Chapter 28:

Performance Evaluation

Harry woke up in the laundry room of the Shrieking Shack that Sunday. He had fallen asleep while doing the laundry the night before after everyone had filed out.

It was one of the many bits of vital minutia he hadn't thought about at all in regard to running a shelter for werewolves. The sheets and linen covered in blood, sweat, fur and urine, torn bedding and the used cauldrons and goblets. They all needed proper cleaning. Some, like the silver goblets and cauldrons, by hand to avoid magical contamination. He saved laundry for last because he knew a mountain of recently washed and dried blankets would tempt him too thoroughly to sleep.

Fortunately, the spells for washing and drying clothes, or bed things, left them as warm and fluffy as an actual dryer. And so, laying on the unfolded pile was like putting on a pair of underwear that just came out of the dryer, but around his entire body. When combined with the October cold snap they were experiencing, it was divine night of sleep.

With the greatest of reticence, he pried himself away from the mountain of blankets and sheets and listened to the sweet music his joints made. Like an orchestra made entirely of percussion artists, they were. And then he made them sing for him again by stretching properly. A quick round of self-cleaning charms later and his clothes were clean and somewhat ironed, his mouth was washed out and his hair was temporarily flattened. It would be back to its normal messiness within a few minutes, don't worry.

"Alright. To work." He said to himself.

Still endeavoring to use his wand instead of wandless magic Harry charmed each blanket individually to animate and fly after him like smoky whisps. He lead them past the giant, and still thankfully unused, freezer and up to the first floor where their home in the barracks waited for them. The mattresses he cleaned and repaired the afternoon before were still clean and untorn. Giving each set of sheets and linen a flick with his wand they dashed to their respective mattresses and made themselves. It took an extra twist of his wand for them to make themselves into proper military form. It all looked rather snazzy, and there he was without any quarters.

With the beds made, the last of his duties at the shack were done until the next full moon. And would you know it? It smelled like somebody was in the kitchen making grey tea.

Harry followed is nose to the dining room where the hot mug was waiting for him and took a seat.

"Ahhh. Thank you Albus." Harry greeted the old man across from him as he took a sip.

"Of course, Hadrian." Dumbledore said, seemingly having finished off his own mug.

Harry looked at the clock. Yup. It was eight thirty already and time for their meeting. They had agreed to meet to discuss the grand opening and the possibility of it being suitable for potential Hogwarts students suffering from lycanism and as monthly hands-on training for medical students. The latter harry would say was a success. The former?

"I hear there was an altercation yesterday morning between staff?" Albus broached the elephant in the room.

Harry sighed, mostly from contentment at the tea, but also a little bit in annoyance with his family.

"Yup. Have you talked to them?" Harry asked.

"Yes I have. And I convinced them they were in the wrong." Albus told him.

Harry raised an eyebrow at that boast.

"How'd you manage that?" Harry asked.

"I pointed out the obvious measures you took that showed even you distrusted the Carrows and had them on a short leash." Albus said.

Huh?

"How do you figure that?" Harry asked.

"Well for one you only had them on during the day and only had people on our side at night during the transformation." Albus said, ticking off a finger. "For two you had Andromeda with them, who is one of the best fighters on our side, even if she claims neutrality, and her and Narcissa could handle both of them and you at once. And either you or the Black sisters were always accompanying one of them."

Damn. Were his motivations that transparent?

"Many people claim neutrality in the conflict, usually for very complicated and multifold reasons, but everyone has their bias. And you are biased against Death Eaters." Albus concluded. "That does not make you an alley to their opposition in this conflict, but it does mean you are not truly neutral. That is what I convinced them of at least."

Harry finished off his mug of tea and leaned back in his seat. Thinking on how open and honest he should be with the man across from him.

"I am ideologically more in line with the purebloods than you." He said outright.

At this Albus raised both of his eyebrows in surprise at the admission.

"You use words like "conflict" and "opposition." Voldemort and his ilk consider themselves resistance fighters against an occupying force and a corrupt government. Their opposition pretends to be oppressed minorities wrongly persecuted for being of different blood. But let's cut all that bullshit and call this what it is." Harry explained. "This is a civil war, and Voldemort fights for the native people of this land who have every right to want Muggleborns to either integrate or get out. Just as all peoples of all nations should want from immigrants. It is their tactics I cannot tolerate, but don't blow smoke up my ass and claim people on your side don't use similar tactics when it suits them." Harry went on. "There is also the complicated matter that most people I personally love are in opposition to Voldemort and or outright Muggleborns themselves, even if they stubbornly refuse to understand that magical Britain is a separate nation from Muggle Britain and has been for a millennium. Also fuck Voldemort. I cannot emphasize that enough."

