Wheels Within Wheels – Part Three
Iolanthe
Chapter Thirty-Eight
Black Picnic
Harry took leave at the end of the month rather than face running back and forth between London and Cornwall. It was much easier to relocate the immediate family to the Black estate than to try to keep multiple schedules in multiple locations.
Tracey and Zelda's occupation of the house had done wonders for it. Periwinkle ceded some of her duties to Melon, who had become very attached to Zelda. That left Periwinkle free to focus on Potter Manor, where the family loved spending holidays and weekends, whenever their London lives would permit.
Tracey and Melon, with some participation from Periwinkle, applied their hands, magic, soft cloths, beeswax and lemon oil to the old Black mansion on a regular basis, working their way through the house, top to bottom. The portraits looked on and supplied the necessary positive feedback. It wasn't long before the interior was restored to something like Black-era glory.
The week before Black Picnic, James took Daphne to meet Tracey at the estate, to do a walk-through while there was still time for adjustments. They didn't expect to have a lot of people inside, but Tracey wanted Daphne to see everything they'd done lately. Daphne was beyond impressed, and kept marveling at "…what a little love and care can accomplish."
"You are in for a surprise, Lord Black," Daphne said that night when they were alone. "Your Cornish seat has been restored. You could almost say transformed."
"Good to know," Harry replied, lost in an article in Witch Weekly.
"You would rather read Witch Weekly than talk to me?"
"Oh," Harry said, "I found this on your bedside table. This is a very informative article about how your wizard can please you, as you deserve, if he will just make the effort to completely change the way he has done literally everything his whole life long."
"THAT article?" Daphne said. "Read on, Harry, don't let me interrupt."
Harry laid the magazine down.
"I was just killing time until you proclaimed 'Nox' so let me give this back," said Harry as he leaned over to toss the Witch Weekly back on the side table. "Then you can tell me all about Cornwall."
"Well, it isn't that important, I just wanted to say having Tracey living there has made a huge difference. She and the elves have everything scrubbed and polished. They do a few things every day. Tracey likes to keep the little maintenance chores caught up, too, so all the loose screws are tight, the door hinges are functioning, the lamps have oil. You know, an actual operational house."
"That's what I was hoping for," Harry said. "I don't know about you. It seemed to me we'd always go out there and clean it up for an event, but it still felt like a rental hall. Now you're saying it's Tracey and Zelda's home."
"So astute," Daphne said, "Where did I try out my ideas before I had you?"
"The grounds look good?" Harry asked.
"Spectacular," Daphne said. "I understand that is all Teddy and James. Father looked over their plan last fall, but they wouldn't let him do anything. They treated his garden elves to some work days, but that's it."
"Can't wait to see it," Harry summed up, before burrowing his head in his pillow.
The family, minus Kreacher, relocated to Cornwall at mid-week. Iolanthe was astonished at the state of the gardens. Teddy and James had blooming annuals ready to transplant from their greenhouses as soon as the weather warmed up, so marigolds, zinnias, geraniums and begonias were in riotous color against the green backdrop of bananas and elephant ears.
Iolanthe, no stranger to excesses of enthusiasm, grabbed James' upper arm and steered him from bed to bed, demanding identifications of all the plants she didn't recognize, following James' explanations with a running commentary of compliments. Lissette trailed behind, fascinated by Iolanthe's patter and James' reciprocal devotion to his sister. Her former life bore no resemblance to Harry and Daphne's brood. She reached under the cuff of her blouse and touched the wand Harry and Iolanthe had gotten her. 'This is all really happening,' the wand seemed to say.
The tour of the garden ended with a return to the house and thorough exploration of all the rooms. The house had a tower room at one corner, up a short flight of stairs from the adjacent hallway, giving it a delicious air of isolation. There were two beds, so Iolanthe claimed it for the Black Picnic holiday on the grounds that she and Lissette would be most efficiently housed there, leaving the other, single rooms for people who really needed single rooms. It made no sense, logically, but Iolanthe called it first so everyone acquiesced.
Iolanthe invited Lissette to accompany her on a familiarization tour, starting in the tower room.
"Ah, Melon brought our bags up," Iolanthe noticed. "Melon!"
"Miss Iolanthe, what can Melon do for you?" asked the little elf as she popped into existence in the tower room.
