The only Muggle clothes that Harry had were a pair of Dudley's old worn out shoes and the shorts and a T-shirt that Sirius had brought with him, when he went to pick him up. After Hermione and her family had gone home, Sirius took him to do some shopping.
They went to a large department store and the sheer number of people astounded Harry, as he had never seen so many people in one place before; he just stood there looking around, taking in the sight of all the colourful displays and the wide variety of goods on offer.
Sirius placed a comforting hand on Harry's shoulder, "Muggles do a lot of things better than we do Harry, I really think that the Magical world could learn a lot from them; anyway we have a lot of things to buy so we better get a move on."
They then purchased piles upon piles of clothing of every description. He bought Harry casual shoes as well as a couple of pairs of, what Sirius called, "Sunday best." He took him to Savile Row to get him a number of good suits, made to order complete with his family crest, for when he needed to dress formally.
Sirius was really enjoying shopping for Harry, and even had a good laugh when he was looking at underwear. Harry had turned bright red and told him that Hermione said, "He was not to buy the Y-fronts, as they were old men's undies." From time to time throughout the day, Harry would pick something up, only to put it straight back down, "Hermione said yuck." By the time they had finished though, he had a good selection of clothes to wear and he looked like a nice well-dressed young boy, albeit with messy hair.
Sirius then took Harry to McDonald's for Lunch, where Harry had two Big Macs, a large fries and a Coke.
They then went to the Dorchester, where Sirius had been staying and Harry went to bed for a rest.
"Have a nice snooze Harry; I will talk to you when you wake up."
"Thank you Hermione I will."
Harry quickly drifted off to sleep, as he still did not have the stamina that he should have, for a boy of his age. He was still taking his medication and because of this, was suffering from growing pains; it would be another week before he was at the correct height and weight for a ten year old and then the pain would cease.
After Harry had gone to sleep, Hermione sat down to read her book, A Guide to Understanding Elves and Goblins while she waited for Harry to wake up again.
When Harry woke about two hours later, "Harry mum wants to know if you and Sirius would like to come over for dinner."
"Hang on Hermione, I'll ask him if it's ok." Harry then raced into the lounge area, "Sirius, Mr & Mrs Granger want to know if we would like to go over there for dinner."
"Sounds like a good idea to me, I was getting bored here anyway," replied a smirking Sirius.
"Hermione, he said yes, we will be over in a couple of minutes."
"Ok, I'll tell mum, see you soon."
Harry then raced back into his room and changed into a nice pair of light trousers and a short-sleeved shirt, as it was quite warm out, he then put on a pair of black leather sandals. He stood in front of the mirror and smiled at himself, he really liked his new clothes, as he had never had any before.
"You look nice Harry," Hermione thought to him, "I like you in black, it makes your eyes stand out."
"Thanks Hermione, I'll just go and get Sirius and we will be right over."
"Ok Harry."
Sirius was smiling at Harry's eagerness to go, "Ok pup, I'm ready let's go." The two of them touched their wands to their rings and said, "The Grangers." They felt a pull behind their navels and vanished.
"Mum, Dad they're here," shouted Hermione as she launched herself at Harry and gave him a big hug.
They then made their way out to the patio, where Dan was setting up the BBQ: Harry and Sirius thanked Dan and Emma, for inviting them over for dinner; while the adults started to chat, Harry and Hermione went and sat under one of the trees in the garden.
Harry sat and leaned with his back against the tree, he put his arm around Hermione, as she sat and leaned against him, her hair curling around his shoulders in a hair-hug. The two youngsters then started think talking about Elves,
"I wonder why they have to be bonded Harry, I know it says that if they aren't, they will lose their magic, but I wonder, why will they?"
Harry had his eyes half closed, as he was relaxing to the feeling of Hermione's hair stroking his cheek, "I don't know Mione" he answered, "the book didn't give any reasons." Then his eyes popped open, "I wonder if we have any elves?"
"Good question, maybe we should call and see if any turn up." Hermione then stood and said "I Hermione Granger, Lady Ravenclaw, ask all house-elves bound to me or any of my properties to come here."
