A/N: This is just a little filler chapter and it plugs a plot hole that was developing.
Story Arc 5, Chapter 10
Thursday morning brought an urgent message from Griphook. The last horcrux had been retrieved from the Gaunt shack. It had taken the team most of the night to work through the many traps and curses on the place, not to mention those on the item itself. Once they had retrieved the item, a ring, the team debated over whether or not to burn the place down. There were still strong traces of dark magic all around it. They quickly set up a containment ward and lit the place on fire. It didn't take long for the place to burn to the ground.
The next thing they did was go to the cemetery up the road. They quickly located Tom, Sr.'s grave and vanished all of the bones in his as well as his parents' graves. That would be one ritual Voldemort wouldn't be able to use to regain a body.
The cup, diadem, locket, and ring were all in separate lead-lined containers. The specialists at Gringotts were working to find the best time to destroy them all. The new moon was three weeks away. That would be the ideal time, but with the warning from James Potter, the sooner the better. After several trips by Dobby back and forth, they decided that Saturday at midnight would be the time they would render the horcruxes inert. Once that was done, a signal would be sent to the group shadowing Voldemort and Wormtail to finish the job.
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The goblins finished up late on Thursday. Harry and Sirius had returned to Hogwarts to facilitate their departure. While they brought all of their containers in shrunken crates, getting them out would require port keys, especially for the skeleton. Harry was able to isolate the Chamber from the rest of the wards and release the portkey ward over that area. Sirius was down in the Chamber with a mirror to let Harry know when they had completed their departure. Harry quickly restored the anti-portkey wards over the entire castle, then met Sirius at the entrance.
They spent a few minutes with Minerva. She and the other three heads of house were vigorously working on finding the right people to slide into the positions that had been suggested. They all agreed that they would need a new House Master for Slytherin, but the question was whether they would need a new Potions Master. They agreed that Albus would do everything he could to keep Severus in the castle, but the question was whether Severus wanted to be there in the first place. They were all curious as to what would happen when Albus returned on Sunday.
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Friday morning's Daily Prophet had a large story about the basilisk, complete with pictures. They had worked on the story to accompany it that gave all of the details other than the name of the person who had been letting the basilisk into the school. The pictures just listed the people in them as "students", except for Harry, even though those who knew them knew the full story. What was surprising was that Gringotts had provided their own story of the harvest as well as pictures of the skeleton. They were loudly broadcasting that the skeleton would be on display in the lobby of Gringotts for the next thirty days and that they were authorized to sell the parts on behalf of Harry Potter. Details of the sale would be forthcoming and don't bother them asking for preferential treatment.
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Harry was ready to head to Hermione's at nine. He used Dobby-express to get there as both Sirius and Remus were tied up with business issues. Sirius had been spending a lot of time with Bill Weasley at Grimmauld Place getting it habitable. While he never intended to live there again, it was still the official home of the Black Family. He would keep it for meetings and such, but that was all.
Hermione was impressed with all Harry had learned in the four weeks since Hogwarts' term had ended. She quizzed him briefly on Arithmancy, but he was at least on par, if not a little ahead of her in that course. He should have no problems testing into the fourth-year class. Runes was also on par. He had mastered both the Elder and Younger Futhark rune sets and was learning how they were used through the years.
"Harry, I'm impressed with how much you've learned in just one month! You've really spent some time with this!"
"Thanks, Hermione. At first, it was something to make the time go by while I was in the Hospital Wing, but now I'm starting to understand them more and how they are used. I've been thinking more about becoming a wardsmith or a curse breaker."
"Those are very tough jobs, Harry. Have you talked to anyone about it?"
"Yes, Ron's brother, Bill, has been helping Sirius clean out Grimmauld Place and I've had time to talk to him and learn a bit about what he does. I don't think I want to be Indiana Jones and raid temples or that sort of thing, but helping people put up protective wards sounds like something I would like to do. At least by taking these two classes, it is a possibility."
"I'm glad you've realized it. I wish Ron would take his lessons more seriously."
"I don't think that's ever going to happen, Hermione. He would have to have a complete personality change. He doesn't have the incentive we have to do well."
"What do you mean by that, Harry?"
"He's a pureblood wizard. To him, that means he's at the top of the heap, so he should be able to just waltz into any job he wants. He wants to be a keeper for the Chudley Canons. He doesn't see that he needs an education for that. As long as he flies well, he's in. He doesn't look towards the future any further than that. He doesn't have a plan for what happens after he's done playing."
"When did you get so wise, Harry?" Hermione said with a giggle.
"Multiple death experiences will do that to you. My mind healer has helped a lot too. Sirius has been helping me learn more about what I need to know as a lord of multiple houses, but that's going to take years. These are things I should have learned as I was growing up. Instead, I'm having to cram it all down at once. Having Remus as our House Steward is taking a lot of pressure off of me, but when we get into all the changes at Hogwarts, he's going to be earning his pay."
"How did Professor McGonagall take the changes?"
