Late Summer 1992 /
At Hogwarts, the summer months are quiet for the staff. Most of professors vanish for the whole of July and return at varying dates in August. Professor Pretzel remained for two weeks after the end of the school term to move all of the potions classrooms to a new location on the second floor of the castle, with windows and a great deal of natural light. A great deal of expired potions ingredients were on hand and she used them to create cleaning and sterilizing potions that the elves put to good use.
Deputy Headmistress McGonagall put a contract in front of Professor Pretzel on the last day of the school year–Minerva was determined to avoid the headaches of some new idiot that Dumbledore might hire at the last minute in August. Pretzel was pleased to sign a contract for another year at Hogwarts–her bosses at Gringotts were thrilled with the information she had gathered and reported to them about Dumbledore and his minions.
Hogwarts herself waited until the Headmaster, Deputy Headmistress and most of the staff had left for vacation before she began her efforts to strengthen the wards, and place books where children would find them next autumn to read. Once again, the ghost Binns refused to pass over and Hogwarts despaired of any proper history instruction occurring. However, she was pleased with the number of items that had been turned to gold in her Room of Requirement. Hundreds of discarded items–bedpans, potion cauldrons, chairs, and damaged books had been transformed into lead pellets and then transmuted into gold by the Sorcerer's Stone. When she had a trustworthy headmaster or headmistress, they would be able to pay for new materials, professors for additional classes and lower the cost for everyone to attend Hogwarts.
Cracky, a happy and busy elf, industriously moved the special red stone about the Room of Requirement every third day to make something else gold. In early July, Cracky left the red stone on a table covered with many items including a bust of Rowena Ravenclaw. Hidden in plain sight was the witch's lost diadem sitting atop the plaster face. Over the next three days, the subtle magic of the red stone spread across the table and every item there. On the second day, the soul piece of Tom Riddle within the diadem became a frozen thought, and on the third day, it became an unpleasant flavour of nastiness within a solid gold bust of Rowena Ravenclaw and her famous diadem. Magic decided that was a suitable punishment for a portion of Tom Riddle's soul.
Upon seeing the golden bust later in the summer, Hogwarts decided to display it in her entry hall upon a shelf that even Hagrid could not reach. The bust of solid gold was lovingly cared for by the house elves and it was admired by many students and visitors for the next ten decades. The occasional thief attempted to steal it only to run screaming from the castle in the middle of the day or the dark of night after touching the bust. None of these thieves ever set foot inside the castle again.
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For each of the five days following his birthday, Neville spent at least thirty minutes each day studying the 'rose bush' that Harry had gifted him. He studied the leaves and stems, examined the roots carefully when he and team of elves carefully transplanted it into a larger pot with a medium of earth that included some well-aged dragon dung. The plant seemed to thrive in the magical environment that existed in his greenhouse, growing at least two inches each day with numerous buds appearing on the third day.
And Neville made extensive notes and drawings of the stems, leaves and roots in a notebook he kept on his magical plants. On the fourth day, after exchanging letters with Harry to get the history of the plant, Neville decided, 'This is not a normal muggle plant. Harry wrote that he took a sprig from another rose bush and rooted this one. Something Harry–that's it! Harry 'created' the rose in the muggle world and put some of his magic into it. That's why it is responding to magic here so well.'
On the fifth day–4 August–Neville heard his grandmother complaining about her tea not being hot when he walked into the dining room. There wasn't any breakfast laid out on the table and Gran was not properly dressed–she was in her dressing gown with her hair inside a net that let her sleep without her long hair spreading all over the bed.
"The elves have vanished!" she complained as she used her wand to reheat a pot of tea from the previous night. "This is scandalous!"
Neville managed to find some milk, sugar and biscuits in the deserted kitchen to go with the reheated tea for their breakfast. As soon as they finished, the pair began their search for the missing house elves. At Neville's suggestion, Lady Longbottom used the 'point me' spell that directed them to the greenhouse where the Breathe of Magic was located. There they found a full mischief of elves–their four and a dozen more from neighbours and apparently farther afield–the Longbottom elves had summoned their relatives to smell the first blooms of the Breathe of Magic.
The fragrance was almost hypnotic with a single whiff of the rose. Neville had an elf to conjure a chair for his grandmother who was overcome with many happy memories as tears fell down her face. Neville took a deep breath and found his mind in a future with green plants, blooms, and magic flowing across the sky.
'This is magic I don't understand,' he thought and wished Harry was here to talk about it. As if Neville had made the wish aloud, Sluggy popped out and then popped back in with Harry, already dressed and apparently pulled from working in the yard.
"Hey Neville! What…" Harry asked before he caught the scent of the rose. "It's blooming already! Wicked!"
