The Wall of Stone
This Harry Potter story was written for fun. All rights belong to the wonderful lady (JK Rowling) who gave the world Harry Potter to read and enjoy.
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Chapter 18 Hogwarts Governors 9 July 1995Among the seven individuals who were Governors of Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry, Augusta Longbottom was the longest servicing. She'd been selected as a member of the board while her husband was still alive and active in the Wizengamot. In the twenty years since his death, and then the fourteen years since her son had been incapacitated, she'd remained on the board though she often missed the biannual meetings because of conflicts with committee meetings in the Wizengamot where she acted as Regent of the House of Longbottom, or business meetings with buyers of the potion ingredients grown, harvested and processed by the house elves working in the acres and acres of greenhouses that created the fortune that supported the endless bills from Saint Mungo's.
She trusted Dumbledore when he told her everything was well with the state of the school and the education levels of educational achievement in Magical Britain. The formidable witch was caught off guard by the curt letter of dismissal from being a Hogwarts Governor. After she received and read the letter at breakfast, she stormed out of the dining room to floo Lady Marchbanks to complain and demand an investigation.
Once she left, Neville collected the letter and read it – an unusual action for the usually timid boy. After a moment, he folded the letter up but kept it in his hand as he followed his grandmother to the receiving room where the fireplace was connected to the floo network. Augusta was kneeling on a pile of pillows as she attempted to contact Lady Griselda Marchbanks to complain.
When the connection was made, Augusta was surprised by Griselda's explanation, "Gus, you haven't attended a single meeting in a dozen years. Why are you surprised to be dismissed?"
"I have many obligations on my time."
Neville heard the witch on the other end of the floo call snort loudly and reply, "Remind me who I'm talking to? Albus-Too-Many-Jobs-to-Be-Bothered Dumbledore or Lady Augusta-Head-of-Four-Wizengamot-Committees Longbottom?"
"How dare you compare me to Albus Dumbledore!"
"Augusta, if it walks like a house elf, and talks like a house elf, it must be a house elf!"
Insulted by the accurate comparison to the disgraced headmaster, Augusta added to her complaint, "They demand that I to return the stipend I've been paid for the last twelve years!"
"Yes, I know. Letters went out to all the Governors who just rubber-stamped Dumbledore's recommendations."
Aggravated, Augusta demanded to know, "What about the dead ones? Malfoy? Avery and Parkinson?"
The voice of Lady Marchbanks replied through the flames, "The new management at Hogwarts will determine the best candidates to fill the six empty seats."
"Six? Did new management dismiss Amelia too?"
There was a moment's hesitation before Lady Marchbanks replied, "That's Amelia's tale to tell. Go to her…if she's got time for your call."
When she turned from the floo and discovered her grandson standing there, Augusta noticed the look of concern on his face. She fussed, "What's wrong? Did a potted palm wilt overnight?"
Taking a breath, Neville asked, "Why did you never tell me that you were a Governor for Hogwarts?"
"I was busy and there was nothing for you to do anyway," she replied and waved her grandson to leave. But Neville didn't leave, he stepped into the room and closed the door behind him.
"Tippy, lock this door until I tell you to unlock it," the young wizard commanded. An invisible elf snapped her fingers and the door locked.
"Neville Longbottom! Do not overstep your place!" Augusta said, warning her grandson. "You're not too old to cane!"
"I'm not overstepping. I am Heir Neville Longbottom; son of Lord Francis Longbottom and you are my regent – MINE. Last July, on my fourteenth birthday, I went to Gringotts and put on the heir's ring – something you forgot to arrange because of meetings you had to attend at the Wizengamot."
Augusta frowned and wished the boy was still cowed by that look and memories of being disciplined. But Neville understood his grandmother's mind and stated, "Lift a cane in your hand to strike me today, and I doubt you will enjoy what happens next."
Ignoring his grandmother, Neville continued, "Last year, I hoped that as Heir Longbottom somebody would be interested and listen to me about my stories – my complaints – about the slipshod instruction, rampant bullying by professors, and dangerous experiences at Hogwarts. My school is NOT the finest educational institution in the world. It's probably the worst school in the magical world if truth be told."
"But no one cared. You brushed off every attempt I made to talk to you," Neville complained. "And all this time, YOU were a Governor!"
"I won't stand here and listen to this!" Augusta fussed. She walked to the door and ordered the house elf to unlock the door, but nothing happened.
"Gran – Lady Longbottom – only the heir can order that door unlocked. The heir is master of this house, and I respectfully ask you to remember that fact," Neville said before he ordered the elf to unlock the door.
"I am disturbed by your attitude," Augusta told her grandson who nodded his head in agreement. She strode from the room but before she returned to the dining room, she heard the floo activate.
'Where did the boy go?' she wondered, hurrying back to the floo room. But the fire had been quenched and the fuel removed (by a helpful elf). Even if she lay a new fire, she couldn't trace her grandson's destination.
