Disclaimer: I don't own Harry Potter or any of the characters in the Harry Potter series.

Recognizable portions from this chapter have been taken from Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban, by J.K. Rowling

Chapter 4: A Little Bit of Knowledge

Previously, on The Marauders' Return…

He'd been so caught up with the horrible fact that he had to return to Number Four, that he completely missed the next part of Madam Bones' statement – or was it a question? His four companions were staring expectantly at him; clearly they were waiting from some sort of answer from him.

'Sorry, what? I didn't catch that.'

Madam Bones' eyebrow arched ever so slightly; Harry quickly made a mental note to never ask Madam Bones to repeat herself.

'I was wondering if you'd like to come and stay with Susan and me at Bones Mansion for the remainder of the holidays. Assuming that your Aunt and Uncle agree, of course.'

And as Harry's expression shifted from sad and morose to joyful and excited almost immediately, Madam Bones was finally able to fully appreciate what the expression 'in the blink of an eye' truly meant.

His joyous expression, however, was immediately replaced by a worried look.

'Are you sure? I mean… I would love to come, honestly, but Fudge – sorry, the Minister – asked me to stay here, and –'

'Harry, you're rambling,' interrupted Susan with a smile.

'Listen to me, Harry,' said Madam Bones. 'Whatever the Minister told you about staying here in Diagon Alley seems quite fishy to me. For goodness sake, there's a killer on the loose, it's not safe for anyone to be alone! Least of all –'

She broke off suddenly and rather abruptly; clearly she hadn't intended to make that statement, and had caught herself just in time. Harry gave her a curious look.

'Least of all children like you and Susan,' amended Madam Bones hastily. 'Black is a dangerous criminal, Harry, you'd do well to remember that. They've already decided to send the Azkaban guards out in search of him.'

At these words, Hestia paled noticeably. Her voice shook, and was decidedly higher-pitched as she addressed Madam Bones. 'T-the Azkaban guards?'

'I'm afraid so,' said Madam Bones gravely. 'It was the Minister's idea, that's why he'd called us for that emergency meeting just now.' Hestia growled angrily at the mention of the Minister. 'How he thinks having those creatures at school would help is beyond me…'

Harry tuned out the conversation between the two adults as it ventured into the 'widely accepted theory' that Cornelius Fudge was, as Hestia put it, 'definitely incompetent' and 'off his rocker'. Madam Bones refrained from passing any judgement on her boss, but he could spot a ghost of a smile flitting across her face as Hestia continued her rant against the Minister with a few choice words.

Susan elbowed him sharply in the ribs. 'Well? You are coming, right?'

'I-yes, of course,' he responded, still wincing as he massaged his side. 'What was that for, anyway?'

'You seemed lost in your own little world there, I figured I'd give you a wake-up call.'

'Right, thanks, I appreciate the sentiment.'

Susan stuck her tongue out at him. 'Well c'mon then. You need to pack, let's go.'

Harry acquiesced to Susan grabbing his arm and dragging him away from the completely oblivious adults, who now seemed to be talking about goblin rights. The two continued their friendly banter as they sauntered down the street towards the Leaky Cauldron. The sun had finally set; the lights from the gas lamps hanging at the entrances of each shop and peddler were the only sources of illumination for the straggles of shoppers finishing their shopping in Diagon Alley. The stars appeared to be playing a game of hide-and-seek up in the dark sky above – Harry could barely make out the few constellations he remembered from his Astronomy lessons in second year.

The pub was, in a departure from the norm, quite empty by its standards that night; Harry had never seen it this empty in all of the two weeks he'd been there. The usual crowd was missing – the old wizard by the hearth at the far end of the room was nowhere to be seen. It looked like the wizarding population was taking the escape of Sirius Black from Azkaban prison quite seriously.

Tom the landlord was, as usual, positioned behind the bar, and was in the process of pouring a rather large amount of what looked like oak mead into a huge tankard. The man waiting for his drink was enormous – he simply looked too big to be allowed in the room. He turned around as Tom waved at Harry, and his black, beetle eyes crinkled as his bearded face broke into a huge grin.

