Chapter Five: Things get heated
Despite some protest from Mrs. Weasley, Harry returned home with his godfather and uncle the next day.
Harry hadn't slept well that night, dreaming of doors and endless corridors.
When they had gotten home, he had taken a long shower before getting dressed again and then joined Remus and Sirius for a late breakfast.
Outside the summer heat had finally been broken and it was raining once more.
"I'm gonna go and see Gina." Harry announced as soon as he was finished with his cereal.
Remus and Sirius exchanged a brief glance.
"I'll take you over there." Remus offered.
Harry nodded.
There was no point in arguing about going alone.
Less than 24 hours ago two Dementors had attacked him after all.
So an hour later Remus and he were trudging through the rain towards Gina's home.
Gina's adoptive mother, a charming woman by the name of Grace van Zuid, opened the door.
She was surprised to see them but invited them in anyway.
Gina's four younger siblings, all adopted as well, swarmed Harry the minute he set foot inside the living room.
"Gina is taking a shower right now, she'll be down in a few minutes." Grace announced as she came back downstairs.
"She had a great evening yesterday by the way, she couldn't stop talking about how much she enjoyed your movie-night. And it was so kind of you to escort her back home, Harry my dear." Grace gushed as she handed them tea and scones and homemade marmalade.
Harrys mouth was dry as sawdust but he swallowed and smiled at her.
"But of course, Mrs. van Zuid." He said thinly.
Abi, Gina's seven-year-old brother, tugged on Harrys sleeve.
"Can you play with us Harry?" he asked with his best puppy-eyes.
Gently Harry pried his little hand off his sweater and said: "Not today Abi, I need to speak with your sister just for a second and then we will be off again." He explained.
Abi pouted and left.
Harry sighed.
"Don't feel bad, they have perfected the art of making you feel guilty for refusing them." came Gina's voice from the kitchen door.
With a towel still wrapped around her head, dressed in sweatpants and a worn-out t-shirt, she stepped into the room.
She looked fine, her skin still flushed from the shower and no visible injuries on her anywhere.
Harry felt a stone drop from his heart.
"Hey." he greeted her and got up.
"Hey Harry, what brings you here this early?" she smiled back at him.
"Just wanted to check up on you" He said with a shrug "And to tell you that we're staying at a friends' place for a few days, maybe even until the end of the holidays and afterwards I will be off to school again, so I might not see you until the winter holidays."
Her face fell.
"Oh, that's too bad."
"I know, it sucks. But you can write me to this address and they will pass it on to me while I'm in school." he promised, handing her a piece of paper.
It was a system developed for Muggleborn and Half-Bloods who had friends and family on the outside, who didn't and couldn't know about Magic.
In order to keep up the appearance of just being a regular if not slightly reclusive private boarding school, the ministry had opened a postal shop in London where aforementioned family members and friends could send letters to, which would be transferred to the students of Hogwarts via owl-service and the other way around they would receive the letters from the students meant for their friends and direct them on via the normal muggle postal-service.
Gina smiled as she took the piece of paper.
"Awesome, I will do that! I never had a pen-pal before." She said with a wink.
"Not true, you had that Italian boy you met on holiday when you were twelve." Grace reminded her.
"That doesn't count, we wrote each other twice and then forgot about it." Gina protested. Turning back to Harry she added: "Don't worry, I will not do that to you!"
"Well, that's nice." Harry smiled.
"Well, we best be on our way then. Lots to do." Remus reminded them, getting up. "Thank you for the tea and the scones Mrs. van Zuid. Until the next time." He thanked Grace politely.
Gina hugged Harry.
"Look after yourself when you're back in school and if there's anything you need just write me." She whispered in his ear.
"I will, thank you Gina. Look out for yourself as well and tell the others I said Hi and that I will miss them." He whispered back.
"I will. See you soon Harry." She promised.
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Grimmauld Place was almost empty by the time they returned.
