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Act II - The Warlock of Hogwarts
Chapter 24 - Offer
"Seriously mate, that was just horrible," claimed Ron, "Every single good thing I've ever claimed about Quidditch practice, I take that back. Angelina's a monster. That's what she is."
Harry's lips curved upwards, as he dug into his mug of orange juice. Had this been last year, he'd have been served pumpkin, but Sirius, being the rigid taskmaster that he was, had changed his diet plans, substituting it with cucumber and orange, and added an early morning workout before having it. Naturally, no one noticed, courtesy of his private room.
"And now she wants me to drink cucumber juice every morning? Yak!"
"I doubt you'll get the sympathy you're expecting, Ron," smirked Hermione, resting one hand on the table while she mockingly patted his shoulder with the other. "Harry's been drinking that ever since the term started."
He stood corrected. No one but Hermione Granger noticed it.
Ron gave him a sour look. "Are you mental?"
Harry shrugged. "Part of the training process. Sirius made me run laps across the entire house, and let me tell you, the blasted House is larger than a freaking Quidditch pitch on the inside." He didn't add that Kreacher took special amusement in increasing the number of stairs or tweaking the gravity just to see him suffer. As the Lord Black, Sirius no doubt knew of his antics but conveniently ignored them. And also Andi would laugh.
"And after that, all I got was two mugs of juice and salad. Nothing until lunch."
"Psychopath!" Ron murmured.
"You've no idea."
"If anyone's interested, Mrs. Weasley made me a mug of hot cocoa every morning," Hermione said, licking her lips..
Harry rolled his eyes. It had been a week since his little mirror-call with Sirius, and nothing fascinating had happened. The usual routine had returned, utterly identical to before. He had, however, begun sitting next to Hermione in Charms class, now that McGonagall had all but excused him from Transfiguration, something that faced a firm opposition whenever they were paired with Hufflepuffs, when Hannah or Megan would subtly engage Hermione in something or the other, while Susan occupied the seat next to him.
Not very subtle, but no less amusing.
And Ron didn't even complain. Guy was too busy groaning about the tortures that Angelina was inflicting on them, and growling over how she had conveniently allowed Harry to escape practice. Harry had decided not to tell him that he had fed Angelina the idea that seeing him on the Quidditch pitch too much might attract Umbridge's attention. Angelina had agreed so quickly that he wondered if Umbridge would truly be that pointlessly malicious.
Knowing her, she probably was.
"Like seriously, four grilling hours of training?" Ron was saying. "And she hasn't even told us who's gonna be the Keeper. It's like she's putting us through hell just to see who quits first."
"Who's the other guy?" Harry asked, silencing his thoughts.
"McLaggen," said Ron sourly. "Sixth-year."
The same sounded somewhat familiar, but he couldn't put a finger on it. "Any good?"
Ron scowled. "Only because he's got a Nimbus 2001."
"I think Ron's jealous," Hermione noted. "I've seen the guy fly. He's quite good, if a little⦠arrogant."
Harry cocked his head.
Hermione flushed. "He's in Ancient Runes, alright. Sixth-year but he's taking his OWL-classes for runes. Babbling made me help him pick up the subject."
Ron growled. "He's another Malfoy And Angelina's gonna give him the keeper position because he's got a better broom and I've got the school's stupid Cleansweeps."
Harry frowned.
"Come on Ron, he's not so bad," Hermione defended.
Ron didn't look any more convinced from Hermione's attempts than Umbridge would be from Trelawney's Seer abilities. But even so, he knew that his friend had a point.
"Alright, maybe you're right," he interrupted their ongoing bickering. "Maybe Hermione is wrong, and you're right. Maybe McLaggen is like Malfoy and like Malfoy he's got a Nimbus 2001. Sounds about right?"
Ron grunted.
Harry met his red-headed friend's eyes. "So tell me, Ronald Weasley, are you gonna lose to Malfoy for the keeper position just because he's got a superior broom?"
"Bloody not," Ron fumed.
Harry grinned. "They you are."
"Oh for Merlin's sake, it's just a stupid game andβ oh, not again!" Hermione shrieked. "Keep those things off the table! Right now! I told you if I see them again, I'll confiscate them."
Harry blinked, and looked at what had her so annoyed. It was a fleshy, tubular thing, with one end shaped like a human ear, albeit somewhat exaggerated.
"What's that?"
