus.

"Lord Black," he began, "I would like to invite Miss Lyra Black and Mr. Harry Potter to our table for a brief meeting."

Receiving a nod from Arcturus, Brandt turned to the children, "Please go to the table, I will be right behind you."

Harry and Lyra stood to walk with the younger druid while Brandt had a quick conversation with Arcturus. The two children sat opposite the large group of druids at their table with Brandt sitting down moments after.

"It is good to see the both of you again," Glen began. "If you don't mind, I would like to put up some privacy charms, if only to make our conversation easier to have without background noise." Lyra and Harry deferred to Brandt who nodded.

Glen pulled out his scepter and placed a flower in the receptacle at the end. He waved it in a circle over the table as yellow pollen spread out and created a barrier around the group. The noise around them slowly faded out.

"The last we spoke, you had brought to us a blessing you wished to cast in your common room. It has taken us a while to examine it and its potential benefits." Lyra and Harry brightened up at the mention of the blessing. Both of them had totally forgotten about it with all the other things going on. "After checking every detail of the process we found a few reasons why it was good that we did not perform it at that time. For starters, it is meant to be done outside, and performing the blessing in such an enclosed space would have had unknown consequences. However, we have spoken with Dumbledore and he will be expanding the room three-fold before it is performed. The room will need to be wider and taller for the blessing to be performed, it may be shrunk again afterward but we will have to see the results first. Additionally, no one other than the two of you should be present at the time of the blessing, and the best time of year to perform it will be at midnight on December 21st. As your classes will have gotten out for break three days before, this will be an ideal time to have it happen."

Harry and Lyra were almost bouncing in their seats. They would need to stay a few extra days before returning to the island, but the blessing over the common room would provide an extra level of protection and bring prosperity to their house as it had done with their family back home. They thanked Glen and the druids for their assistance.

"One other thing, the blessing will give rapid growth to every living thing in the room in the days after it is performed. If there are any additional plants you would like to grow there, make sure they have roots in the ground before you start."

Lyra wasn't sure what they would like to grow that they didn't already have, but they would be sure to ask their housemates to find out what they might want as well. Glen waved his scepter again to cancel the silencing charm and the pollen floating in the air around them popped with a series of tiny flashes as the sound came back to their ears from the room. This was the third type of privacy spell Harry had witnessed, and he was sure that many more existed.

As he and Lyra were leaving the table of druids, Tracy quickly approached them, "Harry, come to our table, my mom is here!"

Harry's face lit up and ran after her with Lyra having no choice but to follow through the crowds. They arrived at one of the smaller tables near the door and Harry recognized her immediately. She looked exactly the same, though she was dressed a bit nicer and was wearing one of the red stone amulets that the other muggle guests were wearing. Lauren Davis got up to greet Harry, but he simply ran into her and gave her a big hug, shocking her a bit.

"It's so good to see you again!" Harry looked a bit embarrassed, "I'm sorry I forgot about you when I was away."

Lauren Davis looked down at him as he pulled back a bit from the hug, "What do you mean?"

"I remembered to name a demiguise after Cynthia, but I didn't name one for you or Tacey."

Hannah's mother, Cynthia, had told her about Harry's naming of the Hidden but didn't get into too many details. She stroked Harry's hair for a moment before telling him, "You didn't forget about me, you just had other things going on. You remembered about me as soon as you were reminded about Tracey, right?" Harry nodded. "Then everything is fine. Come, I want you to meet my husband and our son."

Two men next to her stood up, "It is a pleasure to meet you, Mr. Potter," the older one shook his hand as he spoke. "My name is Jonathan, this is my son Steven." Harry shook the older boy's hand. He seemed to be in his late teens or early 20s.

"It's a pleasure to meet both of you," sensing Lyra standing behind him, he added, "I want to introduce all of you to my sister, Lyra Black." He then stepped out of the way to push her forward to greet the Davis family.

After introductions had been made, Lauren pulled a paper out of her bag. "Harry, I wanted to show you something, I'm not sure if you'll remember it though." The paper turned out to be a magical photograph that was of Lauren with bright blue hair. In the photo, she ran her fingers through her hair and shook her head back and forth a few times. He stared at it for a moment before he realized what it was, Lauren confirming it. "This was that wonderful piece of accidental magic you did on your first day of school." Turning to Lyra, "Your brother turned my hair blue when he refused to take a nap after lunch."

Lyra giggled a bit and grabbed a piece of candy off the table to give to Harry. He accepted it and hugged her.

Steven Davis leaned over and asked, "Do you think you could sign the photo for us?"

Harry didn't see a problem with that but didn't have a pen, though a quill was quickly provided. Harry had written his name before but never actually signed anything. He had seen Brandt use both a stamp and a fancy signature with a pen, but Harry hadn't made one of his own.

He looked back at Steven, "Um, I've never signed anything before, can I give it back to Tracey later after I've practiced?" Steven looked a bit disappointed, but Lauren smiled and agreed.

They chatted a bit more, and Lauren tried to tell some embarrassing stories about Harry as a little kid to Lyra. Though while she laughed and smiled at the stories, they didn't embarrass Harry at all. They were all tiny bits of happiness from kindergarten that he had forgotten about in the times he had been stuck with the Dursleys.

