Chapter 47, everybody! Gotta work on that buffer some more, this one is a little hot off the presses….
So now that we're deep into the ramifications of earlier changes, we're seeing more things changing…also Sirius is sus and Barty's house elf deserved better.
Alchemy class is in that nebulous gray area between fanon and canon—we all seem convinced it exists, but I don't remember it getting a mention in the books (citations, anyone?). Ron does have that accountant cousin, though—gonna have to check, but I think he mentions them in the second book. Also bits and pieces of Tumblr posts because yes, and Fred and George reference the Monkey Island game series.
OO, thanks for the review! Glad you like! :D
Slytherinsal, thanks for the review! Yes and yes! I loved the part in book 7 where Kreacher and Harry finally start getting along and I really wish it was expanded upon (also common sense for the win!).
Harry Potter © 1997 J.K. Rowling
Sirius, Remus, and the remaining Weasleys arrived early the next morning along with the paper, which screamed the headline TERROR AT THE CUP FINAL.
"What's that in the picture?" Harry asked, looking at the black-and-white photograph.
"That'd be the Dark Mark," Sirius explained, letting Percy take the paper. "Being Moldy-Voldy's symbol."
"That doesn't mean You-Know-Who was there, does it?" Hermione asked.
"No—the Death Eaters know how to cast it, so it was likely one of them. Except for the bit where they all scattered when it went up."
"And it went up in an entirely different spot. By the way, Harry," Remus said, holding something out.
"My wand!" Harry exclaimed, taking it. "Where'd you find it?"
"It jabbed me in the back and scared me half to death—apparently the summoning charm had a delayed reaction."
"Moony cleared a good three feet—it was impressive," Sirius said—
Cleared at least a foot when a sharp crack sounded.
"Master Sirius has returned," Kreacher said, bowing. "Kreacher will now make breakfast."
"I—now wait, Kreacher, you don't have to," Mrs. Weasley protested.
"Madam Weasley should probably sit and relax."
"You do look pale, Molly," Mr. Weasley said. "Didn't you get any sleep at all last night?"
"Well how could I?" she demanded. "With half of you off and in potential danger…all right, fine," she sighed, sagging. "But don't overexert yourself, Kreacher."
"Kreacher will try not to," Kreacher said, levitating a stool over to the counter so he could reach it. Sirius watched him, utterly bemused, finally shrugged and sat down.
"So anyway, Remus wants to have a lecture on keeping track of your wand, but I feel like last night was enough of a motivator," Sirius said. "Moving on—"
"Oh that Skeeter woman," Percy hissed, balling up the newspaper.
"Cheers, Perce," Charlie said. "Not like anyone else wanted to read that."
"No, you don't—Skeeter called the whole event a travesty of Ministry security! To hear her talk the Ministry wasn't even there! She claims there were bodies being taken out of the woods!"
"What?" Molly asked, losing what little color she had regained.
"No one died, Molly," Mr. Weasley said, accepting the two mugs Kreacher handed him. "Er, Kreacher, do me a favor and fetch the firewhisky, it's in that top cabinet there."
Kreacher took a moment to consider Mrs. Weasley before nodding. "Certainly, sir."
"So Kreacher mellowed out in his old age and I'm not sure how to take it," Sirius said.
"So what did happen after we left?" Ron asked.
"Mayhem, maybe shenanigans—we finally got the Muggles down, they needed some serious memory modifications. Serious meaning someone else did it," Sirius added.
"There was some sort of altercation after the fact," Bill said, chin in his hand. "Barty Crouch sacked his house elf."
"What? Why!?" Hermione asked.
"We found her unconscious in one of the rows, looked like she had been knocked out, almost directly under the Dark Mark, discarded wand next to her—Amos Diggory thought she might have stolen a wand and cast it."
"But why would a house elf summon the Dark Mark?" Percy demanded, throwing his hands up. "Better yet, why would Barty Crouch's house elf summon the Dark Mark?"
"Well Barty Jr. was a Death Eater," Sirius said.
"But Barty Jr. is also dead," Mr. Weasley pointed out. "Died in Azkaban."
"I'm aware, he was a few doors down from me. And considering he-who-must-not-be-named faked his death, I wouldn't be surprised if it was catching."