'Hagrid!' said Harry ecstatically. He hugged the giant man – or at least attempted to put his arms around Hagrid's huge frame. Hagrid returned the hug with equal, if not more, enthusiasm; he still didn't think he could ever properly thank the young teenager for helping him out with the Chamber of Secrets debacle last term.

'How're yeh doin' Harry?' boomed Hagrid, as Harry and Susan – the latter a bit tepidly – joined Hagrid at the bar. Tom handed out two bottles of Butterbeer to Harry and Susan, and promptly waved them away when they attempted to pay for it.

'Don't bother, I'll get it from Hagrid here later.'

'Thanks Tom,' said Harry appreciatively, and Susan smiled in gratitude. The wizened barman tipped his head before sliding out of the bar and heading over to the other side of the room, where two warlocks were almost on the verge of coming to blows.

The three of them watched interestedly as Tom diffused the tension as quickly as it had arisen, after which he returned to the bar, muttering about 'crazy old dingbats'.

Harry chuckled at Tom's indignation, before turning to his first-ever friend.

'What brings you here, Hagrid?' Susan, despite her unease at sitting with the large gamekeeper, looked interested at his response.

'Ah, the usual. Flesh-Eating-Slug Repellant, them things 'ave bin a menace,' growled Hagrid. 'Yeh mus' be Susan Bones, think I might've seen yeh 'round at school.'

'Err – yes sir,' she stammered out. Hagrid looked oddly pleased with the address, a fact which did not miss Harry's attention.

The three of them chatted for a while longer, before Hagrid bid them farewell with a wave of his dustbin-lid sized hand, almost catching a poor old witch heading for the Floo fireplace, her arms laden with shopping bags. He apologized profusely to her in his booming voice, and sauntered out of the bar towards Diagon Alley.

Harry and Susan waved goodbye to Tom and moved upstairs to room number eleven. The books he'd purchased from Flourish and Blotts were still strewn about the floor – his Divination textbook was propping up one of his extra reading books – Jinxes for the Jinxed, which caught Susan's attention almost immediately.

'Jinxes for the Jinxed?' she queried as she settled onto the only chair in the room, the glossy black book in her hand. 'Whatever for?'

Harry gave her an odd look. 'I thought I told you – I've been doing some reading over the summer.'

'Yes, well, when you said reading, I assumed you meant books like David Copperfield or something,' she fired back. 'Not extra studying books.'

Harry looked nonplussed. 'You've read David Copperfield? That's a Muggle book!'

She frowned at him. 'So? Auntie always suggested that I read about Muggles and their literature. She says it helps us to understand the way Muggles live.'

'She's got a point, your Aunt,' said Harry, impressed. He'd finished stuffing his books in his trunk, including Jinxes for the Jinxed which he'd grabbed from Susan, and was now moving around the room, picking up his leftover clothes and other items.

'Grandma is a Muggle-born, so she ensured that both my father and Auntie got into the habit of reading Muggle as well as wizarding books. We've got a huge library at home – I think it must have at least five thousand books,' she finished proudly. 'I've never counted though, but it's certainly a lot of books.'

'And done!' said Harry happily as he shut his trunk, having clearly not listened to a word of what Susan had said. He looked confused at the mild scowl she gave him, but ignored it soon after as Hedwig came sweeping through the open window. She looked pleased with herself – Harry surmised she must have had a rather successful hunt that evening.

'All right girl?' he asked as he stroked her feathers tenderly. She hooted happily in response and rubbed her neck against his hand.

'We're going to the Bones Mansion tonight, Hedwig. D'you think you could fly there? I don't think you would prefer travelling by car.' Hedwig glared at him. 'I thought not. Go on, then.' And with that, the snowy owl took off into the night once more, the light from the waxing moon giving her an ethereal glow in the night sky.

