"Talking"
"Thoughts"
"Writing"
"Spells"
Doubledamn: It would give them the same benefits as Harry, nothing special.
Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter
Xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx Bridge Street, Little Whinging xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
Sarah and Michael Jacobs sat in their living room, both reading as they waited for Harry to show up. He had been out of school for a week now, they had planned for the visit before Harry had left for school. They had both read the Prophet and were a bit curious as to all the rumors floating around about the year, Sarah a bit more the Michael. She slapped her book shut as the floo sprang to life and Harry stumbled out of the fireplace, he didn't fall thanks his quick reflexes and a chair nearby.
"Harry." Sarah smiled as she stood and walked over to the boy. "Welcome back." She held her arms out and pulled the boy into a quick hug. "Come sit and tell us all about school." She said and turned to bring him to the couch with her.
"Welcome back Harry." Michael said with a nod to the boy.
"Thank you." Harry said with a smile. "It's nice to be back."
"Yes it was rather boring without you around." Sarah said with a sigh. "Now please tell us about your first year."
Harry nodded and began telling them about everything from his train ride to the last day, though he left out a few things. They may have raised him but the Jacobs always taught him to never reveal anything more then you needed to. Harry also knew the main reason they were so caring to him was they wanted an easy life later on, he didn't blame them for that though and it wasn't as if they mistreated him.
Sarah and Michael sat silently as Harry told them everything, at first they were quite proud of his accomplishments, especially getting Rita under his thumb. Though when he told them about Voldemort they both went pale, they had thought the nightmare of Voldemort was over but now they worried about him coming back. "How can we deal with this?" Sarah asked, more to Michael but she doubted Harry hadn't been thinking about it.
"I've looked into banishing spirits." Harry replied. "It's possible but there are different rituals depending on the type of spirit."
"Not to mention you have to find him." Michael stated, something they all could tell would be nearly impossible.
"Yeah I've been working on figuring that out to." Harry replied.
"Good." Sarah said with a nod. "You have a plan but I think you shouldn't focus too much on him, if it were easy to come back to life he already would be."
Harry nodded in agreement, Voldemort must have used a lot of resources to find and attempt to get the stone. Without it he would need to look for another route and Harry doubted there were many if it took years to find out about the stone.
"What about Black?" Michael asked. "Is he going to be a problem?"
"No." Harry shook his head. "I spend some time with him and he's happy, I plan on leaving him in charge of the pub I'm building for gambling." The Jacobs nodded.
"I doubt you'll have to worry about stealing then." Michael replied.
"I thought as much." Harry answered. "And if he goes back to his old self I hear he was quite a partier, which will help the atmosphere."
Sarah nodded. "Good, how go your other plans?"
"Planning wise they are set." Harry replied, not wanting to go into detail. Sarah accepted that. "And I have Theo starting to help get things underway."
"I hope he turns out to be loyal." Michael meant it, loyalty was a hard thing to gain but once you had it life became a bit easier.
Harry nodded and then turned the subject to what they had been doing throughout they year.
xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx Potter Manor, Kielder Forest xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
Theo arrived on the front porch thanks to the Portkey Harry had made for him. It had been a week since he had met with Harry and in that time he had finished the task Harry set for him. He carefully checked the pouch at his side, opening it to ensure the potions inside didn't get damaged, before knocking on the door.
"Welcomes Mr. Theo's." Zeus said as he opened the door. "Master is in his study." Zeus let him in then guided Theo upstairs and to a large set of ornamental doors. Walking in Theo looked around to see pictures hung on the wall, though they didn't move.
"Must have been from before people could enchant pictures." Theo thought, he had several hanging in the lower rooms of his home. At the far end of the room between two windows was a large dark wooden desk, Harry sat behind it in a tall black leather chair.
"Hello Theo." Harry said with a nod. "Thank you Zeus, that will be all." The elf nodded before popping away. "How did it go?"
Theo pulled his case off as he walked to the desk and slide it across to Harry. "Easy, took so long because I went to different places just to avoid suspicion."
Harry took the case and pulled out a vial. "Interesting." He said as he examined it.
"There's instructions in the case but basically just add some hair and then wave your wand to finish it." Theo informed him.
Harry reached into the case and found the parchment, looking it over he saw the movement was simple. "Perfect, and I have one hour between doses correct?" He knew but wanted to seem a bit naïve.
