Early in December, Neville insisted on everyone learning the charm to miniaturize their trunks. With the trunk shrunk down and in a student's pocket, they could move much faster around the crowds in the train station.
Hermione asked, "But how do we return the trunk to normal size without breaking the law? We can't use magic outside of Hogwarts."
"You are absolutely correct, Granger," Neville replied. "But we are going to use a charm that will shrink the trunk and so it is easy to remove the charm just by touching the trunk with your wand once you return home. You are not casting a magic spell; you are simply releasing a magical charm."
Of course, Hermione had to research the charm and discuss with her head of house about the 'release' not being magic. Professor McGonagall adamantly protested the notion that any student would do something like this and violate the law.
"Are you trying to destroy Magical Britain, Miss Granger?" the transfiguration professor asked in the Great Hall before everyone during dinner. Professors Sprout and Flitwick demanded to know what the problem was that Minerva brought one of her brightest Gryffindors to tears. When Harry explained about the charm to miniaturize trunks being very helpful for every student going home for the holidays, Professor Flitwick immediately endorsed the idea.
The small wizard stood on the staff table and loudly pronounced, "An underage student does not use magic or violate the law by pressing their wand against the lock of a miniaturized trunk to return it to normal size. Moreover, any young witch or wizard simply has to cast the charm while at school or on the train, and then use their 'finger' to release the charm. Their wand can remain in their pocket or up their wrist holder."
Glancing at the deputy headmistress and sneering as only his half-goblin face could, Flitwick hissed loudly, "There is no violation of the law, Professor McGonagall."
Many students immediately began trying the charm to miniaturize things and then release the magic. Plates, cups, several sets of robes were miniaturised at different tables while the Gryffindor table included discussion about how Professor McGonagall again left hem in the lurch. Percy promised lessons on the charm in the common room and on the train.
"I thought the Weasleys were staying here for the holiday," Harry said.
Nodding Percy said, "We are but all prefects ride to Kings Cross and then use the floo there to return to Hogwarts for the holiday."
This prompted Harry to ask, "Why don't we just use the floo to travel to Kings Cross then? We'd all get another day of holiday and not have to sit on the train."
Hugging Hermione to help her recover from the disappointment of having McGonagall not help her, Neville snorted and replied, "Common sense, Potter. Wizards don't use common sense."
The minute the Hogwarts Express stopped at Kings Cross Station in London, Neville directed Harry, Colin, Hermione and Luna out of the train and onto the platform. Mr. Lovegood was there to hug his daughter and with a wave goodbye, the pair disappeared into the receiving room to use the flu and travel home.
Lady Longbottom appeared and would have immediately led her two charges toward the receiving room before Neville asked to walk out into muggle part of the station with Hermione and Colin to meet and greet their families. Harry grinned and endorsed the idea as well.
Glancing about to make certain none of the surrounding witches or wizards appeared threatening – everyone was paired up with a child or two – Augusta agreed with the request. Transfiguring her famous hat with the stuffed buzzard into something more appropriate for muggles to see, Lady Longbottom followed the trio of boys out of the station through the portal at 9¾.
There they found Colin's entire family waiting on the other side of the entrance with Hermione's parents. There were greetings exchanged with Dr. and Dr. Granger who Harry and Neville met the previous year. And there were many introductions made to Lady Augusta Longbottom, Heir Longbottom, and Heir Potter with the Creevey parents and multiple siblings. Hermione was embarrassed when her parents seemed overly impressed to meet 'nobility' from the magical world. But everyone, Colin and Hermione included used the proper manners as expected in Magical Britain and impressed all the adult muggles.
"We'll be back here on the third on January before you know it," Harry assured Hermione. She nodded, hugged both Harry and Neville before disappearing with her parents into the crowds. Mr. and Mrs. Creevey moved slower with five children but Colin took the lead with two of the younger ones while Harry and Neville waved.
Both boys noticed that Neville's grandmother seemed lost in memories for a long moment before she sighed and said, "Both of you…your parents wanted to have several children. Except for the Dark Lord and his Death Eaters, that should have been you meeting your parents and siblings here at Kings Cross."