'She must be really intelligent – it looks like she understands every word that you said,' remarked Susan.

Harry jumped in surprise; he'd completely forgotten about Susan's presence when Hedwig had come in. Susan pretended not to notice it.

'Is she your Familiar?'

This had Harry turning to face Susan properly, a bewildered look on his face. 'What do you mean?'

The auburn-haired girl adopted a thoughtful look while adjusting her position on the rather uncomfortable looking wooden chair, as though she was trying to recollect something. 'Familiars represent the bond that a witch or wizard has with their pets – mostly pets, actually. Some wizards might even have a bond with magical animals that can't actually be domesticated. Like dragons, for example. Or phoenixes too,' she added as an afterthought.

Harry's ears perked up at the mention of phoenixes as Familiars. 'You think Fawkes could be Dumbledore's Familiar?'

'Who's Fawkes?'

'Dumbledore's phoenix, haven't you seen him?'

'No, I can't say that I have. Plus, I don't think Dumbledore has a phoenix, Harry.'

'Of course he does,' he retorted. 'Dumbledore introduced me to him last term –'

'I mean,' Susan cut across before he could finish, 'I don't think Dumbledore could say he owned that phoenix, Harry. Phoenixes can't be kept as pets.'

'They can't?' asked Harry in amazement.

'Rather odd, isn't it?' said Susan. 'I was surprised when Auntie told me about it – she said that one of the wizarding fairy-tale stories was technically wrong in the fact that the prince in it had a pet phoenix. They are loyal and faithful birds, yes, but can never be considered as pets.'

'Huh,' said Harry. 'Well, I didn't know that – something new to learn for the day I s'pose.'

'Indeed,' agreed Susan with a smile.

They lapsed into a comfortable silence, much unlike the one Madam Bones, Kingsley and Tonks had left in their wake upon their departure in Diagon Alley. Harry's thoughts wandered to the events of that day; it was hard to believe that he'd almost been arrested by the MES and expelled from Hogwarts just a few hours earlier. All for merely conjuring a Basic Shield Charm in self-defence.

His gaze strayed over to rest on Susan, who was now looking out the window of the room into the now-star-filled night sky. He grinned to himself as he recalled Susan's playful smirk when she'd first arrived along with Madam Bones. The grin, however, faded into a frown as Dumbledore's last remarks to Umbridge came to his mind:

'You are also aware of the current situation, I presume?'

What 'current situation' was Dumbledore talking about? Harry could logically think of only one thing – and that was the escape of Sirius Black from Azkaban. Then again, the fuss that everyone was making out of it seemed – at least to Harry – quite excessive. He couldn't say he disagreed with Dumbledore's assessment of Black as being 'a formidable adversary to anyone who crosses his path' – he had murdered thirteen people with a single curse after all. But it still seemed as if they were making an extra fuss of the situation whenever he, Harry, was around. Two incognito weeks spent in Diagon Alley had only reaffirmed that notion: while the general populace was a little frightened, they seemed confident that Black would be recaptured by the Azkaban guards.

The Azkaban guards…the reaction of people to the mention of them was something else which Harry had observed; truthfully, it would have been difficult for anyone not to have noticed the shudders and winces of people whenever the subject of the guards came up. Harry vividly remembered Ernie Prang's words when Stan Shunpike had talked about them:

'Talk about summat else, Stan, there's a good lad. Them Azkaban guards give me the collywobbles.'

Harry didn't know anything about the wizard prison and its guards, though everyone he'd ever heard speak of it had done so in the same fearful tone. Hagrid had spent only two months in there last year, but the look of terror on Hagrid's face – one of the bravest people Harry knew – was something he wasn't likely to forget too soon.

'Knut for your thoughts, Harry?' Susan's voice broke through his reverie.

'Just thinking,' he responded, still lost in thought.

'I can see that,' she said dryly. 'D'you want to talk about it?'