Dumbledore chuckled at the crassness but did not disagree.

"Civil war it is. And you don't want to be part of it. You want to save people on both sides by bringing them into neutrality?" Albus summarized.

"That is the motivation behind my tactics, yes, tactics that I hear confuse the hell out of both you and Riddle." Harry said with a smirk.

Dumbledore outright laughed at that one.

"Indeed. And they are working." Albus confessed. "There are some things that all people in all conflicts can relate to. All people eat. All people sleep. All people get sick. All people die. These are the things we can come together on. And many on both sides of this conflict, I'm sorry, civil war, have loved ones suffering from lycanism and you are bringing them together to ease such suffering."

Harry nodded.

"And I also see you striving to ease tensions between your students and bring them together, thus away from war." Albus went on. "This is all to say I like you very much Hadrian Morrigan. Both personally and professionally. I always strive to find teachers that can remain neutral on the war, never did I hope to find one not only neutral, but genuinely antithetical to it. A true peacemaker. I think I have much to learn from you. And so do our students. I think it will be several more months of you servicing outside werewolves here before we can open Hogwarts to children with lycanism, but thankfully we have until next September before we can start accepting them anyways."

Albus stood up and put out his hand.

Harry hesitated.

"No criticism of the grand opening? Just... mulligan until we have more information?" harry summarized their meeting.

"Mulligan until we have more information." Albus affirmed.

Harry stood up himself and shook Dumbledore's hand.

"That is more than fair. I'm surprised to discover you're more forgiving of my opening performance than I am." Harry admitted.

"We all need to be less hard on ourselves." Albus said cryptically. "It seems to me that you are overly critical of yourself. You did excellently, not that there's an overabundance of historical examples for werewolf sanctuaries to compare your performance to and I expect more excellence from you in the future."

Harry let his head lower at the joke and compliment it conveyed.

"Well. I understand you have a busy day ahead of you. I'll be on my way." Albus excused himself.

"Me too. See you at work." Harry answered as he opened the door for him to leave.

With that done he marched to the fireplace, threw in a handful of floo powder, and was on his way.

The Gringotts lift rose to deposit him on the second floor. As soon as he stepped out Harry came face to face with a man he was not expecting to have his first contact with for months to come.

"Good morning, Hadrian." Voldemort greeted him cordially.

"Good Morning, Tom." Harry responded just as personably.

Harry put his arm out to keep the lift door open and motioned with his other hand for Voldemort to continue on his way. He studiously ignored the significantly older, and significantly more handsome, man raising an eyebrow at the use of his first name.

"Thank you, Hadrian." Voldemort thanked hesitantly.

"You're welcome, Tom." Harry said cheerily.

Voldemort walked past him into the lift and pressed the button for the first floor.

"Good day, Hadrian."

"Good day, Tom."

When the lift door close Harry breathed out a sigh of relief. Good first contact. Thank goodness they were at Gringotts and neither were willing to start a war with the Goblins or else that would have gotten very ugly. The Eldar wand came a hairs breadth from ejecting from the wand holster into his hand. Good thing he didn't panic, eh?

Harry took a deep breath, straightened his clothes and marched down the hallway to his destination. Four doors down was the room that held the entirety of the Schmicklehook clan and his destination. He gave the double doors a hard rasp and they swung open at his touch.

As soon as he crossed the threshold all five goblins at the head table sat up straight, their backs rigid and their faces panicked.

"Do we need to call in a cleanup crew?" The eldest asked hesitantly.

"Noooo?" Harry said slowly in confusion. "Whyyyyy would you?"

"You two didn't try to kill each other out there?"

"No. We were civil. The killing comes much later. You have time to prepare mops and caskets." Harry quipped to the amusement of the five goblins.

He made the joke just as the side door opened and in walked his investors. Lucius Malfoy led the group, followed by a stunning ebony-skinned witch who almost looked like an eastern European supermodel painted charcoal black. Behind them were Valentine Crabbe, Hildebrand Goyle, Garrick Ollivander and a man Harry didn't recognize. He was a middle-aged gentleman with a well-defined touch of grey in his black hair and short beard. Dressed as regally as any pureblood Harry had met.