Her voice steel for the next moment, she said, "Never forget what they took from us."
Wiping away a tear, and taking another deep breath, Augusta said, "I am sorry, I should not have spoken thus but seeing the boy caring for his brother and sisters, I can't help but remember Alice and Frank's plans."
It was another moment before Neville took his grandmother's hand and led her back through the portal at 9¾ to the platform. Harry followed; his thoughts lost in 'what if' for a time. The receiving room was empty by this time and without any problem, Lady Longbottom sent the boys through to the manor before she followed them.
There was a discussion that grew very loud on the part of Dowager Lady Longbottom when the boys revealed the morning's events of the attack on the school by a giant basilisk. Throwing a few plates and cups against the wall to help relieve her anger, she hurried back to the floo room and called every member of the Board of Governors–no one had called any of them yet (meaning Dumbledore)– and the DMLE was not spreading the word as of yet. A call to Director Amelia Bones meant leaving a message with some junior Auror but Augusta left a calm message asking for Amelia's return call at her convenience.
"How did the castle prevent the beast from breaking down the doors?" she asked. Neville smiled and reminded his grandmother about Luna's prediction that they would use the Breathe of Magic to save the school before Christmas.
"I poured out the whole bottle and the fragrance kept the basilisk from being able to break inside," Harry said. "Luna was correct and Neville distilled the perfume perfectly."
And the body dissolved away?" she asked and both boys nodded. "I think your perfume ate through the magical hide and then the basilisk's magic."
It's certainly a shame there're no pictures," Augusta said. "Mr. Greengrass was just telling me the Daily Prophet's photographer barely made one fuzzy shot before the 'thing' dissolved."
Neville cleared his throat and said, "Well…Colin made lots of pictures of the whole beast just after it died with Hagrid's arrows stuck all in it. He took his camera and film home with him."
"The Creevey boy? We must retrieve those pictures and sell them to the Daily Prophet for the boy."
"Let me send Hedwig," Harry said. "Mr. and Mrs. Creevey don't know house elves yet."
++***++ SCENE BREAK
Later in that first afternoon, the floo announced that someone was attempting to access the manor. Lady Longbottom frowned and ordered both boys to remain behind her as she marched down the hall and into the small receiving room where the floo stood.
There in eye-searing robes stood Albus Dumbledore, his powerful wand in his hand as he tried to prevent the wards from ejecting him. Forcing his way into the house uninvited meant Lady Longbottom could deal with him in any manner she chose.
"How dare you break into my home!" she declared, remaining outside the room while powerful wards charged and sealed the intruder within the receiving room.
"Harry did not have my permission to leave Hogwarts for the holiday!" Albus announced. "I have come to return him to the school where he will be safe from Death Eaters and the Dark Lord."
"My ward is safe with me in Longbottom Manor."
Smirking, Albus replied, "Madam, it was fairly simple to overcome your wards and force my way inside."
"Do you think the Death Eaters are as powerful as you now? Or are they as sly with a hundred years of experience in tricking and trapping people?"
"Augusta…"
"The only reason you were able to force your way in was because I did not raise the war wards. But that is resolved now," Augusta said as she interrupted Dumbledore before he could begin a monologue. The war wards grabbed the headmaster, stripped him of his wand and any other magical items on his person and threw him outside the Longbottom wards.
"Where'd he go?" asked Harry.
"There's a pond not far from the edge of our property. He was dropped in there," Neville replied as his grandmother called the head elf. "The headmaster is cold and wet… and probably naked too."
"Close the portal for elves now," Lady Longbottom ordered the head elf. "No one–no wizard, witch or elf–enters the manor for any reason until I say otherwise. The owls must stay in their roost and you will bring each letter to me after scanning them for portkeys, charms and spells."
Then she addressed the air, "That wizard is an idiot! His magic is rotting away at his intelligence!"
Harry asked, "Do your elves know how to use cameras?"
"Yeah, I have them to photograph plants while I am at school," Neville replied.
"Send one to make photographs of the headmaster in the pond," Harry said as he snickered. Augusta smirked and her eyes grew thoughtful as Neville dispatched a trusted elf make the photos.
