Harry and Dudley followed the adults to the recovery room. A healer had come to the conference room to let Mr. Weasley and the Grangers know that Ron and Hermione were waking up and Mrs. Weasley had been moved to a private room.
Harry tried to stay inconspicuous. At Hogwarts he had thought they were all friends. Now he simply didn't know. Had the headmaster put spells on them to make them be his friends? Would they hate him now that the money Dumbledore had given them was gone? They were the first friends he'd ever had. The thought of losing them hurt a lot.
Hermione was crying at whatever her parents had told her. "I wanted to tell you about the money but I couldn't. I knew it was wrong so I made sure not to spend any of it. And you should know, Professor Dumbledore gave me some rare charms books and I think… I think they may be stolen, too."
She spotted Harry. "Harry, I'm so sorry I was so awful to you. I know I'm bossy and a know-it-all, but still… I treated you and Ron so awful. Mom and Dad explained that someone put spells on us so we'd think the way they wanted us to. So we wouldn't try to get to know people who might see things differently. So we'd be prats and monsters.
"Harry, who did this this to us? We should have been safe at school." She was crying even harder.
Harry saw the looks being shared between the adults.
Mrs. Granger rubbed Hermione's back as she spoke. "According to the goblin healers, it was Headmaster Dumbledore. And I have to warn you right now, your father and I have no intention of allowing you to go back to that school so long as that man is in charge of there."
"They'll break my wand! Bind my magic!" Hermione protested, tears running down her face.
"There are other schools," Mr. Weasley said. "The Hogwarts is the school the Ministry allows to send out information to muggleborns and muggle raised. But there are other, smaller, schools. A number of old families send their children to those. Frankly, I would have preferred to send the twins to the School of Magical Arts but I can't afford it and Dumbledore arranged scholarships to Hogwarts for all my children. I suspect it's because Molly and I were involved in his militia group in the last war."
"I'm sure there are tutors available as well," Mr. Granger said. "We'll figure it out. Mr. Weasley has agreed to act as your magical guardian."
Harry stepped closer to Hermione. She flinched slightly as if expecting pain. She looked horrified at her reaction, then her eyes widened as if surprised. "I don't have a headache. I always got headaches when you got too close but I couldn't tell anyone about it. Madame Pomfrey gave me headache potions but it didn't help much."
"You had headaches too? I could hardly think," Ron said. "Madame Pomfrey kept telling me to get more sleep because I was working too hard. But I wasn't. I wasn't working hardly at all. It was too hard. Heck, I forgot everything Mum ever taught me about potions. No wonder Snape hated me."
"Harry was cursed and you, and apparently your brothers at Hogwarts, were compulsed to ignore it," Aunt Petunia reminded them. "What I think you were feeling was the effort it took to actually overcome those curses and probably other curses as well."
Ron looked thoughtful. "We were told Harry's guardians were muggles and didn't know anything about anything. But you know an awful lot about magic… for a muggle, I mean."
"The person who told you I was a muggle lied to you," Petunia stated. "I am what the Ministry defines as a squib. Harry's mother could use a wand. I cannot. She was classed as a 'muggleborn' even though our father was a runes master so obviously he was magical and our mother was a well respected potioneer, so also magical. I was raised with magic. I can use magic. Just not wands."
Harry could see something unpleasant had occurred to her. "Mister Weasley, I hope these problems with Dumbledore won't affect your children's scholarships."
"I hope so, too." Arthur said. "I'm not sure how Dumbledore got Lucius Malfoy to approve of scholarships for any of my children once he got on the Hogwarts board. The bad blood between the Malfoys and the Weasleys goes way back. And Lucius is a Death Eater. He claims he was imperioused to get the mark but a lot of people have their doubts."
"Weren't they the bad guys in the last Wizarding War?" Mrs. Granger asked.
"They're the bad guys in the next Wizarding War, too," Harry said with a grimace. "No matter what the Ministry says MoldyVoldy isn't dead. He doesn't have a body, but he isn't dead." He nervously ran his hands through his hair, exposing his forehead.
"Harry, what happened to your scar?" Hermione asked.
"The healers removed a malevolent soul fragment," Petunia explained. "In so doing they were able to heal the curse scar MoldyVoldy gave him the night he was attacked."
"Blimey Harry, without that scar nobody's going to recognize you," Ron said with a nervous laugh. "Should make going to Diagon Alley a lot easier, though."
Harry just stared at Ron for a long moment before breaking out in laughter. "Ron, I don't know if you are mad or brilliant."
"I'm a Weasley. So, both."
Harry looked between Ron and Hermione. Hermione looked like she was still processing all the information that had been dumped on them. Ron looked thoughtful again, which was an odd look on him but maybe at school the compulsions and curses had kept Ron from showing his real intelligence and abilities.
