The Half Blood Prince Revealed
Summary :
Harry's summer before sixth year is no different from the others. Around every corner surprises, good and bad, and adventure of all kind await. And it looks like the gods have finally granted Harry a possibility for a nicer life. What will this mean for his 6th year at Hogwarts ?
General Disclaimer :
I am just playing in the sand of JKRowling's literary produced beach and am attempting to build my own sandcastle for others to enjoy.
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18 The Trouble with Shopping
While silently saying the "Always Pureness of Heart" incantation Harry closed his eyes for a moment and when he opened them again mere moments later he stood in what felt like the middle of water. The rain was pouring down in a - most likely temporary - deluge. Looking around he found what appeared to be a doorway and hurried over to shelter from the storm. Dobby either had better control over where he landed when apparating or was just lucky to arrive right next to Harry and was thus spared a shower. After casting a quick drying spell on himself Harry saw he was standing on the edge of a rather impressive courtyard. On the outer edges of the yard Harry could just make out high walls built in a grey material making them hard to see in this rain. Not able to see much on the outside Harry turned to have a look inside when he saw Dobby looking like he'd seen Lucius Malfoy take back the sock that freed the house elf.
"Dobby, what's wrong ? What's happened ?"
Dobby couldn't speak from fright and so just pointed to something he'd seen inside. Gripping his wand firmer Harry took a step inside and arrived in a large room, empty of furniture but a few couches grouped around. The outside wall across from him looked as if it was made of clouds but the most striking presence was floating several steps inside the room : the ghost of a house elf. It looked to be asleep and Harry couldn't understand what made Dobby so frightened.
"Hello," tried Harry, "can you help me, please ?"
The request seemed to register, as the ghostly figure slowly opened his eyes and started talking, but Harry soon realised the house elf thought he was dreaming.
"Now they are coming in my dreams ! Gregory was bad house elf and will stay forever and ever and never again be able to help. What did I do to deserve this. How that house elf looks shocked at the sight of me, and master next to him …"
It was as if the house elf had needed to wake up from a deep sleep and only now realised the people were really there and not dream people. His eyes widened and he perked up, looking once again like the proud house elf he probably was while alive.
"Hello, Gregory," said Harry, "can you tell me why Dobby is so shocked at seeing a house elf ghost ?"
Like a soufflé not handled right the ghost had seemed to deflate as Harry spoke and he started crying and hiccupping through his ghostly tears.
"Only bad elves become ghosts, when they don't do work good. I promised master I would tell next master of the castle but I waited and waited and waited and he didn't come and then I died and I didn't go but stayed and … and …"
"Gregory, maybe it would help to tell me now and you could still be allowed to leave. After all, your master could not have known you would have to wait for such a long time. It has been over three hundred years after all !"
The house elf looked up with what Harry assumed were watery ghost eyes. "Would master think so ?"
"Why, Gregory, I do think that the only reason you became a ghost is because you still had to tell the next master about the castle. Once you've done that, you've done as you've promised and you'll be able to move on."
"I can tell you, master, about the castle ?" The house elf, even in ghostly form, seemed to visibly cheer up but the next moment he crumbled and started crying loudly again.
Harry, after several failed attempts finally he learned the house elf had also promised Master Black to say goodbye to him, and since master Black would surely be dead, he, Gregory, would be roaming the castle for ever and ever and never be able to help … Harry perked up at that news. After all, Mr Black was technically still around and so Gregory would be able to move on.
"Gregory, after you've told me about the castle, you can go to Black Manor and say goodbye to Master Black."
"Master Sirius is still there ?"
"Yes, he is Gregory. Maybe Master Sirius was waiting for you to come say goodbye."
"Can Gregory now tell you about the castle, master ?" came the eager response.
"Yes, please do. Can you tell me why I can see two castles when there is also clearly only one here ?"
"You can see two castles because you are the master, master. A man called Valdemar had been a warrior for a long time, following in his father's footsteps. But he retired, got married and they had a baby. Then one day while he was out hunting his wife and child were killed and his home destroyed. That's when he built the castle, joining muggle means and magic. He then went to find the murderers of his family and locked them up in the castle. After a while Valdemar found a new wife and started a new family, but he never stopped locking up criminals. By the time Valdemar died of very old age the people around here only knew him as 'that man Black'.
