Trickster Chapter Six

-

Harry bought Old Henry's shop in Knockturne. He opened the door, twisting the key. He sighed. Dust and grime had settled over the barren store. He went to the widows, lifting the blinds. It was the first day of the holidays. He'd already had Matilda get the contracts for the property his last week at school, and he finished them this morning. Later today, He was going to Gringott's and asking for a ward contractor around his shop and Matilda's place across the street and Marshall's pub next door. This was going to be great!

He wouldn't be able to officially open the apothecary until, hopefully, the Christmas holidays, once he got his license. In the meantime, he would stock up on ingredients, clean up the place, and help with the other stores.

He dressed in his best robes and went to Gringott's. He sold his basilisk parts, the majority of them anyway, out of the country, shipping them to China. The shipping prices were hell, but it was more than worth it, as basilisk parts were in high demand and the prices were triple there. From that alone, he'd gotten nearly 60,000 galleons so far, and he knew as soon as he got his results back from his NEWTS, he would qualify for emancipation and access to his Family vaults, which would be…interesting.

He walked into Gringott's and went to a familiar face. "Hey Griphook. Miss me?" The Goblin rolled his eyes. "Everytime I hear from you, I've got so much work to do…but who am I to complain, you make quite a bit of money for me…now, what can I do for you, Mr. Potter?"

Harry smiled. "I'd like a private room please, this is quite important." Griphook raised a brow, leading Harry down a maze of corridors that led out of the lobby.

They finally ended up in a cluttered looking office, and Harry sat right down. "I have the deed to an apothecary in Knockturne. Here." He slide the paper across Griphook's desk. The Goblin eyed it carefully. "And you wish to withdraw or take out a loan?"

"Well…not exactly." Harry looked down. "I've taken some of my NEWTS. Once my results come back, I should be eligible to have access to my family vaults."

"That's correct, Mr. Potter. But you cannot access them just yet…" Griphook chastised. Harry bit his lip, looking so innocently cute.

"I know. But I have enough money right now to have all of you set up wards for me…I have permission to have two other places warded as well…" He handed over two more documents.

Griphook eyed the documents. "And…why do you need these places warded? If I understand, all three of these places have the standard wards in place…"

Harry fidgeted slightly. "Well…I think they'll need a bit more protection. Voldemort has attacked me twice in the past two years, and I'm afraid it will happen again. As well as Umbridge's people making trouble lately for my friends…I just want to make sure these places are safe."

Griphook's eyebrows rose. "How safe?"

Harry sighed, taking another parchment out. "This…you cannot tell anyone about this." He slid it across the desk, and Griphook stared at it for the longest time, not touching the parchment.

"This…is…do you realize what will happen if anyone found this out?"

"Yeah."

"And when you have access to all of your vaults…" Griphook murmured.

Harry nodded. "Yeah."

"Bloody…a deal, Mr. Potter." Griphook said finally, meeting his eyes.

"What kind of deal?"

"We put our strongest wards up, free of charge, you don't give us any trouble if we come by, and you say a few good things about us to the public if…this information ever gets out."

"Of course, and that information will be protected here."

"Of course. And we will make sure the details of your vaults and properties will not be known to anyone but you."

"Thank you. So, when will you stop by?"

"Tonight, if that is fine with you."

"Deal. And I'll also give you guys a free round at Marshall's in thanks for the help."

Griphook grinned, shaking his hand.

--

Harry smiled as he saw the Goblins approaching his store that night. He walked out and grinned. "Hi everyone, thanks for coming tonight."

"No problem Kid…er Mr. Potter."

Harry chuckled. "It's okay, you can still call me Kid. So, I don't know exactly what you guys need to do…"

"First, we'll do all the inside wards to your place, and since Matilda's is closed up tonight, we can do those too. Then we will put the outside wards up, along with Marshall's."

They handed him a list of the type of wards. Harry frowned. "No, werewolves, vampires, they'll be fine, you guys too of course…um, it'd be odd if Umbridge and her lackeys couldn't come in…they'd try to arrest me or something…um, oh! Those are good, those too…hmm, can you key in certain people to this one?"

Harry pointed to one of them on the list. "Oh, yeah, you gotta do it yourself."

"That's fine then. Yeah, put the rest of them up."

Harry watched them work in amazement, Goblins definitely had the best wards. He was terribly excited to see them at work. They went on to Matilda's place, then to Marshall's. They were all a bit tired, so Harry ushered them into the pub. Marshall grinned.