"You didn't get a chance to meet Miss Lissette formally, so Melon, this is Miss Lissette, Lissette, please allow me to present Melon. Melon has come to us from the Malfoy family, where she served my Aunt Astoria for several years. She has been with us since last summer."
"Will Miss Lissette be staying with Miss Iolanthe?" asked Melon.
"Yes, probably the whole summer," Iolanthe answered. "Consider her family while she is with us."
"Of course, Miss Iolanthe," said Melon.
Lissette felt sniffles coming, but it passed.
"So," Iolanthe said, turning to Lissette, "That's our room. Melon, can you arrange our clothes and other things somehow, between that little armoire and the dresser? There are four drawers, two each ought to be enough. Tell me if you run out of room, but I don't think you will.
"Let's explore," Iolanthe said, "I hear Tracey has been busy."
Iolanthe led the way through the upstairs rooms, introducing Lissette to the portraits, not getting into the reasons Lissette had joined the Potter household, other than she was Iolanthe's Slytherin sister. Distinguished Blacks welcomed her graciously to their home, several of them giving her conversational openings to reveal any Black ancestry, but Lissette let it go.
"Do you have any Blacks in your family tree?" Iolanthe asked at one point.
"Well, I don't know anything about my Lestrange family tree on my father's side, because he doesn't have a lot to do with my mother these days. I can't remember my mother talking about any Black relatives," Lissette said.
"Okay," said Iolanthe. "Father is the head of the clan. He brought Tracey and Zelda in, with Phineas Nigellas Black's encouragement. The late headmaster felt they were too valuable to let them slip from our grasp. A sentiment with which I fully agree, lest there be any doubt. There may be a way."
"On that subject," Lissette said, "Who will be coming to the picnic, and why?"
The explanation went on throughout the tour, it was that long and convoluted. Harry was the accidental Lord Black, because Sirius Black had died before he married and had children. As Sirius' heir, Harry had gotten the title of Lord Black, along with two principal assets: #12 Grimmauld Place and the ancient Black estate in Cornwall. Harry and Daphne had redecorated #12 and updated a few things. Iolanthe was born at Greengrass Manor, but came home to #12 shortly afterwards. It was her first home, and most of her early memories were from there. Harry had gotten busy on the new Potter Manor shortly after marrying Daphne. He wanted the new one to put a proper Potter family seat back there to replace the one Voldemort had destroyed in his fury at James and Lily for refusing to join his movement. The symbolism was important, but the new home was also a gift to Daphne, who got to design it and put anything she wanted into it.
Harry had thought over what to do to bring back some Black solidarity, so the family wasn't reduced to a memory and a meaningless title that got passed down. When Iolanthe was born, at the beginning of December, followed at the end of June by Scorpius, the traditions of Black Christmas and Black Picnic were established. The birthdays were the immediate cause for the celebrations. Harry and Daphne took the idea further, though, and linked the birthday parties to the seasons, initiating a family reunion around each one.
The first Black Christmas and Black Picnic were modest affairs. Two things happened over a period of years that turned them into the major events they had become. One, Harry and Daphne made an effort to find Black cousins, who they invited to come and socialize with the family, and, Two, the affairs became so much fun the cousins began blocking out their schedules to accommodate the celebrations months in advance.
Now, of course, a group of cousins from Harry and Daphne's generation had emerged and stayed in touch simply because somewhere along the line they were all Blacks. Meeting twice a year at Black social events led naturally to networking and joint projects, some of a business nature. Those reinforced the attraction of attending Black Picnic and Christmas. One never knew when some useful enterprise would emerge from a conversation over grilled fish or pasties.
Iolanthe went on, describing the things Harry did in addition to throwing parties. A portion of the estate's income went to the support of the first-year Blacks, because Harry had been raised as a poor relation and couldn't abide seeing Blacks disadvantaged because of money. He wrote letters of recommendation for Black jobseekers. Blacks wanting to pursue advanced studies after completing basic courses at Hogwarts or one of the other recognized schools of witchcraft and wizardry could submit an abstract of their projected studies, the cost estimate per year, and a short statement outlining why they wanted to do it, and Harry never turned them down, except on grounds of explicit silliness.