Mr. Weasley was at work, Mrs. Weasley was out getting groceries with Ginny, Fred and Percy and aside from them nobody else permanently lived in the house.
George was sulking in the living room, working on one of their many joke-products.
"What's wrong?" Harry asked as he picked up the newspaper from the coffee-table. Sirius and Remus had just said their goodbyes as well and headed off to work.
"Mum doesn't like our joke-shop-idea and now she tries to keep up sperate as much as she can. Joke's on her through, we're most productive when we're at school anyway." George explained sullenly.
"That's sucks." Harry muttered, scanning the front of the newspaper.
Same old. He was a liar, Dumbledore was dangerous and there was nothing wrong with the world.
Disgusted Harry put it back down.
"Where are the others?" he asked.
"Hermione is in the kitchen doing homework and Ron went outside to fetch more candle-oil for her." George said with a shrug, twirling his wand in his hand.
"Alright, I'm going to look for them. Join us if you want."
"And get in the way of the Golden Trios shenanigans? No way." George snorted.
"The what?" Harry asked confused.
George raised an eyebrow.
"Don't tell me you never heard people refer to you three by that name…" he asked.
But seeing Harrys empty expression he shook his head.
"You really are oblivious sometimes, you know that? You pretty much had that nickname since first year, 'cause you three are always together, always get into trouble together, etcetera…Even the teachers call you that whenever they talk about you." He explained.
"This is honestly the first time I have heard that name." Harry assured him.
"Well, my answer stands. Go find your better thirds, I have work to do anyway on this Puke-pastilles."
"Puke-Pastilles?"
"It's exactly what it sounds like."
"Awesome."
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Hermione was in the kitchen, just as George had said.
She had taken advantage of the empty house and the big kitchen table and spread her work out around her.
"Hey Mione." He greeted her as he stepped inside.
"Harry!" she said with a bright smile and jumped to her feet to hug him.
"I was only gone a few hours." He reminded her with a laugh.
She let go of him.
"I'm sorry. I know I'm being silly but…These last few months…I've almost lost you more times than I can bear and…it just makes me so happy every time I see you are actually fine and here…" she admitted with a lowered head.
Her confession startled Harry.
For the first time he realized how much his friends must have suffered as well and what they as well must have gone through.
"I'm sorry I wasn't a better friend Hermione. I'm sorry for snapping at you yesterday." He mumbled, pulling her into a hug.
"Oh no Harry, that's not what I meant. You have so much to worry about anyway, don't worry about me as well, it's fine. I'm just being…you know…silly." She protested.
"You are not silly Hermione. Just…" and remembering Georges' words he added "thank you for always standing by my side. I don't think I thank you guys enough for…well, for everything and all the things I drag you into. You are the best friends in the world."
"Oh Harry, you don't drag us into anything. We follow you because…well, because you are our friend and that's what friends do." She said firmly, staring his straight into the eyes.
"Also…we believe in you. And what you do and what you say. And Ron and I talked about this and…Harry, we are with you. Whatever might come next, we will remain next to you. We agree with you, there is a fight coming and you are at its centre, but that does not mean we will leave you to fight it alone. They may not like it but it's our war too. It's our lives, our future, Voldemort is threatening. And we will not stand idly by while he takes it from us. So…no matter what they say or try to do, you can always count on Ron and me. We will follow you anywhere and what is our is yours if you need it." She whispered fiercely, a fire burning in her eyes that Harry had only seen a few rare times before, one of them being just seconds before she sucker-punched Malfoy in the jaw.
To others this…confession of loyalty and…devotion…would have been awkward but it didn't feel awkward to Harry.
Hermione had been his constant companion for the better part of five years now and she was a part of him in a way.
Hearing her now say this out loud…it was a relief for Harry and a reassurance that he had the support he had craved form others for so long.
"Thank you, Hermione. This means a lot to me. I will do my best to be worthy of your trust. Besides, you know I'd be helpless without your smarts."