Eventually, they started to make their way back to the Black table. They were stopped by several different people who just wanted to meet the two of them along the way. A taller man seemed to be walking near them, shadowing their movements. When they noticed him, he started to walk toward them. Lyra stood on her toes and whispered into Harry's ear.

The man stopped in front of them and extended a hand, "Mr. Potter, I have wanted to meet you for a long time. My name is Alberto Nelson of Nelson Manufacturing in the United States of America." He didn't have a British accent, and if it weren't for Lyra, Harry would have believed his backstory.

"We were actually headed back to our table, though maybe you would like to join us for a moment to meet with our Uncle… Tonks." Harry smiled at the man's shock, "Lyra told me," he added.

The man's eyes changed to violet in color and he gave them a saucy wink. "I'm on duty right now, but you can give a brief introduction. You may need to introduce me as Andromeda's daughter."

The three of them returned to the table, Augustus stood up at the approach of the taller man with the two children, "Whoever you are, I suggest you take your hand off your wand."

That got Mr. Goyle's attention as well, but before he stood up, with her free hand, Tonks pulled out her auror badge. Lyra ran around the table and whispered something to Arcturus who motioned to Augustus to stand down.

"So, you're Andromeda's little girl?" Arcturus asked Tonks as a man. The others at the table did a double-take at the tall male auror who was apparently a woman.

"Yes sir," she said with her voice changed back momentarily to its original tone.

"It's good to see the gifts of the Black lineage are strong in you. There hasn't been a full-fledged metamorph in the family for many generations. We occasionally get those who have some of the gifts, but yours is incredible."

Tonks's hair started to get a bit curly, as she blushed at the praise, and suddenly she jumped a bit with a squeak. Looking around to try to find the source of the stinging hex that had just hit her, she turned back to Arcturus, "I need to get back to work, Moody just hit me with a stinger. I'm bound to get much worse later if I delay longer."

With that, her face changed to a thick beard and bushy eyebrows, her hair darkening a shade and her size shrunk a few inches so her clothes wouldn't be too baggy and then vanished into the crowd.

Harry and Lyra sat back down as Arcturus addressed them, "We will need to stay here for another thirty minutes to receive guests, and then Brandt will take the two of you out for introductions."

Pausing for a moment, he looked in the direction Tonks had walked off, "It's very good to see Andromeda's girl has such gifts. The Black family has always been gifted in self-transfiguration. Many members of our family will have some level of control over their own bodies, but to have full control like that young lady is remarkable. Those of the family that do not show any self-transfiguration skills are encouraged to pursue becoming an animagus."

Seeing curious looks from the children, Arcturus gave a nod to Brandt, who stared at the children as one of his eyebrows began to move like an inchworm around his forehead before settling back in its original place.

Brandt smiled, "I'm sure you both have questions, we can cover them in your lessons this weekend."

As they sat at the table receiving visitors, Harry noticed Theodore, the crying kid from Hufflepuff arguing with a man who was probably his father near the door. Theo seemed to be trying to explain something to his father, but the man just looked angry and disappointed and jabbed his finger into the yellow and black on the boy's robes.

Thinking of an idea, Harry leaned over Brandt, "Can you send a message to that boy over there? It doesn't need to say anything, he just needs to receive it from you."

Brandt gave Harry a scrutinizing look, "That's Lord Nott and his son?" Harry wasn't sure about the 'Lord' part but knew his last name was Nott, so he nodded his head.

Brandt locked eyes with Arcturus for a moment before pulling out a small piece of paper. He scribbled a message, then drew a few runes in the corners of the paper and charged them with magic, then folded it in half. He walked over to the boy who was still being quietly berated by his father and stood at attention with his arms behind his back, quietly waiting for their attention.

The man noticed Brandt and looked up, "Yes? What do you want?"

"Master Nott, you have received a response from Lord Arcturus Black," and handed the note to Theodore, then turned and walked back towards the table.

Theodore opened the note to read the message:

"This note says nothing, just smile softly and tear the paper in half."

Theodore looked up towards the Black table and saw Arcturus smiling. To the side of the table, he saw Harry give him a small nod. He smiled towards Arcturus and then tore the message. It turned to ashes and blew away.

"What was that?" his father demanded, switching looks back and forth between his son and Arcturus.

"It was nothing," Theo told his father, putting on a strong face. "I'm going back to my friends," then he walked off towards a group of Puffs standing nearby.

Back at the Black table, Arcturus put up a small privacy ward for their table, "I assume there is more to that than just the note now. That was an excellent play to cultivate a relationship with the son of a Wizengamot Lord. I will have asset handling added to your lesson plans, for both of you. Though you will also need to start developing your own power so you don't always need to rely on House Black's. House Potter needs to regain what they have lost over the generations."

Harry didn't understand what Arcturus said about cultivating assets. He just wanted to help the boy who was afraid of his father. That should never happen, so he would make sure to help any child who was living in fear. If he could make a friend out of it too, that was just a bonus.