"Extraordinarily generous, the exemplar of noblesse oblige, at least among contemporary wizards," said a portrait of a distinguished-looking elderly gentleman.
"Headmaster, may I have the honor to present my Slytherin sister, Lissette Lestrange? Lissette, this is Phineas Nigellus Black, late headmaster of Hogwarts, and perhaps our most distinguished Black scholar," Iolanthe said in her most honey-like tones, that she had lifted directly from Daphne's playbook.
"Although about to be supplanted by your cousin Scorpius. Delighted, Miss Lestrange," said Phineas Nigellas. "Come often and stay long."
"The honor is mine," Lissette answered, with a little nod.
"Tracey really has made a difference," Iolanthe said. "A year ago this was a quaint, delightful old barn. We'd come for weekends or one of the parties, then we'd leave. Tracey and Zelda moved in and just doing the usual cleaning and small repairs has turned it into something really special."
"It is special," Lissette said. "The portraits take some getting used to."
"I don't have any direct knowledge, you understand," Iolanthe replied, "But I've been told the ones in rooms occupied by couples are sworn to discretion."
Lissette looked at Iolanthe and decided she wasn't joking.
"Those're the main points, then," Iolanthe said when they'd gotten back to the ground floor. "Now we do something constructive for a couple of days, then there is a lovely picnic to kick off summer and recognize our precious Scorpius' birthday. Then we unwind with a couple of restful days here in Cornwall."
Lissette nodded.
"Nice," she said. Something lurked in her tone, Iolanthe was convinced.
"Did you have a follow-up?"
Lissette didn't answer right away.
"I don't know quite how to put it," she said. "Why are you doing all of this for me? You barely know me."
"Oh, I know enough," Iolanthe said. "Someone needed help. I had the ability to help her. What else is there?"
Lissette was silent.
"Want to check on the babies?" Iolanthe asked.
Lissette had yet to demur when Iolanthe asked if she'd like to do something. The babies were in the nursery attached to the ground floor master bedroom, supervised by Daphne, Tracey, Zelda and Periwinkle. Fabio Evans and Kingsley Davis, at a little over four months, were still primarily occupied with eating, getting changed, and going to sleep. They did like receiving guests, though, and seemed to have a mysterious psychic connection with Iolanthe similar to that of Zelda with her Great-grandmother Greengrass.
"All—" Iolanthe greeted the room. "And the newest Potters! What a surprise!"
Evans and Davis kicked their feet and made baby sounds when Iolanthe stood over them.
"Such handsome young men!"
Kicks and goo-goos.
"So smart!"
Goos, kicks, and more goos. A thirty-minute conversation ensued. Not all of it included the twins, but some did.
"The house is exquisite, thanks to the Davis's," Iolanthe said.
"We had to have something to work with," Tracey observed.
"It was a barn, now it's not," countered Iolanthe. "Anyone need a walk?"
"Me," Zelda said.
Tracey and Daphne elected to stay with the Honorable Twins.
"Dinner at five? Please?" Daphne asked, nicely.
"Of course, Mother," Iolanthe said, leaning down to kiss Daphne's cheek, Zelda following her leader's guidance with a kiss to Tracey's cheek.
Iolanthe led everyone out through the gardens.
"Try not to step on any snakes, hmm?" she requested. At the stone wall, Iolanthe turned to her party.
"Over the wall is a path, and in a little way it connects with a lane. The lane runs straight for a mile, more or less, then it intersects with another lane that goes right and left, but there is no straight ahead. Left loops and we are back in around three miles, right is between five or six.
"Who wants three?" Iolanthe asked. "Five?"
Three won, to Iolanthe's disappointment.
They walked single file along the path. Iolanthe assigned Zelda to take the lead, to make sure the party did not inadvertently walk off and leave the shortest-legged of the companions.
"Ever been to Cornwall?" Iolanthe asked Lissette.
"I don't think so," Lissette said. "If I was here, I expect I was very young at the time."
"It's nice in the summer," said Iolanthe. "All the water moderates the summer heat. Lots of seacoast, so lots of coves, and the coves have villages. Mother and Father and Tracey used to take us all to the village on market days. We haven't done it so much lately with Aunt Astoria being ill and Mother pregnant with twins. Has Tracey taken you since you moved out here?"