From the beginning the castle has been both a home and a prison. Valdemar built the castle so that you would see and find what you expected. If you want this to be the most beautiful castle, that's what you'll see. But if you expect a gruesome terrifying prison, then that's what you'll get. No two people will ever see the same thing, as the best or worst is different for every one. The only one who gets to see both is the new master."
"Oh," said Harry, "Is that why I see both a white marble floor and a rough stone one at the same time ?"
"Yes, indeed. If you follow me, I'll show you round. This floor is very easy. Out there is the courtyard and that is the centre of the top floor of the castle. Around the courtyard is the building that houses all the rooms of the top floor. These rooms are the largest in the castle and serve as either ball room, dining room, meeting room, weapon room, battle room, kitchen and this, where we are now is the most important room of the castle, the centre room. There are two hallways running the entire length of the castle on the inside and outside perimeter. The rooms off the inside perimeter hallway are the family rooms, those off the outside perimeter hallway are the prison and battle rooms. The floor below is where the prison rooms start. These can be either prison rooms or guest rooms. All the guest rooms are normally on the inside perimeter, the prison cells are on the outside perimeter."
Harry was simply flabbergasted at the sheer size of the place. The centre room as Gregory had called the room, which was as large if not larger than the Great Hall at Hogwarts, had a few seating areas scattered around, as if it was a waiting room of some sort. There were five doors, the one Dobby and he had entered through, and four others, each one situated in a corner of the room. He followed the house elf as they made their way through the door on the right side of the room, closest to the courtyard. They entered a long hallway Harry did not see the end of. On the right side of the hallway Harry saw large windows looking out to the courtyard. The left side of the hall was something he'd never seen before. The walls looked to be solid brick built but at the same time they seemed to be made of glass. Gregory was taking the tour so fast Harry had no time to peek inside the many rooms they passed. First was supposedly a large ballroom, followed by a sitting room, dining room, the kitchen, and a family room followed by several bedrooms and the master bedroom. That's when they arrived back in the centre room, now entering it from the opposite side. Gregory the crossed the room diagonally, to take the doorway on the other side. Once again a hallway loomed in front with a wall of windows on the left side, showing little of the outside scenery, as the storm and downpour obscured the view. This side of the castle offered rooms such as a meeting room, a battle room, a weapons room and several warden rooms. When Gregory mentioned another moving room, he finally stopped the house elf and asked for an explanation.
"Gregory, just a moment. Can you tell me about these moving rooms. What do they do ? Are they moving around the castle ?"
"Oh no, Master. These rooms will take you up or down."
"You mean there are stairs in the rooms so you can move from floor to floor."
"Yes, master, that they are."
"Oh, in that case, can we go down a floor to see those prison cells ?"
"No, Master, there are no prison cells, as you have no prisoners."
"I understand. For now there is only this floor. If I bring either guests or prisoners, an extra floor appears underneath to accommodate them all, and when more come, another floor adds. Is that it, Gregory ?"
Clearly relieved the young master finally understood, Gregory nodded his consent. Harry had another question however.
"Can you tell me how many rooms there can be in the castle ?"
"It was told among the house elves that Master Valdemar once housed six hundred prisoners and still had room left. But there will be as many as needed."
This finally made Harry speechless. Six hundred rooms and more as you would surely need a warden for every so many prisoners. The idea was mind-boggling.
By now they were back in the centre room, once again entering the room from the opposite side. Dobby obviously had recovered only a little of the shock of seeing a house elf ghost so Harry made his way over to him and told him that he thought that Gregory was a very dedicated elf, deciding to become a ghost so he could pass on the important information. This cheered Dobby up and Harry, seeing how eager Gregory was to go to Black Manor, and finally being able to leave his not so mortal coil behind, asked Gregory if there was anything other that needed saying.
"I only need to pass on the house elf knowledge."
"In that case, Dobby, do you mind to receive this knowledge ? I need to think about what to do with the Castle a bit and you can pass on the information to the next castle elves when the time comes."