"Hey guys, working hard tonight, eh?"

"Yeah." One of them grunted, going to his usual seat.

Harry grinned. "Give a round to all of them for their hard work Marshall…"

They all cheered. Several vampires that had been watching out the window approached him. "Hey Kid, when did you come back?"

"I just arrived last night back from Hogwarts. I'm staying for good." Harry grimaced, opening a bottle of butter beer.

Stephan growled."I can't believe you're dropping out, you should have gotten away from this place like that Snape…"

Harry frowned. "I didn't drop out, why do you think I'm going to open up the apothecary again?"

A couple of werewolves perked up a few seats over. "You are?"

Harry grinned. "Yep. I haven't gotten my license yet, and I've got to clean the place up and stuff, so it wont be open until the holidays…but…I can still brew wolfsbane for you guys, if you need it."

"Oh, we couldn't do that to you Kid, you've got a lot to do…"

"Hey, why do you think I'm opening this place up? Just to make money?"

"Um…yeah?" Marshall said, looking confused.

Harry laughed. "Come on, if I wanted to make money, I'd work for the ministry or some shit. No, I want to help people." He took a swig of his butterbeer. The others traded dubious looks.

"You aren't going to last long if you do that Kid, how will you keep the shop going?" Stephan's friend Celeste asked.

Harry smiled. "Family money, along with a bit of ideas, and once my grades come out on my NEWTS…well, I'll probably end up writing a few articles for Potions Weekly or something, I dunno. Anyhow, I'm going to use my fame to my advantage."

--

The next day, Harry was sweeping out the place when he saw McGonnagall walking up to the store and looking into the window after she found out the door was locked. Harry chuckled, seeing how she had her hood raised, if it'd been anyone else, he wouldn't have recognized them, but he recognized that tartan anywhere.

He opened the door. "Come in Professor."

She took down her hood as Harry closed the door behind her. She raised a brow, looking at the dusty place. "I cant believe it."

"Neither can I. I'd offer you a seat, but I don't have any of those just yet."

She rolled her eyes, conjuring herself a chair by the counter. "So, how are you doing so far?"

"Fine…busy. I had the place warded last night, if you cant tell…" She glanced around, taking a second look. "Oh. I could barely notice…who did this?"

"The goblins. They're great, aren't they?"

She gave him a small smile. "How ever did you convince them? They usually send out their human curse breakers…"

Harry shrugged, continuing to sweep. "They're old friends of mine. I love it here Professor…I grew up here in this store, you know."Minerva looked around again. Harry saw the look on her face and laughed. "I know it's not much to look at now, but it will change. As soon as my results come, I'll be able to use magic."

"It's dangerous not having your magic here Harry…"

"Well, I have friends all over the place, they'll help me out if I'm in a spot of trouble. So…why did you come here today?"

"Just because you're leaving Hogwarts does not mean your education is finished, young man."

Harry paused, grinning. "Yeah?"

"Yes. The others will be stopping by every once in a while, I'm sure. I…wish you didn't have to leave."

Harry sighed, looking down. "I loved Hogwarts I really did. I loved the castle, the forest, the lake…even the professors. But…so many of those students turned on me…you should have heard some of the things they said, it was awful. I didn't even have a class with Lockhart, it was a waste of my time, the same with Quirrell last year." Harry murmured.

Minerva stood, patting his shoulder. "I'm sorry Harry. I feel like I let you down."

Harry gave her a small smile. "It's okay…just…promise me something?"

"What is it?"

"Do what you think is right…and not what Dumbledore tells you to. Please. A lot of students depend on you guys to help them…and I've always gotten the feeling the Dumbledore…doesn't do what he ought to."

Minerva looked away uncomfortably. Harry smiled up at her. "So…I wont be able to officially sell potions just yet, not with out my license, and the place wont officially be open until at least December, but I'll be here if you're around."

She nodded tightly. "Just…take care of yourself dear." She silently unshrunk three books that she had in her pocket. "Read over these, I'll visit soon and we can talk about them."

Harry grinned. "Yes ma'am." She gave him a tight smile as she walked out.

Harry set the books on the counter, and continued to clean.

That night, Matilda came in with a yawn. "Still working dear?"