"A few times," Zelda said. "There is a pharmacy, run by a witch, and she has all the medicinal plants, dried, fresh, whatever you want. Did you know that?"
"Don't think I did," Iolanthe answered. "Here is the lane. We'll take the short loop, so straight to the crossroad, then left."
Iolanthe stepped up the pace once they took to the lane, moderated with proper attention to keeping Zelda close at hand, and the conversation nearly ceased, subsumed in the rhythm of the hike. Iolanthe called a halt after an hour.
"This is about half-way. The wall makes a nice bench for sitting in the shade of that oak tree. I propose we take five minutes," she said.
No one objected, so they left the lane and sat in the shade.
"What classes did you sign up for, Lissette?" Zelda asked.
"Defense, Charms, Potions," Lissette said. "I can add one more but I didn't know what I wanted when it was time to turn in the parchment. What about you?"
"Defense, of course," Zelda said. "Potions, Herbology, History of Magic, second year Flying."
"No Care of Magical Creatures?" Iolanthe asked. Two bowtruckles, one on Iolanthe's shoulder and one halfway out of a patch pocket, appraised Zelda with some skepticism.
"No time," Zelda said. "I wanted to, but I didn't have the space in my schedule."
Two deer walked up to the stone wall opposite and stood there, looking at the three women. The smaller one shifted its weight to its hind legs and leapt the wall. It crossed the lane slowly. No one spoke. The deer stopped a few feet away from the three, twitching its tail and ears.
"Well, come on," Iolanthe said, in English, since she didn't speak deer. "We're harmless."
The deer took a tentative step forward, paused, and took another. Before long its long jaw bones were getting a good scratching from Iolanthe. Much too soon, in Iolanthe's estimation, the larger deer, who had stayed on the other side of the stone wall opposite theirs, gave a call, or perhaps it was a snort. The smaller deer spun and crossed the lane in two strides, leapt the wall and bounded away with her companion.
"Those are voices," Lissette said, looking up and down the lane. "Men. Sit still. I'll occlude us. Don't speak."
Lissette was right, for two men soon came strolling up the lane. They were dressed in jeans and plaid shirts in muggle patterns. Neither had a firearm, but Iolanthe made them for hunters out surveying the population they'd be trying to thin in the fall.
"Two hare?" one said.
"And the two deer," his partner answered.
"I'd like a venison pasty about now," said the first.
One of the men left the lane and stepped over to the stone wall opposite. He stood with his back to the lane and unzipped. His companion looked off in the distance. Zelda really wanted to say 'Ewwwww' it was plain, but Iolanthe reached up and around and put her hand over Zelda's mouth.
"When do you get your boat?"
"I got her," said the man by the wall, looking around and talking over his shoulder. "I still have to bring her over, if you want to crew."
Business taken care of, the two returned to the lane and continued on their way. Only when their voices faded did Lissette wave her wand and remove their occlusion.
"Well," Iolanthe said. "I think I've been vaccinated for muggles."
"That will do it," Lissette agreed.
"What is Second Year Flying, anyway?" Iolanthe asked.
"It's a tutorial with Madame Hooch," Zelda said. "It's for students who will need to fly professionally. Using advanced techniques safely. The class isn't an option. I was spotted."
Iolanthe and Lissette just looked at Zelda.
"What?" Zelda asked.
Iolanthe was having so much fun walking and chatting up Zelda she let the pace drop and the three ended up finishing their walk at a casual stroll.
"Some muggles were walking on that lane to the west," Iolanthe told Daphne when they went inside. "Lissette heard them coming and put a very serious occlusion charm over us. We just sat there and waited until they walked on."
"Well, thank-you, Lissette. That's really the best thing to do in a situation like that. How did your wand feel in your hand?" Daphne asked.
"It might sound funny, but I'd say it felt happy to be of service," Lissette said.
"Yes, thank-you," Iolanthe said. "We should have told you before. I don't think that sounds funny. It sounds to me like you share a connection."
Daphne and Tracey nodded agreement. Harry returned from some business in London just in time for dinner. The Potters, Davis's and their guest, Lissette, filled plates inside and took them out to the arbor. The evening was long and the air was mild, and the conversation went on until full dark.