Only after the elves collected all of Dumbledore's robes and belongings were the wards around the receiving room reset and the boys followed Augusta into the room. With her wand, she extinguished the flames of the floo and then called another elf to appear and remove all of the fuel in the fireplace and every item of furniture, picture frames and rugs from the room.
"There are spells that can be cast through the floo system to ignite the fire and to even collect fuel from any furniture or picture frames in the room. Notice that the floors, walls and ceilings are all stone and the elf removed the rugs on the floor. Even the door is metal so no one can use it as fuel."
The next elf that arrived in the room appeared to be listless so Neville stepped close and hugged it, his magical core filling the elf's reserves. Seeing harry's question before he asked it, Neville explained that the 'master' of the house could refill an elf's magical reserves with a hug.
"That's why the elves want to hug our legs all the time," the blonde boy continued.
"Elveses have hard time closing the elf's portal, Missy August," the elf reported. "Other elveses be crying not to smell the Breath of Magic."
"Tell them what happened…that Dumbledore invaded our home. Once I get him sorted out, we'll see about opening the portal again."
"Yes, Missy August, Slappy tells them," the elf said before popping away.
Now August Longbottom summoned a large prickly ball – made of lead it was covered by spines much like a porcupine. Positioned on a plinth in the now cold fireplace, it closed the floo completely.
"If anyone should use some powerful spell to send fuel and ignite our floo, the moment they attempt to enter the floo to this room, the porcupine will shoot fifty or more spines into their face. If they survive and try again, they get another fifty spines," she explained. "This is one of my own creations after…"
"After Mum and Dad were attacked?" asked Neville and his grandmother nodded.
The photos were developed and no one enjoyed the sight of the naked headmaster floundering around in the cold water. Once he was out of the pond, he stood for almost five minutes before a Hogwarts elf appeared and whisked him away.
Augusta examined Dumbledore's belongings before asking an elf to bring out the furniture removed from the floo room. Both chairs and the little table that sat between them, the run and the painting on the wall were all items that Dumbledore had brought from Hogwarts and placed into the room.
Neville and Harry learned several new curses that afternoon as Lady Longbottom destroyed each item and then banished them into nothingness.
"He destroyed my chairs and table… he banished the rug and the painting into nothingness… And then tried to place his own here to listen to my conversations! Merlin that man is Mordred reborn!"
Now Augusta had an elf bring her a large bag that would nullify any magic from an item stored within. She personally stuffed Dumbledore's robes, hat, portkeys, and finally his funny wand into the bag. If not for being very observant, Harry (and Iggy) might not have noticed the old witch hesitate for a moment with the wand. But her face turned sour and she thrust the wand deep into the bag that she then closed and instructed the boys to tie it shut with muggle twine.
"Do we have to return his belongings?" asked Harry. Finally, Augusta sat back and relaxed for the first time since Dumbledore had forced his way into Longbottom Manor only thirty minutes earlier.
"No," she explained. "He forced his way into our home. If the war wards ripped him to fifty different pieces, it is legal because he threatened my home and children."
"How do Aurors get inside a warded home then?"
"They must use ward breaker devices that are charmed to suck out the magic. It takes many days and is very dangerous."
"Could they break into Longbottom Manor?" asked Neville.
Augusta shook her head, "Only after a month and many explosions that would leave some of them dead or gravely injured. With the war wards raised, they'd all be dead inside five minutes."
"Now, Neville and Harry, I want you two to hide that old goat's belongings somewhere I cannot find them. If he casts a compulsion on me to return them, I don't want to be able to comply. That will help me break the compulsion and then kick him in the bullocks."
Iggy was strangely quiet and didn't offer any opinion about the belongings of Albus Dumblemore.
Lady Longbottom, with an invisible elf attached to her skirt to provide protection, apparated away to the ministry of magic to file a complaint against Albus Dumbledore. She was gone for over an hour and she returned for only a moment to retrieve the photographs the elves had developed from Dumbledore's dip in the pond.
Walking outside the wards (with elven guards) and a large cardboard box tied closed with twine, Harry called for a Hogwarts elf to come. The elf immediately began crying because of the closure of Longbottom Manor to visiting elves who wanted to smell the Breathe of Life.