"Yes…I've forgotten how hard it is to clean with out magic…"

She gave off a soft laugh. "You can always get a bit of help. Jacob, Lottie, Jackie, and Violet are looking for jobs now…"

Harry grinned. "They are? That would be great…"

"Well, talk to Mamma Sammy tomorrow, maybe you can get the kids to help out, better for them to get an honest job than doing something they ought not to…"

"Thanks Matilda, what a great idea." She kissed the top of his head.

"This old woman is going to bed. You better not stay up too late. Come by for breakfast in the morning."

"Thanks Matilda." He called out as she left the shop. Harry sighed and turned off the lights, going up to the flat. It was barren as well, and very dark. Lonely. He sighed, curling up on the cot in the bedroom. He was going to have to fix this place up too, it seemed.

--

Harry grinned at all the kids running around the ramshackle house. Mamma Sammy was a hag that liked to take care of the werewolf children that had been abandoned in Knockturne over the years. "Harry dear, how are you?"

"Just fine, just fine, I'm opening a place here, I need some help. Matilda said some of the kids were looking for jobs. I'm just starting up, so there will be a lot of work to do…"

She grinned widely. "You're such a sweetie, helpin' these kids out…" She gave him a toothless grin, calling all the kids into the sitting room. There were eight of them, the four older ones were the ones Harry grew up with.

"Course you know Lottie, Jacob, Violet, and Jack, and these little ones are Frankie, Simon, Timothy, and Beth."

Harry grinned. "I'm opening up a shop, and I need all the help I can get to get it going. I'll brew all the wolfsbane you'll need, and I'll give each of you a bit of pocket money, how's that?"

They all looked really excited, except for Violet and Jacob. "Harry…could you teach us how to make potions like you? We want to help too."

Harry smiled. "Sure. You guys have been reading my books, right?" They all nodded slowly.

"It's really hard though, not seeing it all done…"

"That's all right, I learned that way too. You can help me go shopping today." They all cheered.

As the kids left, Harry took out a list. "Okay, Lottie, Jack, you take these three galleons and get as much paint as you can carry, Frankie, Timothy, you can take a galleon and buy all the paintbrushes you can find, and some cleaning supplies." He turned to the other smaller ones. "Simon and Beth, take these two galleons and go get a nice big piece of wood, big enough for a sign outside, and try to get a ladder from one of the other shop keepers around here."

He turned to Jacob and Violet with a smile. "You two can come with me." They walked down to Diagon, to an open air market. They looked around, and Harry smiled at the nervous looks on their faces. "Come on, don't worry. We're going to get the basics." He walked towards a whole stack of cauldrons, motioning them over.

"We need about…eight of these…" He frowned, flipping one over. "Look, see how thin the bottom is, this isnt good. Find some that are a bit thicker than that, alright?" He told Lottie. He motioned Jacob over to a table across the way. "See these tools? They're all second hand, some of them are in pretty good shape…" He pointed to one set in particular. "But those are silver." Jacob shivered.

Harry gave him a small smile, patting his back. "Get about four sets of tools. I have two sets myself, but we'll need more if I'm to teach you guys." Jacob grinned, and Harry went over to another table, looking though a table full of glass vials and stoppers. He bought two cases of them, and Harry smiled as he saw that Lottie managed to get twelve for the price he'd given her, and they looked all right, and he saw that Jacob had managed to get pretty good quality sets.

"Good job guys. Let's get back to the store."

Everyone was there when they got back. Harry put all the cauldrons in the back and told the others to put the other stuff away. He walked around the store silently. "Okay…this is what we're going to do. We're going to take down all the shelves on the wall over there for now, and we're going to open this space up behind the counter."

He glanced back to the small cramped lab. "We're going to open that place up. I…wish I could do magic. Damn." He frowned, and all the children watched him pace. As luck would have it, Snape walked in, his arms full of several trunks and two cauldrons hanging from his fingers. Harry stared at him.

"What's all that?"

Snape smirked. "If you're going to open an apothecary, you have to start somewhere, don't you?"

Harry grinned. "Put the stuff in the back for now." Snape nodded, going to back. As he came back out, he glanced to the children staring at him.

"And…who are these?"

"Oh, they are my employees!" They all puffed their chests out, looking quite happy. A couple of them giggled. Harry hid a smile at this, and Snape looked somewhat amused.

Harry cleared his throat, looking sternly at them. "Go over to Marshall's and get some lunch, tell him I sent you. You guys did a good job this morning. After you get back, we can start painting."