She smiled. "That is true. Speaking of which, have you finished your homework. I've finally managed to convince Ron to start with it. Can you believe it? Scholl starts in two weeks and he hasn't done a thing?"
Harry laughed.
One moment she was deadly serious, promising to fight by his side of die trying and in the next she complained about their missing homework.
"I can not believe it" He admitted before adding "Where is Ron anyway? George said something about oil?"
"Ah, yes, I asked Ron to fetch me more candle-oil and lamps. It's so gloomy in here, I wanted better lighting of my workspace" she explained before adding thoughtfully "Although he has been gone for quite a while now."
"Let's go find him." Harry suggested.
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Grimmauld Place had a tiny garden out back but it was in terrible condition and most of the back was taken in by a garden shed.
They waded through waist-high grass and sunk to their knees in water when out of nowhere a tiny pond appeared.
"Urgh…this is disgusting." Hermione muttered.
There was light on in the shed, they could see an orange glow come out from under the door.
"What is he doing in there?" Hermione muttered.
Harry reached for the door-handle and gently pushed open the door.
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It was not what they had expected.
Harry had expected to find Ron searching the hut for the oil and the lamps.
What they found was Ron crouching low on the ground over a lamp, clicking his fingers wildly, cursing lowly under his breath.
He didn't hear them enter and Harry exchanged a quick confused glance with an equally confused Hermione.
Their confusion turned to horror when all of a sudden Ron's fingers burst into fire!
Ron cheered.
Hermione screamed.
Ron, startled by her scream, jumped in surprise, fell over, his still burning fingers flailing wildly, before his whole lower arm burst into flames.
"Ron!" Harry shouted in warning but too late.
A spark from Ron's burning arms hit the lamp on the ground, which instantly ignited, tipped over and set fire to an old dusty polar-bear-rug that hung from one of the rafters.
It went up in flames like kindling.
"Everybody out!" Harry shouted.
Hermione dragged Ron to his feet by his not-burning elbows and together they stumbled backwards out of the now merrily burning shed and back into the garden.
Ron, still flapping his arms, trying to dose the flames, tripped, pulling Hermione down with him, who in turn fell into Harry and all three of them landed with a mighty splash in the mucky water of the tiny pond.
The flames on Ron's arms finally went out.
Panting the three got to their knees.
The burning shed in the background illuminated their dirty faces.
They looked at each other, not quite sure who should speak first, when from the backdoor of the house George's voice said: "And you wonder why I didn't want to join you."
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George dosed the fire quickly but refused to dry or clean any of them, stating: "How else will you learn not to set things on fire?"
Since nothing in the shed was salvageable, the three friends returned to the house for some hot showers.
Thanks to the magic wards nobody had noticed anything and no alarms had been triggered either, so no leagues of concerned adults were summoned back to the house, thankfully.
George didn't bother to ask questions but made it sure, that he would not take the blame for this.
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After they each had showered and dressed in dry comfy clothes, they sat down in the room Ron and Harry shared, Ron on his bed and Hermione and Harry opposite of him on Harrys bed.
Silence, as the old grandfather clock on the corner ticked on.
"So…" Ron began but Hermione interrupted him.
"What the hell Ronald?" she hissed. "You promised me you would not do it again! At least not without someone there."
"It's not like I can exactly go to my parents with this, can I?" Ron asked bitingly.
"Hey, hey, hey" Harry interrupted, forming a T with his hands "Timeout everybody, can someone tell me what the hell is going on here?"
Hermione kept glaring at Ron, who sighed and leaned back against the wall.
"Do you remember just before the second task last year when Fred and I had this huge argument that ended with me spontaneously combusting?" Ron asked casually.
Harry narrowed his eyes.
"Yes, I do. But I thought that was accidental magic."
"I don't think it is." Ron said, suddenly excited. "You see, I thought it was a one-time-thing as well but then I did it again when I tried lightning a candle back home. I had no matches, which annoyed me, so I just waved my hand angrily and he candle lit up! I thought it was some weird ass coincidence but then…"
"…he did it again here on the first night of the summer holidays." Hermione interrupted him angrily.