Neville explained the circumstances to the elf and added, "This is Headmaster Dumbledore's fault. Tell all the elves at Hogwarts what the headmaster did."
"We'll get the portal open again before long but today, I need you to hide this box for me at Hogwarts," Harry said, handing over the cardboard box. "Someplace only the elves know and don't tell anyone. Mr. Greenplants or me might ask for it back someday but until then, only the elves can know where it is."
"Yes, Mr. Magic Rose," the elf said before it vanished with the box in a loud pop.
As they walked back inside the war wards of Longbottom Manor, Neville snickered, "She called you 'Mr. Magic Rose'."
The second day of their holiday began the war wards fully powered and the owl portal opened for known owls to enter. That morning, Hedwig returned with Colin's roll of film. Again, Lady Longbottom apparated away as soon as she had the film and was gone for several hours. Her buzzard Patronus appeared with her message to eat lunch but remain inside the wards without exception until she returned home.
Shortly after receiving the Patronus message, the Daily Prophet arrived with a photo of Headmaster/Chief Warlock Albus Dumbledore in his natural state on the cover. Fortunately, his long beard covered up any objectional bits but the headline told the tale, 'Home Invader Joins the Polar Bear Club of 1992! Dumbledore Takes A Refreshing Dip!'
After reading about the headmaster's 'unfortunate encounter' with wards of a private home he entered illegally, Neville and Harry both laughed at the expression on the headmaster's face and then laughed again at the inside photos of the headmaster's backside covered with frozen mud.
+++***+++ BREAK SCENE
The next morning, the Daily Prophet was even more explosive with photos of the shadow of the giant snake attempting to break through the windows and then the corpse at the edge of the Forbidden Forest with a dozen arrows from Rubeus Hagrid's crossbow buried in the carcass. And then the magical photos that showed movement, recorded the carcass melting away into nothingness and the frustration on the face of Headmaster Dumbledore to lose the valuable potion ingredients it represented.
The DMLE was surveying the entire Forbidden Forest from brooms for other dangerous creatures and the Governors were demanding that 'Polar Bear Dumbledore' make himself available (preferably clothed even if in his horrible robes) for questioning at a meeting they had called at the Ministry of Magic for the next afternoon.
With the headmaster's attention focused elsewhere, Harry Potter began to relax and enjoy his first ever holiday. He leaned back and asked Iggy, [Could that basilisk see me?]
Surprised by the question, Iggy asked, [What do you mean?]
[Could the basilisk have seen me if it broke into the school or I went out there when it attacked?]
[I… I don't want to answer.]
[Why?] asked Harry curiously.
[With my luck, this spring you might face something like werewolves or Death Eaters,] groused Iggy, making Harry snicker.
[Well, Death Eaters can't see me.]
The cloak replied in a stern tone, saying, [But if they know you are in a room, they can cast wide area affect spells and get you with a blast or fiend fire.]
[Urrgghh… you make me madder than Dudley sometimes,] Harry swore. [Now answer my question – could the basilisk have seen me?]
[No, but it could hear you or smell you and I don't know if the gaze would have still worked or not. And we are not going to experiment and find out.]
Now determined to learn spells or charms that would hide all sound and smell, Harry asked, [Would friend fire have burned it up?]
[Without a doubt,] Iggy replied. [Your spell burned up part of the soul of Tom Riddle though it took the whole of last summer. Wiped out the spiders that needed to be killed years ago. I think he jumped from one spider to the next as they died.]
[But it took some time to burn up Riddle? What would it have done to the basilisk? How long would it have taken?]
[That I don't know, but as soon as the basilisk caught fire – even a little fire – it would have fled and been in agony until it died. Fire is extremely painful,] Iggy said.
[How do you know?]
[I've been on fire a few times when a Potter fought different dark lords over the centuries.]
Harry sat up and asked, [Are you alright? Now, I mean, are you alright?]
[I am. My magic heals me, just like I healed you last January while I slept around your shoulders.]
Neville pretended he couldn't see the changes in Harry while he 'talked' to someone invisible. And when he concentrated really hard, he could almost hear the conversation.