"Go back to the house elf," Hermione said. "Why would she steal a wand and cast that spell? It doesn't make sense. She was terrified up in that box, she could have been out because she was trying to get away from the explosions!"
"Madam Hermione is right," Kreacher said from beside her, startling her—put a plate of French toast in front of her before continuing. "House elves wouldn't touch a wizard's wand, have no need for them. We have our own magic."
"Thank you again for that, Kreacher," Harry said.
"Kreacher lives to serve."
"So as supporting evidence for the Barty Jr. is alive and well theory…Barty Sr. helped fake the death, realized that he got loose and was still nutty, and blamed his house elf to cover his tracks."
"So she's being punished for someone else's mistakes," Hermione said hotly.
"IF Barty Jr. is alive," Mr. Weasley said loudly.
"But it's not fair! Someone should do something about this!"
"Here's the sad thing: fairness often has nothing to do with it," Remus said. "As for someone doing something about it…I'm not sure what all you could do about it."
"Reject humanity and become a dog full-time," Sirius suggested.
"Sirius, no—for the umpteenth time, no. You get fleas like that."
"That is the main negative to the decision," Sirius agreed—perked up when Kreacher put a plate in front of him. "Ah, thank you Kreacher. Listen, we should be good now, so if you want to take a load off you can."
"Master is too kind," Kreacher said, bowing before vanishing with a crack. Sirius stared at the place where he was, finally looked at the rest of them.
"I want you all to know that that is the exact opposite of how he was when I was growing up," Sirius said, pointing where Kreacher had been. "And I have no idea how to take this now."
"With aplomb," Remus suggested.
Percy and Mr. Weasley were rare sights in the following days, as they were kept busy at the Ministry, trying to fix the broken mess the Final had ended up being.
Also a rare sight was a professor during summer, which was why Harry was a little surprised to see Professor Dumbledore sitting at the kitchen table with Sirius, Remus and Bill one morning when he came down for breakfast.
"Ah, Harry," Dumbledore greeted. "Enjoying your summer?"
"Mostly," Harry said, sitting down. "Er…." Asking what he was doing here might be too blunt, spotted something else to ask. "You got a Quick Quotes Quill?"
"Yes—Miss Lovegood recommended I get one to assist with my day-planning. This is Quincy, who has been informed by Madame Pomfrey after my yearly checkup that I am to take scheduled breaks, as I am no longer a young man of fifty-one. This was a surprise to me, as most days I feel forty-seven, but I'll allow for it, as it's never good to anger a healer."
"Mornin'," Ron yawned, coming down—stopped dead at the sight at the table. "Professor Dumbledore? What are you doing here? Sir," he added, spotting Mrs. Weasley's expression.
"As to that question, I am assisting with finalizing the charms on the new Black abode," Dumbledore said. "If everything is to your liking, Filius and I will be along…er, sometime," he said, looking at the little book that Quincy was tapping against. "To finalize and then cast the spells. Probably not next week."
"Well term starts next week, so that makes sense," Bill said. "But before the end of September, I've got a job scheduled then."
"So before the end of September," Dumbledore told Quincy. "Also keeping in mind mine and Filius' schedules…."
"And the phases of the moon, for multiple reasons," Remus said.
"That too. Alas, no students qualifying for Alchemy this year does not equate to me having any extra time," he sighed, looking at his schedule. "We might have to sacrifice one of the scheduled breaks."
"You teach Alchemy at Hogwarts?" Harry asked, confused. "Like turning lead into gold, that alchemy?"
"There were reasons I helped Nicholas with his stone," Dumbledore said. "It's a NEWT elective that I teach personally, but since the prerequisites are so high, most students don't qualify. I've flirted with lowering the requirements over the years, but alas, Alchemy can be disastrous when done poorly."
"What are the prerequisites?"
"Oh let me think…OWLs in Potions, Ancient Runes, Arithmancy, Herbology, Astronomy, Charms and Transfiguration, all requiring the O grade, and also requiring that students continue in those courses at NEWT level. As you can imagine, very few students manage."
"Bet ten galleons Hermione gets in," Ron offered.
"Gets in what?" Hermione asked, coming in from the garden along with Ginny.