"He was sitting right there and waved his hands at a candle. At first nothing happened but then a spark flew from his hand, hit the candle and it burned. And not just it but the bed-spread as well!"
Guiltily Ron flipped over the covers to reveal a burnt patch.
"I made him promise me to not do it again alone. And to talk to someone about it." Hermione added angrily.
"Yeah right, because Harry walks up to everyone he knows and tells them he's a parselmouth. Come on Hermione, this isn't exactly normal!" Ron argued.
"You cannot possible compare being a parselmouth with your…fire-power, whatever it is!" she muttered.
"I don't even know what it is. It doesn't always work and most of the time it goes wrong. I'm just trying to see if I can control it."
"You could get yourself killed!"
"The fire doesn't burn me, look!"
Ron showed them his pale white but unharmed hands and forearms.
"You could get someone else killed." Hermione corrected her statement without hesitation.
"I'm careful." He protested.
"Like right now, when you burned down the shed?"
"That wasn't my fault, if you hadn't startled me it would have been fine."
"Fine my ass. This wasn't our fault!"
"Guys!" Harry shouted, holding up his hands. "Calm down. Please!"
Both of them shut up though Hermione didn't look happy about it.
Harry turned back to Ron.
"Show me." He said quietly.
Ron grinned before his face broke into a look of tense concentration.
All five fingers of his right hand lit up at once.
Hermione flinched violently, her hand reaching for her wand but the fire stayed where it was, calm and gently wavering back and forth.
Carefully Harry got up and sat down next to Ron.
He reached out for the flames but pulled back when the heat got to intense.
"Wicked." he muttered. "Turn it off."
Ron frowned. "That's not as easy. Sometimes it goes off on its own and sometimes when I run water over it but sometimes even then it keeps on burning."
"Just try. Make it go out. I mean, you summoned it, then you can make it disappear, right?" Harry asked encouragingly.
"I guess so…" Ron muttered, concentrating once more.
One by one the fire around his fingers flickered and then went out.
Carefully Harry took Ron's hand.
It was cool to the touch and perfectly normal.
Looking over to Hermione he asked: "Have you ever heard about something like this? People having…I don't know…these kinds of abilities?"
She had her arms crossed over her chest but replied nonetheless.
"Well…not exactly like this. But…it could be worth looking into it." She admitted. "If Ron promises to be more responsible with it. You need to learn to control it."
"I will!" Ron promised excitedly.
"So…what do we tell the others when they ask what happened to the shed?" Harry asked.
Ron hesitated. "I'd rather not tell anyone just yet. Not until we know more about…whatever this is…" he said.
"Fair enough." Harry said. Seeing Hermione's indecisiveness, he added: "It's his power Mione. It's his decision."
She sighed. "So what do we tell then then?"
.
Harry was pretty sure nobody really believed their story about them tripping over a lit lamp while searching for more oil in the shed and George pointedly hid behind an open newspaper, but luckily nothing of real value had been lost on the fire and most adults were just glad nothing had happened to them.
"It was George who put out the fire. He immediately took action and made sure we were alright." Harry added lastly.
"Really?" Mrs. Weasley asked astounded.
Fred patted his twin on the back.
"Yes, he's very responsible." Harry added with a tiny wink at George.
George rolled his eyes. "Don't go around ruining my reputation Potter!" he teased Harry.
And that was the last of it.
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But that sadly wasn't the last fiery incident of the evening.
Dumbledore came by after dinner.
As soon as they had sat down, he explained why he was there.
"I talked to the office for regulation of underage magic and Madam Hopkirk has agreed to give you a chance to defend yourself. Apparently, she didn't know it was your first offence. She was under the impression that as a third time offender you knew the risks. But since Fudge cleared you of all charges two summers ago, this makes it your first offence and gives you the right to defend your actions."
"Third time offender?" Sirius asked with a raised eyebrow.