The morning of Black Picnic was clear, as the runes had predicted. Harry and Iolanthe went out to the gardens to speak parseltongue together, using the usual excuse of the need to warn the snakes the semi-annual plague of human feet was about to commence. Harry got the conversation around to monsters, how he recognized he might have some monster attributes if his emotional buttons were pushed in the right sequence. Iolanthe told Harry she took Daphne's view that Harry was a real monster only when he thought something threatened his family, and she didn't mind. Harry apologized, in advance, if he had passed along a monster gene to Iolanthe, and promised to always lend a sympathetic ear if she needed to let off pressure she felt might be pushing her toward monsterdom.
"Father, you'd tell me if you noticed anything, wouldn't you?" Iolanthe asked. "Well in advance?"
"Certainly," Harry said.
"And have you?"
"Ahh…I only heard, second-hand from your mother," Harry began, "But your performance at the museum café…"
"Oh, Father," Iolanthe said, somehow keeping herself from tut-tutting, "That is barely more than a parlor trick."
The first guest to arrive was Rose Granger-Weasley, followed in quick succession by Teddy and Victoire Lupin, along with Andromeda Tonks. Scorpius was the guest of honor, and of course was interested in maximizing his time with Rose on his birthday, so he came early, bringing Narcissa Malfoy well before the official noon starting time.
Daphne and Tracey took the twins out to the shade of the arbor. They were in little cradles made from shoots of elder, woven by local craftsmen, and lined with thick quilted pads. Daphne had ordered the cradles to fit four-to-six-month-olds, specifically for the summer season in the country. Daphne hoped to get Evans and Davis plenty of fresh morning air so they would be ready for a nice, restful nap upstairs when the picnic began in earnest. Narcissa and Andromeda found their way to the arbor and the talk turned, probably inevitably, to Astoria and past Black Picnics, when she had brought her own unique perspectives and humor to their discussions.
Harry had been watching the elves' progress while also keeping an eye on Scorpius. When he judged the elves were just about finished filling the trenchers with the bowls and platters that held the picnic lunch, Harry walked up to Scorpius and tapped his arm.
"Got a moment?" Harry asked.
"Of course, Uncle Harry," Scorpius answered, suddenly going formal.
"I'd like to recognize your birthday, then turn the welcoming over to you. You're the next generation. How would you like to take over some family leadership responsibilities?" Harry asked.
"Thank you, I'd like that," Scorpius said.
"Great," Harry said, "Collect your thoughts."
Harry kept his head moving between the food and Daphne. When he felt the time was right, Harry caught Scorpius' eye and gave him a nod. They met just inside the shade of the arbor and Harry began to address the gathered picnickers.
To no result. Tracey stood up, found a substantial goblet among the tableware, and gave it a few good raps with the back of a knife. Silence descended on the Black Picnic, according to long-observed custom.
"Thank-you, Tracey," Harry said, cuing a short round of applause.
"Here we are again, getting together, on or about Scorpius' birthday, at the Black estate in Cornwall. Scorpius has some words of welcome, so let me get out of the way and turn it over to our distinguished Black cousin, Scorpius Malfoy."
Scorpius acquitted himself well, everyone agreed later. He thanked the assembled for everything done for him and Draco since Astoria's death, singling out Iolanthe and Rose but mentioning the Black cousins at Hogwarts as well. Then he thanked everyone for coming and for all the birthday wishes, before declaring the picnic officially commenced.
The cheering was more than perfunctory, a very positive sign. Draco had arrived just in time to see Scorpius deliver his remarks. The normally quiet-to-the-point of taciturnity Narcissa looked like she would literally burst with pride.
Tracey had arranged for a good supply of blankets to be used for ground cloths. Teddy and Victoire spread one out along the border of one of James' flower beds and were soon joined by most of the younger people in attendance. Scorpius carried two plates for himself and Rose, while Rose brought tumblers of lemonade. Iolanthe was trailed by James and Hugo, who were followed by Lissette, who carried two more blankets.
Most of the Hogwarts Black cousins gravitated to the other young people, bringing lawn chairs or more blankets. Iolanthe was interrogated on two subjects, primarily—Lissette and her two new brothers. The brothers were simply perfect, and would probably make an appearance if they didn't sleep through the afternoon. Lissette was a Slytherin friend from the north who was spending a few weeks over the summer, sightseeing in London and visiting Devon and Cornwall.
