Christmas Break Part II: Reactions

Phoenix travel was nothing like apparition or portkeys. Despite the dramatic visual effects involved, travel by phoenix fire was the most comfortable and instantaneous of all magical transportation. In this case, there was simply a wave of warmth and light and suddenly the werewolf known as Moony was standing in the headmaster's office, after which Fawkes flew to his perch and began watching the two men in the room.

"Remus, welcome my boy, welcome." Dumbledore smiled and his eyes twinkled as he sat behind his desk, a single lavish chair rested in front for Remus to take.

Seeing a chance to do Harry a favor, Remus decided to nip an issue in the bud, if possible, "Stop right there for a moment, sir. When he came home for break, Harry expressed that he was uncomfortable with you addressing him the way you just did me. It doesn't matter when you do it to me, I don't mind. But he said he had asked you not to do that before. Please address him like a regular student in the future."

Dumbledore's expression darkened slightly as Remus spoke. Obviously Hermione Granger had noticed that he was trying to build familiarity between himself and Harry, she and Minerva were the only ones that had been around he and Harry in the privacy of their lessons on the familiar bond. "I will endeavor to correct that, I assure you. It's just that he's so much like James, I have a hard time not remembering him."

"Very well, please work on it. Were you present at the Wizengamot meeting last night?"

"No, unfortunately." Albus lamented, "With Arthur's Muggle Protection Act removed from the docket, and nothing else major coming up, I felt that the meeting would be quiet enough that Augusta could lead while I stayed here and caught up on parchmentwork. I expected that if Amos were going to do something that it would have been more civil to start, obviously I was wrong."

The headmaster offered a lemon drop as he asked, "Would I be allowed to know what you and Andromeda are thinking?"

Remus frowned, if he told Albus that they were already prepared to leave for France then the old man might not side with them, "At the moment, they are insisting I remain as Steward, though I still intend to look for possible replacements. Petunia insinuated that she had a backup plan with Gringotts if Andromeda's regency is taken from her, but I don't know the actual details." Technically true, he had no idea where the Potter Vineyards were besides the country. Nor did he know for sure that the kids would be pulled from Hogwarts, that wasn't necessarily a requirement even if they moved.

Albus misinterpreted the frown, believing that Remus was being kept out of the loop and wasn't pleased with it, "I doubt anything will come of it, though if worse comes to worst I could petition to make Harry a ward of the school. With his aunt being a squib, she could still visit. That would be-"

"Understand something, Dumbledore." Remus interrupted, deciding to try and pull some information out of the headmaster, "Any conclusion that separates Harry from his family will end any chance of him staying in the magical world." He paused a moment to let his words sink in, "Harry is perfectly capable of living completely in the muggle world, and due to his family name his magic wouldn't be bound upon leaving. Besides, it's not like he actually needs a wand anyways."

"A court-appointed magical guardian would ensure that he remained in school until his O.W.L.s were done."

"Oh?" Remus cocked an eyebrow and fought to keep his breath, it was getting really hard to pretend he wasn't exhausted after two nights with no rest, "What happens when Harry throws his wand away and refuses to do work? A magical guardian could force Harry to stay in school, but not to perform there. In that instance, are you planning to just pass him because he's the Boy-Who-Lived?"

In all honesty, Harry would probably just keep his head down and wait until he completed his O.W.L.s, but the headmaster didn't need to know that. Let him stew.

As Remus spoke he watched the headmaster grow paler and paler, and his expression darker and darker. If he'd been a legilimens, the werewolf would have seen a thousand thoughts brought up and discarded in the half-minute the headmaster sat quietly. In that time, the headmaster's most prominent thought was to lament that he hadn't given Harry to a magical family. In hindsight he should have been able to consider at least a few prospects to be beyond reproach.

"Your familiar seems rather cross with you all of a sudden." Remus stated, his eyes drifting to the corner of the room. When Albus turned to look, he found the phoenix glaring at him contemptuously.

