Chapter 2: Malfoy Manor
A/N: I don't own a thing!
The hardest part of leaving the Dursleys was convincing them to let their free labor go for the rest of the year. Once that was done, travel arrangements were set by the Malfoys, who set up a meeting with the Grangers. The Dursleys were pleasantly surprised meeting the dentists but the Grangers seemed low key especially taking a look at how the house was set up. Harry did what he could to hurry up the meeting and was grateful when he finally found himself in the car with the Grangers talking with Hermione about what they could expect from the year. "I've got all our books," She said, "you can borrow them as our new Defense Professor seems obsessed with some wizard named Lockhart. I really hope they are returnable for a decent price. They read a lot more like fiction books but the author seems convinced he's actually done the things in the book!"
Harry laughed, "Maybe he has? I mean, take a look at some of the other fantastical things we've heard wizards doing." He looked at her pointedly, reminding her subtlety about the Sorcerer's Stone adventure they themselves had had. She seemed to get the point as she also talked about some of the new spells that she couldn't wait to try. Her parents proudly told Harry that if it wasn't for the card they had received at the end of term, Hermione probably would have likely made her own 'freezing charm' that actually froze things rather than stopped movement. Hermione reddened as she explained that it was silly to have a spell for fire but not for ice. She had read somewhere there was a spell for water and had wondered if it could be modified like her spark spell which proved that spell modification WAS in fact possible.
They reached The Leaky Cauldron and Harry payed for their travels to Malfoy Manor, insisting over the Grangers, saying they had helped him out so it was all he could do. After a brief explanation about floo travel by Tom, they gave it their best shot. Harry managed to fall over himself but recovered as well as he could. They were received by a strange big-eyed bat-eared creature who called himself Dobby, and seemed extraordinarily nervous about something. He seemed to be a butler for the Malfoys, and Harry and Hermione thanked him for the service and Dobby seemed to almost cry but vanished as Draco and his parents came into the room. After a lot of introductions and polite conversation and a really stuffy lunch Harry, Hermione and Draco were finally left to their own devices away from the grown ups.
They caught up a bit, and Harry lamented that he hadn't been able to reach Isyndel again for his new equipment. Draco smiled, "When we visit the Weasleys, we'll be able to find a place to call her again. Did you make sure to set a rate conducive to the both of you?" Harry nodded, "Thanks for all the advice Draco, what was interesting was once we found out the conversion rate, she thanked Aesur and said it'd really help her temple. She seems really religious, though I guess that's why the Author suggested a Paladin in the first place." The others shrugged, and Draco took them on a small tour of the manor, the three tried to figure out what the year would be like. Draco smiled as Hermione wondered about their new defense professor, "I'm not really supposed to know these things, but I think we'll be in for an interesting year." "Tell me who our professor is!" Hermione bounced, "What's he or she like, do you think they will grade hard? Oh I knew I should have asked at Florish and Blots for books that related to the magic preformed in the books! I only managed to convince him I needed the years books early!" Harry just smiled as Draco managed to keep his knowledge to himself. Talking about school was fine for Harry, but he looked forward to being with Ron and his family for the summer, to relax and have a little fun.
Finally the time came around for the group to travel to the Weasleys for dinner. Harry dreaded the floo travel, but took Mr. Malfoys advice that he should just keep walking as if there was nothing in-between walking into and out of a fireplace. He still fell over, and embarrassed introduced himself to the many Weasleys. Dinner was a much more crowded and fun affair, while the large group was at a single most likely magical table, the conversations were fun and Harry was looking forward to meeting Charlie and Bill in person, Bill looked really cool and Charlie seemed just as fun to meet. After a long day, the Grangers and Malfoys left and Harry went to his bed in Ron's room, telling him that it was a perfect place to stay.
In between de-gnoming the garden, helping around the house, and wondering if he would actually meet Ginny, Harry managed to find time to call Isyndel back to his plane. She gave him the items he wanted to buy from the markets and he gave her some more Galleons. Ron was awestruck at her as well, but Harry managed to stop him from asking about her ears. She mentioned though that her temple was interested in researching this version of the Prime Material, as from her visit she had mentioned things she had not understood. For instance, what were the interesting things on Harrys face? Harry almost thought she meant his scar, but realized she was asking about his glasses. Harry in turn asked if he could ask somethings about her. They only managed to trade a few questions, Harry telling her about technology that they had, Isyndel telling him a little about Aesur and how she was in fact known among Humans as a High-Elf, then spoke what they referred to themselves in Elvish which Harry felt like he had almost understood. Harry wanted to ask more, but they heard Fred and George come rampaging down the hall and they said goodbye and Harry dismissed the spell.