Harry was afraid to ask the next important question. "Guys, are we still friends?"
Hermione gave him a searching look. "Considering everything, I'm not sure we even know one another."
Harry's heart dropped and he knew it showed on his face. Hermione hopped off the bed, walked over to him and held out her hand. "Hi, I'm Hermione Granger. I'm a going-to-be second-year Gryffindor at Hogwarts."
"I'm Harry Potter," Harry said, shaking her hand. "I'm a going-to-be second-year Gryffindor at Hogwarts. Pleased to meet you, Hermione Granger."
Ron waved from his bed. "And I'm Ron Weasley. I'm a going-to-be second-year Gryffindor at Hogwarts and I'm very pleased to meet you both."
Griphook looked across the conference table at the two other account managers involved in the now week old 'Potter Investigation' – Nadgor, the Dumbledore account manager and Farnot, the account manager for Hogwarts School. Also at the table was a human business accountant, Frank Meddows.
New managers had been assigned to the Dumbledore accounts and to the Hogwarts accounts after Chief Gurgnok ordered health checks on all the tellers, account managers, and assistants at the bank. That had taken several days.
A lot had happened in just a week.
Meddows had been recommended by Amelia Bones to help the goblins with the Hogwarts audit and had extensive experience in forensic accounting in both the magical and non-magical worlds. The bank manager agreed that there was an advantage to having a human facing the wizarding world concerning the burning pile of dragon dung the Hogwarts books turned out to be under Dumbledore.
The former Hogwarts account manager had been found to have been compulsed and imperioused more than once (the magical signature was Albus Dumbledore's although obvious attempts had been made to hide it) and a number of tellers had also been compulsed and obliviated, again by Dumbledore. The fact that Dumbledore's hand was detected in the problems with the Hogwarts accounts and other account issues in the bank was what allowed the former Hogwarts account manager be retired with his life, his dignity, and his pension. The other goblins who had been affected were moved to less sensitive jobs in the bank. The fact that Dumbledore had gotten through their mental defenses to cast spells on them despite their training did not speak well to their vigilance when dealing with wizardkind.
The DMLE had been notified of the issues and the steps being taken to fix them and prevent further occurrences. Spell suppression runes were being placed in the teller area, as well as in the client conference rooms. Other security measures were being considered as well.
The Ministry of Magic had been notified of wizard crimes against the bank and warned that if the DMLE was unwilling to deal with it, the goblins would. In fact, as Griphook and the other account managers knew, the notification and warning was merely a formality. The Ministry of Magic had no jurisdiction within Gringotts Bank and no authority at all over the Goblin Nation, no matter if the Ministry believed otherwise. The Goblin Nation may have 'lost' the last war, but the Ministry and the pure-blood elitists were completely oblivious to the fact that the goblins and the gnomes had utterly won the peace.
On her part as head of the DMLE, Amelia Bones quietly notified the Hogwarts board of the problems found with the Hogwarts accounts and strongly suggested that they all be checked for mind altering magics. The board had been appalled to discover that many of the its members had been potioned and/or compulsed by Dumbledore.
This particular morning Meddows had come in with copies of the Daily Prophet for the past week. As a rule, goblins didn't bother to read the wizarding news rag except for sports scores as those were involved in betting.
But this batch of news headlines was amusing to say the least. The oldest paper had a picture of Dumbledore being 'escorted' out of Gringotts with the headline: 'Hogwarts Headmaster banned from Gringotts'. The second line read: 'Dumbledore caught stealing from the Boy Who Lived. Family vows retribution'.
The article itself was surprisingly accurate, revealing to the public that the boy had been placed by Dumbledore into the care of relatives living outside of the British wizarding world. Relatives who had never met Albus Dumbledore. Relatives who were enraged that Potter family relics as well as money had been stolen from the boy. Relatives who were enraged that Dumbledore had ordered the Harry's parents' wills to be sealed, wills that had information that exonerated the boy's oath sworn godfather.
Later articles detailed the school's financial woes and the fact that board members and more than a few students been potioned and compulsed. The fact that the Boy Who Lived had been one of them had caused even more of an uproar than the other injustices Dumbledore had inflicted on Harry Potter and his family.
Dumbledore had lost all three of his positions. The board had not taken kindly to the discovery that they'd been duped and potioned into allowing Dumbledore free rein of the school finances. The Wizengamot had called an emergency session to impeach Dumbledore as Chief Warlock and remove him as Supreme Mugwump of the ICW.
Over the 50 years he'd been headmaster millions of galleons had disappeared. Needed equipment had been marked as being purchased but no purchases had arrived at the school. Salaries were being paid for teachers and classes that did not exist. Raises had been authorized for the staff, but only fractions of the money allotted had been passed on. The list went on.