It was in that moment that Dumbledore realised that his thoughts had drifted into the rather dark. Prophecy or not, horcrux or not, simply killing Harry if he ran just to end the threat of Voldemort was never going to be acceptable. However, if Harry Potter truly left the magical world, and evaded Voldemort, then the magical world would fall. The headmaster had no illusions that the muggle one would actually succumb; unlike most wizards, Albus knew how to pronounce "Nuclear Warhead," and knew what it meant.

Sighing resignedly, the headmaster responded, "I'm sorry, my boy. I'm sure you understand that if Harry Potter left the magical world it would be a disaster. I will do everything possible to ensure that, at the very least, Harry remains with his aunt and uncle until he comes of age if that is what it takes. Is there anything else I can do to help? Anything at all."

The headmaster assumed Remus would jump on the political ramifications of the Boy-Who-Lived abandoning magic, but the Marauder knew when his leg was being pulled. Dumbledore needed Harry to stay, which meant it was probably about that blasted prophecy.

Thinking back on what he had discussed with Harry's family earlier, Remus came to an obvious answer, "Would you be willing to reveal to the world that I was a werewolf during my time at Hogwarts? And that I was close friends with James during that time, who knew about my condition? Knowing that I went seven years here without ever harming someone would go a long way."

"How would you like me to do that?" Dumbledore inquired. That might actually do some good, for Remus at least. Albus could already imagine the inquiries he would receive, but he hadn't repeated his experiment with Remus a second time. Not after what happened in their sixth year.

"Harry suggested a letter to the paper, but Andromeda thinks that an interview with the Prophet would get more done." Remus explained, "If we end up doing that then you could give a quick statement about my condition during school then."

Albus nodded to that and thought about offering suggestions for what to say when he had a startling thought, "I will need to speak with Severus, quickly, so that his temper doesn't ruin this before you have a chance at damage control."

"You think he would?"

"I'm not sure." The headmaster answered truthfully, "Whenever Harry comes up in conversation with him he always speaks rudely of the boy. But Harry seems to like Severus anyways. Regardless, there is no question of his feelings towards you, and him speaking of that incident would destroy your school career as a good character witness."

"If it comes out, we can blame it on Black." Remus answered, waving his hand to dismiss it, "He sent Snape to the Shrieking Shack, even told him how to get past the Willow. Honestly after all these years, I almost blame Snape a little bit. He was a sixth year, what was he thinking, actually going out there that night? If he'd wanted to prove himself right he could've waited until morning and caught me returning, like a proper Slytherin." He smirked at the jab as he finished, too bad Snape wasn't actually here to receive it, but he could also tell that his eyes were drooping a bit. Damn.

"Would you like some Pepper-up potion?" Albus inquired, while at the same time musing where this self-confidence was coming from. He remembered Remus Lupin as being completely self-depreciative when it came to his disease, "You seem to be worse off than normal for after a full moon. Did you not take Wolfsbane this month?"

"Actually a potion would be lovely," He answered, "and no, I did get Wolfsbane, but I was also up last night after a day of shopping. Diggory threatened retaliation over losing the Potter vote, we didn't want to take chances on what he meant by that."

"So you kept watch last night, just in case?" Dumbledore responded as he called a house elf and asked them to bring the needed potion. The threat was news to him, once more he was reminded how little the Dursleys seemed to think of his abilities.

"Harry and Dudley are friends with Mister Diggory's son." Remus explained, taking the potion with a grateful nod, "I'm not good enough at warding to fully understand the ones around Privet Drive, so we didn't want to risk there being some odd loophole."

"Understood," the headmaster clapped his hands, "now, about James' cloak-"

"Why do you have it, by the way?" Remus interrupted again, "I fully expected it to be destroyed, or stored wherever the effects from Godric's Hollow were placed."

"After they went under the fidelius, I asked to borrow it to see if I could replicate its longevity." Albus answered, "Alas, I could not, even after all this time. It is truly a wonderful Cloak."

Remus nodded in understanding. Cloaks that couldn't be dispelled would have been invaluable back in the war. At least one Unspeakable had secretly been a Death Eater, and he had taught the others the counter charms for the mass produced variety.