Having received Dobby's agreement, Gregory muttered something in a language Harry couldn't understand, and suddenly the two elves were glowing. Gregory as a ghost looked like a luminous cloud of fog surrounded him. Dobby had a strange silver glowing halo around his entire body. It didn't last for very long but afterwards Dobby had a reverent look about him. After thanking Gregory for his help, he sent the ghost on his way to Black Manor. Harry had decided to ask Mr Black a few more questions regarding the castle, certain that man, having spent most of the first 18 years of his life living in the castle, would be able to explain in full detail the workings of the curious building.
As it was by now close to 11 o'clock, Harry sent off Dobby to Grimmauld Place, so he could recuperate from his shock of seeing a supposedly disgraced house elf and send Remus to meet with Harry at the Leaky Cauldron, as was agreed earlier that morning. Knowing Diagon Alley would be a lot busier by now, Harry apparated just outside the Leaky Cauldron and quickly made his way in. The pub wasn't very crowded as London was enjoying glorious weather so no one paid particular attention to the new arrival. He walked up to the bar and greeted Tom, the bartender, ordered a glass of pumpkin juice and asked for a private dinning room for 14 for a lunch around 1 o'clock.
Harry had just finished draining his glass of delicious juice when Remus came in.
"There you are. Did your visit go well ? Did you find what you wanted ?"
"Oh yes, Remus, more than I expected. I can't wait to show you !"
"You can show me tonight, first we have to see Paul."
Remus and Harry made their way back through the bar into the little courtyard. Before opening up the wall to get into Diagon Alley, Remus opened his robe and took out a familiar looking cloak.
"I knew the Leaky Cauldron would be mainly empty at this time of day but the Alley will be different. It's just a precaution and Paul's office is not that far."
"All's clear, Lupin, Potter" came Mad-Eye's voice from nowhere.
"Thanks Mad-Eye" said Remus and Harry quickly disappeared under his dad's old invisibility cloak.
To the many onlookers Remus Lupin came through the Leaky Cauldron entrance on his own and he made his way down Diagon Alley bypassing all the shops, and only to stop in front of a small shop next to Ollivander's.
Upon entering, they ended up in a small hall with to the right a hallway leading to the back. Remus started walking down the hallway, which to Harry's amazement had a collection of doors one next to the other. Each door looked completely different from the one next to it, some were painted, again each one a different colour, and some were ornately carved, some plain, and a shabby looking one stood right next to a highly polished expensive looking one. They must have passed by some thirty doors when Remus stopped in front of a simple pale wooden one. The stood for a moment and Harry heard Mad-Eye say "All is clear within, Lupin. I'll return to the front area and wait for you there." Remus nodded in the general direction of where Mad-Eye was supposed to be and then whispered "Leave your cloak on for a moment, Harry. I want to be sure also that all's OK with Paul and his colleague before you make your presence known."
After Harry's whispered "OK", Remus knocked on the door and entered upon the "Come in" they heard from inside. With practiced ease, as if Remus was used on a daily basis to travel with an invisible partner, Remus managed to stage his entrance so that Harry had plenty of time to slip in behind Remus.
The spacious room they entered into housed three large desks, of which only two were occupied. To one side two simple desks stood, one occupied by a familiar looking woman. And it wasn't until a cat much like Mr Filch's Mrs Norris jumped on her desk that Harry registered her uncanny likeness to said Hogwarts' caretaker.
On the other side of the room, in the far corner a very ornate desk stood, occupied by a younger man, Harry guessed him to be in his early thirties. He'd gotten up when Remus entered and was making his way over, smiling, hand outstretched, ready to shake hands and welcoming Remus to the office.
He was of average height, had dirty-blonde hair, cut stylishly, and appeared to be just as skinny as Remus. Contrary to that man, Mr Watkins was dressed in very fine clothing and was obviously better off financially than Remus had been before he inherited Sirius' money.
"Remus, you are looking well. Welcome to our office. I hope all is well ?"
"Yes, Paul, I, or better someone needs your help and advice on some legal matters. It's regarding the Black estate."