A moment later, they were joined by the Patil family. Parvati apologized for not coming earlier, that her parents had to take care of some business and that her sister Padma had been with some other friends. She introduced her father and mother as Chanda and Kumar Patil. She also had an older brother, but he lived in India managing the family business.

Harry could feel the same kind of aristocratic energy coming from the Patils that he did from Arcturus. Chanda was dressed in a crisp business suit with a high collar that could pass in both the wizard and muggle world easily. Due to not being British, it would just appear to be exotic to a muggle rather than strange to have the small markings that a wizard would associate with magic. Kumar wore a royal blue sari with white gold accents, there was extra detail on the trim at the bottom of the pallu. After all the introductions went around, they sat down to eat and talk.

"You mentioned your son managing the family business, may I inquire into the nature of it?" Arcturus asked Chanda.

"The family business is primarily in potions ingredients," he responded. "We own a large amount of land in Northern India for their production, though what the Patil name is known for the most is the manufacturing of flying carpets."

A few heads at nearby tables turned after hearing that mentioned. Kumar seemed to register the additional attention and smiled as her husband continued to speak, "It is a shame that we will never be able to sell any here in this country since rugs are classified as muggle artifacts and cannot be enchanted for magical purposes."

Arcturus didn't agree or disagree on the topic simply saying, "That is currently the case. Nothing will likely change on that matter in the near future as brooms are the primary mode of transportation in this country. I have always wondered how they are manufactured. What kind of charms are used to propel them?"

"You know we can't share that," Kumar said with a sweet smile on her face. "The secret has been passed down in only three Indian families and two Arabian ones for generations without any change."

"Such a shame, I guess I will have to just dream of having one of the carpets in my manor fly on its own. Currently, my favorite sits just inside the entrance to the house - its beautiful inks and dyes to be seen by those who enter and wipe the earth off their feet on it."

Lyra was busy talking with Padma, Lavender, and Parvati, but Harry noticed something strange about the conversation. He remembered his visit to Black Manor, and there was no rug at the entrance. There was a solid wood floor until the carpet which was under the table near the fireplace. That one was a solid black and wasn't for wiping feet on. Something about the last thing that Arcturus had said also got a flicker of reaction from the Patils too. Harry looked over to Brandt and raised an eyebrow at him, to which he just got a serious nod that he couldn't interpret as a response.

"May I ask the material of this lovely rug in your home?" Kumar asked with hesitation in her voice.

"Alas, I have been unable to determine the source of the silk. If you would be interested, we can remain in touch and you may visit one day to appraise the piece yourselves. As makers of such fine rugs, I am sure you would appreciate it."

Both of the Patils let out a tiny breath they had been holding.

"That would be an interesting meeting, I presume," Chanda mused. "We are leaving the country after this event and won't return until next fall but perhaps we can schedule a showing of your rug for just before the start of the school year?"

"My steward will remain in touch, please expect our raven for correspondence."

The Patils gave their thanks and left with Padma, though Parvati stayed to chat with Lyra and Lavender about hair. Hearing them speak about hair, Whispers crawled up from under the table to sit on Lyra's lap. However, when he started to get too much attention from surrounding tables, he vanished but stayed on her lap.

Not having anything to do for the moment, Harry just stared at all the wizards around the room. There were more than just students and parents. There was a multitude of adult wizards wearing fashions that he assumed were from around the world. Harry assumed that in 111 years of life, Dumbledore had seen a lot and traveled to many places. Harry had been to four places in his life. Watford, London, the Island, and Hogwarts. Looking at all the different people around the room, he resolved to visit as many places as he could and learn more magic as he went.

As he was looking around, he saw Cynthia, Hannah and a man that he assumed was her father but had forgotten his name moving from table to table with a stack of envelopes. When Hannah looked his way, he waved and she waved back. She tugged on her mother's sleeve and pointed to Harry. After a minute they made their way over to the Black's table.

"Lord Black," Hannah's father greeted Arcturus with a firm nod.

"Lord Abbott," Arcturus responded with a similar nod.

He pulled two envelopes from the stack his wife was holding, "I would like to formally invite you, Arcturus Black, and your niece Lyra Black to our solstice siorée this year." Turning to Harry, "Mr. Potter, I would also like to invite you as well." He handed both of them sealed envelopes. Seeing the Goyles also sitting there, he took another off the bottom of the pile and tapped it with his wand. "Mr. Goyle, I would also like to extend an invitation to you and your family."

"Thank you, Lord Abbott. Unfortunately, I have other arrangements I will need to be attending to on that evening of the solstice. With your permission, I would like to pass the invitation to Steward Brandt in my place to supervise both Lyra and Harry. I am sorry to miss such an extravagant party, as without the usual family hosting, yours will be the largest event of the season."

Cynthia smiled, "It is sure to be an amazing evening, maybe next year then?"

"Maybe," Arcturus said without commitment.

Mr. Goyle accepted the invitation and told the Abbotts to expect him, his wife, and his son.

"Harry, Lyra, be sure to come to our table later," Cynthia told them before leaving to deliver more invitations.