She was startled when one hundred and seventy three elves popped in, with a crack that sounded like thunder. The noise caused her parents to jump and Sirius to spill his drink all over himself (a quick cleansing charm soon fixed that).
Even though Sirius had heard her call for the elves, he certainly did not expect this many to turn up.
Harry then stood and called for his elves to come and nearly three hundred showed up. Big as the Granger's yard was, it was quite crowded, with nearly five hundred elves there.
It turned out that of Hermione's elves, seventeen were from Keswick Manor, eighty-two were from the Ministry of Magic and seventy-four were from Hogwarts.
When they sorted out Harry's elves, it turned out that one hundred and eighteen elves came from his various homes and the other one hundred and eighty were from Hogwarts.
Albus Dumbledore was one very confused Headmaster, one second he was talking to Ozhar the head elf and next second, said elf was gone. No matter how many times he called, no elf came; he was quite perplexed, this had never happened before in living memory.
Hermione and Harry asked the elves what the condition of their bonding was, and found out that Ozhar was paid three Galleons per month, while the head elves of the other locations, were receiving two and the normal elves were each receiving one Galleon per month. All of them had one day per month to do whatever they wanted, it also turned out that none of them had a raise in the last 50 years.
The two youngsters were appalled at this and immediately doubled their salaries. At first this brought howls of protest from the elves, but when it became apparent that they were adamant, the elves settled down and thanked them, saying that they were the greatest and most kind wizards in the world.
Harry was distraught at the state of the elves clothing, so he ordered them to access his household account and go out and purchase uniforms, with the Potter crest on the left breast. "I don't want people to think I don't look after my family, and you must have seven of everything so you have something clean to wear every day, Oh and no doing you're washing on your day off either."
Hermione thought this was a great idea and ordered her elves to do the same but with the Ravenclaw crest.
They sent the Hogwarts and Ministry elves back, they then told the others that they would be visiting Keswick Manor and Ynys Môn Castle, the next day and would visit the others over the next month or so.
The elves then offered to prepare the food for the dinner party, Harry and Hermione looked over to the Grangers and on receiving the nod, they agreed readily, just so they could see more of the little creatures and what they could do.
With a click of a finger, one elf conjured a table, while another dressed it. Elves were popping in and out bringing a large assortment of food from heaven only knew where, while others were bringing drinks.
The dinner finished late that night, after thanking the Grangers for inviting them over, Harry gave Mr and Mrs Granger a quick hug of appreciation, he took some what longer when he hugged Hermione and gave her a kiss on the cheek, "I'll see you in the morning Mione," he thought.
"Ok Harry,"
"Sirius, why don't you and Harry come over for breakfast?" Dan asked.
"Are you sure it's no bother?" Sirius asked, looking from Dan to Emma.
"Of course it's no bother, we wouldn't have asked you if it was," Emma replied.
"Thank you, Harry and I will see you both in the morning then." Sirius then Kissed Emma on the cheek and shook hands with Dan, he then grasped Harry's hand and apparated to his hotel.
One of the elves came forward and bowed to Hermione, "Mistress, I have been given the honour of staying here, to look after you and your family, as this is also a Ravenclaw home."
Hermione was taken aback at first by this, then realising that as Lady Ravenclaw, she would have to get used to having servants, she nodded her head and asked, "What is your name?"
"My name is Squeaky mistress," the little elf replied with a bow.
"Well Squeaky how much do you get paid at the moment?" Hermione asked her eyes twinkling with amusement at the little elf.
"Since you just gave me a raise Mistress, I now earn two galleons a month." She replied, bowing yet again.
"Ok, but if you are going to be my personal maid, then you are now a head house elf, as such you will be paid accordingly, four Galleons per month. Also I don't want you bowing, every time I ask you something." She said, while getting down to the same level as the little elf. "You may do it when you are first called and when you leave." Hermione knew from her study of elves earlier in the day, that this was the most she could ask for. If she could, she would have stopped her from bowing all together, but that would have made the little creature miserable.