"I hope that this will help Harry connect to his father a little closer," Dumbledore continued as he pulled the cloak out of a drawer in his desk, "I'm sure you have all sorts of stories you can share with him about how you and his father used this."

"Indeed sir," the werewolf grinned as he spied the familiar silver cloak, "I am truly looking forward to it. Petunia has told him about Lily, but he hasn't gotten to hear too much of James yet."

"Speaking of Petunia, and the Dursleys in general." Albus segued, "I never found a chance to ask you before, what is your opinion of them?"

Remus frowned anew, "For your information, they are wonderful people. Petunia didn't even blink when she learned of my condition, Vernon didn't care either. They love both of the boys, and it's clear that Petunia thinks of Hermione and Tina as an honorary nieces. They want to remain involved in the children's lives, and the children all seem to want that as well. That should tell anyone anything they need to know about them."

"Tina?"

"Tina Polkiss is the girl that lives a few doors down from the Dursleys," he elaborated, "she discovered she was a witch a bit early because of your wards, but Professor McGonagall decided there was no reason to obliviate her family for only six months. I've been working with her a little on her control, her wandless abilities are as impressive as Lily's were."

"Remarkable, truly remarkable. I look forward to seeing her here next September." The headmaster smiled jovially, he always loved to see gifted minds flourish.

"Sir, there was one other thing I wanted to ask you about before I go back." Remus was more alert after the Pepper-up, and realized that the headmaster could help with their other problem as well, "Harry and Petunia opened the wills last night. You were more or less right in where you placed him, at least. Petunia was third in line after his godparents, who are both… unavailable, due to the war." Albus sighed, relieved at that, "But, according to the wills, Sirius Black was sworn as Harry's godfather, so I'm not sure how much we can trust them. If he's in Azkaban, then there's no way he actually swore the Godfather Oath."

"I will make some quiet inquiries about it." Dumbledore promised, "something may have come out at his trial, though I can't seem to remember it… hmm…"

"Please look into that if you can." Remus asked, "Andromeda was at Privet Drive when I left, so I can assume that she's been informed and will try to find things out. But with what is currently happening, you might have better luck."

"I shall. Please try to have a restful day, however hard that might seem. You look like you need it dearly, if you don't mind my saying so."

"Not at all sir." the werewolf responded, "I have a few errands to run for Petunia to get ready for Christmas, but I fully intend to get some rest first. Good day, headmaster."

After Remus departed via floo, the aged headmaster looked to his familiar, still glaring at him with one eye, "Thank you, my friend. I'm sorry for my moment of weakness."

As he closed his eyes, Albus Dumbledore was reminded of the day when Fawkes first appeared before him, and chose a broken young man to be his wizard. It was the day he had finally realized that Gellert was wrong, and needed to be stopped. The day he finally accepted that his sister's life was not necessary for anyone else's "Greater Good." That was also the day he learned the truth about phoenix; they don't choose wizards who are paragons of light and virtue, not at all. They chose those sorely in need of redemption, but who retained the temperament to accept it when offered. Fawkes stopped Albus from succumbing to despair and hate after the death of his sister, and in the process, the magnificent bird saved his soul from the Dark.

o0-0oo0-0oo0-0oo0-0o

Severus Snape sneered at the back of the headmaster's head as the older man left him in his office. He had been sorely tempted to give a statement about Lupin, it had been the very first thought to pass through his mind as he read the paper. But, try as he might, he couldn't hate James Potter's son like he thought he would. Harry might look like James reborn, but his mind was all Lily.

For the sake of Lily's memory, and his promise to protect her son, Snape wouldn't tell a soul of what happened that night between him, the werewolf, and Black. Though he would find the time to confront Lupin about it, something he had never had the chance to do before, he wasn't about to deprive Harry of the chance to interact with him.

After all, how was Potter supposed to finish Lily's dream of a cure for lycanthropy if he didn't have someone readily available to test it on?

o0-0oo0-0oo0-0oo0-0o

When the Polkiss family stopped by Number Four Privet Drive a few hours later to join the Dursleys for Christmas shopping chaos ensued. It had escaped Harry's and Petunia's minds that Timothy was still very religious, and was still only tentatively accepting of magic.