"Oh this?" asked Fred, a bright grin forming on his face. "It's an extendable ear, Harry. Insert them in your ear, and then shove the other end under the door, and you can hear the conversation like it was a mere foot away."
Harry arched his brow. Something like that could be incredibly useful, especially if he could learn to disillusion it. Camouflage and invisibility spells were tough, but even without it, this thing had several applications.
"What if the room has been warded?"
"Harry!" Hermione admonished. "Stop encouraging them!"
"Oh no, oh no, Miss Granger," said George, mimicking Flitwick. "Curiosity is an art that must be honed."
"Warded by what, Harrikins?" asked Fred.
"Say, an imperturbation charm. Or a privacy ward."
"Wow. Harrikins is really interested," said George.
"As expected of the prodigal son," said Fred.
"We've missed him in Gryffindor tower."
"As has our sweet Miss Granger here."
"What? Shut up, you guys!" claimed Hermione, but the flush in her cheeks gave her away.
"Our Gryffindor lion has been ensnared by snakes and birds," George went on.
"But a lion always returns to his den," Fred finished.
Harry rolled his eyes. It was true he hadn't been in Gryffindor Tower since the start of term, but he still sat with them at breakfast. Except for that one time when Hannah and Megan had invited him to sit with him. Susan had said nothing but somehow, Megan had to get up to talk to Antony Goldstien and Susan had ended up shifting to sit beside him.
Again, subtle they were not. At least, they stuck to the Hufflepuff motto. All for one, and one for all.
It was almost enough to make him wonder if getting sorted there would have made him happier.
"Well?" He demanded.
Fred and George looked at each other.
"We think it should bypass the wards if you get the ear past the ward line," said George.
"Should?"
"We haven't gotten around to testing it very much, Harrikins," said Fred, looking less amused. There was a flicker of something in his eyes that had nothing to do with pranking others. "We're working with very little inventory, and Mum already burned half our products. Getting the materials wasn't cheap either."
"We have a ton of other ideas," pitched George, "and we thought we'd start our own joke shop."
"Collected a solid bit of gold for it too," said Fred. "Thirty-seven galleons. We bet them with Bagman in the Quidditch World Cup and lost them all."
"What?" said Harry, narrowing his eyes. He was there when the bet was made, and the twins had won. "But didn't Ludo Bagman β "
"It was leprechaun gold, Harry," said George, bitterness lining his voice. "And we can't prove that he gave that to us."
Harry frowned. Ludo Bagman had always struck him as something of a simpleton, a man that was happily ignorant of the true nature of things around him, and preferred to stay that way. He had not cared for how Harry had been pushed into the Triwizard tournament, but wanted to give him advice in the first task hoping he'd win some money by betting on it. But if he had tricked the twins like that thenβ¦
"Harry!" said Hermione, hands on her hips. "You better not plan something foolish."
Oh he was definitely planning something. But it wasn't foolish. He'd casually inquire about it from Griphook. Logic said that if Bagman had done that once, chances were he had done it before.
"Say, Fred, George, these products of yours. What are they like?"
"Oh Harrikins," said Fred, coming over and putting his hand over his shoulder. "We've got plans for a whole lot. We've got dungbombs and fanged frisbees and β"
"I'm not talking about just joke items, Fred," Harry asserted, giving him an even look. "I'm talking about things like this ear. Stuff that has actual use rather than just pranks."
That swept the smile off Fred's face.
"We have some ideas," said George, looking all sober. "We wanted to experiment with weather charms, you know, if you need a sudden distraction. I've got this delicious idea involving two bottles and a snowstorm, but the ingredients won't come cheap."
"And we need to consult an Arithmancer."
"Which won't be cheap too."
"I told you you should've taken Arithmancy."
"Like you should have taken runes."
"Okay, guys, enough," said Harry, his eyes narrowed and slightly unfocussed. He was too busy thinking of potential applications. "Say, guys, what if you got someone offering to fund your joke shop?"
"We'd take it," said George.
"We went to Gringotts, but they wouldn't give us a loan."
"Should've mention Bill's name β"
"That's why they didn't give us the loan, your arse."
"What if I were to give you that gold?" asked Harry. "Not as a loan, but as funding. For your joke shop."
"Harry," began Hermione, but one look from him silenced her.
Ron just⦠watched.
"Harry," said Fred, suddenly serious, "if this is a jokeβ¦"
"It's for the joke shop, but it's not a joke," Harry promised. "So long as you build products with actual use, and not just joke items. Tell me, how much funding would you need?"
