Chapter 15: The Magical Lesson
Remus and Minerva began giving the Granger couple details about magic, with comments from Sirius, Severus, and Narcissa here and there. They had told them about how witches and wizards referred to normal people without magic, as muggles, and how the magical community lives right along side the muggle community only in secret. They also told them about the different blood statuses within their community. Purebloods, half-bloods, and lastly muggleborns.
"So because we are muggles," Daniel said, "Hermione would be considered one of these muggleborns?"
"Yes," Remus said, "Harry's mother was actually a muggleborn."
"Oh?" Emma said then looked to Minerva, "So you must be his father's mother."
"Well actually," Minerva began, "I'm not biologically related to Harry at all. Both his parents had been students of mine. We were very close. By the time Harry was born his actual grandparents on both sides had been killed. So Lily, Harry's mother, dubbed me his honorary grandmother. After they died I was named as one of Harry's guardians and took him in. He's been my grandson ever since and I love him like my own."
"Oh my the poor dear." Emma said looking to Harry who was talking to Hermione with a big smile on his face, "For a boy who's lost so much, he seems so happy. He's lucky to have all of you, who shower him with love. He may have been a very different boy otherwise."
"We all love him as if he were our own." Sirius said, "Normally, as his godfather, I should have been his guardian, but due to some poor choices on my part I ended up unable to be granted custody due to being, temporarily, incarcerated." He saw Emma and Daniel's look of shock, "I was framed. It quickly came to light that I was not responsible and I was released, but by then Minerva already had guardianship. Fortunately, she forgave me for my foolishness and allowed me to be a part of Harry's life which I'm forever grateful for."
"You're lucky Minerva is so kind." Emma said, "Had I been in her position I would have reprimanded you harshly and saw to it you were sufficiently punished before forgiving you."
"I had considered it," Minerva said, "But after Harry had already lost so much I decided to let his foolish behavior go so he could be their for his godson."
"And I shall forever be eternally grateful for that." Sirius said bowing his head to her.
They continued their original discussion on magical society when Daniel asked, "So this school you spoke of before," he began, "Its for witches and wizards correct."
"Yes." Minerva told him.
He then looked to Remus and Severus, "Then I assume the classes you teach aren't what you originally said."
"Ah yes sorry we had to be sure before we talked about this." Remus chuckled nervously, "I actually teach Defense Against the Dark Arts."
"And I teach Potions." Severus said.
Emma looked to be thinking about something, "Well, technically neither of you lied."
"I guess that's true." Daniel said, "You said you had to be sure before telling us all this…why is that? Is there some law?"
"Oh yes," Narcissa spoke up, "It's the Statue of Secrecy. We are not allowed to tell muggles about our society or use magic in front of them or we could end up in prison."
Emma gasped, "What?! But you've done just that! Will you get in trouble."
"Not at all," Minerva said, "You see since Hermione is a witch, so you two are allowed to know about our world. In fact, I probably would have personally come to visit you next year to deliver her Hogwarts letter and told you most of this then, but since we happened upon you by chance while on holiday we'll be able to skip that step." She smiled.
Emma let out a sigh of relief, "Thank goodness. So what should be our next step?" she asked them.
"Well personally," Narcissa said, "I would suggest you open an account at Gringotts, its our bank. It'll have to be in Hermione's name though and they will request a Blood Status test to prove she's a witch. Just a simple prick of the finger and done."
"They need blood?" Daniel asked.
"Ah yes." Severus said, "See our banks are run by goblins…they specialize in blood magic. Its how all their contracts are done it makes things more than legally binding. Breaking a blood contract could not only strip someone of their magic but possibly kill them if the breach of said contract is severe enough."
"Goblins exist!" Emma asked.
"Indeed, so do unicorns, dragons, merepeople, giants, and even werewolves." Sirius said, "In fact Remus here is a werewolf."
Both the muggles gasped, looking to Remus, "Really?" they said together.
"Yes, but fear not thanks to Severus and some very thorough research left behind by Harry's mother a very effective treatment was created recently. If you would believe it or not before last year I was as scrawny as a malnourished child." Remus said, "My condition made me very weak when I wasn't transformed. However, after Severus' new treatment came out I filled out much more and I no longer transform nor can I transfer my curse to anyone else now."
"Well I suppose that's a blessing. I assume you're very skilled with potions to accomplish that Severus." Emma said.
"Yes," Severus said, "Though it was mostly due to Lily's research."
"So when shall we go to this Gringotts place?" Daniel asked.
"We can do that after our holiday." Minerva said, "We're here for Harry's birthday you see."
"Oh really?" Emma asked, "When is it?" she asked.
"July 31st," Harry said from his spot in the corner.
That was when the adults noticed the kids had been listening for sometime now. "Am I really a witch? How do you know?" Hermione asked with stars in her eyes.
"That is actually is a good question, when did you discover this?" Daniel asked.
"Well Harry was reading a charmed book while we were at the pool." Minerva began.
"Reading? While at the pool?" Emma interrupted, "I have a feeling he and Hermione will get along very well."
Minerva grinned at this, "That would be lovely. But in this instance, any muggle who saw the book would assume it was a random book people would expect a boy his age to be reading when it was actually an book on advanced defensive spells. However, Hermione could clearly read the actual title so that either meant the spell had broken or she was a witch."
