Hogwarts Year 3
Chapter 6
Since they spent the weekend in the chambers and the quarters the five kids were surprised when they were confronted by roommates about where they had been. Ron confronted Harry as soon as he saw him, "Hey Harry where have you been all weekend? I had hoped to get you to help me some more with DADA. But you, and Neville and Hermione weren't to be found anywhere".
"We've just been around, we spent time studying and we visited with Hagrid. Just goofed off some. If I had known you wanted more help I would have tried to find you. Of course you could have asked Prof. Lupin for help he would have been glad to give some extra time, that's how I got so good was by asking questions and showing a real interest" Harry replied.
Neville was asked almost the same question by Seamus, while Hermione was cornered by Ginny. Over in Ravenclaw and Hufflepuff Luna and Susan were cornered by their roommates with similar questions. All of them answered basically the same way, except Susan added she had spent time with her new boyfriend and they wanted some "alone time".
Susan's answer was the talk of Hufflepuff, nobody knew that Susan had a boyfriend, much less a NEW boyfriend. The gossip network was all in an uproar as to why someone hadn't known about this, weren't her roommates paying attention? When Hermione heard a few of the other girls talking about Susan she made sure that Harry and Neville knew as quickly as possible; both boys were surprised. It was Hermione who put 1+1 together and came up with Susan and Neville, and she told Neville what she had figured out Monday morning at breakfast.
Susan was surprised when Neville walked up to her and asked if he could escort her to class, while Harry did offered to carry Hermione's books for her. Now the rumor mill was really getting hot. Many people had paired Harry and Hermione together, but now Neville Longbottom had a girlfriend – Susan Bones! It was during lunch that Susan and Neville got a chance to talk about what had come about, and neither were against it. Both agreed that it made sense, they had both been too shy to admit it to each other. Later that afternoon during class change, Draco walked by and patted Susan on the butt and made a comment that he thought Susan would do better with him; Susan spun around and landed a solid right cross right on Draco's chin knocking him to the floor.
When Draco went to draw his wand he found two more pointed at him, while hearing Susan say "if you want to keep that hand, and your bits, then keep it to yourself!" But the fact that Neville was starting to glow didn't go unnoticed either. The appearance of the spirit of Hogwarts got everyone's attention. "Mr. Malfoy you have just gained a detention with Prof. Sprout for the sexual assault on one of her students and you will lose 50 points for your house. Hogwarts awards 50 points to Gryffindor for defending another student. Mr. Longbottom either draw your anger in or discharge it somewhere safely, say into the stone that is now glowing behind you." the spirit was heard to say. Neville turned and sent a massive discharge of magical energy into the stone, the amount of energy did not go unnoticed by the rest of the students in the area. When Prof. McGonagall came up to chastise Neville she was informed of the reason for the display by Hogwarts herself.
The situation became worse for Draco when his head of house, who happened to be a woman, found out about what had happened she then assigned Draco detention every night for a week, to start after he served his detention with Prof. Sprout. That night Harry took Neville with him to listen at the Slytherin common room. They heard Draco trying to get a few of the others to help him get back at both Neville and Susan, but nobody was interested. It was one of the prefects that reminded everyone what had happened the last time Longbottom started glowing, several boys had ended up in the hospital. "And don't forget those Gryffindors stick together, as well as the Hufflepuffs, do you really want two houses mad at Slytherin?" When Neville and Harry got back to the quarters and told the girls what they had heard the five of them laughed so much they were lying on the floor.
Two days later at breakfast everyone saw an owl arrive with a red envelope in its talons. They all knew what that meant, someone was getting a Howler. The whole room was relieved when the envelope was dropped to Draco Malfoy, several people at the Slytherin table moved away quickly. Draco just starred at the envelope, who would have the gall to send him a Howler? The envelope exploded erupting into a message was from Narcissa Malfoy, Draco's mother, "Do not think you will not go unpunished when you get home. The very idea of a Malfoy getting caught, and receiving a weeks worth of detention for, assaulting someone is unheard of. Even your father had better sense than to get caught assaulting a female in public, WHAT WERE YOU THINKING? You can rest assured that your Christmas break will be very interesting as you will spend it working, not playing." everyone in the great hall heard.