Dumbledore himself had gone into hiding. It was assumed he'd managed to hide his ill-gotten gains possibly with the gnomes of Zurich. Chief Gurgnok had sent inquiries to the gnomes concerning Dumbledore and his possible accounts with them but there was little hope they would open their books to Gringotts without Dumbledore's account identifiers. And it was unlikely those would be found and any part of the missing money recovered.
In regards to Hogwarts School, the Wizarding Exam Authority, the British Education Department, and the International Teachers Guild had all been asked by the board to review the current educational standards as well as the safety of the classroom equipment.
At least it was happening during summer break. Hogwarts was a mess.
Griphook noted that one important item that wasn't on the front page of the Daily Prophet but hidden inside was Sirius Black's exoneration and release from Azkaban. The article said that Black was recovering in an undisclosed location. Griphook had been told the healers had ordered the wizard to a clinic in the south of France for an indeterminate amount of time. The healers admitted they didn't know how he had managed to stay as sane as he was.
Enough of the ruminations. Griphook looked around the table. "Mr. Meddows, your report on the current state of Hogwarts?"
"Ever since the Daily Prophet's article on the state of the school's finances, donations have been pouring in. Much of it is in cash, but also companies are donating services and needed equipment or offering equipment and services at much reduced cost.
"The ITG team has identified a number of issues with poorly maintained and equipped classrooms. The potions classroom is a disaster. No safety equipment at all. It's a wonder the potions professor is as healthy as he is considering how noxious the environment is. The problems are being rectified with the help of the Hogwarts elves and staff. Staff members have been coming in on their own time to assist. I'm told that most of the staff is actually happy that outsiders are taking an interest in the school's issues.
"The ITG team also found some of the teachers do not have the proper credentials to be teachers. Their contracts are being reviewed to determine how much letting them go will set us back. Also, the teacher contracts in general need to be reviewed and updated. Apparently there's an 'insurrection clause' that actually allows the headmaster to execute teaching staff that go against his wishes. Only Magic knows how long that's been in there. The Hogwarts board has been apprised of this and Lucius Malfoy has retained a contract lawyer to handle it.
"Also, apparently his son was one of the students who was discovered to have been potioned and compulsed. He was more than a little angry that Madame Pomfrey hadn't detected it but it seems that Madame Pomfrey was not just overworked, but under mind magics as well. There was also a block on the infirmary floo so only Dumbledore could authorize patients be transferred to St. Mungos for treatment and he had full access to student and staff health records that should have been confidential. The board is looking to replace Promfrey with at least two certified medi-mages, if not three, and they are in the process of hiring teachers to fill the positions they thought were already filled for classes they thought were being taught."
Meddows turned to Farnot, who continued the report. "We have deployed two teams of curse breakers to the school along with a master team of warders. The object that was cursing the DADA position was found and dealt with. The team leader reported that any wizard with even an elementary knowledge of curses and cursed objects should have been able to find and neutralize the object. The fact that no one bothered to look for a cursed object is troubling to say the least.
"Also, soul fragments were detected in the school. The fragments were located with the help of the local house elves and removed for neutralization. The room they were located in appears to be in a pocket dimension. Very old and sophisticated magic. The curse breakers are currently sorting through the contents. They report that the room appears to have been used as a hiding place since the opening of the school. There are a lot of rare and potentially valuable items there. The bank has been asked to appraise the items and return the items to their rightful owners, if possible.
"The curse breakers also report finding a number of runes requiring parselmagic to invoke. The senior ward master brought in a Parsel speaking curse breaker from India. That person reported that the runes were designed and carved by Salazar Slytherin himself and requires the parselmouth to be his direct heir or have been touched by Hogwarts magic.
"I am told there are two such wizards in the world. Tom Riddle, also known as Voldemort, and a current underage Hogwarts student. We are waiting for the bindings Dumbledore put on that student's magic to dissipate and for his guardians to agree to allow him to assist us."
Griphook knew who they were talking about, obviously, but asked the obvious question to hide his knowledge. "And how long until the bindings are gone?"
"At least another week, or so I've been told," Farnot said.
It had been a long week, Petunia Evans Dursley mused. A very long hard week. After three days in the local hospital, Vernon had been transferred to a long term care facility. When she and Dudley had gone to visit, Vernon had gone ballistic, calling them both freaks and claiming they weren't his family at all since his wife and son weren't freaks.
One of the nurses pulled her aside as she and Dudley were leaving. "We don't know how, but he knows who on the staff is… you know, like us. Once he's been set off, he refuses to eat or drink and refuses to cooperate with the staff."