Harry sighed. "The summer before second year a house elf used a levitation charm in my home to drop a cake on my uncles' boss's wife during a dinner party and you already know how I blew up Aunt Marge during the summer of third year. But the Minister cleared me off those charges." He explained quickly.
"Indeed." Dumbledore agreed. Then he added: "Any how Harry, this is good news. Mafalda is an old friend of mine and an impartial judge. She will hear you out and with enough evidence to support your reasons for using magic I don't worry about you being allowed to return to Hogwarts come September at all."
From the folds of his robes he pulled out an envelope and handed it to Harry.
"This is the invitation to your hearing."
Harry opened the letter and overflew the lines written there.
Three days from now at eleven o'clock in the morning.
"Thank you, Headmaster." He said, handing the letter to Sirius to read.
"I of course, along with Sirius, Poppy and maybe Remus, will speak in your defence."
"Shouldn't I get a lawyer or something like that?" Harry asked.
Dumbledore waved it aside.
"It's just a private hearing in her office. No need for a lawyer, after all, you did nothing wrong."
"If I didn't do anything wrong, why am I in this situation?" Harry asked dryly.
"Don't worry Harry, we'll clear this up in no time. Now, if you'll excuse me, I will have a piece of Molly's delicious pie before returning to Hogwarts."
As soon as he was out of the room, Sirius looked at Harry and asked: "What do you think pup?"
Harry looked back down at the letter.
"I think I'd rather have a lawyer by my side. No offence, but the Ministry is out to get me. I'm not leaving anything to chance."
"Anyone you have in mind?" Sirius asked.
"Sort of." Harry muttered.
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Ducking underneath a low hanging sign proclaiming "50% off newts' eyes – only today!" Harry pressed past a particular fat wizard and finally reached the front stairs to Gringotts.
He would have preferred to floo there, not risking being spotted out in the open like this, but they'd run out of floo powder and while Remus was picking up new one, Sirius and Harry were going to a meeting with the Goblins.
They were the only allies Harry felt he had left and when he had suggested to Sirius that he'd rather have a lawyer than let Dumbledore 'handle it', Sirius had suggested he'd talk to Argentum and see if the Goblin could help.
Since Harry had sustained rather serious injuries during the third task and his recovery had been less than smooth, Argentum had put his apprenticeship on hold for now, giving Harry the summer to get back on his feet.
He was supposed to come in for his first holiday classes this Wednesday but now this had come up and Harry wasn't sure he could really concentrate on Curse-Breaking with all this shit going at the the side.
So he had written Argentum a short letter, explaining the situation and asking for help.
In return his Goblin teacher had summoned him to the bank today.
Flashing his apprentice-badge to the goblin guarding the corridor to the private offices of the different Guilds, Harry quickly made his way to Raknok's office.
The badges were a new thing.
Apparently, while the rest of the wizarding world put their heads in the sand, the goblins had caught on that something foul was going on as of late and had increased their security even more.
Even though Argentum hadn't said so explicitly in the letter, Harry assumed that he would be able to help him. Why else would he invite them to come here for a meeting?
They reached the door and Harry knocked sharply.
"Come in Potter." Called out a familiar voice.
Harry opened the door to the messy office of the master to his guild.
For a brief second, he remembered just how long he hadn't been here and hadn't seen the old Goblin.
Nothing much had changed.
The office was still chaotic and filled to the brim with all sort of clutter and Raknok was still the old wrinkled, scarred goblin dressed in armour that he had been twelve months ago.
"Good, you're here." said Raknok in a way of greeting.
"Sit down, we have a lot to talk about" he continued, gesturing at the empty chairs in front of his desk "You know Argentum. And this is one of our lawyers, who has specialized in representing our apprentices in all kinds of matters." He added, pointing at the two Goblins who Harry only then saw.
Argentum had come and seen him at the hospital for a short visit. He hadn't changed much since then.
The other goblin was just a small as his colleagues with raven black hair and beetle-eyes and a hook-nose.