Ginny Weasley leaned over to the twins and commented, "Wow and I thought Mom's howlers were killer." Both boys cringed but nodded simultaneously.
The Great Hall went quiet as several more owls appeared with red envelopes and they headed straight to Dumbledore. It appeared that several parents, mostly mothers, had heard about the incident and thought to express their displeasure to the headmaster. The consensus was that Malfoy got off lucky because if the mothers had been there he would have received much more than a few detentions and the loss of a few points. Amelia Bones showed up right after the parade of owls to investigate the assault on her niece. It would appear that Malfoy and Dumbledore were in for a very stressful day. All of the words between Dumbledore and Amelia weren't heard but a few words were like "criminal", "depraved", and "conspiracy".
Everyone was looking forward to Christmas Break with the wish that things would cool down a little. On the train ride back home the compartment opened and Pansy Parkinson came in to try and attack Susan, only to be met by six wands pointed at her. Pansy was found in the girls restroom, when the train got to platform 9¾, bound, gagged, and stunned. The kids were met by Amelia, Sirius, Augusta, Dan Granger, and Mr. Lovegood. The Weasleys were met by both parents and the oldest brother, Bill. Molly extended an invitation for them all to come by the Burrow during the holidays for a visit, but her face fell when she saw Harry and Hermione holding hands. Molly didn't notice that Neville and Susan were holding hands, but Augusta and Amelia didn't miss that fact.
Plans made to get together on Boxing Day at Potter Manor so gifts could be exchanged, then everyone went their separate ways. Harry and Sirius arrived at #12 Grimmauld Place they said hello to Kreacher, the Black's house-elf, and then used the floo to go to Potter Manor to meet the rest of the family. After supper Harry approached the adults and asked if any of them could teach him how to create a portkey and make it reusable. Rick and Sirius both said they could show him a portkey but not how to make it reusable,they then asked why Harry needed a reusable one. Harry explained that they had taken over the Chamber of Secrets and planned to use it for practicing spells and such, he needed the reusable portkey so the others could get from their dorms and back again without using the entrance in Myrtle's bathroom. The bathroom entrance required parsel magic to open, and it would be nice not to have to go into the girls restroom every time one of them wanted to use the chamber.
"But Harry you know you can't use portkeys or apparate inside the grounds of Hogwarts" Sirius said.
"But I can as a heir according to Hogwarts herself. So any portkey I make will work inside Hogwarts. Just as I can apparate inside Hogwarts, and so can Hermione since she is considered my mate by Hogwarts – which isn't such a bad idea anyway.", Harry replied.
"Mate? Harry is there something you need to tell me?", Sirius asked.
"Well Hermione and I have been such close friends for so long we just moved on to the next step, being boyfriend and girlfriend to each other. I'm sure some of you noticed that Susan and Neville have also taken that step. Besides, remember Hermione and I are actually 15 instead of 13 thanks to the time compression at Peaks.", Harry replied. The subject was quickly dropped by the adults.
Harry then brought up his next problem, where to relocate the basilisk and how? Rick said the only place that he knew of where basilisks were found was in Southeast Asia. But if the rumors were true about the size of this basilisk then that would be a real problem, moving a 60 foot snake was almost impossible. Sirius suggested using a very specific portkey to move the snake, it would mean going to where the snake was to be sent and placing a portkey target there and then removing that target after the move. The Goblins were the only ones who made such portkeys,they used this tactic to move merchandise and cargo. It was decided that a visit to Gringotts was in order sometime during the break.