"No these should last longer, guaranteed six hours." Theo informed him. "You'll feel the effects changing you before it happens though."
Harry nodded again and opened a drawer to pull out a plastic baggy of hairs. "Should be perfect then, and the vials are charmed?"
"Yep, keeps any potion viable for days." Theo answered. "So what are we doing with these?"
Harry drummed the desk for a second, deciding what he could reveal. "I want to hire some people and get some information, using Polyjucie I can do so without people knowing it's me." Theo nodded.
"Just be careful, you don't gain anyone's knowledge or skills so you could be attacked." Theo said.
"I plan to be don't worry." Harry replied as he took a hair from the bag and dropped it into the vial. Waving his wand in the pattern listed the potion changed from a mud like substance to a dark blue color.
xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx Knockturn Alley xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
Harry, now in the guise of Charles, walked confidently down the streets of Knockturn alley. He held back a grin as he saw witches and wizards move out of his way, naturally because few wizards had the size and build of Charles. Keeping focused Harry walked to a small pub, the White Wyvern, which was the equivalent to the Leaky Cauldron but known for having a seedier crowd.
Walking around Harry noticed the tables were all small, able to hold four people barely, and scattered around the dusty floor. Set inside the back wall was the bar, which held many unlabeled bottles along it's back. A few patrons were in the building, a few looking at the door as he entered but turning back to their drinks quickly. Walking to the bar a grimy looking man with balding hair moved to him.
"What ya want?" The man asked in a deep voice, Harry reached into his pocket and slide a sickle towards him.
"Information." Harry replied, the man cocked an eyebrow as he picked up the Sickle and bit into it.
"On what?" He asked as he pocketed the coin.
"Need to hire some people to do a couple of jobs." Harry answered quietly. "Need to be reliable and discreet, no anyone?"
"Might." The bartender mumbled and reached under the bar for a bottle, he opened it and placed it in front of Harry. "For the right price."
"Them or you?" Harry asked and the man grinned.
"Both." He answered. "Them depends on the work."
Harry nodded and reached into a different pocket. "You send four such people here tonight at six and I'll see you get paid." He tossed the man the parchment then pulled out two Galleons. "Two more if they show, four more if they prove reliable." The mans eyes shot open.
"That be a right good price." The bartender said with a chuckle. "Who might I say they be meet'in?"
Harry took the bottle as he stood up. "Mr. Riddle." The man nodded and Harry turned to leave, placing the beer in front of a man as he passed.
xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx Leaky Cauldron, London xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
Harry stood in the far corner of the room he booked for the night, he again donning Charles face. Sarah and Michael were in the next room, ready to jump in incase things start to go bad. A knock at the door snapped him out of his thoughts. "Enter."
As the door opened it was blocked by a heavy set man, he had medium length brown hair and a scruffy beard. He had a somewhat worn black robes and a bit of dirt on his undershirt and brown pants, his eyes scanned the room quickly before he stepped in and waved his wand. Harry looked around and saw nothing happen but the man nodded and moved into the room.
Behind him were two males and a female, the first man was Charles height but he was thin and his robes hung loosely off of him. They were in better shape than the first mans, a black robe with a dark grey undershirt and black trousers. He had short cropped blonde hair and a thin mustache.
The second man was a bit more overweight, Harry could spot food crumbs on his white undershirt, and had a dark blue robe instead of black like the others. He seemed to be sweating a bit and was taking a few deep breaths as he moved to a chair against the wall and plopped down.
The woman shook her head at the fat man and carefully walked into the room, Harry quickly noticed the way she carried herself was similar to Sarah. While her mannerisms were similar her clothing looked a bit drab, while better than the men's it was plain and common looking. Her black hair was held in a ponytail by a simple bronze clasp, other than that Harry noticed no other jewelry.
"Gentleman, lady." Harry said with a nod to them. "I'm sure you're curious as to why I asked for you."
The woman took a step forward and shrugged. "Not so uncommon, just tell us what you need done and be sure to pay."
Harry grinned and pulled off a pouch, tossing it on the bed so it opened and Galleons spilled out. The others eyes lit up when they saw the gold. "There's more to come if you complete the job."
The woman looked back at him. "What's the job?" She asked and held an arm out to stop the heavyset man moving for the purse.
