Chapter 2 - Required Backstory
Disclaimer is on first chapter.
Harry had known something was up for a year before he had brought the Gang together. It had been mainly down to Hermione's voracious appetite for books, but it had been him who'd put the pieces together. Her parents had gotten her an innocuous gift – The Soul by Calliope D'Alene, and the girl had consumed every word within a matter of days. And, of course, she had found it 'terribly fascinating' and bugged her friends to try it.
There had been a mild, nagging feeling that they shouldn't at the back of Harry's mind, but he had disregarded it, putting it down to how he'd much rather be out on his broom than attempting to access his own soul. Besides, Harry hadn't seen anyone look quite so eager since Ron at opening feast. Hermione could be very determined when she wanted to be, and the boys found themselves sitting on the floor of a room in the Leaky Cauldron, trying to feel their own magic.
Harry had been sure it hadn't done anything. Hermione had looked mildly disappointed, Ron hungry. Ron usually looked hungry, so it wasn't unusual. After dinner, Hermione made them try again. Ron said he felt like his nose was tingling, then sneezed. Harry just felt tired. Hermione had sighed in defeat and put the book away. She made them try it for a little every day until the end of the holidays, but still there was naught. And on the final day of the holidays, they had gone to sleep, woken up, gotten on the train as if nothing had happened. Harry felt a little odd walking through the barrier but put it down to the wind.
Then, at the feast, it happened. Harry felt a soft buzzing in his mind – but then again, sometimes the castle did let in the bugs, and then they would fly at the candles, catch fire, and fly around setting anything nearby alight. Hermione suddenly got up, claiming to have a headache, and ran to the Hospital Wing. That was unusual, but he let it slide. Then Ron had jumped to his feet and ran after her, complaining of feeling sick. He had left before dessert. That was very unusual – but then again, Ron had eaten four plates of food. Harry had glanced up at the staff table – and felt a violent headache as if he was being attacked by an axe. He wanted to get up, but something more powerful than himself compelled him to stay seated. It was as if his legs were glued to the bench.
An odd calm had descended over him. It felt unnatural, but it was soothing, and Harry would have simply stayed sitting, except that he started wondering if this had anything to do with The Soul, and then he had remembered the whole perception of the soul thing. Hermione had spent at least a quarter hour jabbering on about how meditation might help people push through physical pain. So Harry had tried focussing on his soul again, and the pain had promptly tripled. He had glanced up at the staff table, head now spinning as well as throbbing, and saw the Headmaster looking back at him. Excusing himself hastily, he ran out of the hall to Madam Pomfrey, who despairingly wondered when they were going to stop warming her beds.
It was only afterwards, as he flopped over in the dorm, looking out at the night sky, that he realised what had been happening. It was only afterwards that he correlated the curious calm sensation with the feeling he always had around the Headmaster, now he came to think about it. The comfort, the trust, the eyes that seemed to see right through you…
It was only afterwards that he realised the Headmaster had been trying to hijack his mind.
Harry would have gone to Dumbledore – after all, he was probably the wisest and most powerful wizard in the castle. However, it would have been a tad bit awkward to complain about the Headmaster to the Headmaster. Not to mention, there was no knowing what he might do. So he'd done the next most clever thing and gone straight to the human encyclopaedia. Hermione's alarm was only comparable to Ron's indignation.
"He stopped us before dessert!" he had complained.
"Ronald, that's hardly the problem," Hermione had chided.
"But still. The welcome feast has the best food in the year."
Ron was like that – all heart, stomach, and guts. That bit of him would never change. But he still helped the other two put things together. Harry figured out their minds were being invaded, manipulated; Hermione figured out why; Ron figured out what to do about it.
"The best thing to do to screw with people's minds," he had said, "Would be to put a lot of pressure on them while we build our strength. You know how you stress a teacher? Pull a Twins on them. Checkmate, Harry."
"You just want to blow up stuff in the dungeons."