Iggy spoke up, [Harry, look at the elves. Look at Lady Longbottom. There's magic in the scent of the rose. Where did you get it?]
[You saw me write in the letter to Neville. It's an old-fashioned rose that Aunt Petunia says came from my great-grandmother Evan's garden. I took a sprig off the main plant last year and rooted it. I left it planted in Aunt Petunia's garden and she ignored it while I was at Hogwarts. I wanted to get something for Neville's birthday and the rose was perfect.]
Neville and Harry approached the rose and found a dozen flowers blooming with a very strong fragrance.
"Being shut up in the greenhouse, the smell is much stronger than it would be if the blooms were in the garden," Neville explained, touching a petal and then bringing his finger to his nose. "But it smells wonderful."
"Why are all the elves here?" Harry asked.
Shaking his head, Neville replied, "I don't know. Our elves didn't prepare breakfast and we came looking for them. We only have four and the others are visitors."
[Ask about the ward.]
Obeying Iggy's suggestion without question, Harry asked, "Didn't you have a ward against elves after one kept taking your mail?"
Both young wizards noticed one little fellow drop his head and begin to cry. Exchanging glances with Harry, Neville explained, "Yes, but our elves can go outside the ward and take another elf's hand and lead them inside."
[Tell the elves–order the elves–that they cannot tell anyone about this. If they tell anyone, they can never come back to smell the rose again. But if they keep the secret of the Breathe of Magic, they can visit once a week for five minutes and enjoy the scent of the Potter Rose.]
[Lady Lily Evans Rose,] Harry said to correct Iggy.
[That's too many flowers in one name! Lady Rose Evans or Lady Evans Rose.] insisted Iggy.
"Neville, can I suggest that we order the elves to keep this secret? And as long as they keep the secret of this rose being here and smelling so wonderful, they can return once a week for five minutes and enjoy the smell of the Lady Evans Rose."
Glancing at his grandmother who was listening intently and silently, Neville saw no objection in her face so he agreed to the restrictions on the elves and the name of the rose.
"And how do you make a perfume out of the blooms?" asked Harry as he walked closer to the little elf who was crying.
"It takes a couple weeks of work with fixers and lots of rose petals," Neville said. "I have played with it in the past."
[Send all the elves home and tell them to work out with the Longbottom head elf about when they can come back for their five-minute visit… but keep that one here to find out about the mail,] Iggy suggested.
"We need to write to Luna Lovegood about this," Neville said. "Maybe she can tell us how this scent will save Hogwarts at Christmas."
[The girl's a seer. Tell Longbottom that she'll likely laugh at the waste of paper,] Iggy sniped.
Replying to Neville and to Iggy, Harry said, "Luna would appreciate a letter from us, I'm sure. And I want to see if Hedwig can find her now that the charms have been removed from her."
From her chair, Augusta Longbottom almost asked about someone casting charms on a postal owl but decided to remain silent. She was quickly coming to the conclusion that the boy-who-lived needed to be here with Neville behind the wards of Longbottom Manor.
Without orders but because he knew 'Mr. Neville Greenplants' well, Sluggy travelled to Privett Drive in Surry and completed all of Harry's chores for the day silently and invisibly. Petunia Dursley went shopping and returned home to a spotless house, perfect garden, and preparations for supper underway–the meat marinating in sauce in the refrigerator and the casseroles ready to be place in the oven.
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"Dobby be sorry… so sorry to try and hide mail from great wizards Mr. Neville Greenplants and Mr. Harry Potters who gives the Breathe of Magic for the elves. Dobby must slam his ears in oven doors for ten minutes tonight."
"Is that your name? Are you Dobby?" asked Harry. The little elf nodded his head and squatted down on the floor of the greenhouse, his arms wrapped around his legs and his head resting on his knees as though exhausted. With each deep breath of the scent of the roses, Harry saw the scars fading from the little elf.
"Why were you trying to steal the mail from Mr. Neville Greenplants?"
"Dobby tries and tries to see Mr. Harry Potters and can't see him. But Dobby knows there be great danger at Hoggiewarts this year. Dobby hear that Mr. Neville Greenplants is friend of Mr. Harry Potters…"
The elf paused and took a deep breath of the glorious scent to strengthen his resolve before continuing. "My master to send something terrible evil, evil to Hoggiewards when children return. It will kill many children at Hoggies."
[Ask him… no, he can't tell you who his master is,] Iggy said. [Ask Lady Longbottom if she knows the elf. Or better yet, ask her elves after Dobby goes home.]
Seeing Harry thinking quietly, Neville asked, "Dobby, do you know what this evil is? How can we find it?"