"Okay for the record I don't want the Fidelus charm on the house," Sirius said, tapping a finger on the parchment he and Remus had been consulting. "I had a bad experience with that one."
"Understandable," Dumbledore said, taking the parchment and tapping the same spot with his wand as Ron explained what they had learned about Alchemy class to Hermione. "Hmm, that would affect…this charm and this charm, I think…suggestions for a replacement Mr. Weasley? Oh dear," he noised, when he realized this attracted the attention of quite a few Weasleys. "Er…Bill."
"Well that's a lot better than that time you called me by my uncle's name," Bill said. "I told Percy when he started that he needed a name tag."
"To be fair, there's been quite a few Weasleys over the years," Dumbledore admitted. "I fear Fred and George felt foiled when they started and I only referred to them by last name, although considering what I thought were twins are a quintuplet, I feel as though I were the one foiled in the end."
"Considering I accidentally called Harry James the other day, the name confusion is understandable," Sirius said. "Although in my defense, it was before coffee and I was dog-tired."
"You—Sirius you turn into a dog you're always dog-tired," Remus said.
"Nonsense—sometimes I'm Siriusly tired."
"What?" Mrs. Weasley asked, apparently registering what Dumbledore had said. "Now wait a minute, I'm pretty sure I would remember having five kids at once."
"Now Mum, don't tell us you don't remember Donald," Fred said, coming down.
"Or Hubert," George rejoined.
"Or Edmund."
"That reminds me, those three didn't sit their OWLs," Dumbledore said.
"We're really going to have to talk to them about slacking off like that."
"Don't feel too bad about not hearing about them before, Professor," Charlie said, sitting at the table. "We don't really talk about them much because they disgraced the Weasley name, not being Gryffindors and all."
"And one being a Slytherin to boot," Bill agreed. "Even cousin Moe didn't go and do that."
"That's the squib cousin I told you about one time," Ron told Harry and Hermione. "I think he's an accountant."
"Think he'd have better luck explaining how to get the TV working?" Harry asked.
"Doubtful."
Eventually, though, the charms list was finalized and Dumbledore left, assuring them he and Professor Flitwick would be along "Whenever we can manage to unsnarl this rather busy year."
Mrs. Weasley had them focusing on packing for school the next couple of days, saying she didn't want to be scrambling around last minute, especially with the rain threatening (Kreacher, meanwhile, kept trying to sneak around and iron everyone's clothes). Harry debated, decided to put his umbrella in his tote bag along with his new books.
Sirius, meanwhile, had something for them the day before they left.
"So we've discussed it, and agreed that this is considered a justifiable necessity and doesn't count towards the list of pre-spoiling gifts," Sirius said, taking something out of a shopping bag and handing it to Harry. "We've gotten one for everyone."
"You really didn't have to," Mrs. Weasley said.
"Technically, since it's a safety concern we did," Remus told her. "Barty's house elf could have—theoretically—snitched any of our wands," he said, leaning away from a steamed-looking Hermione.
"Still say Barty Jr. did it somehow," Sirius insisted.
"Er, thank you, but what is it?" Harry asked.
"That, my dear godson, is a wand holster," Sirius said, pointing at it. "You can strap it to your belt or to your wrist for ease of access, and it's enchanted so that only the one who put it in can pull it back out. Go on, give it a go."
Harry did, several of the Weasleys testing it before passing the wand holster back to Harry, who was able to pull it back out no problem.
"Does this mean Harry's the rightful king of England, I wonder," Fred said.
"What do you wish of us, your majesty?" George asked, grinning.
"This is brilliant, thank you," Harry said to Sirius.
"And one for everyone else too, so we don't have to hear old Moody complaining about improper wand storage—one for Arthur too when he gets back, speaking of," Sirius said as he handed out the rest of the bag's contents.
"You don't have to," Mrs. Weasley said when Sirius tried to hand her one.
"This will cut down on the fake wand incidents," he told her.
Mrs. Weasley looked back at the counter, where the wand she had grabbed was still a rubber chicken. Back to Sirius. "Gimme."
"Some people just don't appreciate fine craftsmanship," George sighed.
"And it even has a pulley in the middle!" Fred said, gesturing.
Harry made sure to test his wand before putting it away that night.