Harry hesitated. Should he tell her about the odd feeling he got whenever someone mentioned Azkaban, or Sirius Black and his escape? Or about his suspicions that everyone was making a great fuss about the mass murderer whenever he was around?

He shook his head. 'Maybe some other time, Susan.'

She eyed him carefully; he clearly hadn't done a good job of hiding his emotions. Fortunately she decided not to press him further – unlike what Hermione would surely have done, for which he was grateful.

'C'mon then,' she said briskly, picking up his backpack. 'Let's go home.'

Situated just outside the city of London in Old Windsor, the Bones Mansion sits in the middle of a large, sprawling estate of approximately five hundred acres, with lush, green gardens surrounding the main building from all four sides. With the Windsor Great Park – located just behind it – being the only major public area in the vicinity, the Bones estate itself is practically isolated. There are no other Muggle families around within a three-mile radius, while most of the wizarding families – both pure and half-blood – have settled either in the city of London itself, or in areas farther away from Muggle civilization. Indeed, the nearest wizarding house – home to the Abbotts – is at least a good seven miles away by road.

The estate is also well protected – both physically and magically. Despite the safeguards that had been put up by the royal family for the Windsor Great Park – and by extension the Bones Mansion as well – the head of the Bones family, in the eighteenth century, decided to add his own protection to the estate. And so, after a lot of assurances given to the Ministry of Magic that the magic used wouldn't be seen by Muggles, and that it wouldn't be used for Muggle-baiting, the first of the many, varied wards came up around the estate. Over the years, the constant presence of magical beings and the usage of magic on the grounds of the estate has only served to strengthen these wards, whilst also enabling them to add new ones.

As on the day Harry arrived at the Bones Mansion in 1993, there were approximately fifteen different sets of wards, along with ten other shields that protected the lands.

One of them didn't allow for unauthorized people – Muggles and magical folk alike, who weren't specifically allowed by the current head of the house – to simply appear on the grounds, either through Apparation or the Floo. This ward had been introduced during Grindelwald's reign of terror, and continued up till the disappearance of Voldemort in 1981. Since then, it had been disabled on account of its stringent punishment to trespassers; Madam Bones, however, had enabled it over the summer, citing 'the current climate.'

The decision on bringing Harry home being an impulsive, split-second one, Madam Bones hadn't had the opportunity to disable the Unauthorized Trespasser Ward – or UTW for short, as Susan had explained to him on the way there. They were therefore compelled to approach the Bones Mansion through the traditional road – taking the B383 off the London Road adjacent to the Imperial College of London – Silwood Park. The Ministry, upon special request, had graciously agreed to provide one of its cars for this purpose. The bottle-green coloured vehicle was driven by a furtive-looking wizard, wearing a suit of emerald velvet. As he entered the car with his trunk in tow right outside the Leaky Cauldron, Harry presumed that the car must have had a charm put on it similar to what had been applied for the Leaky Cauldron's entrance: none of the passing Muggles seemed to think twice about the presence of quite an old-fashioned looking car on the street.

The journey to the Bones Mansion was uneventful compared to Harry's trip on the Knight Bus. The Ministry car seemed very ordinary, although Harry noticed that it was able to fit through narrow gaps and spaces in traffic that Uncle Vernon's new company car certainly couldn't have managed.

The three of them – Madam Bones, Susan and Harry – were seated quite comfortably at the back; Madam Bones had requested the driver of the cab to put up the privacy window between the front and back seats, which allowed them to have a private conversation without him listening in.

'Silencio,' said Madam Bones with a wave of her wand. Harry immediately recognised the incantation for the Silencing Charm – it was used to either make a person go silent, or an area to become silent to outsiders. It was quite useful for making sure that conversations went unheard, or for shutting someone up, but it had its limitations: if there was an emergency inside the Silenced area, no one outside would be able to hear it unless the charm was reversed.