"This weekend, I will visit again and we will go over your travel arrangements for the winter break and your trip back home," Arcturus told Lyra and Harry.

The thought of them going back home to the island made both of them think about seeing all of their family again. Both of them had plans of things they wanted to do when they got back. The updates from Nestor they had been receiving gave them a good picture of how things were going on the island, but it seemed like the Filipino ministry was very interested in collecting additional magical samples of the creatures on the island. Harry and Lyra needed to be there to get on top of that soon.

As Harry and Lyra were having a silent discussion with each other about their plans for the break, Arcturus stood up and walked around the table to them, followed closely by Augustus.

"Lyra, I need to take you and Mr. Potter to be introduced to various people." Turning to Greg, sitting with his father, "Mr. Goyle, if you would accompany us as well."

Greg was a bit startled at being addressed for one of the first times of the evening, but jumped to his feet quickly with a, "Yes, sir."

They started at tables at the far end and did a quick tour, which ended up being nearly an hour through many families, most of which had adult children there with their families. A lot of people looked strangely at Harry being with Arcturus Black, and by now he was accustomed to people glancing at his scar. When they got to Theodore Nott's table, Arcturus made sure to introduce Harry and Lyra to the boy, and both pretended like they didn't know each other. Arcturus whispered something to Theodore's father as they shook hands and gave each other a small nod before moving on. They seemed to deliberately avoid Draco's table with his mother, he gave Harry a nasty glare, while his mother made a pleading look toward Arcturus. Lyra didn't notice this and looked like she was getting tired. Greg stayed near her but hadn't spoken to anyone during their tour other than greetings when he was introduced.

When they got to Hannah's table, Tracey and Daphne were also there with their families. Whispers jumped off of Harry's shoulders where he had been hanging and turned visible in mid-air to surprise Daphne, but after doing it so many times before, she cleanly caught him but struggled with his weight. The adults at the table cried out in shock as well as a girl who could only be Daphne's little sister.

"Whispers, you need to stop doing that!" Daphne admonished the silver monkey.

"No… Fun…" Whispers growled out surprising those around who hadn't heard him speak before and reached out to climb over to Tracey who took him.

Tracey strained a bit at the weight, "You're getting big," she told him. "You can't jump on people like that. Only do that with big people."

Whispers looked around at everyone and reached out again for Harry who took him back. "She's right," Harry told the not-so-little Hidden. "You're not a baby anymore."

Arcturus had been standing back with the adults and watching the interaction. Daphne's little sister was doing the same thing her big sister did when she was curious about something and inching closer to Harry holding Whispers.

Harry saw the little girl get closer and leaned down to place Whispers on the floor. He walked up to the little girl and stood up almost straight before extending a hand and saying "Whiiisspersss."

Hesitantly, the little girl extended her hand, "Astoria, Astoria Greengrass."

Whispers looked at the little girl and then up at Daphne, "Ssstooreee, Stoori. Goood Meeeet." Then he took the girl's hand and gave it a small shake.

She giggled a bit and looked up at Harry, "Does he hug?"

"Why don't you ask him?"

Astoria looked back at Whispers who was maybe half a head shorter than her, "Can I get a hug?"

Whispers took a cautious step towards her, sniffed her for a moment, and then wrapped his long arms around her in a hug, which she returned. They hugged for a few seconds until Daphne's mother made a sound that almost could be interpreted as a whine as they observed the scene. When Astoria realized that everyone at her table was looking at her, not to mention quite a few other people from the surrounding tables, she jumped back and hid behind Daphne. Whispers just walked back to Harry who swung him back onto his back where he vanished. Many of the onlookers from the other tables went back to their own business. Harry turned back to the adults to see a camera in the hands of Cynthia Abbott taking pictures.

Daphne's mother leaned over to Cynthia, "I will need at least a hundred copies of those pictures. Well not a hundred, but at least five... maybe ten." They both smiled.

Arcturus spoke up, "Well it looks like you know most of the people here, but for formality's sake; Harry, Lyra, Greg - I would like to introduce you to Lord Adrian and Lady Estelle Greengrass with their daughters Daphne and Astoria, Lord Gerald and Lady Cynthia Abbott with their daughter Hannah, and Jonathan and Lauren Davis with their daughter Tracey and son Steven."

That was it, Harry thought, Gerald was his name. He, Lyra, and Greg took turns shaking hands with everyone around the table.

As he was leaving the table, Astoria pulled on Harry's sleeve, "Can I play with Whispers sometime?"

"When do you come to Hogwarts?"

"Next year," she said glumly.

"Maybe we can arrange sometime before that."

The little girl smiled and ran back to her sister.

---

Shortly after they got back to their table, Dumbledore stood up from his seat and approached the podium at the front. Silence spread over the assembled crowd quickly.

"My dear people," he began. Harry and Lyra perked up at the quote. "For those who will recognize it, I wish to quote a beautiful piece of literature for this momentous occasion." He paused again.