"Are any of you familiar with Isles of Scilly and the hidden islands there?" Harry asked, the men shared a look.
"I am." The woman said cautiously, the hidden islands were heavily enchanted and the people who lived there were old families. Now she was wondering if the money offered was worth it.
"Good, what I want is for your four to go and harass the inhabitants." Harry replied.
"Harass?" The fat man asked.
"The lands were bought many years ago and no one wants to give them up." Harry replied. "They are used to peace and quiet there, if by chance things start to go wrong my hope is they will want out and in a hurry."
"So you want the land." The woman summarized. "For what?"
"That isn't your concern." Harry answered.
"What if someone else buys it first?" The thin man asked.
Harry chuckled. "The goblins are already watching for it, unless someone else has notified them to look for land I doubt I'll lose."
The woman hummed. "That is going to cost you thousands of galleons, and I don't recognize your name so I'm curious how you can afford it."
Harry stood to is full height. "If I wanted people worrying about the matters I would have gone through different channels." He looked around at all of them. "You do the job, you get the gold. No questions and I'll owl you once a week for updates." He turned to the woman. "Deal?"
She looked at the gold, than to the men, each who gave her a nod, before looking back at Harry. "Deal." She reached out and scooped up the purse.
"Very well." Harry said and began to walk to the door, the men moving to make room for him. "If I do not hear reports of your actions within a week I will hunt you down and dispose of you." The thin man stiffened as Harry spoke and moved past him. "But get the job done and I might have more for you in the future."
The woman smiled. "Don't worry sir, we'lll get it done." She paused for a second. "Most people would get our names if they hire us."
"Even if I believed you, would you give me the right ones it only ties me to you more." Harry replied without looking back as he opened the door and walked through.
As he walked into the hall Michael quickly opened the door, also guised as Charles, and in the same clothes. Harry moved into the room while Michael moved down the stairs, since he could Apparate he could get away easier then Harry using a Portkey and being over heard. Harry closed the door and moved to sit down while Sarah threw up charms so they wouldn't be overheard. "Did it go well?" She asked.
"I gave them basic orders and they accepted." Harry replied. "Didn't get any names and they think I'm named Riddle." Harry grinned at the slight link to Voldemort and the chaos it might help make, though only with Dumbledore but that was something to keep the man off his trail.
Sarah nodded, Harry had not informed them of what exactly he was doing. It bothered her they had trained him so well but she waved it off, whatever he had planned it was something that would benefit them. "Well if they are reliable we should see results in a few days."
"Time is not an issue." Harry said. "It's about getting the land."
"Yes yes." Sarah replied with a roll of her eyes. "Now come." She held out her hand for Harry to take. Harry nodded and took the hand, with a crack they were gone from the room.
xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx Hogwarts xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
Dumbledore sighed and rubbed the bridge of his nose, across from him was Lady Ashford. She was here to go over the next year's agenda but because of the recent press the school has gotten it was far more tedious than usual. "Lady Ashford is all of this really necessary?"
The stern woman nodded firmly. "Yes, we cannot allow any more bad press to fall on the school. Therefore all the professors will undergo a review, of which we will find students willing to give us memories of the classes." Dumbledore sighed but nodded as there was nothing he could really do.
"They will not like this." The old wizard said.
"No they will not but they will understand." Ashford said. "Now are we prepared for the new year of students, by reports there is a larger number then past years."
Dumbledore nodded. "Hogwarts is ready and we have plenty of elves to care for the students.
"Wonderful." Ashford replied. "Now do we have any applications for the open positons?"
Dumbledore reached over and grabbed a few envelopes. "I have had quite a few for the History professor but only two for the DADA position."
Ashford sighed. "Well two is better than nothing." She was just glad they didn't have to track someone down and attempt to bribe them to take the job. "Just please be sure they are qualified."
"Of course." Dumbledore's eyes twinkled. "I believe one is more than qualified and quite eager to show off his skills."
"Very well." Ashford said as she rose. "I hope this year goes better than the last." Giving Dumbledore a nod she moved to the floo and was gone.
Dumbledore sighed again and looked down at the letters, the DADA position was filled in his mind so now he just had to go over the applicants. Deciding he needed to inform the others about the board's decision to review them all, it would be a bit of a bother but it would get his mind off of other things.