What Harry didn't expect, however, was a kind of feel to the charm itself. It was as if the three of them had been enclosed in a big transparent bubble; it spread out from the tip of Madam Bones' wand over them, enclosing them in a dome-like structure. He was distinctly able to sense the boundaries of the bubble – it extended all the way from the backrests of their seats to the partition glass – but what intrigued him significantly was the enveloping sensation he had felt as the charm passed over him.

His small gasp of surprise and bewilderment did not go unnoticed by Madam Bones.

'Something wrong, Harry?'

He looked at her, eyes still reflecting his amazement. 'The charm – that was the Silencing Charm wasn't it?'

If Madam Bones was surprised at his knowledge of the charm – it was an OWL level charm – she didn't show it.

'Yes, it was. What about it?'

He opened his mouth to respond, but almost immediately, memories of the last time he'd made his 'abilities' public assaulted him – the shock and horror reflected on the faces of his teachers and fellow students at Hogwarts when he was revealed to be a Parselmouth swam before his eyes. While he knew that the ability to feel a charm, unlike Parseltongue, wouldn't be considered as a dark trait, he didn't want to take a chance with this.

He shook his head fervently. 'No, there's nothing, Madam Bones.'

Madam Bones raised an eyebrow at him, but didn't question him further, instead choosing to hand out two rolls of parchment to Susan and Harry. At first glance, they appeared to be blank, but Madam Bones tapped each roll twice with her wand, and ink blossomed out on the pages from the point where her wand had touched them.

'Susan tells me you've been desperate to practice some spells, Harry,' said Madam Bones, almost too nonchalantly. It wasn't a question.

Harry looked up from the pieces of parchment – Madam Bones was expressionless as she proof-read the rolls, but Susan was staring out the window while determinedly avoiding his eye. He glared at Susan, but didn't respond to Madam Bones' statement. She understood, however.

'At such a young age, your skill and speed with a wand is quite impressive, Harry, from what I saw. With the right training and guidance, however, you could become an extraordinary duellist. I thought you could benefit from that kind of training over the next two weeks, considering the time you have on your hands until you return to school.'

Harry quickly perused his roll – it was a timetable of his training and additional classes that Madam Bones had arranged for him at the Bones' Mansion. Most of them appeared to be sessions related to Defence Against the Dark Arts – duelling or spell-casting sessions; however, he noticed that he had a session titled 'Magical Channelling' every evening for an hour, which was followed by 'Muggle Fighting Techniques' for another hour. He supposed that the Muggle fighting class was Madam Bones' idea, considering her advocacy for understanding Muggles. He also noted that he had almost 2 hours per day for 'Others' – he wondered if he was to revise his other subjects and previous readings during that time.

'I'm joining these classes too?' asked Susan. Harry looked up again at Susan – this time in surprise – who sported a confused look on her face, her eyebrows raised in bewilderment. And for some unknown reason, his stomach did a small backflip.

'Yes, you are,' said Madam Bones. 'I thought it would be best for you to learn some duelling and spell-casting as well. Plus, it would be nice for Harry to have some company, don't you think?'

Harry was stunned. Here was a woman who had barely known him for half a day, but had already invited him to stay at her place for the remainder of his holidays, understood his desire for an opportunity to perform some spells, and had taken the trouble to plan his training sessions – something which he'd desperately wanted ever since he'd started his extra reading in the beginning of the summer. She couldn't have been more unlike Aunt Petunia, and that was, in Harry's opinion, a major plus point in Madam Bones' favour.

He attempted to splutter out his thanks to her, but she waved it off.

'It's the least I can do, Harry. I knew your parents when they were in Hogwarts and after they left; you couldn't have met nicer people than them. I owe it to Lily and James for all that they've done for me, especially when –'

She trailed off, breathing heavily – she was evidently quite emotional about it. Harry noticed that her eyes were moist, and decided not to press the issue. He waited for her to return to normal – pretending to be fascinated with the scenery outside as she subtly wiped her eyes.

'Thank you, Madam Bones,' he said courteously, to which she smiled at him.

