Happy Fourth of July!
Acacia was not happy. After what she assumed was a nightmare, she had been bundled off with the school-aged Weasley children to the Order's headquarters. She honestly loathed the place, as it was beyond filthy and it had an oppressive air.
Sirius let her pick her own room, as it was unreasonable to force her to share since the one Hermione and Ginny used was cramped enough as it was.
The moment they got confirmation Mr. Weasley would live, Acacia had a sit down with Iago.
"So...what exactly have these people been doing while I was trying to keep that toad from having any control over me?"
"Oh the things I could tell you..." said Iago. Honestly, he was baffled at how they survived this long if they were this stupid. "First off, there's some sort of prophecy about someone born at the end of July and this dark lord they keep talking about..."
The more he talked, the more incredulous she became. By the end of it she was utterly exasperated with the whole matter.
"So Dumbledore thought it was a brilliant strategy to force the idea that Voldemort had returned despite what I actually told people, then decided to guard a prophecy that likely doesn't need protection, and they were guarding my aunt's home for a full month before someone realized I wasn't even there?" she said incredulous.
"They mentioned something about a possible dementor attack...from what Sirius explained to me, your uncle was killed by one," said Iago.
Her expression remained flat.
"Good riddance to bad rubbish," said Acacia flatly. She had hated Vernon and felt nothing hearing he had died.
"They don't seem very effective at all," commented Jafar.
"Yeah, that was my impression," said Iago. "Most of what they are doing is 'waiting' and I get the distinct feeling that when things do blow up, they'll be about as effective as a lit match during a sandstorm."
Acacia was frowning. This was getting ridiculous, and if this was how they handled things before Voldemort showed himself, then they were less than useless. The fact it took them a month to realize she wasn't even there said volumes of their competence.
Rather than mull over what-ifs, she decided that something had to be done otherwise these incompetent idiots would expect her to do all the dirty work once again if and when Voldemort finally made his appearance in public.
Like hell was she cleaning up their mess because the adults were doing less than nothing.
With that in mind, Acacia finally made up her mind to wish for something. The question was how to insure maximum impact while still following the three main rules Jafar had given her.
Directly killing them was out...she wouldn't be able to tell who was on their side and who wasn't, and there were bound to be unmarked sympathizers out there. There were too many variables and certain people who would help even if they didn't believe in the rot Voldemort had convinced them the first time around.
And honestly, if she wanted to put that much effort into tracking down all of them to enact justice, then she might as well do the job herself.
No, she needed something that would send a pointed statement not to mess with her or drag her into their affairs, and at the same time remind the world that Black blood ran true even if her name was Potter. Something that everyone would see, but no one could openly pin on her even if they damn well knew she was behind it.
Which meant she needed to study and find something. Something that they couldn't resolve with their money.
Acacia felt incredibly guilty when she learned about Neville's parents. Which was why she decided to ask Jafar something.
"If I were to give Neville the lamp to make a wish, what would that mean for mine?" asked Acacia.
Jafar didn't take more than a moment to consider it.
"Simply speaking, he would have three wishes, nothing more. It would not affect your own three wishes, however it would expose the fact that a lamp has likely been found," he replied.
Acacia thought hard about it, but trusted Neville. Time to separate him from his grandmother.
It was ridiculously easy, as Neville was eager to avoid his parents for a while...or least the blatant reminder of their condition.
He didn't know what Acacia wanted, but anything was preferable to that room right now. Especially this close to Christmas.
Acacia had removed the lamp from where she hid it.
Neville blinked when he saw it. It took him a second to figure out what it was, and what she was potentially offering.
"How long have you had that?"
"Since third year. I still have my three, but I don't mind letting you use it. Think of it as belated Christmas and birthday gifts," she replied.
Neville cautiously held the lamp. After a moment, he rubbed it with his dominant hand, and Jafar in his 'human' guise appeared.
"...Why am I not surprised your mystery boyfriend is a genie," said Neville. "I won't tell anyone."
"Thanks," said Acacia.
"You get three wishes. However reviving the dead, making someone fall in love with you or outright killing someone is forbidden," said Jafar.
Neville looked at Acacia, and understanding crossed his face as to why she hadn't used up her three wishes by now.
Just to be on the safe side, because he wanted to be sure this was real and he wasn't dreaming, his first wish was for a rare plant long extinct.
Jafar easily snapped it into existence and was nice enough to have it sent to Neville's personal greenhouse.
Neville didn't need to be told twice.
"I wish for my parent's minds to be restored and their health brought back," he said quietly.