The next morning Harry set about updating the wards around the manor to exclude Death Eaters, just like the wards at Hogwarts. But he still needed to test them some way since these were keyed to the magic in the Dark Mark directly. When Sirius heard about the new ward he asked if it could be put in the chambers of the Wizengamot to catch those who had gone unnoticed? Harry thought that was a good idea and it would provide the test he needed, since both thought that there were members wearing the mark. Harry told Sirius that it would take a few days to make another rune stone, but he would be sure to place the ward during the break. Harry also needed to make another stone for Longbottom Manor, since he used the second one he had here.
It was early Christmas day when Sirius sneaked into Harry's room to wake him, only to find the room empty. At 12 Grimmauld Place Harry also found Sirius' room empty, it appeared that Sirius hadn't slept there the previous night. That idea was soon proven wrong when Kreacher told Harry that Sirius had gone to Potter Manor just minutes before, Harry just sat down and laughed then flashed back home.
Harry, Sirius, Rick, Lucy, and Remus exchanged gifts that morning after a very large breakfast. Harry also opened all the presents from his friend he wouldn't see over the holidays, but was surprised when he found one from Ginny Weasley. Ginny's present was a picture of him and Hermione holding hands, it had a note attached that said "About time you woke up and saw what you were missing". Harry later found out that Ginny had sent the same picture to Hermione and it had the same note attached. How had Ginny gotten that picture?
It was Boxing Day and everyone was expected for lunch, Harry was excited as he wanted to see the expressions on his friends faces when they opened his presents. The first ones to arrive were Susan and Amelia, followed shortly by Neville and Augusta, Susan and Neville didn't take long before they were holding hands. Luna and Xeno arrived next. It was then that Harry remembered that Hermione wasn't connected to the floo network, so he was surprised when the three Grangers stepped out of the fireplace.
Everyone was busy greeting each other when lunch was announced, the surprise was when Sirius seated Amelia next to himself. Hermione was sitting next to Harry, with Susan and Neville sitting next to each other. It fell to Sirius to carve the turkey, and he made a right mess of it. Everyone got a laugh when the mess was removed and a pre-carved turkey was put in its place, "Begging the master's pardon, but the elves remembered young master Black and thought to prepare for his carving experience", Gustus announced. Harry told Gustus that he had just earned an extra day off for his excellent forethought, and a great prank too.
With the large, but excellent, meal finished then everyone went to the living room to open presents from under the tree. Harry as master of the house handed out the presents. The first went to Hermione of course; when she opened it she found a very nice necklace with her birthstone in the center. Harry explained that once it was on it couldn't be removed and that it held a couple of secrets too. Harry next gave a present to Amelia from Sirius, this one was opened very carefully by Amelia. Inside she found a small box that when opened contained a ring and a voice, of Sirius, asked "Amelia Bones will you take Sirius Black as an intended?" Amelia was stunned, what a clever way to propose and in public too. She didn't say anything just nodded and grabbed Sirius.
Neville ended up with another ring, this one baring the crest of Gryffindor. Luna got a Ravenclaw necklace, Susan got a necklace with the crest of Hufflepuff, Harry explained that the ring and necklaces were also reusable portkeys to the chamber and would return them to where they started and that Hermione's necklace also had this feature. Mrs. Longbottom got a stone with several runes carved into it, as soon as Neville saw the stone he started thanking Harry. Augusta said the stone was nice, but what were all the runes for? Neville told her, and everyone else, that this was a rune stone to prevent anyone wearing the Dark Mark from entering Longbottom Manor. Harry added that it prevented the same people from entering the grounds by any means. Harry received a heart felt hug from Augusta for his thoughtfulness and concern.
Then Harry gave the same stone to Dan and Emma Granger, Amelia and Susan, and to Luna and Xeno Lovegood. "Now I know this is strange, but these must remain a secret from anyone not associated with this group. If these become public knowledge then they might find a way to counteract them and put all my friends and their families in danger" Harry told them all very seriously. After all the presents had been opened there remained one under the tree, everyone thought it was most likely for Hermione but were wrong. When asked, Harry told them it was for the basilisk in the chamber and left it at that.