Harry greeted his mentor before turning to the goblin lawyer.
He was surprised when he greeted him by clasping his lower arm. Harry returned the gesture automatically.
"Well met Harry Potter" the goblin said in a voice that was smoother than his appearance suggested "I've heard a lot about you. My name is Grit."
"Well met." Harry replied before sitting down next to Sirius.
Argentum stood up to speak.
"You did the right thing coming to us Potter. While we have no reason to assume that this hearing will be any more than that, you are still first and foremost our employee and investment. Our claim is higher and we have more say about what happens to you. At the same time, we have an obligation to you too as you are our charge." He explained briskly.
Harry nodded.
"I have already been informed about what happened and have taken the liberty to collect a statement from Healer Pomfrey about the events that night, as well as Aurors Shacklebolt and Tonks and how they managed the situation. They did everything in accordance with protocol in regard to the muggle that witnessed everything. The only thing they didn't do was inform the Ministry that the muggle had been taken care of. But so many wizards get caught using magic by muggles everyday and they simple obliviate them without ever telling the Ministry. The only reason they found out now was because you are underage." Grit took over. "But I don't worry about that at all. We have the facts and enough evidence to support your claim that the situation justified the use of underage magic."
"That's all nice and well but what if that's not enough?" Harry asked.
"You can always give your memories. It wouldn't have to be the entire evening, just the part where the Dementors attacked and where the girl was obliviated and taken home." Grit explained easily.
"You're not the first apprentice we had that got caught using underage magic. And at least with you it's a valid reason. In these hearings you usually just have to explain yourself, then you get a slap on the wrist if it's a first-time thing and then you are sent home." Argentum added.
"Maybe, but the Ministry is not my biggest fan at the moment and I'm just concerned that they'll somehow turn this against me."
"While we can't argue with that, we can assure you that we are prepared for all eventualities." Grit assured him.
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The day of the hearing, Harry and Sirius arrived early as per the suggestion of Grit, so they could meet up before the actual hearing and go over their statements one last time.
Harry kept close to Sirius as they walked through the Ministry.
He hadn't slept well last night, once more dreaming of endless corridors and locked doors. He'd woken up in the middle of the night with a feeling of anger and frustration deep inside of him.
Now the lack of sleep and the thousands of Ministry employees all around him, the noises and the feeling of dread of what lay ahead of him, made him moody and irritable.
As they passed under the humongous canvas with the picture of Cornelius Fudge on it, Sirius muttered in his ear: "We're almost there Harry. Grit told us to meet him at the third elevator."
Harry just nodded.
He had already spotted the Goblin.
His lawyer saw them too and waved them over.
Harry set to greet him but the Goblin was faster.
"It's an outrage, let me tell you this. Don't worry Mr. Potter, I have already called in for back up and we will sort this out."
The bad feeling intensified.
"Why, what happened?" he asked as Grit ushered them into an elevator.
"The time and place of your hearing has been changed. Instead of meeting with Hopkirk you are now being summoned before the entire Wizengamot! In ten minutes!" the Goblin growled, his pointy teeth flashing in the light of the elevator.
Harrys stomach turned.
"What? What does that mean?" he asked.
It was Sirius who answered for him.
"It means someone found out about what happened and is trying to use it against you. Just what we didn't want to happen."
Harry paled.
"And the entire Wizengamot…that means…." He asked.
"All fifty members, the chief warlock and the Minister of Magic." Grit growled.
The elevator lurched sideways and then down again.
"Can they do that?" Sirius asked with clenched fists.
"I doubt anyone cares." Grit replied.
They lurched to a stop and the doors opened.
A shiver went down Harrys spine.
A shiver of familiarity. He'd been here before…
Grit let them to a door at the far end of long corridor.
Before he opened the door he turned to Harry.
"Let us handle this. Speak only when you feel like it and don't worry. We got you."
Harry nodded, swallowing hard.
Grit nodded and pushed open the door.