The elf seemed lost in thought and took several deep breaths before he said, "Master has a dark book that holds big piece of evil wizard that will hurt children."
Shaking his head, Dobby continued, "Mr. Neville Greenplants and Mr. Harry Potters must not go to Hogwarts this fall."
"Dobby, a powerful seer told us that we have to use the Breathe of Magic to save Hogwarts at Christmas," Neville explained. "We can't ignore a seer and her magic."
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Luna Lovegood stood and moved to the owl window to open it just before the arrival of Hedwig with the letter from Harry and Neville. She smiled as the owl bowed before her and then offered up her leg with the attached paper.
"Yes Miss Hedwig. You may come here anytime you wish to visit," Luna said. "I have a perch, water and food bowls waiting for you beside Methuselah's perch. He is out right now but will be home shortly."
Reading the letter from Harry and Neville, Luna smiled as she imagined how it must feel to have friends.
'They will be good friends. Mama won't be hurt that I join Gryffindor with them. Once we deal with the danger this fall, I will be safer there than in Ravenclaw. And they are both good at keeping secrets. I wonder how soon I can talk to Ignotus and Lady Hogwarts?'
She hurried to find parchment, quill and ink after finding a bracelet she needed to send to Harry.
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[Harry, I think I want to take the protective wards with us when we leave Surrey next week,] Iggy said. [We'll find some other place for you to stay next summer–with some wards so you can practice wand magic.]
[The Dursleys haven't been a problem this summer,] Harry pointed out.
Iggy 'nodded', making Harry giggle at the imagine of the cloak bouncing one side up and down. [But only because our magical aura made 'em not pay attention to you. Vernon still hates every freak he sees but he doesn't see you anymore.]
[Okay, Iggy. How do we do this?]
[I will pull the wards into some object… a ring or bracelet would be best.]
[Well, that's not good because I don't have anything like that.]
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That afternoon, Hedwig appeared with a letter from Luna Lovegood that talked about magic turning 'a walrus, a baby whale, and a horse into kangaroos down under' and how much she was looking forward to being in Gryffindor with Harry and Neville. Then her short letter concluding with the line that she hoped the bracelet of silver and jade would make Harry's friend happy.
[How cool!] Harry said as he examined the bracelet. [The jade matches my eyes.]
[And your mom's eyes,] Iggy said. [Lovegood is a seer for certain and she's falling into your orbit.]
[My orbit? You make me sound like a planet!] complained Harry.
Iggy shrugged, another image appearing in Harry's mind. [More like the sun with the planets of Longbottom and Lovegood orbiting around you.]
Grimacing, Harry shook his head and said, "Are you sure this is best? How will you take the protections from here?"
"How will 'what' work, freak?" asked Dudley, interrupting Harry in the backyard after seeing him for the first time all summer.
"Hey Dudley," Harry replied. "Just talking to an invisible friend."
"Invisible? There's no such thing as invisible and you don't have friends! You're a freak!"
Just then, a pair of stinging hexes hit Dudley's butt and bits. The boy screamed bloody murder and ran into the house where he complained to his mom. When Petunia looked out the back door–her skillet in her hand–she could not see the freak anywhere and returned to making an ice pack for Dudley.
[Okay, the Dursleys will never change,] Harry admitted. [Let's get away from here permanently.]
Iggy hesitated before adding, [When I pull the wards into the bracelet, I might have to sleep until you get back to Hogwarts where I can recharge my batteries.]
[You have been with me in the muggle world and begun speaking like a muggle since you're using that expression,] Harry replied. [Will you be safe? This won't hurt you, will it?]
[I won't be hurt except my feelings since you are accusing me of going muggle! Once I am finished you will walk out the back door where Sluggy will take you to Longbottom Manor. Augusta Longbottom can protect you and Neville very well for the last few days before the Hogwarts Express leaves for Scotland.]
And so it was that on 23 August 1992, Iggy moved the protective blood wards from 'around' No.4 Privett Drive into the pieces of jade in the bracelet that Harry Potter wore on his left wrist. No one felt or noticed any difference that day. Immediately following the 'move', Iggy fell into a deep sleep to recover from using so much magic at one time.
Harry's still shrunken trunk was in his pocket and his wand remained in a holder on his right wrist. Ready to leave and wishing for his aunt to see him, Harry appeared at the backdoor of the kitchen suddenly while Petunia sat alone at the kitchen table drinking tea after sending Vernon to work and Dudley into the neighbourhood to terrorize the local children.
"Aunt Petunia, I am leaving to stay with a friend for the last week of summer," he explained.
"Good," she replied. "Just don't ever come back."
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