"We checked the book thoroughly and the spell had not been broken." Remus said, "So that could only mean Hermione was a witch."
Hermione looked to Harry, "So I can learn spells too!"
"Yea! And next year we can all three of us can go to Hogwarts!" he told her grinning, "Oh, you'll get to meet our friend Neville too, and Daphne. Neville is a bit clumsy but he's super nice and really knowledgeable on Herbology."
"Yea we'll also get to learn how to fly real brooms." Draco said excitedly.
Hermione look nervous about that, "Flying…that sounds scary." She said.
"It super fun!" Harry said, "Sirius took me on his broom once it was so awesome! He said next year for my birthday I can get my own, I can't wait."
"Wait you guys fly on actual brooms?" Daniel asked, "Don't they need a license for that?"
"No, actually." Minerva said now having a concerned look.
"Oh dear, Hermione please be careful." Emma told her.
"If you're worried about brooms just wait till she learns to apparate." Narcissa told them.
"Apparate?" Daniel asked.
"It's a type of magic we use to effectively teleport to anywhere we've been before." Severus told them.
"That's not something they learn right away right?" the girls father asked.
"Oh no." Minerva told him, "That's something they won't learn until sixth year and they do require a licensing test for that."
"Oh thank goodness!" both Hermione's parents said in unison.
After that night, they enjoyed the rest of their vacation. The Grangers had joined them and asked many questions about the wizarding world while they explored France. On Harry's birthday they held a quaint celebration in the same private parlor room after spending the day at the beach. They spent hours there chatting and giving Harry presents. After a long night of the adults chatting and the kids playing they wrapped up the evening collecting the kids who each had fallen asleep in a chair. Harry and Hermione were sitting in the same chair with one of Harry's new large tomes sitting in their lap. After scooping them up and bidding each other good night everyone went to their rooms for their last night
The next morning was the day of their departure. Minerva and her party were standing in they lobby when the Granger's joined them with multiple bags of luggage. When Mr. Granger inquired where all their luggage was, since he had seen them all wear multiple outfits during their adventures, they each held up a small beach bag. He looked confused until Sirius told him to stick his head in the bag. He did so, much to Emma's embarrassment, and when he pulled his head out he looked to his wife saying, "There is a whole room in there!" he exclaimed in a whisper.
The others laughed at his reaction when Minerva cleared her throat reminding them not to attract unwanted attention. She then informed the Grangers that since she, Remus and Severus had to return to Hogwarts to prepare for the new school year, Sirius and Narcissa would be their guides to Diagon Alley. Sirius told them to meet them in front of a building in London called the Leaky Cauldron and gave them the general location advising the girls parents they likely wouldn't be able to notice it and that Hermione herself would have to guide them to it once she spotted it.
The girls parents nodded as the girl herself was taking notes in a small note book. When they finished their explanation the Grangers bid them farewell heading to the airport while the witches and wizards went back to the Department of Magical Transportation, returning to England in a matter of seconds. When the group arrived home they found a stacks of presents waiting for Harry from his friends. He and Draco opened them up together mostly finding books, since most of his friends now knew Harry was a bookworm. There had been a few interesting magical trinkets among the gifts like a ring from Amelia and Susan that would glow and heat up if something he was about to eat had been laced with a potion. Sirius was impressed stating they should all get one of those.
The next day after a nice big family breakfast in McGonagall Manor, Minerva bid Harry goodbye with a kiss to his forehead before walking through the Floo going back to Hogwarts. Severus and Remus followed shortly after, having giving their respective Black partners a goodbye kiss then slipping into the Floo one after the other. Now with just Sirius, Narcissa, Harry, and Draco remaining, they left the McGonagall Manor and returned to the new Black Manor.
Two weeks later Sirius and Narcissa were making their way toward The Leaky Cauldron with Harry and Draco right behind them. They spotted the Grangers and Harry and Draco immediately ran to Hermione to talk to her. The Grangers were looking surprised to see Harry's hair was a completely different color then the black hair they had seen in France. Sirius explained that Harry was rather famous in their society so whenever they'd go out in public in the wizarding world Harry would change his hair to avoid attention.
The Grangers stared blankly, confused at how a ten year old could be so famous that he had to disguise himself when he was in public. Sirius promised to explained later and directed them to the door ushering them inside. To Sirius' delight, the bar had only had a few patrons which made it easy to slip out to the back alley behind the bar without getting noticed. Narcissa drew her wand and tapped the bricks on the wall which caused the bricks to shake before they shuffled around into the form of an archway.
The muggles eyes widened in shock as they saw this while Hermione was bouncing with excitement. Sirius gave a bow and extended an arm towards the bustling street, "Welcome to Diagon Alley." He told them.
A/N: The poor Grangers trying to wrap their heads around all this new information. Hermione is of course, is Hermione and is excited at the prospect of learning magic. Its great to see Draco show absolutly no signs of prejudice towards the girl. Of course he was raised around people who proudly boasted about their muggle born friend so he obviously wouldn't have developed that 'Mudblood' mentality.
Just to advise a few of you there isn't a missing chapter. The way lets me post chapters each one is numbered that includes the prolouge which is consider by the site the first chapter. So don't freak out all chapters are there.
Up Next: The Granger's are taken to Gringotts. While there, Harry and Sirius learns there is something very surprising.