"My dear Bagmans and Bones's. And my dear Tonks's and Grubbly-Planks, and Gamps, and Bobbins, and Weasleys, and Bighorns. Offyns, Cheungs, Zabinis, and Alazins…" This went on for some time, going through nearly a hundred different names, oftentimes there would be a cheer at the name of a particular family. Finally, Dumbledore got to the end. "... Potter, Flamels, and Proudfeet."

A man somewhere in the crowd yelled out, "Proudfoot!" Many people laughed.

Lyra whispered to Harry, "Isn't it supposed to be the other way around?" but continued to listen to the speech.

"If I missed your name, I apologize, Today is my one hundred and eleventh birthday: I am eleventy-one today! 'Hurray! Hurray! Many Happy Returns!"

The crowd erupted in cheers, Harry and Lyra cheered at both Dumbledore and his use of Bilbo's speech.

"Now to get to my own words, instead of quoting someone else. I was not planning on celebrating my birthday in such a manner, but I have been reminded recently that the joy children can experience can be easily partaken in, even by one as old as myself, one just needs to allow it to happen. One day, I may be too old to go dancing or climb a mountain but to experience the joys of being surrounded by such marvelous people, the day I am too old for that will never come. I have always told others to do what is right rather than what is easy, and this has led me to many difficulties in my life but I have surmounted them with trusted friends and allies. To any in this room that I have not been on the best terms with over my long life, I wish to reach out and offer you friendship in the years I have left. I expect to see the next millennium and beyond."

He smiled out among all the faces giving him their undivided attention.

"This is not the end, I will not be leaving, I plan on being here for a long time to come. And now, since it is my birthday, I would imagine there is a cake!"

There was a sound of moving stone as all the tables near the front started to move backward, the hall expanding as it did so. More stone floor came from underneath the raised stage where Dumbledore and his professors sat until there was a large space that had been cleared.

A dozen house elves appeared in the space with a table containing a large silver platter, nearly thirty feet long and fifteen feet wide. One elf stood up on the table and snapped his fingers causing a cake as large as the platter to appear.

The cake itself was a marvel to behold. It was only one layer, but a model of Hogwarts and the grounds around it was built in the center. Around the base of the castle, various magical creatures roamed the cake, leaving footprints in the white frosting. Occasionally the giant squid appeared in the blue frosting of the lake before disappearing into the depths below. The edges of the cake were lined with small, unlit, white candles. Harry and Lyra stood on their chairs to see everything that was going on but many other people crowded around which made it difficult.

Professor McGonagall and Flitwick cast some spell that pushed all the people crowding the cake back a little bit.

McGonagall pulled out a very large red feather, and said to the air, "Fawkes, would you mind lighting the candles?" As she spoke, Professor Flitwick performed a non-verbal spell that extinguished all the lights in the room.

As the lights went out, a large ball of fire flared into existence over the cake and a bright red bird emerged from the flame. Nearly everyone in attendance gasped in awe. The bird was not a hoohoo, Harry and Lyra could tell that for sure. Its body was more compact and the legs shorter, however, the wingspan was much larger than a hoohoo of the same size. Its beak was smaller, more for eating insects than meat, and its tail feathers seemed to be solid one moment and shift into pure fire the next.

The bird let out a trilling call before diving towards the cake. Flying slower than should be possible to maintain flight, it drifted past all the candles, its tail lighting each one as it flew by. When it was complete, it flew up to perch on Dumbledore's shoulder where he stroked the bird's head. It preened at the affection before looking out into the crowd. Harry thought the bird was looking right at him. Hearing a tiny intake of breath next to him, he looked down at Lyra to see fire dancing in her eyes as she stared at the bird.

Dumbledore spoke up, breaking the eye contact between Lyra and the firebird. "Thank you, dear Fawkes."

He walked down the steps from the podium to stand by the enormous cake. The old wizard took a deep breath in, which took nearly fifteen seconds, before blowing out an impossible amount of air to extinguish all the candles and ruffle the hair and clothes of everyone before him. The lights reignited, and Dumbledore waved his wand conjuring a velvet rope surrounding the cake on all sides.

There was a round of applause as he spoke above it, "Everyone can stay seated, the elves will bring out plates to everyone. When we get to the castle, we'll figure out how to dismantle it, though I will be taking the astronomy tower for myself." There was a scattering of laughter in the crowd

The elves got to work cutting the cake and popping plates over to all the guests. Dumbledore took a lap around the room shaking hands, and by the time he got to the Black table, Harry and Lyra had finished their cake. The frosting had been white, but inside it was a combination between chocolate and lemon.

Dumbledore nodded to Arcturus before turning to Harry, "Good evening Mr. Potter, I hope you are doing well tonight?"

"Yes, thank you, and happy 111th birthday!"

"Thank you, my boy. I wasn't planning on having such a grand celebration until you prompted me to reread my Tolkien books over the summer. How much have you read so far?"

Lyra jumped in, "We just got past the stone trolls in The Fellowship, they were scary."

"That they are, Miss Black, that they are. Real trolls cannot be tricked in the same way that Bilbo had done, nor will exposing them to sunlight do anything either. They may only be permanently harmed with fire or acid, though other methods have been used to incapacitate them. Now, I know you have already gone on a tour of introductions with Arcturus here but with his permission, I would like to introduce you around as well." He turned to Lord Black who looked him straight in the eye for several moments before they both nodded.