The little elf thought for a minute, if she was the only elf at this house, then she was technically the Head elf, and as long as she showed due deference to her mistress, she didn't have to bow every time she spoke. "Thank you Mistress, I will endeavour to do my best to be worthy of the honour."
Hermione smiled at how formal the little elf was, "I'm sure you will Squeaky, now I think I will go to bed as I am rather tired."
Squeaky bowed and popped away; when Hermione reached her room she found that her blankets had been turned down by her elf; her parents found the same thing when they reached their room just a few minutes later.
Hermione woke early the next morning, after having a nice hot shower and getting dressed, she made her way downstairs to the kitchen where she could smell the wonderful aroma of bacon cooking. Entering the kitchen she was surprised to find that it was not her mother doing the cooking but her elf, Squeaky.
"Good morning Squeaky."
Squeaky turned around and on spotting her Mistress she bowed, "Good morning Mistress. Did you sleep well?" she asked.
"Yes thank you. Did you?"
"Yes thank you Mistress. Breakfast will be ready in just a minute." She said and then turned back to her cooking.
Hermione's parents could smell the food while coming down the stairs, "Hermione is that you cooking?" They asked in a surprised voice, Hermione was a master of cremating food.
They then entered the kitchen, looking between the elf and Hermione, "Care to introduce us Hermione?" her mum asked.
Hermione looked up, "Oh, Mum, Dad, this is Squeaky, Squeaky this is my mum Emma and my dad Dan Granger."
Squeaky bowed to the two older Grangers, "Pleased to meet you Mr Granger and Mrs Granger."
"Hermione, we're coming now, is that all right?" Harry asked her.
"Yes Harry, we're in the kitchen and breakfast is ready." "Mum, Dad, Harry and Sirius are here."
Harry walked in to the kitchen ahead of Sirius, "Good morning Mr and Mrs Granger"
"Good morning Harry," Hermione's parents answered.
Harry then walked up to Hermione and gave her a hug, kissed her on the cheek and wished her a good morning, which she returned with interest. This caused both of her parents to smirk at the two youngsters.
"Good morning Sirius," the Grangers said together as he walked into the room.
"Good morning everyone, who is the new addition to the family?" he asked indicating the elf who was just serving up breakfast for everyone.
Dan smirked at him and winked, "Ah that's Harry Potter, he keeps turning up so we have adopted him."
It took a little while for Harry and Hermione to twig that Dan was having a joke at their expense, but when they did Hermione blushed beautifully, while Harry laughed and gave her another hug. "How about we tease them back, Hermione." "So mum, dad, when can I move in?" he asked, looking all-innocent but Hermione gave the game away, when she started giggling at the expression on her parents faces.
"Way to go Harry," Sirius chortled, "you really got them back with that one, pup."
Dan had a quizzical look on his face, "Why do you call him pup all the time, Sirius?" he asked.
As way of answer, he stood up and transformed into a large black dog, to the amazement of Dan and Emma and to the delight of Hermione. He then pranced around the table and licked Hermione on the face, causing her to squeal and give him a big hug, Dan, Emma and Harry all laughed at this; he then transformed back and sat down. "His mum used to call me his Dogfather, so naturally I called him Pup," he explained.
With breakfast finished, the family left the cleaning up to Squeaky, who was really making herself at home at the Grangers. They decided that it was time to go and visit Keswick Manor.
Lady Ravenclaw and her party arrived in the entrance hall of a beautiful three story Elizabethan Manor House; In front of the party there were sixteen house elves, resplendently dressed in black uniforms with blue trim and bronze edging, each of them had the Ravenclaw family crest on the left breast.
A very old elf stepped forward and bowed to Hermione, "Welcome to Keswick Manor my Lady, my name is Breaka and I'm your head house elf."
Hermione nodded in acknowledgement, "Thank you Breaka for your warm welcome," she then introduced her parents, Harry and Sirius, telling him that they were to be always allowed access to the manor.
Breaka then took them on a tour of the mansion, there was a basement set up as potions lab and storage area.