"I've talked with her as well as Professor Flitwick and Professor Sprout. All three are on board with it. They're already starting to put feelers out for new faculty and staff. Both Professor Sprout and Professor Flitwick would rather be teachers, so they're looking for people to take over their Houses. Professor McGonagall hasn't decided on exactly what she wants to do between teaching and the Deputy's job, but she is also looking for someone to take over Gryffindor."
"What about Slytherin?"
Harry rubbed the back of his neck, "Well, now that's the problem. We don't know what the wards are going to do to Snape. The castle picks up his dark mark as a dark object and we've reinforced the wards to prohibit them. We don't know whether or not he will be able to get back into the castle." Harry didn't say that the goblins thought that once Voldemort was gone for good, it would render all of his marked Death Eaters squibs.
After a quick lunch, they changed clothes and went out to spend some time in the Granger's pool. Harry had only the bare minimum for swimming lessons. It was a requirement in his primary school to pass basic swimming. The Dursleys weren't happy about having to pay extra for this, but it was a requirement. He pretended to be afraid of the water when he was around the Dursleys, but he enjoyed it. He was going to talk to Sirius about putting in a pool at Alphard's Place. If anything, it was good exercise.
The Drs. Granger came home to see their daughter and a boy splashing around in the pool. For once, Hermione seemed to be acting her age and was having a good time. They were playing a game of Marco Polo with Harry being the one seeking.
Michelle called out, "Hermione, we're home!"
Hermione squealed, then jumped out of the pool just before Harry had reached her. She got a towel and dried off. Michelle offered one to Harry as he followed her.
"Mum, you remember Harry from last year, right?"
"Yes, dear. It's good to see you again, Harry. I hope Hermione has made you welcome in our home."
"Oh yes, Ma'am! We spent most of the morning revising and have only been out here for an hour or so."
"Hermione, I hope you offered him some refreshments."
"I tried, but then Dobby brought a full tea set and then lunch, so there wasn't anything for me to do."
Ian asked, "Who is Dobby?" He was worried someone else was in the house that he wasn't aware of. Instead, a little being with a long nose and floppy ears popped in.
"I'se be Dobby, sir. Would you be liking some lunchies too?"
Ian and Michelle looked at each other. Granted, they knew the magical world had some strange characters, but this was a new one.
Harry said, "Dobby is my elf. He takes care of me and helps out around the house. He's happiest when he is taking care of others' needs. Just tell him what you'd like for lunch and he'll have it on the table in no time."
Ian was thinking out loud, "We're having steaks and burgers for dinner. A pasta salad with chicken sure sounds good to me. What do you think, Michelle?"
"That's good for me too," she replied. By the time they'd all walked inside, there was a spread laid out on the kitchen table.
Ian said, "I could get used to this," which garnered him a stern look from his wife.
While the adults were finishing their meal, Harry and Hermione went to look through the latest videos her father had brought home. They quickly decided on "Free Willy" and settled down to watch. Dobby popped in with some popcorn and lemonade for them.
Sirius popped over around 5 pm. He'd taken a few minutes to clean up after all of the dirt and grime of Grimmauld Place. The three elves were working hard and it was a vast improvement over what he'd originally walked into, but it was still slow going in the library. His ancestors had some strange thoughts about what protecting knowledge meant. He and Ian instantly clicked over motorcycles. Ian had to give his up when he got married but still had a love for them. Sirius offered to have him over to look at the one he had enchanted to fly. He'd finally gotten it back from Hagrid but hadn't had time to give it a thorough inspection.
They had a very enjoyable dinner. Michelle had planned to spend the afternoon making the side dishes and pudding but found Dobby humming away in the kitchen. She watched the little elf whizz around the kitchen. She saw he was making all of the sides she'd planned and was now working on some type of confection.
"Dobby, you didn't need to do all of this work. I had everything planned out."
"Mistress Grangey works hard all day. Dobby is happy to help his Harry's Grangeys enjoy their afternoon off. Master Grangey told me I couldn't help with the meats, so I came in here."
"But how did you know what I was planning to make?" she asked incredulously.
"Dobby just knows."
She threw her hands up and went to where the kids were watching their movie.
"Harry, did you know your elf has taken over the kitchen?"
Harry laughed, "I'm not surprised. He's a bit protective of me and wants to make sure I'm happy. That just extends to my family and friends too. If you've got any heavy housework you've been putting off, he'll be happy to do it for you."
Michelle looked at her daughter, "Hermione, are you okay with this?"
Hermione said, "I wasn't at first, but Harry explained about house elves to me. They're symbiotic with magicals. They need the bond with a magical to live. The magical gives them magic while the elf provides services to the family. I tried to get Harry to free Dobby when I first found out about their bond, but they sat me down and explained it to me. Dobby is happy when Harry is happy. Harry can give Dobby a hug and he's like a kid on a sugar high."
Once they had finished dinner, Dobby brought out his masterpiece for afters. It was a vanilla pudding layered with fresh berries. He made sure to use as little sugar as possible. They were in individual servings with a graham cracker crust.
Michelle said, "Dobby, this is delicious! Anytime you want to help with dinner, you're more than welcome!"
Dobby blushed all the way to the tips of his ears, then popped away. It had been a good day for everyone.