"The Black estate, as in your friend Sirius Black ? Oh Remus, I'm sorry. You must miss him dreadfully." said Paul, clearly aware of the friendship between the two old schoolmates.
"I do miss him, he left me some money but best of all, he left me a title !"
"A title ?" asked the lady puzzled.
Both Remus and Paul looked in her direction, and she blushed when she realised she had indirectly admitted she'd been listening in on the conversation. But Remus was laughing when he said "That's alright, Mrs Figg. You would have found out the details anyway. It wasn't a well known fact that Sirius was named godfather to the son of his best friend."
Mrs Figg caught on real quick and exclaimed, "Not Harry Potter !"
"Got it in one, Mrs Figg. As Harry's godfather, Sirius left him his entire family estate, and declaring him legally of age, but he did appoint a guardian, in an advisory capacity."
"Does the young man know of your condition, Remus ?"
"Why don't you ask him yourself, Paul, Mrs Figg ?"
Harry took this as his cue to take off the invisibility cloak and Remus continued speaking.
"I'm sorry I wasn't straightforward with you from the moment we entered, but I wanted to be absolutely sure you were you, and that the office was 'clean'. I'm not taking any chances where the well being of my godson is concerned."
"Yes, so much so, he's even forbidden me from drinking butterbeer or eating sweets once I return to Hogwarts !" added Harry cheekily. Standing closest to the woman Harry walked over, hand outstretched, and said "I believe you are Mrs Figg, if I followed the conversation correctly. I am Harry Potter, pleasure to meet you, madam."
Mrs Figg, still in slight shock at seeing THE Harry Potter, shook hands automatically. Harry took the few steps in the direction of Remus' friend and shook his hand.
"To answer your earlier question, Mr Watkins, I do know of your shared condition. I've known about Remus for nearly three years. I am puzzled though. Mrs Figg, you look remarkably like …"
Before Harry could continue, Mrs Figg, now back to her observant self, finished Harry's sentence with "like Argus, my baby brother of all of ten minutes. Yes, Mr Potter I am Mr Filch's twin sister, as big a squib as he is, but the opposite in anything else." The three men smiled along with her and Harry, now pointing at the cat on the desk, once again started to ask about that, when Mrs Figg filled in the remaining puzzle pieces in Harry's mind. "Argus' Mrs Norris and my Felix are from the same litter of kneazles that my sister-in-law bred."
"You know Mrs Figg from Little Whinging ?"
"Why, yes, I do Mr Potter, Arabella and I were married to brothers, who both passed away quite a few years ago. We visit on a regular basis." And, as if she too connected two separate pieces of a puzzle, this Mrs Figg exclaimed "You were the boy she moved to Little Whinging for ! She said she'd moved there to be closer to the child of friends who'd passed away, but I never once thought that would be you !"
Mr Watkins brought back the conversation to more office like topics by asking after the business they wanted to discuss. After showing them the "Ghost Writer Quill", a quill much like Rita Skeeter's Quick Quotes Quill, the pair explained it was used in legal practice because it was the most reliable to write what was said. It was named a Ghost Quill as it was first invented for use by ghosts, but they never took off. The squibs discovered however, that with the assistance from a wizard upon the first use, they could activate them on their own, which made the quills big hits with squibs instead.
Harry and Remus then explained the situation in some detail and it was after a few moments that Mr Watkins summarised the details.
"So, if I understand correctly, Fudge forced the goblins to give out money to known or suspected death eaters, against the will of the deceased and with the heir in jail without trail. On top of that, rather than giving money to all relatives, he even left one out ? And that was after the goblins fought back because Fudge had wanted to sign over Sirius' possessions to his mother and two cousins ?"
"Yes, Mr Watkins, that's it in a nutshell. I'd like to contest this very much but I believe that as long as Sirius has not been cleared any action we undertake will backfire. At the same time I'd like to request compensation from Fudge on behalf of Mrs Tonks as she was wilfully neglected in this whole farce.
I would also like to find out if I can legally set up an allowance for Mr and Mrs Tonks, as well as for auror Tonks, as they are Black family, without it damaging the case against Fudge."