Ron shrugged. "Guilty, mate."
"I can't believe he's willing to steal people's minds for his 'Greater Good'," Hermione had sighed sadly. "I thought he was meant to be a good man."
"However we feel about it, we can't just stop. Ron's right. We've got to keep going, but keep it quiet," Harry had said, grumpily watching Ron's castles beating up his King, who was squeaking protests about checkmate being a technicality.
They had built up their strength for a whole year before finally enlisting Fred and George to help with their crusade. In that time, they had learned a lot from Hermione's books, and pulled off a couple of stunts – switching Dumbledore's sugar for salt, turning Snape's robes pink, and, after they figured him out, cursing Lockhart's hair curlers to make his hair stand straight on end. But they hadn't really been able to do much, due in part to Dumbledore's sheer power.
"We can't let him realise it's not working," Harry had said, as sat, spooked, in the common room. Justin and Nick had just been petrified and none of the trio had worked it out yet. "But now is really not the time for all this."
"We've got to do it slowly, Harry," Hermione had sighed. "If we slowly resist the mind altering, he won't notice we're shielding ourselves."
"Whatever happens, we had better keep studying up on this," Ron had said.
Hermione had immediately examined Ron's head very carefully before reporting that he was indeed sound of mind. Ron had rolled his eyes and gotten back to eating a piece of bacon.
At the end of the year, the Chamber of Secrets had opened. Harry was thankful for his preparation – he noticed as Riddle tried to take his wand, and kept it safely within his own hands. As he battled the Basilisk and Riddle, Harry had considered calling upon Dumbledore's aid, but pushed the thought away. Instead, he tried to think on his own feet, and, by some miracle, managed to use levitated rocks to damage the snake's eyes, before causing it to bite down on the diary, destroying it. He then used the most powerful spell he knew to blow up a pillar, which crushed the snake to death. Apparently, Harry Potter's luck was rather capricious and couldn't decide whether to kill him or not. Once again, Harry wondered if he should go to the Headmaster, but realised this was probably the echoes of past manipulation speaking to him. He was more in touch with his soul now, and felt that his thoughts came not of his own magic, but someone else's. So he took Ginny, who was more than a little freaked, helped Ron blast through the rock fall from the opposite side, and used a spell he'd seen Lockhart use at the Duelling Club to fly up and out of the chamber. And before they went to explain to the adults, he warned Ginny not to talk about the Basilisk.
The main catalyst for The Gang's formation, however, came from a visit to Gringotts. Hermione had gotten bored during the holidays, and her parents again gave her some books – including one on wizarding law. Honestly, a lot of things were triggered by Hermione reading a book. Sometimes Harry wondered if he should just find a wizarding library, leave Hermione there for a year, then come back. There was always the concern of Hermione taking over the world, though.
In any case, when they arrived at Gringotts and Harry mentioned his vault – his only vault – Hermione nearly had an aneurysm. "Harry! You could have so much lying around there that you don't know about! Dumbledore controlled all your finances – who knows what's there! You could have vaults, properties, investments, or some long-lost relations!" Hermione had shrieked, shaking him slightly.
"Okay, okay! Harry will go down to Gringotts, and so can you," Ron said hastily, as Harry's glasses fell off. "Just don't give him a concussion, please, I need him to play Quidditch."
And so, the next day, Ron, Harry, and Hermione excused themselves to 'get an ice-cream'. Harry assured Mrs Weasley she didn't have to give Ron any pocket money and that this was a thank-you from him after the whole kidnapped Ginny debacle, and the trio sneaked off to the bank.
"We'd like to look into our inheritances, please," Harry said to the goblin, Strorkut.
"All three of you?" the goblin asked.
Ron began to shake his head, but Hermione stopped him. "Yes, please."
Strorkut jumped down from his seat. "Follow me."