Jafar smirked and snapped his fingers. There wasn't any overt sign that anything happened, but Neville had long since lost any hope of the healers doing anything. He silently handed back the lamp to Acacia, who put it into a pouch she had on her side.
(She later put it back in the charm around her neck, once she was safely hidden in the bathroom.)
As they headed back upstairs, they were immediately met with an uproar.
Neville's grandmother was openly crying, though she still held her composure. The moment she saw her grandson she pulled him into the room and barely paid any notice of Acacia.
"What's going on?" asked Acacia.
"Neville's parents suddenly became the picture of health and recognized Lady Longbottom," said Hermione. She was as baffled as everyone else as to what was going on.
Neville silently met Acacia's eyes and the two shared an unspoken agreement not to say the truth.
Needless to say they left the hospital rather quickly, with everyone save for Acacia baffled as to what was going on besides Neville having a very happy Christmas.
When they returned to Hogwarts, Neville waited until he could speak to Acacia privately about what she had done.
"Thank you. I finally have my parents back, and since my father is showing signs of recovering, grandmother took me to get my own wand. I talked it over with grandmother, but I didn't give her any details."
"What exactly did you tell her?"
"I said your fiance had a special artifact or foreign magic that allowed him to restore my parents, but that he only agreed to use it after you convinced him," said Neville. "I'd rather not earn the ire of a genie by trying to steal his girlfriend, and that was the best way to curtail any attempts to repay the debt that way."
Acacia blushed a bit at that, but returned to normal.
"You've been a good friend all these years, and I had the ability to do something about it."
Neville looked far more mature than she had ever seen him.
He handed her something, which upon closer inspection revealed to be some sort of pendant with an official house seal on it.
"Gran told me to give this to you, and to let you know that the House of Longbottom will stand with the House of Potter-Black, no matter what end for what you have done," said Neville. He knew Acacia was relatively clueless to pure blood customs, so he quickly explained. "You know how certain families have a generational blood feud, and how life debts work?"
"More or less. The twins explained that one to me after I saved Ginny, and said that the House of Weasley and the house of Prewitt sides with the house of Potter because they owed me a life debt. But they didn't really get into much detail about what that meant."
"It means that should the house of Potter get into trouble, then those who have sworn eternal friendship or alliance with them are legally and magically obligated to help them, regardless of the cost," explained Neville patiently. "It's like a reverse-blood feud in a way, as the head of both families are basically blood allies rather than enemies."
Acacia scrunched up her nose.
"Why can't they have classes on this matter in school?"
"Most children learn this before they ever attend Hogwarts, and most of them come from established families so it's mandatory to learn it."
"So...basically you're the equivalent of my brother then," said Acacia slowly.
"Brother in all but blood, similar to how you view the Weasleys," agreed Neville. "It doesn't hurt that your mum was my godmother and had things turned out differently we would have been raised as siblings."
Acacia brightened up at that. She didn't mind having another brother around.
Coincidentally as they were talking about the plants she had seen while traveling before the year began, she casually remembered a muggle book she had picked up regarding plants from other countries.
Neville was more than happy to talk about his favorite subject with his new 'sister', and the two had fun looking over the book and discussing the plants inside.
Ironically this was how Acacia found the perfect solution to how she could make a very big statement regarding the entire mess with Voldemort and keep it from being pinned on her later.
One of the 'mundane' plants in the book about the dangers of Australia mentioned a subject known collectively as the "gympie gympie". The more she read in the description, the more she knew she had to word her wish carefully to get as many people as possible. Best of all, it was all within the parameters of what Jafar could do without actually violating the rules in place.
Later that night...
Acacia knew she had to word this just right for maximum impact. Jafar had a feeling as to what was going on, but was curious to see how this would turn out if he let her do this alone.
Umbridge had somehow managed to avoid being removed from the school, but she was still an utter pain in the ass to deal with.
Acacia had asked around, and apparently the woman's go-to detention punishment was writing with blood quills. And it wasn't just muggleborns that were suffering... the woman targeted influential half-bloods and the few pure bloods she could get away with. She would use the threat of the Ministry over the heads of children who's parents would be affected by her reach to force them to do her bidding.
All in all, she was an utterly vile woman who had to go. Acacia could care less about her shitty teaching style...her very presence was a threat to the students and the teachers and other adults were doing exactly nothing against her.
All she needed was a good enough reason to use the wish. With how that bitch had been acting, Acacia really wanted to be there when the wish took effect so she could see if it would work.
Even years later, she was still amazed how it all went down and how effective it was.