All the children ran out giggling, and Harry smiled, watching them go. Snape crossed his arms. "Minerva told me she came by."

"Yeah." Harry looked down. "Um…could you help me a bit? I want to put some expansion charms on the lab, and knock down the wall behind the counter…think you could?"

Severus nodded, drawing his wand. Soon, there was an open space between the store and the lab, and with expansion charms applied, it was just as big as the store. Harry grinned. "Thanks!"

"You're welcome Potter."

Harry made a face at him. "You can call me Harry, you know."

Severus sighed. "Fine. So, what's the rest of this place look like? Are you living upstairs?"

Harry nodded. "But I haven't gotten anything done up there…"

Snape rolled his eyes, going upstairs and looking around. "This place is depressing."

"Tell me about it." Harry murmured.

"Do you even have any food?"

Harry shifted uneasily. "Not yet."

Snape rolled his eyes. "You know, a house elf might be good to have. You're going to be quite busy…"

Harry grinned. "Dobby!" The house elf popped up at his feet. "Mr. Harry Potter sir you called me! How can I help you?"

Harry smiled. "Um…do you think you could work for me? I'm opening a shop, and I'd like your help."

Dobby grinned widely. "Yes sir!"

"Would you like to be paid? You can a uniform too, just like my other employees will have…"

Snape rolled his eyes at this.

"Yes sir, I think a day off a month and…and a galleon a year would be fine sir.."

"I insist a galleon a month Dobby, and you can stay here with me, if you'd like. And you can take a day off every two weeks, how does that sound?"

"Fine sir, fine! I is starting right now sir?"

Harry nodded. "Come downstairs, you can meet the others when they come back."

As they headed downstairs. Harry smiled, seeing Lottie handing him a sandwhich. "You forgot to eat, didn't you?"

Harry shrugged, tearing into the sandwich. "Oh, this is Dobby. I just hired him to help us out."

All the children stared at the house elf with wide eyes, as they'd never seen one before. Dobby grinned widely. "I is an employee, just like you are…Mr. Harry Potter sir, will we's have uniforms?"

"Yes, I'll have them ordered from Madam Malkin soon, but for now…"

He ate the rest of his sandwhich, going over to the cans of paint that the kids got.

"Let's see what we have to work with…hmm…a nice warm orange, like the brown, very nice…hmm…oh! That's a nice gold color, it's very nice…"

"Mr. Sanders sold us the paint. He gave us a deal, since he said he couldn't wait to see how the place turned out."

Harry grinned. "That was nice of him. Okay kids, let's get started…"

As the kids got to work, the Professor cleared his throat. Harry turned to him. "Um…"

"How about you and I see what we need to do in the lab." Harry grinned, with a slight flush. "Right."

They went to the lab, and while Severus extended the counter space and put cleaning and enlargement charms on the widows, brightening it up. Harry cleaned up the counters and started looking through the stuff that Severus brought.

Harry stared at some of the books the man bought him. "I…sir…I…thank you!" Harry hugged him tightly, and all the children stopped and giggled. Severus just gave Harry a small smile. "It's not every day that a student of mine is opening an apothecary."

Harry flushed, pulling away, going back to the things he brought. "So…if you don't mind me asking…why are you here?"

"Just came to drop those things off…I do want you to keep up with your studies, you know."

"I know…I just…wow." Harry grinned, holding up a jar of eyeballs. "This was in your office sir, cleaning it out a bit?"

"I got bored with it. What's an apothecary without creepy things in jars?"

Harry rolled his eyes.

By the end of the day, everyone was exhausted, and the children (and Dobby) were covered in paint. Harry grinned. "Good job everyone, line up!"

They all lined up. "Okay kids, each of you will get five galleons for helping me per week. Here are your first five galleons." He put them in each of the kid's palms.

"Now, the rule is, you can save it, or spend it on awesome books, or get a treat at Florean's with it, whatever you want, okay?"

"But…this is your money." Lottie said reluctantly.

"It's the shop's money. Tell your friends about the place, okay, and if you know anyone else who needs wolfsbane, send them to me. I'll be starting the first batch in the next couple of days, you guys can get the first, okay?" They all smiled shyly.

"Go back to Mamma Sammy, it's getting late." They all left, and Dobby was there, looking at him shyly. "They is werewolves Mr. Harry Potter sir?"