He led them to a little room with a desk and chairs and motioned for them to sit down. Then, he pulled three pieces of parchment from a drawer, along with some needles. "Please drop seven drops of blood onto the parchment."
The three did as they were told. Ron splattered the blood a little, Hermione squeaked, and Harry nearly put the needle through his whole finger. This didn't seem to effect the tests, and within a little time, the results began to blossom in red across the pages.
Harry James Potter
Father: James Potter
Mother: Lily Potter (Evans)
Paternal Grandfather: Fleamont Potter
Paternal Grandmother: Euphemia Potter (Davis)
Maternal Grandfather: John Evans
Maternal Grandmother: Bluebell Evans (Newcomb)
Inheritance:
Potter (Final Surviving, full Ownership)
Black (Heir, familial control)
Evans (Final Surviving, full Ownership)
Newcomb (Extinct in Male Line, full Ownership)
Status: Child
Guardian: Albus Percival Wulfric Brian Dumbledore
Magical Residues:
Compulsion Charm
Memory Manipulation
Loyalty Potion
Silence Potion
Magic Binding
Recklessness Potion
Hermione Jean Granger
Father: Robert Granger
Mother: Jean Granger (Stephens)
Paternal Grandfather: Duncan Granger
Paternal Grandmother: Matilda Granger (Lewis)
Maternal Grandfather: Luke Stephens
Maternal Grandmother: Louise Stephens (Meunier)
Inheritance:
Dagworth-Granger (Final Surviving, full Ownership)
Bellerose (Extinct in Male Line, full Ownership)
Duguay (Extinct in Male Line, full Ownership)
Status: Child
Guardian: Albus Percival Wulfric Brian Dumbledore
Magical Residues:
Compulsion Charm
Memory Manipulation
Loyalty Potion
Silence Potion
Magic Binding
Eidetic Memory Binding
Ronald Bilius Weasley
Father: Arthur Weasley
Mother: Molly Weasley
Paternal Grandfather: Septimus Weasley
Paternal Grandmother: Cedrella Weasley (Black)
Maternal Grandfather: Hyacinthus Prewett
Maternal Grandmother: Lucia Prewett (Greengrass)
Inheritance:
Weasley (Familial control)
Prewett (Extinct in Male Line, familial control)
Status: Child
Guardian: Arthur Weasley
Magical Residues:
Compulsion Charm
Memory Manipulation
Loyalty Potion
Silence Potion
Magic Binding
Jealously Potion (Time Keyed)
The silence was broken by Hermione puffing herself up. "That old bat! I expected a few memory alterations or compulsions, but potions? Recklessness? Memory? Jealousy potion, keyed to a specific time? Our magic bound – good grief, I could strangle him."
"Technically, you can't, because your magic's bound," Ron said lamely.
"How do you think muggles kill each other, Ron?" Hermione asked, still inflated like an angry pufferfish.
"At least we know a little about those inheritances," Harry said. "And in the meantime, we know what to look out for."
Hermione nodded. "I suppose."
Ron, however, was thinking.
"Earth to Ron." Hermione smacked him upside the head and he sat up a little straighter.
"Strorkut," he asked. "Shouldn't our families be receiving a statement? I know mom checks over the one from the Weasley vault twice, to make sure we don't lose any money from a scam. But I've never seen the Prewett one."
"The Prewett vault is as yet unclaimed," Strorkut explained. "As are many of the other vaults in your inheritances. It's annoying. All the money's locked up and doesn't circulate through the economy. Bad for business."
"Well, what can we do?" Hermione asked.
"As heirs, you can claim your inheritances. But all vault transfers larger than 100G will have to be approved by your guardian," the goblin said.
Harry frowned slightly. "A moment, please?" The goblin nodded and Harry turned to the others. "That's good for you, Ron, your family will come into the Prewett's money. But Dumbles isn't going to make it easy for you or me, Hermione."
"I didn't realise he was my guardian in the magical world," Hermione huffed crossly. "I assumed it would go to my family."