Harry and Lyra got up to go with Dumbledore. Greg started to get up, but he was exhausted and stumbled a bit. His father patted him on the shoulder and he sat back down. Brandt got up and followed behind them as they walked off.

Right off the bat, they stopped at a stout man with a bit of gut in bright yellow robes. He was talking to a large group of Ravenclaws including Hermione. Turning to Dumbledore, he spotted Harry and didn't wait for an introduction.

"Harry Potter!" the man called out. "Allow me to introduce myself, I am Ludo Bagman, retired quidditch beater and Department Head of Magical Games and Sports for the ministry."

Harry shook the man's hand and introduced Lyra as well. He stood next to Hermione and asked the man, "What were you discussing?"

Hermione jumped in, "I had just asked you about the different games and sports you represent, and you said, 'Quidditch' but nothing else."

"Well, you see, the only other real sport is quodpot, but no one really plays it. Also broom racing. One of the oldest competitions for the wizarding schools got canceled long ago because too many people died."

"Are there wizard Olympics?" Hermione asked.

"You mean like those Greek boys used to do before the Statute of Secrecy?" Mr. Bagman asked.

"Muggles have been having worldwide Olympic Games now for nearly 100 years," she told him. "Nearly every country competes in specialized events to see who is the best. They meet twice every four years for dozens of events. Do wizards do anything like that?"

Mr. Bagman seemed to falter a bit at muggles being able to do something that extravagant but recovered to say, "The event we canceled for the death toll was of a much higher level than what you speak of, with three of the best magical schools in the world competing against each other. Capturing cockatrices, climbing mountains, challenging labyrinths. Those aren't things that muggles could do, could they?"

Hermione jumped back into the challenge as Lyra and Harry watched, "Three schools? That's hardly impressive. Maybe we can talk again when the competition is worldwide. Three schools of children isn't even close to what the muggles do." With that, Hermione just sat back down and poured herself a cup of tea. Mr. Bagman got a determined look on his face and walked off.

The headmaster had been standing to the side but sat down in the seat next to Hermione to her great surprise. He smiled at her and whispered, "Ten points to Ravenclaw for your manipulation of a government official to possibly do his job properly… even if it might have been unintentional." Hermione's parents overheard the comment and gave their daughter wide smiles.

Dumbledore introduced the two of them to many people who worked for the ministry, various members of the ICW he was in regular contact with, notable alumni, and quite a few people that just seemed to be mysterious for one reason or another. When they stopped by a table with a group of men who worked on a dragon reserve in Canada, they stopped to speak with Newt and Tina who were there at that table as well, just to mention that they would need to go over their plans for the winter break and arrange travel back to the island. Tina told them they would need to schedule a meeting to go over all the plans over the weekend. This was going to be a very busy weekend.

They stopped at a table entirely populated by gingers. Harry and Lyra recognized most of them but hadn't met four of them. The father at the table stood up and walked around to greet Dumbledore.

"Harry, Lyra, I would like to introduce you to Arthur Weasley, he works for the ministry in the Department of Magical Law Enforcement, as the Head of the Misuse of Muggle Artifacts Division."

"It's a pleasure to meet both of you," he said, absentmindedly shaking Lyra's hand and then focusing all his attention on Harry. "This is my wife Molly."

"We've met," Harry and Lyra said at the same time in a sour voice.

Oblivious to their tone, he continued, "I believe you know most of my children," gesturing to the older woman, "This is my wife's aunt, Muriel Prewett. The ones you know are Ginny, Ron, George, Fred, and Percy. The other two are Charlie and Bill."

"I'm George!" said the one who was introduced as Fred.

"Right now, you're who I say you are, even if you're not," Arthur said with a stern tone. The one introduced as Fred mimed sealing his lips.

Harry and Lyra shook hands all around, even with the ones they had already met. Harry deliberately spent very little time shaking Molly's hand before moving on.

When Lyra got to Charlie, she asked, "Are you Tristan's friend? The one who works with Dragons?"

"I am! You know Tristan then?"

"Yea! He's fun, he might be here somewhere, let me check." Lyra ran off to the side of the room where she stopped near an empty patch of wall and appeared to talk to nothing. Harry squinted and saw the signs of disillusionment and assumed it was Alastor. She came running back after a moment, "He will be able to meet you for a moment by the carriages when you are leaving." Only Harry and Dumbledore, for some reason, didn't seem to be surprised by her actions.

Arthur pulled Harry aside and said quietly, "So I hear you grew up with muggles? Fascinating people, they are. Can you tell me, what is the purpose of a rubber duck?"

Harry had no idea what to say regarding his upbringing with the Dursleys, but he did know quite a bit about rubber ducks. Reaching into his pouch, he pulled out one that he had brought from the island that Whispers would occasionally play with, "Like this?" he asked.

"Yes! What purpose does it hold? Why a duck?"

"Well, it provides comfort to children in the water. It helps them learn how to float and shows them that they can stay above the water. Children that are afraid of the water will see the duck floating and know they can do it too. Plus it squeaks, so that's fun." Harry squeezed the duck to demonstrate the noise.