"It's nice to finally meet you; Mister Malfoy, Ms Zabini. And it's good to see you again, Valentine, Hildebrand, Garrick... I'm sorry sir, but I don't know who you are?"

They all nodded in turn at his greeting as they took their seats, until he got to the last person at the table. He smirked at Harry's ignorance while everyone else at the table snickered.

"I am Fleamont Potter. You are acquainted with my son and daughter-in-law." Harry's grandfather said. "And I assure you I had words with Jim concerning his behavior. It will not happen again, and he wishes to apologize and continue working with you.

Harry schooled his features carefully at learning the man's identity.

"That's excellent news!" Harry said honestly. "I would be delighted to have them all back."

"Well, we have even more good news." Said Lucius. "This will be a short performance evaluation on account of everyone present has already agreed to continue funding the sanctuary."

Harry breathed a sigh of relief. He really wanted his obligations for the weekend to be over so he could treat Bella to a long-overdue date.

"We have also agreed to fund your land purchase and farm." Valentine told him. "Next weekend we expect you to begin souting out locations."

"Oh no, I'll pay for that out of pocket." Harry refused. "I will need funding for the land purchase, supplies and labor. But the reconnaissance? I'll be paying for that out of pocket. Mostly because I will be getting up to a whole host of shenanigans unrelated to the sanctuary and I don't want the business associated with it."

"I am hesitant to ask." Ms Zabini pre-empted. "But what kind of shenanigans are we talking about here?"

"A lot of dinner, tea and omantic shenanigans." Harry answered honestly.

Garrick gave him two thumbs up at the humorous admission.

"But I will still need help from you, my investors, to afford whatever parcel I find for the future farming branch of my company."

"And you shall have it." Said Lucius. "Upon our independent inspections, of course."

"Of course." Said Schmicklehook the second. "We shall adjourn here and meet again in one month's time after the next full moon."

He banged his gavel, and everybody took is as their cue to stand up and make for their individual exits. Except Fleamont. The elder Potter made a beeline directly for Harry.

"Hadrian, may I call you Hadrian?" Fleamont asked.

"Of course, sir." Harry answered.

"Excellent. I want to tell you that my son and daughter-in-law have raved about you ever since your first meeting, in fact, the only other thing they talk about is, well... you." With that last bit he smirked and winked.

Harry did not get the joke, but was sure it would make sense later.

"And have I lived up to the legend?" harry asked.

"Which legend? The testimony of those who have met you or the legend of your deeds as per the news and rumor mill?" Fleamont asked.

"Either? Both?" Harry said.

"Hmm. I can't quite be sure." Fleamont said as he scratched his short beard in deep thought. "But I daresay it's high time I found out. And so, I would like to cordially invite you to lunch with me."

Harry was elated but did his best to hide it. Lunch with grandpa? There were few better things to do on a Sunday, especially when said lunch would be the first one ever shared between the two in either timeline.

"Where and what day, sir?" Harry asked.

"Florean Fortescue's, and right now." Fleamont said.

Harry deflated somewhat.

"Oh. I was planning to spend what little of my Sunday I had left with my girlfriend." Harry said. "Are you sure we can't do sometime this week when I have a free period?"

Fleamont nodded slowly, squinting as he looked off into space.

"Well, I tell you what. Let's make it a double date, shall we?" He offered. "After all, my wife is waiting through those doors to go have ice cream with me, and she's as eager to meet you as I was. You will love her, and we haven't seen little Bella in years. Not since she got so busy with the dueling circuit. She somehow makes time for you, but not her dear second aunt Euphemia and uncle Fleamont ."

Harry was blown away by the offer, and blushed dutifully at the barb. He only then remembered that his own great-grandmother was, indeed, a Black. Soooo. Her great grandfather and his great grandmother were siblings? What did that even make them? One sixty forth genetically related? Welcome to Magical Britain.

"That sounds like a great way to spend my Sunday. Let me pop off a patronus and I'll meet you in the side chamber?"

Fleamont snapped his feet together and gave Harry a curt bow and kindly smile, both of which Harry returned, and marched through the door where Lucius, Valentine, Hildebrand, Garrick and Ms Zabini had left.

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