Walking into the family room to find Harry with a mostly red and black snake wrapped around his neck like a scarf was one demonic reference too far for the man to handle. He yelled at the Dursleys about corrupting his daughter with devil worship, which caused the girl in question to break down crying while her brother held her, still not quite sure who to believe. Petunia and Angela ushered all four children into the back yard while Vernon spoke to Timothy, muggle to muggle, about his experience with magic and the truth about Harry's snake.

In the back garden, after calming down the Pokiss's, Harry introduced Tina and Piers to Najash. Piers thought he was the coolest thing ever, even if the snake was a little lethargic from the cold, but Tina was obviously a little put off by the creature until Petunia knelt down and began telling her the story of how Harry and his snake met.

"Oh my!" Angela gasped as she learned that one of her dearest friends had almost died a few years ago. She had grown so used to hearing strange things about wizards that the fact that Harry could talk to snakes barely even registered. Tina held her new Auntie and cried as Petunia assured her that everything was fine, and that they had Najash to thank for it.

"It's just strange, I guess. Why a snake, of all things?" Angela muttered as she watched her son hold Harry's pet and grin widely.

"Harry being able to speak to snakes is rare," Petunia explained, "not something every wizard can do. As for why they are so close, Harry says that Najash can almost literally smell or taste sickness. He's hoping that in the future he can learn to differentiate illnesses. You can imagine how helpful that could be as a healer or doctor."

"Does Hermione know about it?" Tina asked.

"Hermione lets Najash play in her hair, he likes it because it's so thick. She even tried to learn parseltongue but it didn't work." She answered with a slight frown. Tina constantly compared herself with the other girl, and Petunia was sure that her goal was to be a better witch than Hermione, somehow. More and more it was seeming like she wanted to just do everything Hermione did better than her. The way Remus praised how quickly she picked things up, she might actually do it.

True to form, the moment she knew that Hermione didn't have a problem with snakes, Tina had rejoined the boys. She was also trying to hiss like Harry was.

Inside, Vernon was explaining to a simmering Timothy Polkiss about how the snake had saved Petunia's life. As well as how it had protected her from another snake that intruded in the garden summer before last. Vernon knew that keeping anything from his neighbor would just cause problems, so he went ahead and explained that Harry, and very few others, could speak to snakes in a hissing language. He headed off another explosion from Timothy by explaining that the snake used that language to tell Harry how to cure Petunia when she was sick.

By the time they had had a drink to calm down, and Vernon had repeated multiple times how Harry planned to work with his snake to make medicine, Timothy was ready to relent, then he asked the question that finally made Vernon turn colours.

"What's the thing's name then? So I can apologize properly to Harry, and Petunia." He asked, raising an eyebrow at his friend's nervous chuckles.

"Why did the boy have to be so bloody cheeky?" Vernon muttered to himself, "He named the snake 'Najash,' despite my saying it should have a proper, English, name."

"Najash?" Timothy frowned, he liked to study older orthodoxy and recognized what that name was based on, "The Serpent of Eden? Are you having me on?"

"Harry thought it was funny," Vernon hastily explained, "we initially kept magic from him when he was younger because we thought it would protect him. Then the snake comes along, talking up a storm in Petunia's garden, and gives him 'forbidden knowledge.' It's just a joke, I assure you that I knew about magic before that. It is not something the snake did, and there is no devil worship in my house. I wouldn't have it."

It took another ten minutes, followed by a private conversation between Timothy, Petunia, and Harry, before the man was truly calmed down again. Despite being at least convinced that the snake wasn't dangerous in any way, he still decided not to join the rest of his family in going with the Dursleys for their last minute shopping. Even knowing the snake would obviously be left at home, he needed time to process.

o0-0oo0-0oo0-0oo0-0o

In a shop situated on an out of the way end of Diagon Alley, Remus Lupin swept his eyes over the myriad different things for sale as he made his way to the proprietor, who obviously recognized him since he was actually holding a copy of the Prophet.

"Can I help you?" The shopkeeper asked suspiciously.