All the kids but Luna went outside to fly, she spent the time outside talking to her elemental and with its help throwing snowballs at the others, after all snow was just a cold form of water. Harry and Hermione didn't have much of a problem with the snowballs due to their flying and Quidditch abilities. Neville and Susan weren't so lucky, or as good on brooms and looked like a flying snow-people. When the kids finally came in Luna giggled as she explained that she didn't fly as well as the others and thought it would be fun to pelt them with snowballs while her elemental protected her from retaliation.
The following morning Harry made a trip to each household and placed the rune stones and erected the new wards. Each house also received emergency portkeys that took them to the chamber under Hogwarts and alerted Harry of their presence there. When Amelia questioned the portkey Harry explained that it was goblin made, even though he was the one to make them, so it wasn't a violation of the rules governing portkeys. When he finished, Harry told Sirius that he would have to be there when the ward was placed in the Wizengamot so he could removed the stone before anyone found it.
It was three days after Christmas when Harry, Hermione, Sirius, Remus, and the Grangers showed up at the Burrow to visit. Harry was cautious about this visit as he remembered the love potions that Molly had tried to use before on him and Hermione. Sirius told him that if any of those were used today then there would be serious repercussions. The visit went very well and Harry and Hermione found out about the pictures. Harry found out that it was Colin Creevey who had taken the pictures at the platform and then place a nice background behind the couple. Colin had also made similar pictures had sent them to Neville and Susan, and that now Ginny and Colin were very close. Harry and Hermione checked every drink but found no sign of anything not supposed to be there, except of course the firewhiskey the twins placed in some of the eggnog.
During this visit Harry got a chance to talk with Bill Weasley about wards and warding. Bill was well known for his ability to work with wards and even Grimstead had heard of him and commented how good he was. When Bill heard that Harry and Hermione knew Grimstead he asked if there was anyway for them to setup a meeting. Harry said if he saw Grimstead again he would ask. Harry and Bill spent quiet a while talking and Harry even showed Bill some of his work by warding the Burrow and having Bill try and undo those wards. Bill was sweating and exhausted when they came back inside, after Harry canceled his wards, and had to explain why. Hermione laughed so hard she fell down to the floor and told Harry to quit torturing Bill with those wards nobody had broken yet. That was when Harry knew Hermione had had enough eggnog.
Bill commented that if Harry ever wanted a job after school he should start up a warding business and he would be rich in no time, he might even give the Goblins a run for their money. Harry responded by saying the goblins were his friends and he could never hurt a friend or a friend's business. Bill continued that he was familiar with Goblin wards and Harry's were as strong, if not a little stronger, as any he had seen. Harry didn't mention that the goblins were aware of his wards and were trying to get him to teach them how to do them.
All three Grangers spent the night at Potter Manor the next morning Hermione woke with a huge headache from the eggnog she had drank at the Weasleys. She swore she would get even with the twins, one way or another as soon as school started back. Plans were started for a New Years Eve party, but which place should they hold it? That question was solved by Amelia, she said she and Susan would host the party at Bones Manor so Potter Manor could remain a secret.
It turned out that there were two parties going on at the Bones', one for adults and one for the kids. The adult party had several different types of "strong beverages" while the kid's party was limited to Butterbeer. Everything was going well; Ginny showed up with Colin as her date, Neville and Susan were a couple as were Harry and Hermione. The Weasley twins had dates, but Ron was stag, as was Luna. The music between the two parties was different also, the adults had quiet "adult" music but the kids had newer music that was popular. The show was Sirius and Amelia dancing to the kid's music, and not too bad either.