"All this will take some research on my behalf, Mr Potter, as I believe you also have a limited time space after accepting an inheritance in which to contest cases like these."
"I expected as much anyway, Mr Watkins. Whether or not we can bring this to court, I wanted to ask you if you wanted to be the legal representative, spokesperson, as well as the ears and eyes for the Black estate, for the time being. I have another two years at school and cannot as yet look out for everything on my own. With Gringotts and Griphook in particular managing the financial side, Dobby the house elf the practical side, you for the legal side and Remus along for the moral support, I think that I won't let the original Black family motto down. Upon my coming of age, next year, the Potter estate will most likely be in need of legal support as well."
"Mr Potter, just to be certain I understand what you offer, what did you have in mind for us to do ?"
"In general, I'd like it if you could 'educate' me in wizarding law. I will be reading up on what appears in the newspaper, but being brought up by muggles, I lack a lot of basic understanding of certain issues. So I would appreciate it if you could send me, say on a weekly basis, comments on things that appeared in the news that effect wizarding society in general, giving me the background to the whole situation.
On the other hand, there are a few projects I'm thinking of starting up, and again would need legal advice on those. Also, being 'cooped up' at Hogwarts, so to speak, some news would arrive too late for me to act upon, so I'd need someone who knows in general lines what I want, and can act upon them for me, someone knowledgeable about the consequences of taking or not taking action, even if it's only to object on my behalf and ask for a rescheduling of certain actions so I can have a look at things.
And last but not least I'd need someone to prepare the cases, both in defence of Sirius' innocence as in regard to the Fudge case. Who knows, we might just be lucky to catch Pettigrew. Together with the letter from my father I found in the Potter vault today, it might just be the proof needed to clear Sirius' name."
"You found a letter from James in your Potter vault, Harry ?" asked a shaken Remus.
"Yes, there was a letter from both of them. I'll show it to you tonight. It does contain a paragraph on the Fidelius charm, but the rest is too personal to be made public though."
Mr Watkins interrupted them.
"Mr Potter, you talked of an Auror Tonks ? If you trust this person, you could already start the process by asking this auror for the best way to proceed. You might have enough proof with just the letter. I am sure that if you take this through the correct channels, you'll be able to contact the right people in the auror department. Let them contact me for any additional legal advice or assistance of any kind should they be in need of it.
And if you doubted it, yes, Mr Potter, I will gladly be representative and spokesperson and everything else, for the Black estate and you. "
"Very good, Mr Watkins, I'll advise Gringotts you have taken the estate and me as your clients. Your contacts there would be Griphook, who was recently promoted to Black estate account manager, as well as Schmegg, Head of the bank. They promised full cooperation in the case against Fudge."
After Mr Watkins promised to send Harry updates on a regular basis on what his research unearthed, and also a first comment on current wizarding events, they said their goodbyes. Harry once again disappeared underneath his invisibility cloak and Remus and himself made their way back to the Leaky Cauldron. Once in the private dinning room, Remus quickly went to Grimmauld Place to pick up the others. Mad-Eye who had rejoined them once they'd retuned in Diagon Alley, stayed back with Harry and was busy scanning the room for any 'foul play'.
It was just gone one o'clock when everybody arrived at the Leaky Cauldron, and by two they were eager to hit Diagon Alley for their shopping trip. Dobby arrived when he was called for, and with Harry now in full view, but surrounded by his friends, they were on their way.
As agreed beforehand, the first visit was straight to Gringotts bank, where Harry not only introduced Remus to both Griphook and Schmegg but he also informed them that he'd spoken with Mr Paul Watkins who had agreed to be his legal representative. Schmegg congratulated Harry on his choice as the few times they'd had dealings with the man, the goblins had been most impressed by his knowledge and conduct.