Rose asked Melon for something she could use to collect Scorpius' birthday presents. Melon snapped her fingers and materialized a straw bag. Rose and Zelda put the pile in the bag, finishing it off with a parcel wrapped in green tissue paper that Rose pulled out of her own purse. Zelda had seen the slippers when they were works-in-progress and gave Rose the co-conspirator look.
Harry thought the farewells began much too soon, but understood people had lives to get back to. He collected Draco, Scorpius, Teddy, Iolanthe and James and walked through the house, greeting the portraits and toasting the Black family. As usual, the longest stop was with Phineas Nigellus Black. The former headmaster, who was known to harbor very mixed feelings about the utility of young people, as a general proposition, expressed sincere appreciation for Scorpius' visit.
"Word is circulating, young man," Phineas Nigellus said. "My late colleague Binns says we have a historian on our hands."
"Thank-you, Headmaster," Scorpius replied. "I am the heir to a rich family history of scholarship."
"He's an example for us all, young Draco," Phineas Nigellas gushed. "We didn't see his kind very often, during my career."
Teddy put his hand on Scorpius' shoulder and gave him a wink.
"The Headmaster said it, so take it as authoritative," advised Teddy.
That was the highlight of the tour of the house. Many of the portrait witches and wizards were partial to a nap in the afternoon, followed by an hour or two of wakefulness before going off to their regular night's sleep. The party paid their respects and toasted the last of the portraits.
"Is that that, then?" Harry asked when he convened the group in front of the fireplace. Periwinkle arrived with an empty tray for the glasses.
"Hullo, all," Daphne called out as she entered. A baby yowl descended from upstairs.
"Oh, now you're awake and want a meal," Daphne said. "Harry, maybe you could wrangle a baby?"
Daphne turned and headed for the stairs, leaving the others to their own pursuits. Harry and Daphne got to their room and entered. Daphne closed the door behind them. Harry looked around and saw Lissette sitting in one of the rockers, holding an infant.
"Lissette, you're doing much better than I do at that," Harry said, nodding to the baby. "I meet with a lot of rejection."
Not sure what a polite return would consist of, for such an observation, Lissette contented herself with a, "Thank-you."
"Have a seat, Harry," Daphne said, waving at an empty chair. She picked up a baby and a little blanket and took the other rocker.
"Go ahead, Lissette," Daphne said, arranging baby, blanket and her own anatomy. "You won't affect anything by telling your story."
"Oh, well, then," Lissette began. "There was a woman at the picnic who is involved in the Jacques Lafleur organization. She's one of his close associates. I'd see her at the meetings."
"Oh," said Harry, "Who was it?"
"She had on a purple dress and hat, very summery," Lissette said. "Lots of eye makeup. Inside the organization she goes by Iris, but I'm pretty sure that is a pseudonym."
Harry felt a chill. He thought about the guests who had just been leaving over the past two hours. He could only think of one who fit Lissette's description—his deputy, Fiona.
"She came with one of the cousins, I'll think of his name if you give me a few minutes," Harry said. "Did you chat her up?"
Lissette looked at Daphne. Something passed between them.
"Harry," said Daphne, "There is some background you're missing. Lissette was mistreated at home. She was forced to accompany her mother and stepfather when they attended the Lafleur events. The people close to the leader take advantage of the followers. That happened to Lissette."
Daphne stopped and looked at Lissette, as if asking permission to stop there. Lissette found her voice.
"I didn't talk to Iris because she was one of them," Lissette said.
"A Lafleur follower," Harry said, more or less a statement.
"No, Harry," Daphne said, "Those people abused Lissette. It was before her last birthday. She was underage. Sixteen."
Harry looked back and forth, unable to formulate thoughts. His first impulse was rage, as always when his own fragmented memories of childhood traumas were triggered.
"What did they do to you?" Harry asked, some of the former auror emerging. "I'm sorry, can you even talk about it? If you don't want to go into it, I understand."
Lissette shrugged.
"I was expected to do what they wanted," she said. "My mother and stepfather are more or less under Lafleur's control. My stepfather was physical with me. He and my mother coerced me to go to the Lafleur events, even after I decided I didn't want anything to do with the Lafleur crowd.