"His doctor told me they were still trying to find a drug combination that would combat his 'paranoid delusions'," Petunia told him. "But you and I know they won't find one. How do you combat a delusion that's actually reality? And how does someone like him counter a curse meant to drive him mad?"
"I'm so sorry."
"You have no need to be sorry," Petunia told her. "Once upon a time he was a good man."
Vernon's funeral was going to be tomorrow at the local church they'd occasionally attended. The care facility staff said they hadn't caught any suicidal tendencies in Vernon but an hour after one of his 'attacks' he'd been found dead. Strangled by a torn bed sheet. She wasn't going to ask if he'd been helped to do it. She wasn't even sure she wouldn't thank the person who helped him out of his agony, if he'd been 'helped'. Vernon had been condemned to a slow descent into insanity and death the moment Dumbledore decided to leave Harry Potter on her doorstep.
Friends and neighbors kept stopping by, offering their condolences and bringing food. There now enough casseroles in the freezer to feed her, Dudley, and Harry for weeks. She even sent some of them to the Weasleys. She'd learned from Ron that his mother had been transferred to St. Mungos for long term care and unless Dumbledore was found to break the curse on her, she couldn't be trusted to keep her family safe. Arthur had to be completely overwhelmed with five school age children in the house.
If she was honest with herself, and she'd been practicing that, what happened to Vernon was probably better for her family that what the Weasleys were going through. She'd known there was little if any hope for Vernon after his collapse but with his death there was closure and the hope that he was in a better place. The Weasleys had no such closure.
At the moment the four younger Weasley boys were in the yard with Dudley, Harry, and Hermione. Apparently the older boys had found a soccer ball somewhere and, after some coaching from Harry and Dudley, had a lively game going.
Ginevra Weasley was in the kitchen with Petunia. The boys hadn't invited her to play, claiming she was too young, so she was watching Petunia prepare lunch. Apparently the girl had never seen a meal being made without magic.
The gate alarm sounded. A small image appeared on a panel hung on the wall – Vernon's sister Marge and her brat of a bulldog Ripper were at the side gate. Petunia piled the sandwiches she'd made onto a platter and told Ginny to take them out to the boys while she dealt with the visitor.
The last person she wanted to talk to was Marge Dursley. Marge was a loud, big blustering brutal beast of a woman and Petunia wasn't up to dealing with her. She'd been hoping Marge would just show up for the funeral. But no, Marge showed up with a suitcase large enough to to hold her for at least a week.
With a sigh Petunia walked out to the front steps and called out to her sister in law. Marge was rattling the gate hard while Ripper growled and howled. Marge yanked his leash.
"When the hell did you put a lock on this gate?"
"Hello, Marge."
"Well, let me in!" Marge demanded. "I can't take care of you and Dudders if I'm standing out here."
"Visitors are supposed to come through the front door," Petunia stated. "That is not the front door."
Marge dragged Ripper and her suitcase to the front stoop. Ripper started to whine and it was obvious he didn't want to come inside the house. He was struggling against the leash and seemed to be having trouble breathing.
"It's nice of you to offer, but Dudley and I are doing fine," Petunia stated, touching the rune that would let Marge and Ripper into the house.
"Oh, you poor brave dear," Marge oozed. She started up the stairs then heard the children in the back yard. "Dudders' beloved father is dead and you're throwing a party?"
"No, I'm watching them for an acquaintance who needed some time to visit his sick wife in the hospital. And it helps get Dudley's mind off things."
Marge looked out the window at the Weasley children. "Scruffy looking bunch of gingers, aren't they? And what's that bad blood whelp of your sister's doing with them? I didn't know reform school had summer breaks."
"Harry has never been in reform school and you damned well know it, Marjorie Dursley. And I'll thank you to keep your bigoted opinions to yourself. And if you lay one hand on Harry or anybody else, I'll have you arrested for assault. Do you hear me?"
Marge gaped at her.
"Do you hear me?" Petunia repeated.
Marge sniffed. "Well, I only came for the funeral and the reading of the will."
"Vernon didn't have a will. He was thirty-five. He thought he had forever."
"I hope he at least had life insurance," Marge said.
"No company in their right mind would have insured him," Petunia reminded her.
"Well, don't come begging to me when the bank comes after everything," Marge warned. "I'm sure you're mortgaged to the hilt to sent Dudders to Smeltings and that nephew of yours to wherever."
Petunia shrugged. "We'll get by." She wasn't about to tell her sister-in-law that the house was hers with no attachments and she and Vernon had earmarked part of the proceeds from the sale of her parents' property for Dudley's education. She made a mental note to get her own will made up. She didn't want Marjorie Dursley to get anything of her estate. Her son was her heir. She owed the other Dursleys exactly nothing.