"No, because they aren't magical, and you are," Ron said, slowly. "Wait…"
"What is it?" Harry asked.
"If you're the last of a line, you become Head of the House. Not school house, the family House. It runs to males first, then females. Like the Queen, you know? And then, each House has a Wizengamot seat… and the Head is entitled to manage themselves so long as they can prove they're mentally sound. Like, um…"
"They're emancipated?" Hermione asked.
Ron nodded. "I guess. So, if we bide our time, pretending to play into Dumbledore's hands, only touching the things that won't notify him…"
"We can shock him when we come out," Hermione beamed. "Ron, you're a genius."
Ron blushed slightly.
"Not to mention, we'd have decent political clout with a few allies," Harry added. "Let's see. Weasley, Prewett, Bellerose, Duguay, Potter, Newcomb. That's six houses already, if you don't count Granger."
"So we claim, but don't take?" Hermione asked, to verify.
"Well. We can take a little, so long as we don't take more than 100G from each vault in a transaction," Harry smirked slightly. "Dumbles won't know what's hit him."
"You're starting to act like a Slytherin," Ron said, mildly unnerved.
Harry just shrugged, then turned to the goblin. "Thank you for this, Strorkut. Could we claim that which we've inherited, please?"
"Of course," Strorkut said. "Sign here, and another drop of blood, please." The three children signed and dropped their blood onto the parchment, and Strorkut rolled up the parchment. "Will you retrieve anything now?"
"Not at the moment, thank you, Strorkut," Harry said. "Thank you for this."
"May your coffers overflow," Hermione piped up from next to them. Ron looked puzzled, but nodded, and while the goblin didn't smile, he seemed a little happier as he showed the trio out.
"What made you say that?" Ron asked, as they stepped into the sunshine.
"I read up on goblin culture. It's a favourite farewell of theirs," Hermione answered. "I like it better than 'May your enemies be beheaded and their heads roll on the floor.'"
Ron nodded slowly. "Good then. Well. We'd better get started, I guess – are we up for ice-creams still?"
And so, the trio set about making allies – though not before coming up with a decent excuse for the Weasley's sudden coming into wealth.
"Oh. Hermione overheard some goblins talking about the Prewett vault still being unclaimed. So she told us about it, and I remembered you were a Prewett, mum. So, I asked about it, and they did some tests, and here we are," Ron said, shrugging his shoulders.
Arthur needed brandy. Molly needed firewhiskey. And the Weasley parents weren't the only bamboozled people that night. Fred and George were ecstatic but very surprised at the trio's interest in their little crimes, especially 'Little Miss Perfect'. Percy wanted to know what all the fuss was about, because it was interrupting his studies. Ginny was excited at finally being included in something her brothers did.
"You'll make an excellent soldier," Fred told her. "You're very scary, if you ask Percy. He hid under the bed for three hours that time he accidentally broke your chair."
Fred and George, in turn, recruited Lee as soon as school was in session. Ginny recruited Luna, as much as you could recruit someone who seemed to already know what was going on, and Ron decided to rope Neville in. Just in case it toughened him up. Of course, there was a little bit of worry around the whole 'covert' business where Fred and George were concerned, but that was soon cleared up - after all, they could work with the group while still blowing up toilets. And from then on, the revolution was in full swing. They trained, they plotted, they pranked, and they certainly never let their guard down. At the end of the year, the discovery of Sirius Black –a real live Marauder, much to the twin's delight – was yet another asset they managed to steal out of Dumbledore's hands. It was so simple too – they just warned him and gave him some antidotes Hermione had brewed out of one of Hagrid's enormous pumpkins, transfigured into something like a cauldron. Remus Lupin would be more difficult, but they could probably figure something out. Harry Potter left the school secure in the knowledge his godfather was safe, Buckbeak was safe, and the newly named Gang and its code-named members weren't going anywhere any time soon.