The twins looked at each other.
"Twelve hundred galleons."
"Twenty one hundred galleons."
Harry blinked. The difference was⦠massive.
"We'll need twenty-one hundred if we want to mass produce the Midnight madness," Fred began.
"But it's only for parties, Freddy," said George. "We need to start with the important stuff."
"The important stuff includes importing the powders and the boomslang skin. Those won't come cheap."
"But look at all the wastes β"
"Alright, alright, guys," said Harry, playing peacemaker. Mentally, he thanked Fleur for helping him make sense of his various investments and the way things worked in business. "If I'm the investor, I'm supposed to give you a counter offer, right?"
"Shoot," both of them said together.
Harry blinked, somewhat intimidated by the way they had timed it. "Erm, I was thinking ofβ¦ say, a thousand galleon investmentβ"
"That's barelyβ" Fred began.
"Freddie, we don't have anyone else throwing even half of that at us right now," George warned, and then gave Harry a pleading look. "We'll do it, Harry."
Harry looked at him, amused. "You didn't let me finish. I'll invest a thousand galleons, and throw in a credit line for another two-thousand. You can pay me back later when you start hitting profits."
"How much do you want?" asked Fred.
Harry shrugged. "Whatever you're comfortable with."
Fred snapped his jaw shut. George narrowed his eyes. Ron and Hermione just⦠gawked.
"You might want to contact Gringotts. I'll write you a letter of recommendation, so you can take that to Gringotts andβ¦ Do you have a name for thisβ¦. Joke shop?"
"Erm," said George, who had been the first to wake from their stupor. "We're thinking of calling it Weasley's Wizarding Wheezes."
Harry laughed. "Sounds fun. Once you've got things set up, get me some working models. I'll put you up in a meeting with Daphne's dad. He does a lot of trade on the continent, so he could get you the materials cheaper, if you let him invest in this. That is, if you want."
The twins met each other's gobsmacked faces and turned to him.
"You realise you're risking a lot without a contract, right? This is basically a blank check. This is basically a blank check." said Fred.
Harry shrugged. "I trust you."
"Harry," George started, "Don't take this the wrong way, but even I don't trust him that much."
β¦
β¦
β¦
"That was something, mate," said Ron as the three of them walked the corridors together. "I didn't even think Fred and George had plans above doing pranks."
"They don't," said Hermione, albeit a bit snobbishly. "A joke shop? Seriously? They need to grow up. And you, Harry, did a horrible job."
Frankly, Harry didn't agree with Hermione's opinion. The Potter family held a seven percent stake in Zonko's joke shop, and despite its decision against branching out to main-stream Diagon Alley, the shop was one of the best investments on the table. Granted, it was exclusively geared toward joke-items and depended heavily on the Hogwarts students visiting during Hogsmeade holidays. But if he could get the twins a proper joke-shop with an enhanced variety, right in the middle of Diagon Alley, there was a high chance they could make it big.
It was a risk, but the twins had disguised it as a promise. And besides, Padfoot would be proud.
"What were you thinking, Harry?" She fumed. "Throwing away three thousand galleons like that? No way Fred and George would be β"
"Actually Hermione," Harry interrupted her tirade. "I didn't throw away anything. I've seen the kind of pranks the twins have pulled off over the years and if their products are half as useful as this extendable ear thing they're working on, it'll sell in huge numbers. Forget students, even Aurors and Hit-wizards would find it useful. Camouflage the ear, or just disillusion it, and you can eavesdrop into the enemy. Daphne's dad deals in import-export a lot, so if the twins can make quality products, they can piggyback on the Greengrass's repo to cover the international market. All they need is a good representation, which I'll get by setting them up in a shop in Diagon Alley."
"Diagon Alley?" Ron exclaimed. "That's the most expensive place in the entire country."
"Now you know what the extra galleons are for. If they see them holding shop in the busiest section of the country, it gives them credibility. And even if it costs me a little more money, it doesn't matter. I got twenty thousand galleons to spend from my defamation trial against Fudge and his cronies."
Both Ron and Hermioe were looking at him in surprise.
"... what?"
Hermione flushed as she caught his eye. "Nothing, erm, it's just you know stuff now. I was surprised. I didn't expect you to, erm β"
"The meetings with Fleur weren't just for ice-cream," He said, more to himself than to them. "She had to get me to understand exactly what my investments were, what my holdings meant and how to manage them nicely. I still think it's way above my paygrade, but I'm learning."