There was a lull in the noise outside. Ginny ran into the house to announce: "Harry found a snake and…"
Petunia shook her head sharply and Ginny stopped, eyes wide as she realized there was someone else in the room.
"Ripper will take care of that slimy snake!" Marge announced, taking the lease off her dog and opening the door for him. Ripper ran toward the massed children, growling, teeth bared.
Ginny screamed and so did Harry. Ripper had bitten him before and Petunia knew that Harry was now terrified of large dogs. Harry put his arm up to protect his face and the dog grabbed his arm, ripping his shirt.
Then, suddenly, Ripper fell over and stopped moving. Marge screamed and ran out into the yard wielding her walking stick like a cudgel. She aimed at Harry's head then… Marge was gone with a crack.
"What happened?" Harry whispered.
"She was acting with evil intent and triggered the wards," Petunia said simply. "I expect we'll have aurors visiting shortly.
Percy looked down at the wand in his hand. "Am I in trouble?"
"You acted to defend the other kids," Petunia assured him. "Harry, are you okay?"
"He tore my shirt."
"Shirts can be mended," she assured him. She nudged the dog with her foot. "He's not dead is he?"
"Stunned," Percy said.
"Ginny, get the leash then Percy and I will tie him up. You kids stay well away from him."
By the time the aurors arrived at the house, Ripper was securely tied up.
"Are you sure this is the address?" One, the female, was asking the other. "This is a muggle neighborhood."
"And the last time I saw wards this strong was at Gringotts, or maybe Hogwarts," auror two said.
"Gringotts and Hogwarts have wards modern wizards can only wish they could cast," Petunia told them, opening the side gate. "But yes, these are goblin wards. In an emergency you can show your badge and state your name clearly. If the wards believe you, you'll be allowed in."
The two aurors did so, revealing auror one to be named Lauren Taylor and the other one to be Cameron Edwards. The wards let them though.
"A muggle woman appeared in a holding cell screaming bloody murder. The alarm indicated she'd attempted to assault a minor at this address," Taylor said.
"The woman is my late husband's sister Marjorie Dursley. She has an unreasoning hatred of my nephew, Harry. She set her dog on him and the other children in the yard and when the dog attacked, one of the children stunned the dog. She then tried to attack Harry and the others with her walking stick."
"Do you want to press charges?"
"Absolutely," Petunia told him. She pointed to Ripper. "Take him with you and be careful. I believe he's a trained attack dog and has no business being anywhere near children." Taylor conjured a cage and levitated Ripper into it.
"We do need to question the children," Edwards reminded them.
"They're back here." Petunia led the aurors further into the back yard.
The children were still seated on the grass. The platter of sandwiches had hit the ground in the confusion scattering bread and cheese in the grass.
Percy, as the oldest, explained what had happened with commentary from the twins, Ron, and Hermione. Harry and Ginny were both still pale and shaky. Ripper was not a small dog and he had scared them badly.
Taylor asked to check Percy's wand. She smiled and handed it back to him when it was confirmed the last spell cast had been stupefy. "Good job protecting the younger kids," she said. "What year are you?"
"Fourth year, Gryffindor. The twins are second year and Harry, Ron, and Hermione are first year."
Taylor noted it down in her book.
"Percy, Marge's suitcase is in the front hallway. Would you get it and give it to the officers? I don't want her to come back here for it," Petunia said.
Percy ran and got it and in a few moments the aurors, along with Ripper, were gone.
"Mum," Dudley said quietly. "Aunt Marge sicced Ripper on Harry for no reason and I was right here! We all were right here! Ripper could have attacked any of us! And if Percy hadn't… If Percy hadn't known how to stop him, we all could have been hurt. She never even met them before! That's insane!"
"I know Dudley," Petunia said. "I'd even warned her not to lay a hand on Harry otherwise I'd have her arrested. Obviously she didn't believe me."
"Well bred and properly trained dogs shouldn't act like that," Hermione commented with a frown. "My neighbors have a guard dog and he never even barks without provocation. And Harry certainly wasn't doing anything to provoke him. Besides, bulldogs are supposed to be calm and gentle. They have to be trained to be vicious."
"She's set her dog on me before, after I tripped over him," Harry said, his voice almost inaudible. "She thought it was funny when he bit me. Then she lied to everybody about what happened."
"Mum, I don't want to be around her," Dudley said. "She didn't care if Ripper hurt me or the other kids. And when she went after Harry… I don't think she was going to stop with just hitting him. I don't know if she's gone crazy like Dad did, but she scares me."
"She scares me too," Petunia admitted. "But you won't get as much for Christmas." Marge had always spent way too much on unsuitable things for Dudley at Christmas and his birthday.