Whispers jumped into visibility from somewhere nearby and tackled the duck out of Harry's hand, rolling on the floor and chewing on it. On the island, when young Hidden were afraid to enter the hot springs, their guardians would let them play with the ducks before putting them in the water to show them that they would float and that the children could play with them in the water. Most of the adults also loved the squeaky toys but didn't play with them as often.

"Incredible," Arthur took out a notepad and scribbled down several things on it before putting it back away.

They all chatted for a few more minutes before Dumbledore pulled them away for another few tables. Harry was reminded of what Molly had told him about Dumbledore but stopped himself from saying anything on the old wizard's birthday.

Finally, they got to a table in the corner which only had two people in it and six empty seats. The couple there looked quite plain in appearance, though Harry could feel a kind of pressure, similar to when Dumbledore pulled Vincent Crabbe from the Great Hall coming off the man and his wife. However, this pressure was just like a heavy fog rather than a monsoon. The couple rose as they got close.

"Harry, Lyra, for the last stop of the night, I would like to introduce you to Nicholas Flamel - the greatest alchemist of our time, and his wife Perenelle - the greatest healer of our time."

Nicholas nodded, "Thank you,, Albus, my boy. So this is the famed Harry Potter, your legend precedes you. Miss Black, you are also gaining your own legendary status for other reasons as well."

As he spoke, the pressure around the table grew heavier. The feeling wasn't very comfortable and the children surmised that this might be why no one else was sitting at their table. Both Harry and Lyra shook hands with the Flamels, the strange and uncomfortable feeling only increasing as they clasped hands with the two of them.

They both just stood there for a few moments not knowing what else to do, as the man and his wife scrutinized them silently. After nearly a minute Nicholas turned to Dumbledore and said, "If the children are as important as you say, I would like to test them after their third year. I will most likely put them through the same trials as I did for you, starting with Erised, and at least three others."

Harry and Lyra had no idea what was going on, but Dumbledore sternly responded, "You will need to get permission from their guardians for an undertaking like that."

"Of course," the pressure lightened considerably until they could barely feel it. Dumbledore took Harry and Lyra back to their table.

Arcturus could see the uneasiness on their faces when they returned, and giving a demanding look at Dumbledore, the old wizard simply replied, "They just spoke with the Flamels," to which Arcturus nodded in understanding.

---

They didn't even realize that it was getting late, and looking at the clock over the entrance, they could see that it was 10:55 p.m. Realization of the time made it seem more real and both Harry and Lyra let out a large yawn. Looking over at Greg, they could see him asleep, with his head on his father's lap. All around them, people were starting to leave the hall, emptying it little by little. Not knowing what to do, Harry and Lyra drank a cup of tea and watched around the hall as people were leaving.

When nearly half of the attendees had left, Brandt kneeled in front of them, "It's almost time for you to head to bed. However, Lyra still needs to meet with her mother."

Lyra's head popped up. Both of them had forgotten about that. "Do I have to?" Lyra asked.

"You do not, but your uncle strongly recommends it. Harry will be there to protect you, and it won't be longer than twenty minutes."

Lyra looked at Harry and he said, "You stood up to my aunt, I'll be there for your mother."

"Good, Arcturus will lead you to the meeting room in a few minutes, I will take her now." Brandt stood up and walked over to where Lyra's mother was sitting with Draco. He spoke quietly to her and gave a glare to Draco before the three of them left the room.

"Draco won't be there, will he?" Lyra asked Harry.

Arcturus reassured her, "He shouldn't be there but if it makes you feel better, you may retrieve the blood amulet from your room before we go."

"It's ok, I have Harry," Lyra said softly.

When they had finished their tea, Arcturus sent Mr. Goyle to deliver Greg back to his dorm, while Augustus accompanied them to the meeting. They arrived at a small classroom near Mr. Filch's office. Harry had cataloged this room with Colin for the Explorer's Club. The room could hold twelve students in addition to the teacher. There was a sliding blackboard in the front of the room, and a hidden compartment behind the board that opened if you slid the board back and forth in a specific pattern they had discovered by accident.

Harry felt a huge amount of anxiety and drew his staff from his bag to support him. He didn't think he felt the raw anger that Lyra had displayed towards his aunt, but had the same desire to protect her that he always did, and put it on high alert. Arcturus stepped in front of them and opened the door for them to walk in.

Lyra's mother was pacing back and forth at the front of the room. She was taller than Cynthia, Lauren, or Estelle with long blonde hair several shades darker than Lyra's that also had a few patches of black hair mixed in. When she saw Lyra, her hands started fidgeting as she wanted to reach out but was restraining herself over and over. Brandt stood off to the side of the room at the front, leaning against the wall. Arcturus stood between them with Augustus standing against the back wall.

"You may speak your piece, Narcissa," Arcturus said simply.

"Lyra," Narcissa said pleadingly, "I beg you, please forgive me. Had I known Lucius was such a fool, I never would have let you go."