Remus pulled a sheet of parchment from his cloak and placed it on the counter between them, it was a list of things he was looking to buy.

"I'm Christmas shopping for a certain famous young wizard." He said, trying to affect a smile rather than a grimace at the other's nervous demeanor.

The man glanced over the list, finding a who's who of simple plants for beginner herbalists and potioneers, someone was starting a new greenhouse, "You can find everything on your list in my store or the attached nursery." He said, glancing at the man he knew to be a werewolf, "Is there anything to this?" He asked, holding up the Prophet.

"Honestly," Remus returned, "if there was do you think I'd be here Christmas shopping? Harry and his aunt both like to brew potions and garden. This is supposed to be her gift to him."

The shopkeeper nodded at that, "It's not in the paper, but I know for a fact that Andromeda Black, as they're calling her, became a healer. Her husband too, Ted Tonks. I sometimes supply things to St. Mungos, you see. And those healers like to meet us growers and 'pothecaries. I've never met a healer who was dark enough to endanger a child."

"I'm glad that the public isn't as united against us as Skeeter suggests." Was the werewolf's reply, "If you can gather what Harry's aunt wants, and have it delivered through Gringotts, I'll see about coming back here when we upgrade the greenhouses next year."

"There's quite a bit of first aid on this." The shopkeeper commented as he ran down the list again.

Remus mused over whether it was okay to say this, but decided with what the Prophet was insinuating he would need an answer of some kind, "Harry wants to be a healer, that was one of the reasons that he and his aunt had me reach out to Andromeda in the first place."

The other man nodded, "The world can always use more healers. Give me some time to get this list together for you. We can take care of payment once I know I've got everything the lady wants."

A few hours later, that same shopkeeper found himself in a room with several mean looking goblins after he went to Gringotts to try and schedule the delivery.

"Human," the largest of the goblins, an Accounts Manager most likely, said, "the Potter steward gave us a list of things that were ordered from your store and asked us to screen for anything dangerous or untoward that might have been added. Just as a precaution." He grinned ferally, revealing several pointed teeth.

The poor herbalist nodded, a terrified look on his face as he fought not to glance at any of the armed guards in the room, and the Accounts Manager continued, "Now explain why there totals approximately two hundred Galleons worth of saplings, supplies, and fertilizer that are above and beyond the requested and paid for amount. Gringotts does not like when wizards try to scam our clients. This invoice should be almost seventy percent higher, were you planning to sue for the difference after the fact?"

"Of course not," the man said nervously, "I would never try to scam the Boy-Who-Lived! The extra stock is meant to be a gift I… I mean my mother was muggleborn, she died back during the first war… I just wanted to do a little something to repay Mister Potter for what he did."

If goblins smiled for the same reasons humans did, then Accounts Manager Axegut would be smiling at this moment. All goblins held respect for those who truly honored their debts. Instead, he grunted, "Very well. Security around Heir Potter's home and family life is, as you can tell, very tight. But I will ensure that the Potter steward hears of this so that Heir Potter can offer the appropriate thanks."

o0-0oo0-0oo0-0oo0-0o

The evening of Monday, December twenty-third, saw two different people enter the Ministry of Magic no less than five minutes apart. Though neither knew that the other was there at the time, nor that they were both there for the same reason, Andromeda Tonks and Albus Dumbledore both entered the Ministry to find answers to the same question.

In the DMLE meeting room, called the "Ready Room" by the aurors as anyone stationed there has to be prepared to answer a call at any moment, Andromeda waited for Amelia Bones' secretary to return and take her to her boss's office.

"Madame Bones will see you now." The woman said when she returned, it was clear from her short tone that she had already made her mind up about what had come out last night.

Andromeda had to dig deep to not let the sidelong glances from the secretary, and other aurors, affect her, but in the end she was fine doing so. Even if she had run away, she had been raised in the House of Black, she knew how to pretend others were beneath her notice.

"Thank you for seeing me Madame Bones." She said as she was let into the office of the Head of the DMLE.

"I must say, I'm rather shocked to see you here so soon after what happened last night." Amelia Bones said from behind her desk, her monocle trained on Andromeda, "I'm sorry, but if you're here to complain about the pictures or something, it's all above board. The platform is a public place."

