Disclaimer: The same as the previous chapters.
Chapter 60
Harry Potter came right when all of them were about to finish lunch cooked by the house-elves of the Prince Manor. Thus, it was expected of them, to ensure that newest arrival, the one who defeated Voldemort twice, the boy with a lightning scar and messy hair gets included into the guest list and a royal friend of the New Master.
As he munched on his sandwiches and drank from his goblet of freshly extracted pumpkin juice, Harry shared his thoughts," After visiting Hermione's Vault, I have been thinking. Well, many of my assumptions have evidence to back them. To begin with, Hermione has the oddest of things in her Gringotts vault, a place even the Goblins have been advised not to poke their nose into. I think those things are of great value. I don't know what both Mum and her trunks contain, but that muggle safe box was one of its kind. I have had Seamus snooping around in the Muggle relations department, but he has nothing substantial to support that point that muggles have such a biologically identifying mechanism. Though it has been around in theory for a while. Muggle scientists have been working on it and will probably come up with something like that in the near future."
Minerva McGonagall looked at the others in appreciation, but Severus and Draco still had their eyes glued at Potter hanging on his every word.
Harry continued," Her parent's house is at Hamstead. There is no other available document citing she has bought another one or has a secret lair somewhere. If we go by what we saw today and if I know Hermione well enough, I don't think we need to look about too much. Hermione's secret lair was in the most guarded place in the Magical World, right inside the Gringotts Bank, under the nose of Griphook. I can't help but chuckle each time, the goblin says something like," she tricked us too'. Malfoy, here can attest for Hermione's vindictive streak."
The blonde man across the table blushed slightly but smiled back nevertheless.
"To have a library inside a box that does not allow weather to interfere, to use Mirror writing trick and the advanced muggle safe box. For now, I am not considering the Knights, since they came in later into the picture. All of them could either be accessed by Hermione or the three of us. At least by you, sir. She made sure of that. I think the Knights appeared because Hermione's own magical protection wards could not hold themselves strong since she was incapacitated. How? I don't know. But, she was successful in keeping the goblins away, which means at some point of time, she might have come to the conclusion that whatever she was into she couldn't continue alone and she might need three of us to help her out."
Dabbing his mouth with the napkin and rubbing his hands off in it as well, he looked at Draco and Severus," I think we are to expect several unique security inspections even at her parents' house, which might be as fascinating as the muggle-like safe box."
Draco leaned forward and Severus narrowed his eyes, nodding curtly at Harry to continue. Pursing his lips and staring back, the young Auror contemplated for some time and then spoke," She seems to have made subtle changes to her house. Though from outside, it looks ordinary. But the door is just a wall and the windows are not windows either. The whole thing is a puzzle. Madam Bones had conducted a little investigation on her, just to be certain she was the real Hermione back when she reappeared and showed interest in working with the ministry in these unknown secret missions. The auror who went to look for her house, came back badly jinxed. I had accosted him today, but the man just wanted to be left alone. He did mention that Hermione had personally paid him a visit at the hospital and had whispered in his ears," you tried to beat about the bush, but you didn't."
"What was she trying to tell him? Miss Granger sounds like she was having fun because the man couldn't succeed in breaking into her house…which is quite unlike herself, but Severus, children coming out of a ghastly war..." McGonagall wondered aloud.
Looking slightly embarrassed, Harry mumbled, "Well, I am coming from her house," when Snape and Draco snarled at him, he brought his hands up in surrender and hastily added," I did not dare try to break in, that we need to do together, all three of us," gesturing at the three men by the wave of his hand," I just observed the house from a distance, and I noticed a rather large shrub over the fences in the backyard. I think she was trying to indicate that scrub, when she said,
"You tried to beat about the bush, but you didn't. I have grown up tending to my Aunt's garden and mowing their lawn, I can tell, the shrub looked quite fishy."
Once it was unanimously decided that they would follow Potter's intuitions while they were trying to carry on their investigation at the Granger's Residence, the three men had to side along apparate with the Man-who-killed-Voldemort-twice. Potter had brought all of them into a dark alley. Giving each of them a couple of seconds to readjust, Harry noticed, Snape in a tweet jacket and black jeans looked more approachable and Draco in a casual suit looked quite close to the magazine cover models. Shaking his head, he turned and pointed at fences to his left.
They could see a range larger bushy shrub even over the tall fences. Draco walked a bit closer to get a better look when a flash of red light surprised him. Someone in Hermione's signature voice whispered, "You can enter Draco Lucius Malfoy." The man looked back at Potter astounded when Harry just smirked and said," the perfect mix of muggle and magical system." He confidently walked near the fence and seconds later the same voice whispered," You can enter Harry James Potter." Though when Snape tentatively stood close enough, the voice faltered a bit over his name," You can enter Severus Tobias Snape." The fence slid aside.
Severus was the first person to notice the odd height of the shrub that just sprung out of nowhere. It didn't even look real. The leaves shone uncharacteristically bright, and no shrub was ever born with such a hideous looking branch, that was as thick as perhaps its own primary stem, but decided to jut out the thick foliage. It was barbed as well, making it absolutely unapproachable.
Walking ahead, making sure the other two were following him closely, he looked up around, to see whether they were watched by anyone. It now became clearer to him why Potter mentioned that the front door, which must be right on the other side of the house, was just a wall, and so were the windows. Granger had managed to magically turn the house on its foundation, which was quite a fit on its own. And her purpose was quite clear. None of the surrounding houses had a window located at this odd side. People would either have to hang halfway out of their windows or press their face to the corner edge of their glass panes, to get a glimpse of this enclosed area.
Further he scanned over the enclosed open space and he could see for himself, that the small patch of grass was in fact the front lawn minutely trimmed and the pavement lane to one's side was perhaps the drive-in that should lead to a garage where the Grangers must have a car standing unused for a while.
Without turning back to other men he spoke decisively, fishing out his wand and pointing it at the jutting spiky branch," Potter, your observations were remarkable, Hermione did alter her house so that anyone who would like to investigate into her clandestine affairs, would have to under all circumstances, involve the three of us. Now, I think this shrub "the bitting about the bush" is actually the front door, and this "uninviting branch" is what we can safely consider the latch." With that, he pointed the tip of his wand and said,"Alohomora". The three of them watched how the branch drew out his magic from the tip of his wand and glowed. Then the same mechanical recorded voice of Hermione spoke from somewhere within, "You can enter Severus Tobias Snape."
Though nothing else happened. Harry suddenly whipped out his wand, pointing the tip at the branch he said the same spell, and Granger's recorded voice said the same thing to him. It was getting clearer to Draco, who had been quite beyond himself at this odd muggle setting. Once Harry stepped aside, he gingerly tapped the branch with his wand and cast the spell" Alohomora"
Stepping back and joining the other two, he watched in awe, as the shrub shimmered and then vanished out of slight. In its place stood an ordinary muggle looking front door, the one commonly seen in suburban houses.
Scrunching his face up Malfoy had turned to his godfather and said,'' I am telling you, I half expected that shrub to turn into those undead Knights and that branch looked oddly familiar to that of those flashy swords they carry with them. Though, this one would be another dwarf..don't you think?"