He looked down at his schedule, and almost felt giddy with anticipation. He couldn't wait for the sessions to begin. Harry couldn't explain it, but the fact that Susan was joining him in these training sessions was making him look forward to them even more.

'And don't worry about the underage magic restriction, I've taken care of it,' said Madam Bones, almost as an after-thought. Harry wondered what she'd done – especially considering his recent brush with the law and Dolores Umbridge – but he didn't press it further.

As the Ministry car zipped along the M4, Madam Bones proceeded to give a brief run-down on each of the subjects that Harry and Susan were scheduled to take over the following two weeks. He was glad to hear that they would be taught proper duelling by a proper teacher – something which he'd been dying to learn since the disastrous Duelling Club by his ex-Professor Lockhart. But it was the explanation given by Madam Bones for the Magical Channelling session that really piqued his interest.

'Tell me,' she began, as the car squeezed through a narrow gap to avoid a massive line of vehicles heading towards Heathrow Airport, 'what's the most common tool used for channelling magic?'

Susan piped up with the answer almost immediately. 'A wand.'

'That's correct. A wand is the most common instrument used by most witches and wizards across the world to ensure that their magic works the way they wish it to. Simply put, it acts as a pipe for the magic to flow in the correct direction, to achieve the correct objective.'

'Most witches and wizards? You mean there could be others who don't use wands?' asked Harry.

'I'm not saying there could be, I'm saying there are others who don't use wands,' replied Madam Bones. 'The ancient wizards of Africa – from where it is said that all magic originated – never used any instrument or object to perform spells, let alone any wand. The wand is in fact a European invention – some historians are of the belief that it could even be the brainchild of a British wizard after he returned from a tour of Africa. Considering that Ollivander's has been making wands since the fourth century B.C., that theory might well be true.'

Harry had already heard of this theory – the author of one of his summer reading books had postulated this, before expanding on it to suggest that it may well have been Garrick Ollivander's ancestor himself who introduced the idea of wands to magical Europe. But the fact that there were still some magical communities who were able to perform spells without a wand was truly fascinating.

'The reason behind me telling you this is that your Magical Channelling Session is going to teach you the ability to utilize your magic without a wand. Not everyone can do this, mind: there are very few Magic Channellers in the world right now. If I'm not wrong, I think Dumbledore is one himself.'

Harry looked back down at his schedule as she finished – there were no names or details given of the instructors who would be taking their lessons. Susan voiced what he was thinking almost immediately.

'Will Professor Dumbledore be taking our sessions then?'

To their surprise, Madam Bones chuckled. 'As skilled as Dumbledore is, he's not the best Magical Channeller out there. No, I've managed to reach out to someone who is, by Dumbledore's admission, much better than he is.'

Madam Bones paused as the car swerved suddenly to avoid a bird on the M25. 'Your sessions will be taken by Bernard Fernandes.'

Susan let out a gasp, her hand over her mouth as her eyes widened in shock. 'You're joking right?' she exclaimed. 'Bernard Fernandes? As in THE Bernard Fernandes?!'

Madam Bones gave a rather uncharacteristic smirk. 'The one and the same.'

Harry was nonplussed. 'Who?'

Susan looked at him incredulously. 'You haven't heard of Bernard Fernandes?'

'Err…'

'Harry, Bernard Fernandes is probably the world's most knowledgeable magician since Merlin himself! Surely you've got his Chocolate Frog card?' said Susan.

'Err…'

'Oh, for goodness' sake!' said Susan. She reached into the pocket of her jeans and withdrew what was unmistakeably a Chocolate Frog card. It was quite faded, and the edges were significantly worn out; clearly it had been carried around and looked at for a long time. Why she happened to have that particular card on that day, nobody knew. Harry opened his mouth to ask, but Susan cut him with a brusque 'Don't ask', as she thrust the card to Harry.

'Lumos,' said Madam Bones, and with the illumination provided by the tip of her wand, Harry read.