"It's not that, we are taking care of that in other ways." Andromeda replied, "May I sit for a moment?"

"Of course." She answered, gesturing to the chair in front of her, "How can I help you? Is this personal, or about House Potter?"

"A little bit of both." Andromeda answered as she sat, "Please don't take this the wrong way, but is this room secure?"

Amelia frowned, but cast a series of spells to confirm that there was no one else in the room and that the privacy charms were in working order.

"Last night," Andromeda began, "Harry Potter opened his parents' wills."

"I thought they were sealed by the Wizengamot?"

"James and Lily had copies in their vault at Gringotts. He took out copies of those yesterday and opened them at home." She pinched her nose for a moment to gather her wits before the next revelation, "The main reason they were opened was apparently to ensure that Dumbledore hadn't hidden anything from Harry. But what he and his family found was that Sirius Black is apparently Harry's godfather by Oath."

Amelia's monocle fell off her face as her eyes widened.

"Now they need to know if the wills can even be trusted," Andromeda continued, "since it's clear that there are inaccuracies in them. I was hoping you could pull up transcripts of Sirius' trial and see if it came up there. If it didn't we will have to assume that the wills found in the vault were just wishful thinking on the part of the Potters and see about pushing Dumbledore to unseal the ones that were officially filed here at the Ministry."

"You said that Dumbledore might be keeping things from Harry Potter?"

"I'm relatively new to the story, and this absolutely cannot leave this room." She glared at the auburn haired woman until she nodded before continuing, "Dumbledore left Harry to be raised by his aunt, who he incorrectly believed to have no ties to our world. He went so far as to magically prevent Petunia or Harry from being able to return to the magical world before he intended. It was only an accidental encounter with a muggleborn girl that let the two of them find Diagon Alley again."

"Are you serious?" Amelia leaned forwards to pay better attention.

"Yes," Andromeda replied, "it was heavy handed, but it was meant as a means of protecting Harry from leftover Death Eaters following the war. It was actually done before what happened to the Longbottoms, so I would say it probably saved Harry's life at one point or another. Regardless of that though, Harry and his family are angry at Dumbledore for never coming to check on Harry, not about him being placed where he was. They are still working things out." That should be enough of an explanation for her without having to bring up the mismanagement of the House.

"I understand." Amelia sighed, "I'll pull the record for the trial and send you a copy of the transcript by owl in the morning. Will that be acceptable?"

"That would be perfect," Andromeda replied, "but could I trouble you to also send a copy to Harry's aunt? She can be reached through Gringotts, address it to 'Ms. Acacia.'" At Amelia's confused expression, she elaborated, "That's the alias that Harry's aunt used during the war. She still uses it to keep a buffer around Harry and herself, something else that shouldn't leave this room."

"That will not be a problem, is there anything else I should know?" Amelia felt a headache coming on from all this.

"No, I believe that's everything relevant for the moment."

In that case," Amelia asked, the work stress leaving her face as she switched gears to more pleasant topics, "could you tell me a little about Harry Potter and his family? Nothing sensitive! Susan has written about he and his cousin a few times this term, particularly his cousin. Is it really true that they can both use wandless magic?"

Andromeda grinned and began telling Amelia not only about Harry's and Dudley's abilities, but also the fact that her daughter, an auror candidate mind you, had practiced enough with the same technique to begin simple wandless levitation as well. She thought about mentioning the troll on Halloween, coverage of that event had been suspiciously lacking from the Daily Prophet, or the broomstick incident, but decided that they might actually need Dumbledore's help in the future if the issues with Diggory didn't go away.

Meanwhile, in the Ministry records room, Albus Dumbledore stared dumbfounded at the empty file in his hands. The transcripts of trials, as well as important office documentation or parchementwork from other kinds from official Wizengamot meetings that take place within the Ministry building are all automatically recorded by a magic device in the Department of Mysteries that is sealed from being tampered with. Basically everything except the actual taking of the minutes was handled by this system. The filing and organization of such documents is also automated by magic; and in the event of a file's destruction, the primary device will replace the missing information from "memory."