Next stop was at Madame Malkin's. With Harry planning to buy an entire new wardrobe they could have their sizes taken now, and when the rest of their shopping was done, simply return to pick up the ordered clothes. Some twenty minutes later they all headed to Flourish and Blotts, next to Madam Malkin's and Harry reminded them to hand their chosen books, however many they wanted, to either Dobby or himself, but not to attempt to put the books in the bag themselves. To make things easier, they first made their way through the bookshop per subject so that they all picked up the necessary course books. After that everybody returned to their favourite subjects to peruse the titles in more details. As per Mr Teague's recommendation they asked after the Encyclopaedia Magica and found that the currently sold edition was only six months old. The self updating version was very expensive but the store clerk mentioned it was worth the money as it was far more detailed and would be a once in a life time buy. Even if an entirely new volume would be published, would the self updating encyclopaedia be expanded. Harry decided to splash out and buy himself a self updating set. After all, the book bag would cut down the cost some, and both the Potter and the Black library held only old copies, in case of the Black library there were even several sets. After looking through the DADA section and choosing several books, Harry also found an interesting looking book on animagi. After checking with everyone to make sure no other purchases were needed Dobby finally took the book bag over to the counter and Harry was looking on from the side to see the reaction of the store clerk. The Book Bag itself drew a first reaction but that was quickly hidden. When the tally was made and the total purchase sum appeared Harry had a hard time to keep himself from laughing out loud. With probably close to 300 books in the bag, of which several rather pricey, the total amount had to add up most likely near a thousand galleons, even with the bonus discount. And those Book bags looked so inconspicuous !
Dobby went to Grimmauld Place to deposit the book bag, but he returned as they were making their way through the Stationary shop. They bought lots of parchments, ink and quills and when Harry spotted a Ghost Quill he decided to buy one for Mr Black. That way Mr Black could keep in contact while Harry was at Hogwarts and would even be able to write down some of his many stories.
As they were strolling down Diagon Alley, looking at or visiting a few of the shops along the way the twins sidled up to Harry and motioned at a boarded up shop. "Harry," whispered Fred, "we need your view on a dilemma we have."
"There is this shop we were going to rent and start our business from, but there was a bit of delay, as the owner just died, so we are awaiting further news." continued George.
"The trouble is," Fred took over, "it's not all that great a shop. Location is ideal, shop size is too and it comes with an apartment above, but it has no space to allow us to make the produce."
"There was a second location, at Hogsmeade, great storage area, great working space, large apartment, but the shop is minute and Hogsmeade is only busy when Hogwarts lets out." came once again from George.
And as if choreographed and practiced a million times, they continued in unison "We don't know which one to go for, Harry. What is your idea ?"
"You need to concentrate to make these jokes, right ? And you need to be together to pull off some of these things ?" When the twins nodded, Harry continued "Does Lee Jordan have a job, or plans that you know of ?"
The two looked at each other and came out "You mean take on both ?"
"Exactly !" nodded Harry. "Install Lee, or anyone you trust, in the shop here with the accommodation, and you two install yourself at Hogsmeade. Plenty of time to produce the stock needed for both shops and maybe an owl order system, and on a Hogsmeade weekend you get to man the shop. Think it over, do your sums, and if you decide to go for it and need extra funds, just let me know. And if you want, I could ask the Black estate manager at Gringotts to keep an eye out for your business and have him give you some tips and so."
They visited the Magical Menagerie to pick up various pet treats, and realised they'd forgotten to ask Mr Teague for a required potion supplies list so had no need to visit the Apothecary when they made their way back to Madam Malkin's. When told the order wasn't completed just yet, they decided to have an ice cream while waiting. Mr Fortescue himself came out to take their order and he, like most other people they'd seen for the past few hours, was smiling when he spotted Harry.
"Thank you Mr Potter, for bringing out the truth. What can I get you on this fine summer's day ?"
In no time Mr Fortescue brought out their order and the group sat and enjoyed the treat. Harry was happily enjoying his ice cream and was watching the other people out and about when a dreaded feeling creeped up on him.
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Author's Note :
Again thank you for reading. Would love some feedback from you though.
If you enjoyed this (and previous) chapter(s), you might be interested to know the story is a few chapters further along on my yahoo group (for link see profile page). There are also a few extra files with very amateurish drawings of the floor plan of a few locations, and pictures of 'inspiration'.
Have a nice weekend all.
kadedeetje