Harry nodded. "You don't have a problem with that, do you Dobby?"

"No sir. You is so noble and brave…"

"It's alright Dobby. My flat is upstairs, go find a place for you, alright?" Dobby nodded, and bounced up the stairs. Harry turned to the Professor, who was giving him an unreadable look.

"All of those children were werewolves? I didn't think there were so many here in London…"

Harry sighed. "They're everywhere. They've just had to hide here, cause of Umbridge and her lot. They usually stay away from Knockturne, a little too dangerous, try to send the aurors once in a while, but it's not too bad."

Snape extended his hand. "Well…I'll tell the others you're doing fine, and not to worry too much about you. It seems you're settling in fine. But if Molly comes around, don't expect me to rescue you when she finds out you've got an empty kitchen."

Harry gave him a soft chuckle, and shook his hand. "Thank you sir. For everything."

"You're welcome Harry. Call me Severus, I'm not your teacher anymore." Harry gave the man a shy smile, watching him leave.

--

Harry woke up the next morning to Dobby looking at him angrily. "Harry Potter sir needs blankets! And a proper bed! And-"

Harry sighed, sitting up slowly. "I know Dobby. I've…got to get that stuff today…" He yawned sleepily.

--

It wasn't until two weeks later that Harry really settled in, and was starting to brew. He was teaching Jacob, Lottie, Jack, and Violet how to make a boil solution, and on the other side, the little ones were organizing the ingredients carefully. There was a large batch of Wolfsbane in three cauldrons on stasis in the corner, waiting for the next step.

Harry heard a knock on the door, and someone with their hood up was standing there. By the figure and the red hair poking out from her hood, it looked like…

"Mrs. Weasley!" He grinned as he opened the door. The woman hugged him tightly. "I've been so worried about you, Ronnie told me you were leaving Hogwarts and…" She looked around the shop, then her eyes fell on the children that were all staring at her from the lab.

"What on earth? So, it's true then, you've really opened a shop…"

Harry shrugged. "Yeah, pretty much." She lowered her hood, and looked at the children. "These children must be younger than you are…"

Lottie and Jacob spoke up. "We're just as old as he is!"

She glanced to the smaller ones. "And these little ones…"

"Are six and seven, respectively. I learned at their age, and they're just sorting out ingredients. It's fine, Mrs. Weasley…" Harry murmured.

Mrs. Weasley jumped as Dobby popped out of nowhere, holding a large package. "Harry Potter sir, that nasty old hag said she wasn't going to give us-" Harry clapped a hand over the elf's mouth, looking at Mrs. Weasley with a sheepish smile.

"Dobby, go put the package in the cellar with the others until I can sort them all out." Dobby popped off, and Harry grinned. "So…"

"These children should be playing outside, in the fresh air, they should be having fun and-"

Harry frowned, pulling her to the other side of the store. "Ma'am, these kids grew up in Knockturne, just like me, okay? They want to be useful, it's good that they're not outside on the streets yeah? I'm teaching them so they can help me, and others, and I'm teaching them what they wont be able to learn if they cant go to school."

"Why cant they-"

"They're all werewolves." Harry whispered.

Mrs. Weasley's eyes widened. "Those poor children…"

Harry sighed. "Don't pity them Mrs. Weasley, they hate it when people do that. I'm just trying to help them, alright? I…didn't mean to snap at you or anthing…"

"It's alright dear…I just wanted to make sure everything was alright…it's just Knockturne Alley is so dangerous, I don't even let the children near…"

Harry gave her a small smile. "About that…the twins have been helping me quite a bit at Hogwarts. The twins are great brewers, even if their grades say otherwise, and I think they'd like to work here…"

"I don't know…"

"They'll have a bit of pocket money, and they'll be learning, come on Mrs. Weasley, it'll give them something to do during the day, get them out of your hair…"

She looked down reluctantly. "Well, what about the others?"

"Well, if you can convince Percy, he can help me with the business side, if he wants to, and Ron can help me order more ingredients, he usually has a pretty good eye on that stuff. And Ginny can help brew with the kids, the older ones are about her level anyways."

She nodded. "Alright, but I insist on being here during the day."

"That's fine, I'm sure you'd love to meet Matilda, she owns the bookshop right across the street, she can tell all sorts of embarrassing stories about me." Molly chuckled softly.

"All right dear, I'll talk to the children, but if something happens…"

"It'll be fine."

--