The idea that the file could have been removed and never replaced was ludicrous and pointless; as Chief Warlock he had the magical authority to demand a new copy be made for him, and he attempted to do so to no avail. But the only other explanation for this was heart chilling, and to bring it up without more proof than merely the lack of proof would be dangerous. Especially if he was wrong. But still, how else could there be no transcript for a trial... unless there was no trial?

An hour after Chief Warlock Albus Dumbledore had left the Ministry records room, DMLE Head Amelia Bones entered. Upon finding Black's file to be devoid of a trial transcript, she checked the records to see who might be attempting to falsify or conceal the information. In ten years only one other person had ever checked that file, and it had happened that very evening.

Though she knew it was all part of the job, Amelia hated when cases presented themselves at Christmas.

o0-0oo0-0oo0-0oo0-0o

The rat known as Scabbers relaxed into his carrier, he had overheard the loud Weasley matron talking about going to Romania for Christmas break when they first arrived, but was originally confused as to why it seemed young Ronald was not going to be joining the family. He had worried that perhaps the boy was visiting Potter, there was talk in the dungeons that Ronald had befriended the Boy-Who-Lived well and proper.

Sadly, Scabbers never felt safe enough to venture out of the Slytherin dorms on his own to confirm what he heard, and Ronald didn't take him out because of Potter's snake. Because of this, he had to rely on gossip to know what was happening. He couldn't afford to remain out of the loop for much longer, seeing Remus at Hogwarts had almost gave him a heart attack.

Thankfully for the rat, when Ronald returned from dinner that night he was sad and depressed muttering, "I don't wanna go." Clearly, Scabbers thought, their issues with the boy being in Slytherin aren't fixed if they're sending him to Muriel's while they all go on vacation. He had no idea that Ron was depressed because his mum was arguing that he should go to Romania after what was revealed in the Prophet that morning. An issue of the paper that the rat known as Scabbers never got to see.

o0-0oo0-0oo0-0oo0-0o

That evening the Polkiss family, including a mollified Timothy, dined with the Dursleys. Now that Remus was there to supervise, Tina got to show off her magic to Harry and Dudley, as well as her immensely impressed father. She set the entire table, from silverware to serving platters one piece at a time, with levitation in under two minutes.

"That was like a scene out of Fantasia." Timothy said as he watched the last of the large platters settle onto the dining room table, "Amazing Tina. That was amazing… I'm sorry I've never come and watched your lessons before."

"That was way better than I can do." Harry admitted sheepishly.

"Me too." Dudley added, "I can lift big stuff now, but it tends to be wobbly. I'd have spilled everything."

Tina preened, and Petunia had to stifle a groan as the little girl asked the dreaded question, "What about Hermione? Am I better at it than her?"

"Probably." Dudley answered at the same time Harry overrode him with a, "Almost." that drew a confused look from his cousin.

"We don't practice much since we take longer on our homework and stuff. She practices up in the Gryffindor common room when she's alone." Harry explained, "She can levitate a book and read it, turn the pages with magic and everything. I saw her take notes without dropping the book once too. I don't think she is as fast as you though, Tina, so you have that."

Tina huffed, it still took all her concentration to levitate things and she was breathless and tired after she was done with the table just now, even if she was good at it and didn't spill anything. There was no way she could read while levitating, was there? Taking notes while keeping the magic active?

"I bet I can do that soon too." She finally said.

Petunia's expression darkened as she watched the exchange, Tina's need to be better than Hermione really was growing into a strange obsession. She would need to make sure Remus was aware of it, she didn't want Tina to hurt herself by pushing too hard. She decided that, at the very least, a change of subject was in order.

"Thank you again, Angela, for letting us use your cafe tomorrow." She smiled to her friend, "Remus will be there in the morning to make sure it can't be found by them again after we are finished."

"Not a problem, Petunia. I'm happy to help, and the girls were glad to have Christmas Eve off." Angela was actually rather excited at the prospect of getting to meet a famous journalist. Even if they were from the magical world.