Three hours later, Dowager Lady Augusta Longbottom felt a change in her magical status in the house. The Regent's Ring vanished from her finger and the head elf appeared before her, bowed politely, and asked if 'Missy Augusta' would like to survey the dower house where she would be living from this day forth.
"The dower house! I should say not!" Augusta shouted. "I am regent…"
Tippy shook her head and said, "Missy Augusta Longbottom nee Croaker is no more regent of House Longbottom…no more. Blood relative be Regent Most Wonderful."
"Blood relative! Neville doesn't have a blood relative in the Longbottom family!" Augusta declared. Then she remembered – there was a wizard named Theodore Tonks – married to Andromeda Black – who was from a squib line of the Longbottom family – all males for three generations before the magic reappeared in the mudblood.
"I am displaced by a muddy wizard!" Augusta mourned. When she stepped from her office – her husband's office, and then Frank's office – she discovered her trunks packed and the front door standing open. The dower house was two kilometres distance from the manor house. A previous Lady wished her meddlesome mother-in-law out of sight and out of mind.
'My peevishness with Lady Callidora Longbottom because she was born Callidora Black has come back to bite my hand,' she thought sourly as her trunks vanished one by one, transported to the dower house.
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No.12 Grimmauld Place 1 – 31 July 1995Padfoot's fear of it being a mistake to invite the Weasley family to spend their summer in his family's townhouse was proven true at least twice a day. The twins blew up their bedroom and every other room they could break into. Moron (or Mouth as Kreacher call Ron) ate everything not behind lock and key. Ginny (Little Howler) cried continuously because her future husband, Harry Potter, was not locked up in the house with her. Molly, who tried to rule the roost and contested with Kreacher for control of the kitchen (unsuccessfully), proved capable of outshouting the portrait of the magically animated portrait of Mrs Black hanging on the staircase.
For the five minutes that first morning, Sirius Black enjoyed the comedy that was the Weasley family. Then Sirius noticed that Arthur Weasley ate breakfast, kissed his wife's cheek and disappeared through the flames of the floo to the Ministry as quickly as possible. In a voice loud enough to be heard clear to Buckingham Palace, Molly yelled at the foot of the stairs for her children to rise, dress, and come to breakfast. When the tribe of children thundered down the stairs, Sirius expected the walls to collapse.
Now, each morning, Sirius found himself dreading another loud day of Weasleys. Envious of Arthur's job at the ministry, Sirius groused, "The man escapes the hell of howler world as fast as he can."
Remus tried to downplay the noise for that first week but by the middle of July, he was hiding in the parlours on the second floor with Sirius. None of the visitors could come up to the second floor. Gred and Forge attempted to blow a hole in the ceiling of one deserted room to access the second floor but were buried underneath dust bunnies, broken furniture, and spoiled potions for ten minutes until Remus and Sirius dug them out.
That night, Sirius was forced (by Remus) to thank Kreacher for defending the house but the house elf spit and cursed his master who brought the 'worst kind of people' into the house. In an act of rebellion, Kreacher stopped cleaning and cooking and spent his time spreading dust bunnies and grime into every room from the second floor down to the basement kitchen.
News from Saint Mungo's about Dumbledore's extended time of recovery was not encouraging to the members of the Order of the Phoenix. Again, it was Remus Lupin who visited the headmaster, collected a dozen letters to post from Diagon Alley, and carried the latest directives from Albus to the vigilantes preparing to fight the Dark Lord and Death Eaters.
At breakfast, Lupin distributed letters to Arthur (Molly), Sirius, Dora Tonks, and Kingsley Shacklebolt. Rather than read his letter, Sirius watched the others – Arthur tried to read over his wife's shoulder, but she continually gestured with her arms and shoulders while commenting on the orders, making it impossible for her husband to read.
"We're to stay inside this house where we're safe. Arthur, you need to convince Bill to come here too," Molly said. "The headmaster says under no circumstances is anyone to write to Harry. He can come stay with us the last two weeks of August. I'm to do all the shopping for school supplies."
Ron muttered, "At least the bloody burk is locked up like we are."
"And we're to bring the mud…muggleborn girl here as soon as she ever returns from travels with her parents," Molly said. "Ron, did the girl…what's her name…mention where they were going? To Margot, maybe?"
Ginny spoke up and said, "Mum, her name is Hermione Granger. She's a genius and good friends with Ronnie and my Harry. But she didn't say where her parents were taking her for vacation. Harry told her not to tell anyone so no one could find her."
"What? Why?" Molly insisted on knowing.
Sirius spoke up, "Harry is thinking like a true Gryffindor to protect his friend. Your daughter eavesdropped on their conversation and discovered Miss Granger's plans. What if Miss Weasley gossiped with other students, and a Slytherin overheard? The snake would tell the Death Eaters."
"Stinking, spying Snakes," muttered Ron, expressing his opinion of Slytherin students listening to a private conversation.