"She only overspent on me because it made you and Dad uncomfortable and she could throw ignoring or tormenting Harry in your face," Dudley pointed out. "My brain's gotten a lot clearer since visiting the goblins. Aunt Marge didn't give a fart for me. It was all about one-upping Dad and humiliating you."
"What about your grandparents?"
Dudley shrugged. "Kinda depends on if they want to see us after we got Aunt Marge arrested on assault charges. I mean, lets face it, things have gotten a lot weird around here and I don't think Grandpa and Grandma can handle it. Oh, and Harry's managed to weird out the Weasleys."
"Oh?" She studied the other boys. Percy looked embarrassed, the twins bemused, and Ron was trying to not look worried. He was almost succeeding.
"Harry can talk to snakes," Ginny volunteered.
"It's called parselmouth, Ginny," Ron said. "It's a gift like being able to run fast or fly really well or having red hair."
"Some people say only Slytherins can talk to snakes. Only evil Slytherins," Ginny said.
Hermione chimed in: "Well, that's obviously wrong since Harry is a Gryffindor."
"Are you saying I might be evil?" Harry asked, eyebrows raised.
"According to Snape, absolutely," Ron stated. "And I suspect Professor McGonagall thinks the twins are evil incarnate. She just can't catch them at it. Pretty sure they all think I'm too lazy to be evil."
The others stared at him.
"My brain's cleared up too," Ron said. "I've been rereading my textbooks and I actually understand them now. Before, I swear the letters were crawling across the page sometimes."
"Same here," Harry said.
"Same here," Hermione added. "My parents thought I needed glasses but my eyes checked out fine. But my text books and any new books I wanted to read may as well have been written in another language. I could re-read things I'd read before just fine. But I haven't had any problems since visiting the goblins that day."
"My books have always been gibberish," Dudley said. "One of my teachers suggesting getting my eyes checked and Dad went ballistic."
"He never told me that," Petunia told him. "How long ago was that?"
"Year before last, I think," Dudley said. "But I haven't had any problems reading or understanding what I've read since we visited the goblins. I'm even kind of understanding maths."
Petunia took a deep breath, blowing it in and out her nose. Dumbledore had so much to answer for. "Since the sandwiches are ruined, I'm going inside to order pizza," she said after a moment.
As she headed into the house she overheard Ron ask "What's pizza?"
The day of Vernon Dursley's funeral was bright and warm. Only a few wispy white clouds overhead. The church was a sturdy Romanesque thing. Gray stone, blocky, respectable. The priest resembled his church, gray, blocky, respectable.
The priest and the church reminded Minerva McGonagall a bit of her own father and his church. Gray and respectable, until his first child turned out to be a witch. Luckily Robert McGonagall was also a student of history and of the old ways but he never quite forgave her witch mother for hiding her gifts from him. His funeral had been held on a day like this, bright and warm with no hint of the horrors infesting their world.
Minerva had invited/coerced Severus Snape into accompanying her to the funeral to show support for Harry Potter. Like hers, his muggle clothes were old fashioned but serviceable.
They sat in the back of the nave, watching people come in. Not many people. A few business men, probably from Vernon's work, a few couples – probably neighbors. To Minerva's surprise, the entire Weasley family, except for Molly, was there, as were the Grangers. Arthur Weasley was chatting with Harry's aunt. He looked worn out and she recalled that Molly Weasley was at St. Mungo's 'recovering' from an imperious curse cast by Albus Dumbledore.
Hermione was talking with Harry, Ron Weasley, and an obese blond boy Minerva didn't recognize. Then Hermione pulled both Ron and Harry into a fierce hug.
"The Potter Investigation has had quite a lot of fallout," Severus murmured. He had been caught in the fallout. The Hogwarts Board had changed the bylaws to prevent anyone bearing the Dark Lord's mark from being on the school staff. Severus had been given a decent severance package at least.
Minerva noticed that he was rubbing his left arm where the Dark Mark was.
"Is it painful?" Minerva asked keeping her voice low.
"I am 'aware' of it," Severus admitted. "This place may be mundane, but it has power. Old power. It doesn't like the mark."
"This is hallowed ground," she said. "Most likely more ways than one."
More people came in. Minerva was astonished to see the Malfoys. They were dressed muggle style, Lucius in an obviously bespoke suit, his long hair tied back with a simple black ribbon. Narcissa was in a fairly conservative black dress. They both looked supremely uncomfortable and out of place in a middle class muggle church in a middle class muggle neighborhood.
Draco walked to the front where Harry stood with Ron and Hermione.
"Draco insisted we come and show our support for Harry and his family," Narcissa said softly, taking a seat in the pew across from her. "We do understand the cost of insanity in the family."