"The first man who took me to bed didn't ask me, he arranged it with them. Then he gave me to another of the leaders. The men didn't think I was worth the trouble, so Iris said she'd take me on and see what she could do."
"Got it. Did she see you here today?" Harry asked.
"I don't think so," Lissette said. "As soon as I saw her I came inside and found Daphne, and I stayed up here after that."
"Good," Harry said, "That's for the best, until we figure out next steps.
"Lissette, believe me when I say I am so disgusted that anyone would use their position, in any kind of organization, to mistreat young people. I will do something about this. It might not always be apparent, but it will get done."
He thought about his heightened interest in the Lafleur movement, how he'd been looking out for mention of it in the reports in his daily reading folders, and how nothing had been showing up. Harry had taken that to mean the Lafleur organization was one of those splinter groups that always seemed to be forming and dissolving among wizards. A leader, maybe one with some charisma, or ordinary sales skills, started jabbering about some wrinkle in magical practice that caught a few peoples' interest. They rented a hall, gave a talk, tried building something out of nothing. Most of them lasted five or ten years before sinking back into the footnotes of magical history.
This was different. Lafleur and his crowd were getting mothers to surrender their daughters for exploitation. That needed correcting. It was also clear the Lafleur movement had been very good at both minding its internal security and infiltrating or placing agents in at least one key position in a critical ministry department. Worse, Harry was going in blind. He suspected Fiona, who saw his reading files before he did, had been keeping him uninformed by pulling the reports on the Lafleur movement before they got to him.
If Fiona reported to Lafleur, there was a high probability she had agents reporting to her from lower levels of Harry's department. If a Lafleur devotee was reporting directly to someone in the directorate of Harry's department, the same could be true of the aurors. The Head Auror himself could be a follower, although Harry doubted whether Ralph Mann would fall for the Lafleur cosmography, at least as far as he understood it. Still, Ralph could have Lafleur subordinates feeding him edited reading. He could also be under the influence of a close family member, a fairly common phenomenon. Harry knew he needed a good night's sleep, and a clear head. One misstep would be too many. It could also be his last. The Lafleur people were running a classic cult. They wouldn't go without putting up a fight.
"Harry?"
Daphne's voice brought him out of his reverie.
"Yes?" he asked.
"Is there anything you want us to do?"
Harry looked between Daphne and Lissette, then he got up.
"Not right now," he said, "Let me look into it first."
The Potter family, plus Lissette, spent the night at the Black estate, along with Tracey and Zelda. Harry tried to get Teddy, Victoire and Andromeda to stay, assuring them there was plenty of room, but Andromeda was very partial to her home, and Teddy liked to be nearby in case she needed anything.
Harry spent much of the night thinking through his problem. Every time he resolved to put it out of his mind and go to sleep, some detail elbowed its way into his consciousness and demanded he move it to the top of the list for consideration. Morning came early. It was the first of July, after all. Feeling like he was six or seven hours short of the sleep he'd need to feel his best, Harry took a little extra time with his face in the shower spray, willing the spray to freshen up his mind for the day ahead.
Harry followed Daphne upstairs after breakfast. He gave her an outline of the situation Lissette had presented, from the perspective of the department head's chair.
"If one of my assistants is a follower of Lafleur, she has divided loyalty. Lafleur and the organization haven't been showing up in my reading files. In fact, they've become conspicuous by their absence. Fiona has the final look at the file before it comes to me," Harry said.
"Which could explain the lack of reports," Daphne finished for him.
"Excellent," Harry said. "If Fiona has had the opportunity to chop off on personnel decisions…"
"The people below her could be reporting to her, and not to you, making difficulties for anyone trying to discover the extent of the compromise," Daphne concluded.
"Excellent again," Harry said. "This is getting boring."
"So what are you going to do?" Daphne asked.
Harry sat in the rocker, with Evans, watching Daphne rocking Davis. He didn't say anything right away—he just sat there looking at the two of them.
"I'm going to stop talking right here," Harry said. He looked Daphne in the eye. "This is where I have to try to keep you and the family out of the loop."
Daphne looked at Harry, her mask of neutrality fixed in place.
"This is where I get very nervous, Harry," Daphne said. "Every time. Do what you have to do. Just come back."