SCENE BREAK ++***++
With Lady Longbottom's cooperation, Neville and Harry made many purchases of small presents to send to their friends from Hogwarts for Christmas. The two boys included a large number of books and toys for the younger Creevey children, books for Hermione and Percy, candy for their dorm mates, Ginny and Luna.
Colin and his parents were very surprized by the large number of galleons that were deposited into a vault in Colin's name at Gringotts from the Daily Prophet. The newspaper also expressed an interest in purchasing any other photos the young wizard could take at Hogwarts that were as 'interesting'.
There was one disappointment as the holiday began. Hedwig arrived with a letter from Luna in which she explained that her father had missed her terribly during the autumn, and he had been devastated by the news of the creature's attempt to breach the walls of Hogwarts. He mourned for Luna's mother all over again, and she wanted to spend the whole of the holiday with him. She wrote, 'If however, you find time during your busy days of disturbing goblins and dealing with thieves, you both are welcome to visit us for an afternoon tea.'
BREAK SCENE ++***++
The manor was decorated for Yule and Christmas with traditional evergreen boughs and some pinecones. There were candles and a yule log to burn in the fireplace, and several traditional meals though Lady Longbottom did not take either boy to other homes for any celebrations.
And each morning, Neville and Harry visited the greenhouse, gathered a basket of petals from the Lady Evans Rose and began the process of distilling more Breathe of Magic perfume. The empty perfume bottle sat on the table in the still room under the watchful guard of determined elves.
[I think you should each have a bottle when you return to school,] Iggy said and Harry agreed.
[If there's time and plant buds enough. But I don't want to force it to bud before its ready,] the boy insisted.
One afternoon, Neville took a cutting from the Lady Evans Rose and grafted it onto the roots of a rose his mother is supposed to have planted at the manor. The potted rose was placed inside the same greenhouse as the Lady Evans Rose.
The graft seemed to recover overnight from the move to the new roots and grew quickly.
[Harry, your friend has lots of green magic,] Iggy said. [He could make concrete sprout flowers if he wanted.]
"It won't bud before we return to Hogwarts but it will bloom in the spring," Neville announced after examining the leaves and stems closely.
At the beginning of the second week of the holiday, Lady Longbottom met with the goblins to arrange for a custom ward to be laid upon the greenhouse where the Breathe of Magic roses stood. Visiting elves would make a constant stream of traffic in an out of the greenhouses and the 'pop' from each elf would provide magic to strengthen the ward of the greenhouse and then overflow into the wards around the manor. The customized ward, which was fairly expensive, allowed the visiting elves to enter the greenhouse for five minutes and ten seconds. However, if any elf remained beyond the five-minute limit, he or she was ejected and had to wait two weeks before they could visit again.
On the third day of the new ward being in place, the head elf for Longbottom Manor reported that not a single elf (four hundred and sixty-one) had needed to be ejected at the end of their five minutes. And the elf grinned as she shared stories about the retribution the Hogwarts elves inflicted upon the headmaster for invading Longbottom Manor (and keeping them from the Breathe of Magic).
"Head-goat Whiskers gets no hot tea, only greasy limp bacon, cold beans, and runny eggs for breakfast. His socks all has holes, his robes all have wrinkles like his bum, and Hogwarts elves have added special flavouring to his lemony drops."
Before Lady Longbottom could shout, 'Don't ask!', Neville and Harry leaned in close as the elf whispered the answer to the two young wizards. Pleased that she did not hear, Augusta was vaguely disturbed that the answer made both boys snicker and laugh aloud.
"Gran, never ever never accept a lemon drop from Dumbledore again! In his office, at the Wizengamot, at any minister… just never take anything from him again," begged Neville.
[I would never have thought the little fellows would have it in 'em to piss on his lemon drops,] Iggy snickered. [Oooh… wonder what they put into his lemon biscuits?]
++***++ BREAK SCENE
In the week before the new year, Lady Augusta received a summons from Gringotts Bank for the appearance of young Heir Potter to meet with his account manager. The letter was couched in terms that the wizard could not continue to avoid these meetings just because his guardian allowed such improper behaviour. In preparation for the visit, Augusta and the Longbottom elves dressed Harry and Neville in proper robes but then banished them because the boys looked like Draco Malfoy at his worst and were very uncomfortable.