Considered as one of the most knowledgeable magicians – amongst witches and wizards – since the time of Merlin himself. Bernard Fernandes is a recipient of the highest international individual civil award, the Ptolemy Award, awarded by the International Confederation of Wizards. It is rumoured that his students include Albus Dumbledore, Gellert Grindelwald and Nicholas Flamel. He celebrated his 250th birthday in August 1986.

Harry turned the card over – the portrait of Bernard Fernandes blinked up at him: wild, wavy, white hair, slightly bushy eyebrows, a sharp nose and a rather pronounced chin. Harry thought he rather looked like the pictures of Albert Einstein he had seen in the school library (during the brief time he'd been allowed in). But what struck him most were the eyes – they were of a golden hue, with minuscule flecks of brown at the corners. Knowledge and wisdom seemed to pour out of them, even in the portrait; it was like the brain of Bernard Fernandes was straining to hold in that much information in them.

'Grindelwald was his student?' asked Harry disbelievingly.

'Indeed,' said Madam Bones. 'Bernard taught him some of the more advanced magical techniques and theories – or so the story goes. I heard he was deeply disturbed by Grindelwald's motives, and his embracing of the Dark Arts. I shudder to imagine how he must have felt when his top two students went against each other.'

Harry knew what she was talking about – the duel between Dumbledore and Grindelwald in 1945 was epic in more ways than one: the tenacity, prowess and magical skills of the duellists on display were awe-inspiring. It was slightly disconcerting, and equally exciting to know that they were going to be trained by the teacher of both Dumbledore and Grindelwald.

'We have reached, Madam Bones,' came the driver's voice from the front of the car. Harry looked out the window as Madam Bones waved her wand towards the front. He just managed to get a glimpse of the wrought iron gates – not unlike the ones at Hogwarts, except that the columns were topped with fierce looking badgers – before they sped past on the driveway up towards the house.

The driver stopped the car in front of the main doors: they were made of solid teakwood, and were painted a brilliant gold. The flight of stairs leading up to the doors were of white marble; a long golden carpet ran along the middle of the stairs and disappeared into the house. Harry's gaze shifted across the building as he got out of the car: while only three floors high, it was significantly wider – Harry imagined it was at least five times the size of the Dursley's house. A faint hum sounding across the grounds accompanied as he walked up the stairs, which he assumed to be the engine of the Ministry car, fading away as the driver tipped his hat to Madam Bones and drove off from the estate.

Harry had expected the main doors to swing open of their own accord, but he was slightly startled at the appearance of Binky, the house elf of the Bones' family. Binky was similar in stature to Dobby, the only other house elf that Harry had met, but he seemed a bit less excited and zealous in nature. Once Harry got over his initial shock at seeing another house elf, he'd politely greeted Binky – to the amazed and impressed looks of Madam Bones and Susan – and accepted the elf's offer of a mini tour of the mansion right away. While Madam Bones levitated Harry's trunk to his allotted room in the house, Susan joined Harry and Binky in what the auburn-haired girl termed as 'The Binky-Bones Tour', a task which the elf was very proud of.

The interior of the Bones Mansion was equally impressive as its magnificent exterior: a huge chandelier hung from the ceiling, bathing the foyer in the bright yet soft yellow glow of candles. Numerous floating candles also added to the available light, while torches lined the walls, which were interspersed with portraits – presumably of the ancestors of the Bones family, all of whom were staring at Harry with unabashed interest. There was a huge fireplace to the right of the doors, above which was an equally large mantelpiece, decorated with trinkets, old wands and other items that certainly wouldn't have merited a place on the Dursleys' shelves.

Straight ahead from the entrance was another set of double doors, which on further inspection led to a massive dining hall: the table set in the centre of the room could easily seat twenty people comfortably. A door off the dining hall led to the kitchen, the storeroom, and the living quarters of Binky and two other house elves – Tufty and Blossom. Those two mainly tended to the greenhouses and the surrounding grounds; according to Binky, the Venomous Tentacula had caused quite a ruckus by knocking the other pots over, which had unfortunately held up the house elves there.