On the ground floor, if you went to the right as you entered the foyer, there was the Grand Hall with comfortable chairs and lounges, behind that was the Great Ballroom.
To the left of the foyer was the Dining Room, with the kitchen behind it. From the foyer, there was a grand staircase that led to the First and Second floors. On the walls of the Staircase, were portraits of all the Ravenclaws. At the top of the stairs was the picture of Rowena Ravenclaw and every female in line to Hermione. Those who were magical had gold frames and their name, title, date of birth and date they died. The non-magical were the same but without a title.
Emma looked at the portraits and was surprised to see one of herself, not only was it very well done but it was magical, so it moved, "How on earth did they get that," she asked no-one in particular.
"It's magic," the portrait of her said then laughed at Emma's expression.
"Mum, stop being cheeky to yourself." Hermione said with a straight face causing the others to laugh as well.
On the First floor was the main family living area, this consisted of a lounge room, family dining room and a smaller kitchen on the right and on the left was one huge library that occupied that whole wing.
The second floor was for the bedrooms, which each had their own en-suite bathroom. There was also a huge bathing pool.
What surprised Hermione and the others were all the modern conveniences, "Breaka, I know that the house hasn't been occupied by a Ravenclaw for quite a while, so how come it is so modern inside?"
Breaka was about to answer the question, when the portrait of Rowena Ravenclaw that was hanging on the wall over the fireplace answered for him;
"I left instructions that the Manor be updated every year, with anything that made life more comfortable. Nothing interferes more with study, than discomfort."
Hermione turned around and looked at the portrait, "Lady Rowena Ravenclaw?"
"At your service and you must be Hermione Granger, the latest Lady Ravenclaw." Rowena replied with a proud smile, "I did try and plan for the home to be comfortable for the next Lady Ravenclaw and it has been nearly two hundred years since the last one was in residence."
Hermione bowed to her ancestor, "It is a very beautiful home."
They then made their way back to the family dining room, where they talked about everything they saw in the house.
"You know Hermione; I was quite surprised that you didn't spend much time in the library. I really thought we would have a job getting you out of there." Her dad commented, "I must admit this is a magnificent home and I think the library is actually larger than the community one in Lambeth."
"Well we have a lot to do today," she answered "and I can come back at any time, to have a better look at it."
Harry had not said much since he arrived at the manor; he had been looking all around him trying not to miss anything. "You know I haven't seen anywhere for the elves to live," he commented "and we haven't seen the gardens either."
Hermione called Breaka, "You called, my Lady?" he asked, as he bowed to her.
"Yes Breaka, can you tell me where the elves live and in what sort of conditions please?"
"The manor is made in the shape of two big Es back to back. The centre bar of the front E is the entrance foyer, beside the stairs is a hidden door to the centre bar of the reverse E, the ground floor part is an entertainment area and class rooms, the first floor and second floor are bedrooms, each with their own bathroom. Traditionally we have been allowed to decorate them however we wished and they are upgraded every year, along with the rest of the house," He stated.
"You have classrooms?" Harry asked.
"Yes we train our young and teach them everything they need to know to run a household, they are taught to read, write, maths so they know how to manage the accounts, diction and etiquette, so we don't bring shame on our Lady."
Harry looked relieved that they had nice accommodation; he hated the thought that they might live as he used to.
Hermione then organised for them to have lunch out in the garden, so they could look around and see the house from the outside.
The house was just as beautiful on the outside; made of yellow ragstone which glowed in the noon sun. They were surprised to find out that it was set in three thousand acres of parkland, two thousand five hundred of which was forest.
The family had a wonderful picnic lunch in the rose garden, where they sat and chatted for about two hours. During this time, Hermione was making mental notes on things she needed to check on, next time she visited.
Sirius stood up, stretched himself and suggested that they make a move.
They all stood, Hermione took hold of her father's hand, while Harry took Emma's; Harry, Hermione and Sirius then tapped their rings with their wands and commanded, "Ynys Môn Castle," they felt the now familiar pull of the portkey and vanished.
A/N Thank you for all the reviews, please keep sending them in.
Raven Spotter.