As Minerva watched, Draco held out his hand to Harry who shook it. Then Draco shook hands with Ron. Hermione was obviously in hugging mode since she pulled Draco into a hug, to Draco's obvious surprise and discomfort. Ron said something that made Draco and Harry laugh and Hermione look annoyed before she too broke out in laughter.*
Some of the adults frowned at hearing laughter at a funeral. Narcissa said, loudly enough to be heard, "Laughter means they're overcoming the horrors they've endured."
Minerva spotted a solemn looking Arthur Weasley coming down the aisle towards them. He stopped and gave the Malfoys a respectful nod. "Thank you all for coming," he said. He glanced toward the front. Minerva noticed that Harry's aunt was sitting surrounded by the Weasley children. "My children have adopted Petunia as an honorary aunt," Arthur explained. "She's helped us a lot since Molly…"
Narcissa reached out and took his hand. "Arthur, as much as it would pain my Black ancestors to hear me say this aloud and in public, Harry is my cousin's oath sworn godson and heir. That makes him family. Harry's aunt is related to him by blood, that makes her family. And since Sirius brought Cedrella back into the House of Black you and your brothers are family too."
"Narcissa's family has expanded exponentially in the past week in ways the Black ancestors would abhor," Lucius stated. Minerva wasn't sure if he was joking. "Sirius brought Andromeda and her family back into the House of Black as well," Lucius continued. He gave Arthur a surprising sympathetic look. "If there's anything you or your family needs, ask. Despite our differences, we are family and we have a common enemy."
"When you find Dumbledore, I want to be there at his end," Arthur said.
"As do I," Severus intoned.
"Agreed."
Minerva watched as Arthur headed back to the front of the church, stopping to say something to Harry.
Harry nodded and, along with Ron and Hermione, headed toward toward the back pews where Minerva and the other magical recent arrivals sat.
"Professors, Mister and Missus Malfoy, thank you for coming. My aunt has instructed me to invite you all to her house after the funeral," Harry said solemnly. "Apparently there have been 'developments'." He nodded to Minerva. "Professor McGonagall, Professor Snape…"
"We want to apologize for last year, for not being able to do as well as you both knew we should have," Ron said in a rush.
"It is we who need to apologize," Severus said slowly. "No one recognized what was happening at the school. And as Heads of Houses it was our responsibility to keep our charges safe. We failed."
Petunia looked out at the people who had shown up and realized she and Vernon actually had very few, if any, friends in the neighborhood. The gardening club had been her one social activity. Vernon hadn't even had that. A few of Vernon's coworkers had shown up but Petunia had never met them. Vernon had never invited coworkers over. Or maybe he had and they had chosen not to participate.
She'd had so many hopes when she and Vernon moved into the house on Privet Drive. His income was good enough for her to stay home and work on her herbal remedies and potions. She'd joined the garden club and the book club, helped out in the library. When Dudley was born there was the new mothers support group. And then things started to go subtly wrong.
Dudley had been a big baby. He'd also been a cranky baby, always hungry, always demanding. He hit all his developmental milestones right on target but he was big. 95 percentile on height, 99 percentile on weight. When she'd asked his pediatrician about it, she was told not to worry, his dad was a big guy so Dudley was just taking after his dad.
But she'd felt the censure from the other moms. They never said anything out loud, but she felt it. Dudley wasn't like their babies and it was her fault. Her own mother had asked questions about Dudley's health as though she suspected something was 'off' but Vernon wouldn't hear of having his 'perfect son' checked by a specialist. Her mother-in-law kept telling her that Marge and Vernon had been big as babies and Dudley would grow out of his fussiness. It didn't happen and she'd simply caved to his tantrums to keep him quiet, to keep Vernon from having his own tantrums when he came home from a frustrating day at work.
Then Harry was dropped on their doorstep. Harry who had night terrors and was small for his age. Harry who was magical living with a man who had been cursed to hate and fear magic.
Petunia's thoughts were interrupted by the side door opening. Petunia rose to greet Vernon's parents. Both of them used walkers and the side door was the handicapped entrance. Herbert Dursley had lung problems and was on portable oxygen. Dorothy's mobility issues stemmed from diabetic neuropathy and obesity. They both looked far older than their true ages.
"I guess you know Marge isn't going to make it for the funeral," Dorothy said. "She's still locked up. Probably going to be there a while. Attacking police officers… I never realized how… unbalanced she'd become."
Herbert chimed in. "Animal control put Ripper down. He attacked one of their people. No warning signs, just turned around and tried to rip the woman's throat out. They've confiscated the rest of her animals. Don't know what's going to happen to them. Not sure I care."