The entrance foyer had two sets of spiral staircases along either wall, which led to the first floor. Apart from those, there were another set of doors to the right that opened up to a private study – Susan said it doubled up as Madam Bones' office on the day she chose to stay at home – while the doors to the left led to a medium-sized library. The first floor were all rooms – fourteen in total, including a number of guest rooms, Susan's bedroom, Madam Bones' bedroom and the master bedroom, in which Susan's parents had slept in prior to their deaths. Harry tactfully didn't press for more information on it, instead choosing to go up the stairs to the second floor, which had –

'The Duelling Room, Master,' squeaked Binky from near Harry's knee as the doors opened. He looked around in awe: to say the room was vast would be an understatement – it was enormous. It was at least half a mile in length from the door, and a quarter of a mile wide. A part of the left wall near the door was lined with a bookshelf, which on a closer look contained a number of books on duelling, spell-casting, dark arts fighting and defence strategies. The other wall had a number of dummies standing side-by-side, with circular targets painted across their torsos for accuracy training. According to Binky, the dummies were self-reparable, as was the room to a certain extent. The walls were also sound-proof and spell-proof – which meant that destructive spells wouldn't destroy it immediately – something which Binky was extremely proud of.

'We is doing this, sir, we is putting the proofing spells for this room for Madam and Master Bones to practice!' said Binky, as excitedly as he could get. 'Master Bones loved using this room for training, sir, oh yes! Very fond and proud of Binky he was too.' His ears drooped slightly, however, as he continued. ''Tis a shame though, sir, about Master Bones, oh, what a shame… A very kind Master to Binky he was, too kind…'

Harry had known from his correspondence with Susan over the summer that Lord Voldemort's followers had murdered her mother, her grandmother and her uncle – Madam Bones' husband – a few years after he'd been defeated by Harry. But he had no idea as to how her father had died. His initial impulse was to ask Binky for details, but he thought the better of it: Susan appeared quite subdued and forlorn at the mention of her father, so he wisely kept his mouth shut and avoided the topic altogether.

Susan remained downcast for the remainder of the Tour; it slightly dampened Harry's enthusiasm when he stepped out onto the balcony on the eastern wing of the house. The view was magnificent: the sprawling grounds were softly lit up by the slowly waxing moon of that week, casting curious shadows of the trees across the grounds. In the distance, a lone swan glided across a small pond, its feathers shining slightly in the moonlight. Harry made a note to be on this balcony at dawn at least once.

'Are you alright?' Harry asked Susan, as Binky shooed them off the balcony and ushered him to his room on the first floor – two doors before and on the other side from Susan's.

She gave him a rather unusual watery smile – unusual for the reason that he'd never seen her this down since he'd met her two months ago – and nodded, before bidding him good night and shutting her door with a soft click. He stood at the entrance to his room, his hand on the door handle, staring at the spot where Susan had disappeared from view.

'Miss Suzie is very sad about Master Bones' death,' said Binky morosely from near his knee. 'She misses him greatly, but rarely speaks about it to anyone. Poor Miss Suzie…' He shook his head slowly, his large ears flapping about.

Harry looked at Binky in surprise. 'Wait, she rarely speaks about it to anyone? How come?'

'Oh it was horrible, sirs,' said Binky as they walked inside his room. 'Very horrible, and she saw all of it, poor Miss Suzie… A little girl she was, and she saw everything.'

His self-control crumbled; curiosity got the better of Harry. 'What happened? Was it Vol – sorry!' he amended hastily, as Binky almost jumped in fright, breathing heavily. 'Was it his doing?'

It took Binky a good minute to calm down from the shock and fright of almost hearing Voldemort's name out loud, but he refused to elaborate on the subject even after that. After a number of attempts at coaxing out the information from the elf, Harry finally gave up; he shooed Binky out of the room, insisting that he needed his rest. He was so tired, he collapsed onto his bed without changing his clothes or removing his glasses, rolled right over and promptly fell asleep.