Iggy spent five minutes laughing and couldn't stop even when Harry grimaced and promised to tell Hogwarts about the entity laughing at his appearance.
[No one dresses like this except the fools meeting at the Wizengamot.] Iggy snickered and said, [Lady Hogwarts will laugh with me and compliment you on avoiding photographs that would have followed you forever.]
After ditching the old-fashioned robes and dressing in new, high-end muggle fashions with Roman robes – medium length panels that were open in front to allow freedom of movement during battle – woven with a plant green thread and their family coats of arms on the left breast, both young wizards appeared confident and wealthy.
"I think we should wear this back to Hogwarts," Harry said. "Could I ask your elf to make me a Gryffindor outer robe like this to wear? Something red and gold but not screaming the colours."
"Yes, and I want one too. And we'll get them for everyone in our year and the firsties," Neville agreed.
Snickering Iggy said, [A fashion revolution at Hogwarts! James would be so proud of you making everyone change how they dress!]
Lady Longbottom opened the floo for the visit and set the porcupine to one side. Sending the two boys through first, Lady Longbottom followed, leaving her elves to guard the floo and watch the war wards while she was absent. Tumbling out of the floo onto the deep pile rug on his accountant's floor of his accountant's office, Harry was greeted by goblin laughter.
"Mr. Potter, your grandfather, Fleamont Potter never learned how to step from the floo without falling down during his entire life. That is why I have a rug with special cushioning charms in place before the floo in my office. I am certain you are his grandson!"
[True. James learned how to use the floo without falling down but I think that was his mother's training. Your mother was always exceeding graceful coming out of the floo and she even was known to emerge casting blasting spells at Death Eaters thinking to surprize her,] Iggy said.
Behind him, Neville and then Lady Augusta stepped through the floo. Augusta was surprized but pleased to find Ironstream, the Potter account manager, and Sowsbreath, the Longbottom account manager present.
"While the matters today only concern Heir Potter, I wanted my colleague to hear all these details so that if there is correspondence that mentions it, he'll understand how to act," Ironstream explained to the Dowager who nodded her head in agreement. Then she introduced Harry Potter to the goblin who oversaw his accounts – his vaults.
Ironstream began by frowning and asking, "Mr. Potter, why is it that you have ignored my messages for the last four years until this day? Since your eighth birthday, I have sent you letters every three months urging you to attend a meeting with me in Gringotts."
Confused at the question, Harry glanced at Lady Longbottom who whispered, "Answer truthfully."
[Yes, answer truthfully,] Iggy said. [Nothing but the truth.]
"I'm sorry Ironstream, I have never received any letters from you or anyone else at the bank. Until my eleventh birthday, I didn't know I was a wizard."
Ironstream pulled out a muggle notebook and brio to make notes as he began asking questions. Harry decided that the ink pen was enchanted because it wrote very quickly across the paper capturing each question and answer.
"Didn't your guardian tell you about being a wizard? Did you never visit any magical sights or attend magical ceremonies to remember the sacrifice of your parents?" the goblin asked as Harry answered.
"These ceremonies occur every year at the sight of their graves."
"I have never been to my parents' graves," Harry said coldly. "Until Hagrid came to take me to Diagon Alley to get my things for school, I didn't know what my father's name was, I didn't know my middle name, and I didn't know how my parents died."
Without a thought for himself, Iggy threw all of his magic into supporting Heir Peverell as these revelations were made. As a consequence, Harry kept from crying but his body began to glow with magic, raising the eyebrows of goblins and Lady Longbottom alike. Neville simply moved closer and laid his hand on Harry's shoulder to support his friend.
"Your guardian never told you any of these things?" asked the confused goblin.
"Aunt Petunia Dursley hated my mother and apparently my father as well," Harry explained. "She told me nothing about them or about magic."
"Who is Petunia Dursley?" asked Ironstream, suddenly fearful for his continued existence.
BREAK ++***++ SCENE