Just as the clock struck midnight, Hermione grabbed Harry and gave him a real kiss. Neville and Susan weren't far behind as far as the kissing went. Everyone was kissing or hugging someone when the whole house shook and several screams were heard from outside. Sirius, Amelia, Remus, both Weasley adults, and the heirs went to see what was wrong with wands drawn. Outside they found three men caught in the wards screaming. Each man was wearing a white mask and black robes, Death Eaters. Amelia just started laughing, as did Sirius, and said, "Well I guess the new wards I had installed work pretty well. Now if the second part of the wards work we should soon see several member of the DMLE appear to remove the trash". She had no more finished her statement when six aurors appeared outside the wards. Harry whispered the spell to release the captives to Amelia who walked out to tell the aurors how to remove the men.
Once the men were in custody and on their way to the holding cells, everyone returned to the party inside. Amelia was asked many times by some of the other guests where she got those particular wards and where they could obtain the same. Amelia said they were a gift from a very dear friend of the family and as such she could not possible reveal from where they came, and winked at Harry. Bill Weasley pulled Harry and Hermione aside and told them the wards had to have come from Harry, they just seemed his style. Harry told Bill that the wards were an experiment by a friend who needed somewhere to test them, but they were close to the wards Hogwarts had it seemed – referring to Lucius' capture earlier that year. Harry did admit that he had added his own wards, similar to the ones Bill had tried to undo, that night to the house wards. Bill asked what the wards did, Harry told him to try and hex someone and he would find out.
Everyone's attention was drawn to Bill Weasley as he lay on the floor with sparks all around him keeping him paralyzed. It was noticed that Bill had his wand out; Harry walked over and said something and the sparks went away. Harry explained that Bill was testing some new wards and fell victim to his own ward, everyone but Bill laughed. When Bill got up he shook Harry's hand and said he never wanted to be on the wrong side of Harry's wards again. Hermione told Bill he should try some of Harry's serious wards sometime. Bill politely refused to even consider that situation.
It was the day before the return to Hogwarts that Harry slipped into the Wizengamot chambers to set the ward to capture Death Eaters. Harry remained under his cloak to watch what happened. Once the session was called to order Sirius announced that new wards were being tested and there might be an interruption or two. That was Harry's cue to activate the ward, the ward came up and five members of the Wizengamot were now held in the air with a sick green glow around them. Their sleeves were stripped off their left arms and the Dark Mark revealed. "Well it appears that the new wards work very well, but they seem quite tame compared to what I was told they would do to people who bore the Dark Mark. These five will be taken into custody and questioned, at length, as to how they came to bare that mark.", Sirius said as several aurors came in, only for one of them to be suspended in the air and his sleeve ripped off to show the same mark on his arm.
"it would seem that we need to check more closely the people who work in this Ministry" Amelia was heard to say as she walked into the room.
Once the six were removed it was deemed prudent to recess for a short period of time. When everyone was gone Sirius and Amelia appeared back inside the chamber and Harry removed his cloak and set privacy wards on the room. The three of them then discussed the possibility of installing those wards building wide. Harry said he could do that but it would take a while as he would need to make several more stones and make them permanent, not to mention undetectable and unapproachable. Harry suggested that the Ministry would have to provide the new stones that were needed and allow him access to the main wards. Sirius asked why the six hadn't been screaming and Harry said he had tried to be more humane with these wards. Amelia and Sirius both agreed that they wanted the pain back in so they could locate anyone who was caught, no matter where in the building they were. Harry said he didn't like it but saw the need since the warning sent was not specific as to exact location.
The return trip to Hogwarts was without incident. No sign of Draco or any of his crew was seen, but it was soon public knowledge that Draco was very miserable after his Christmas break. Quickly the news spread that Draco had,had to spend the entire time doing laundry and housework by hand and that his wand had been locked up the whole time and elves told not to help him in any way. Most of this information wasn't available until after the arrival at Hogwarts. It was strange, but nobody had seen Pansy get on the train and she wasn't seen anywhere on board. Pansy was at the welcome back feast and seen sitting beside Draco and she looked frazzled.
A/N: Well Christmas is over and it is back to school again. The general magical population is now short nine more Death Eaters and Azkaban has a few more guests.
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