Harry could see from Arcturus's face that he knew she had made the same mistake as when he first met Lyra. Harry looked to Lyra, who had tears in her eyes but she didn't run away like she had done when meeting Arcturus in the hospital.

"Lyra," her mother asked again, "Please speak to me, please forgive me."

Harry waited for a moment to give Lyra a chance to reply before stepping forward, tapping his staff for the sound of the impact, but no force. "You shouldn't have given her up even without magic. You left your daughter alone in a box, eating rotten food, and relieving herself in a bucket."

"I didn't know!" she fell to the floor, begging with her hands clasped in front of her, "She was supposed to go to the orphanage, I should have stayed with her the whole way!"

"And how would that have been different? She would have been with strangers, not knowing where she was, scared and alone!"

"I didn't know!" she repeated, crying on the floor.

Lyra stepped forward, speaking for the first time, "Of course, you didn't know, you couldn't know how any of us felt. You and all the other families just sent your children off without caring how they felt, just because they didn't have magic! Even without magic, they felt pain!" She began to walk towards her mother as her hair started giving off sparks, "Even without magic, they felt fear!" When she was close, the sparks started to land on her mother and she flinched as they burned her skin, "Even without magic, they felt alone and angry for being left behind." She was now standing almost on top of Narcissa and many of the sparks had begun to singe her exposed skin and burn her clothing. When she screamed a bit at the pain of the sparks, Lyra realized what was happening and ran to the door and left the classroom.

Narcissa was crying on the floor with Brandt, Arcturus, and Augustus not interfering at all. Harry stared at the crying woman for a few moments before kneeling in front of her. "I told your son that until he learns compassion towards others, he is not to go near Lyra again," Harry said in a deadly serious voice. "For you, until you can fully understand how an abandoned child could feel, I also don't want you anywhere near her."

Harry turned the tip of the antler on his staff towards her arm but Brandt jumped out from his corner and grabbed onto it, then looked at Arcturus sharing a look into each other's eyes.

Arcturus took a step off the wall and pulled Harry to his feet, "You will not harm her," Harry felt the same heavy pressure that Dumbledore and the Flamels gave off coming from the man. "She will be able to control herself."

Harry gave a dark glare toward Arcturus but took a step back. He didn't notice the small shiver of the older man.

Arcturus leaned down and pulled Narcissa to her feet. "I just spared you from the same fate as your son for not understanding Lyra's plight. I realize that I was very lucky not to be on the point of Harry's spear at the end of our first meeting. You will take his message to heart if you want to see your daughter again."

With that said, Arcturus walked out of the room, leaving Brandt to stay with Narcissa. Augustus followed them as Harry left. Outside, Lyra was crying in the corner, with Whispers cuddled in her arms, stroking her face. Harry felt a surge of power flow from his staff into his body as he put it back into his pouch. Then, with a strength he didn't know he had, he lifted both Lyra and Whispers together to carry them back to the dormitory. Harry barely registered the sign outside the entrance stating that classes before their first break in the morning were canceled. Once inside the common room, he walked into the girls' dorms, straight through the gender ward with only a tiny bit of resistance.

The other girls were awake, but he just placed Lyra and Whispers on her bed and put a finger to his lips to shush them. Harry pulled a red feather and his staff from his pouch, touching the feather with the antler to freeze it in place directly above Lyra's bed. With a quietly whispered, "Incendio," he lit the feather, bathing the room in red light. Harry then gave Lyra a small kiss on her forehead and stroked Whispers's head before returning to his own room to sleep.

---

Casting Decisions:

Alessandra Zabini - Meagan Good, forgot to do it last chapter.

Charlie Weasley - William Moseley

Arthur Weasley - Matthew Goode

Bill Weasley - Ed Westwick

Molly Weasley - Geena Davis, this one was a bit difficult, and I'm still not sure about it.

Ludo Bagman - William Shatner, It just kind of feels perfect, I can't explain it.

Nicholas Flamel - Alain Delon

Perenelle Flamel - Laetitia Casta

Author's Note: Ugh, that was something to write. I feel all kinds of horrible about writing that scene between Lyra and Narcissa. I really wanted Harry to give her a flesh wound to create another amulet, but I stopped after I wrote it when I realized that Arcturus probably wouldn't just stand there and watch it happen.

When I started to write Dumbledore's speech, I remembered that in canon, there is an Auror named Proudfoot who fits perfectly into Bilbo's speech but is reversed from the original. So that was a fun thing to do. There's so much good Tolkien that fits into the HPU, I'm definitely going to re-read the books for the umpteenth time while I write this.

Oh, and I put the whole rubber duck scene in, back at the beginning on the island, specifically for when Harry met Arthur. I had no idea at the time when they would meet in the story at the time I wrote, but I always wanted someone to answer the question of the purpose of a rubber duck.

And yeah, the Flamels are still alive, Harry wasn't around to break the stone last year. There will be more interactions with them as I foreshadowed in the 'trials.'

The necklaces for Lavender and Parvati were inspired by the ones in Season 1, Episode 6 of The Mentalist. I changed the one with the emeralds from diamonds to gold though. It was playing on TV as I was writing so I thought to throw it in.