None of the Weasleys noticed that Sirius had accused Miss Weasley of eavesdropping and gossiping about private information. Remus realized that his friend had insulted the Weasleys but after many days of shouting and complete disregard for the other inhabitants of No.12 Grimmauld Place by the clan of gingers, Lupin felt less generous toward them.
And Sirius had discovered that he could not call Harry's owl to deliver any letters – not that he was writing to his godson. Without Hedwig's wings, Sirius was forced to ask Arthur and Remus to post his letters for him. And Molly always interfered with the post that Sirius sent out and received.
With Dumbledore's continued hospital stay and the lack of any activity by the Death Eaters (or the Dark Lord), there was a discussion where Shacklebolt and Tonks reminded everyone that the Death Eaters had all died the night of the Third Task.
Dora Tonks said, "All the Death Eaters pardoned by the minister died along with the ones imprisoned in Azkaban."
"And the Daily Prophet ran those articles from Ted Tonks about Harry saying that the Dark Lord is not alive in Britain. Potter and Mr Tonks say that the headmaster is befuddled by the Acromantula poisoning," Shacklebolt argued.
In response to this argument, Molly Weasley attempted to bring the ceiling down with her loud declarations, "Headmaster Dumbledore is not befuddled."
"The great wizard was not suffering from spider venom poisoning!"
"AND NO ONE WILL QUESTION HIS ORDERS!" she bellowed.
Following that ear-shattering meeting, the two marauders noticed that fewer and fewer members of the Order of the Phoenix appeared in the house – none of them spent the night there and few of them appeared for the meals that Molly prepared. And each day, the flavours of the food faded, and the cooking spells didn't complete the task properly. Sirius considered it likely that Kreacher was taking revenge on the witch and her entire family for their presence in this home of the Black family.
Sirius paid for all the food – saving Arthur a decent percentage of his pay every two weeks. And Remus acted as the faithful mule, purchasing items at the grocery in Diagon Alley and from muggle stores though Molly often questioned the quality of the meats and vegetables that arrived in 'her' kitchen from those sources.
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What Birthday Party? 1 August 1995An ear-piercing shriek woke everyone who'd overslept at the Black townhouse hidden in London. Remus and Sirius were convinced there was banshee blood in the Prewitt line somewhere and Sirius meant to write to Harry and beg him to never marry the daughter.
Grasping his aching head, Sirius Black called for hangover potion and Kreacher obeyed his master by appearing and throwing the potion bottle as hard as possible against the wall beside the wizard's bed. The bottle shattered and the potion dribbled across the wallpaper that had been new only two months ago.
From his place on a pallet on the floor, Remus Lupin moaned, "Padfoot, remember how to give the elf orders."
"It's too early in the morning!" complained Sirius.
Glancing at the clock on the table beside the bed, Remus saw that it was a quarter past nine but remained silent while Sirius slowly climbed from the bed and tried again. "Kreacher, please bring me a hangover potion in an unbroken bottle, with the seal intact, nothing added to the potion and place the bottle in my hand gently."
Remus thought the order covered most of the contingencies needed to obtain decent service from the proud elf. Depending on what generated the shriek from the kitchen in the basement, the elf might defy all orders today.
But the elf delivered the potion and waited until Sirius was drinking it before saying, "There's be pictures of Harry Potters on page 1 of newiespaper this morning. The young wizard be in Paristown across the Channel of English."
Sirius choked on the potion, just like the elf planned. Kreacher continued, "Bad stupid master must hurried fastest to the kitchen. Howler, Mouth, and Future Howler sees most horrible terrible news on cover of Daily Disgusting Prophets Waste Papers. They alls be howling…howling!"
"What is Harry doing in Paris, Kreacher?" asked Remus, not waiting for Sirius to catch up.
"Harry Potters has birthday party in Paris of France with lovely witches and his best buddy Neville Longbottoms," the elf explained. "Many moving pictures of great times with lovely witches from Beauxbatons school on pages 1, pages 4 and pages 5."
"Little Howler crying, Mouth jealous and filling kitchen with smelly winds, while Howler screaming 'Boy is outs of controls!' and other loud things."
Sirius spit up part of the potion, stared at the elf and Remus for a moment before leaping up to head out the door.
"Padfoot! Put on some pants!" Remus yelled, grabbing a house coat to throw around his friend's naked body when he caught up with him. Sirius thundered down to flights of stairs and was starkers when he ran into the kitchen. This set off Molly Weasley's howls again, made Ron turn his head away from the sight of naked Padfoot, though he kept eating sausages, and caused Ginny to erupt into hiccups, tears and loud cries.
Once he was covered up by the robe, Sirius saw the pictures taken at the Eiffel Tower of the birthday party for Harry Potter and Neville Longbottom with several lovely young witches from Beauxbatons. There was nothing included about chaperones, and it appeared the two fifteen-year-old boys were loose in the French capital!
Molly was already composing a howlers to send to Augusta Longbottom, Albus Dumbledore, the Daily Prophet and anyone else she could think of! She would deliver a howler up close and personal to Sirius Black, Harry's worthless godfather, as soon as she had her argument written out on paper.
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