Hermione was staring at him again.
"Oh what now?"
"... Nothing," she said, looking a little flushed. "Just, you are a lot different. I thought you felt different at your party, but I thoughtβ¦"
"Oh well, things change. Can't be a Lord and expect to be treated like an adult without taking responsibilities. Even Sirius prefers this. I'm gonna see exactly where my investments are heading to after a year, and then make a decision if I'm cut out for this thing. Plus, Sirius even got me a secretary to help me deal with this stuff."
The moment he said that, he instantly cursed himself.
"Oh right," said Ron, grumbling. "I totally forgot. Mum was so happy when he came home."
He gave him a lopsided grin. "I'm glad. I was surprised too, when Sirius told me about it. Guess it was obvious in the end, wasn't it? After all, he's a Weasley."
"Still," Ron grumbled. "He didn't have to say those things to Mum and Dad."
"Actually, he did," said Hermione. "If he didn't, Fudge would think something was suspicious. Your brother is a true Gryffindor, Ronald."
"He's a toerag, that's what he is," Ron scowled, punching the air with a fist angrily. "He taught me chess, you know. Bill and Charlie were out working, and the twins were always busy with pranks. Percy really was the one that looked after me as a kid. And then he went ahead and acted like that. It just⦠made me so angry."
Hermione patted him in the shoulder in sympathy.
"And really Harry, taking Bigheadboy as your secretary? Didn't you have enough of his pompous arse last year?"
Harry scratched his head. "It was Sirius and Joshua's idea, really. I didn't even know it happened until it happened. They're kind of running with the story that you're my best mate so I took pity on Percy and hired him in exchange for bailing him out of Azkaban early. They have all sorts of crazy plans going on, and I'm happy to stay out of it."
"You really think of them as family, don't you?" asked Hermione out of nowhere.
Harry noticed the speculative expression on her face. One that promised a binder of research on whatever grabbed her curiosity.
"Hermione, Sirius is my godfather, and he's adopted me into the Black family. And the Greengrasses are actually family from my grandmother's side."
"Still, you didn't know them before, and now you spend so much time with Greengrass β"
"He's going to marry that bird, Hermione," said Ron. "Who else would he spend time with?"
A scowl flashed across Hermione's face for a moment and then it was gone. "Yes, but he shouldn't. This is our OWL year, we need to prepare for OWLs. Voldemort is back and he'd come after Harry. And instead of being protected and trained, he's got to play house with some Slytherin princess and whatever Fleur Delacour is doing with him."
"Eh, I don't think it's that difficult to imagine what she's doing with him." Ron wagged his eyebrows suggestively.
"Not the point!" Hermione said crossly. "She's a professor. She should maintain restraint. This is a school."
Actually, Harry wanted to say. Fleur was maintaining a lot of restraint. In her own words, now that she had found someone unaffected by her allure, her desires were outpouring and he was her go-to sink. Given how they'd end up shagging twice every single day in the last month before term, he'd say she was showing a lot of restraint.
"I am dating Fleur," he admitted out loud. It really was an open secret. Everyone knew that he and Fleur Delacour were an item, even though they never displayed affection publicly. Inside his private room though, that was an entirely different thing.
"But you're to marry Greengrass, for whatever reason that you can't even trust me with."
Oh, Harry realised. So that was how.
"I can tell you that I'm not doing it because I am forced to, in any way or form. I can choose to walk away from this marriage right now, and no one, not Dumbledore, not Sirius and especially not Daphne will try to stop me. But I won't."
"But why?"
Harry smiled. "Two months ago, I'd have said that it's because sometimes, a choice isn't a choice at all."
"And now?"
He looked at the earnest expression on her face.
He smiled. "Come on, we're getting late for class."
With that, he whirled around and began walking.
"He's different," he heard her say. "Too different."
She was right, Harry mused. More right than she could imagine.
No matter how he sliced it, the truth was that there was already some distance between them. And funnily enough, Ron had accepted it and mentally prepared himself for what was to come. The Weasley must have realised the kind of changes that could happen, now that Harry, the pivotal member of their trio, was slowly pulling himself away and taking charge. With Daphne and Fleur, and everything else happening around, the Golden Trio was breaking at the seams.
He didn't like it. But it was the truth. But he didn't find it in his heart to say that. Besides, the class was about to begin. Their talk could wait.
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