Petunia could see how hard they were trying to keep that proverbial stiff upper lip. And how they were failing. Parents should never have to bury their children. And now Marge...
She beckoned to Dudley to come over and sit with them. Within moments all three of them were crying while Petunia wiped tears from her own face.
'We should have had more time,' Petunia thought. 'He was only thirty-five. Now all they have is Dudley.'
The service was simple. Father Montgomery extolled Vernon's virtues as a husband and father and a provider but he hadn't known Vernon.
Then it was over.
Petunia walked the two blocks to the house with Dudley and Harry. They needed to be seen arriving.
Professor Flitwick, Hogwarts half-goblin charms master, Alluk, a senior goblin cursebreaker, Griphook, and a wizard she hadn't met, were the first to arrive via a single use portkey to the basement. "May your enemies' blood whet your weapons and their gold flow to your coffers," Petunia greeted the goblins after they introduced themselves. The wizard introduced himself as Frank Meddows, an accountant assigned to the Hogwards accounts.
"Goblin wards," Flitwick observed with an approving smile. "Dumbledore told people Harry was with family and under blood wards."
"Whatever wards Dumbledore placed would have broken as soon as Harry left for Hogwarts. I'm told they probably didn't work at all since the rune masters who set the wards found no trace of blood wards," Petunia told them.
The front door alarm chimed. Petunia hurried to greet her guests.
The Malfoys walked in followed by Professor McGonagall, Severus, and Bill Weasley. Lucius looked like he couldn't decide how to react but was leaning toward being offended. Petunia suspected he'd never visited a merchant class home before. Narcissa elbowed her husband. "Family comes first," she hissed at him.
McGonagall transfigured a second sofa from one of the chairs for the Malfoys then offered to help with the tea.
Petunia had a tray of sandwiches ready for the three boys and sent them outside with it and a pitcher of juice. Children didn't need to be involved in these discussions.
Severus cast a muffliato charm to keep the boys from overhearing.
"Harry said there had been 'developments'," Narcissa began, holding her cup of tea. "I assume it has to do with the former headmaster's abuses and why we're meeting here instead of at Gringotts."
"Gringotts is under surveillance by parties unknown," Griphook said. "We suspect Dumbledore or one of his followers, but the Ministry of Magic is also a likely suspect. Being seen here on this occasion will give all of you credible reasons for knowing Madame Evans and her family should other meetings need to be arranged."
"The headmaster's private library was revealed when Dumbledore was removed as headmaster. It is being evaluated as we speak. Several of Dumbledore's Zurich account keys were found in the library chamber," Meddows announced. "Apparently Hogwarts wards refused to allow him into the castle after his attack on Gringotts so he couldn't access the chamber to recover the vault keys. Having the keys allowed Gringotts to negotiate with the gnomes to return the funds to their rightful owners. The returned Hogwarts funds should be available tomorrow or so."
"That's excellent news," Minerva said.
"It is," Lucius agreed. "And if we're sharing good news, the British Education Department has decided to create a program whose sole purpose is to contact muggleborn and muggle-raised children's families and introduce them to the magical world. That should remove some pressure off the Hogwarts staff and allow families a better overview of magical education in Britain. They're also talking about having the first contact as soon as a child's magic is detected as active as well as a check-in when the child turns eleven."
"Thank Merlin," Severus murmured.
"And now for the 'interesting' news," Bill said with a wry grin. "It has come to the attention of Gringotts curse breakers that Tom Marvolo Riddle, better known as Voldemort, split off pieces of his soul sometime before his disappearance ten years ago. They are being located and dealt with. Gringotts and the ICW are hopeful they can locate what remains of Riddle and deal with that as well. Since there's a prophecy that seems to link Riddle and Harry Potter, the search teams are working as Harry's authorized agents in case there a provision that Riddle and Harry have to face off."
"Voldemort died ten years ago when he attacked the Potters and their infant survived," Lucius protested.
Alluk spoke up. "His body died that night but the soul anchors kept him in this world. If he had truly died, you would have died with him, your soul devoured by your owner. Breaking a soul even once is beyond the darkest of blood magic because it requires the heart blood of an innocent for the ritual. It hearkens back to the blood sacrifices of the days before the sidhe turned away from this world. To break one's soul is to break one's mind and magic. To break one's soul is to invite the chaos of the void into one's heart.
"The ritual to create the slave mark comes from that time. The slave mark binds your magic, and binds your soul. And no marked slave is permitted to outlive their owner unless the owner wills it. And a soul so bound cannot pass into afterlife."
"Once taken, the Dark Mark cannot be removed by any means," Severus said. He looked shaken at being told the true cost of taking the Dark mark.
"So Riddle told you and you believed him?" Alluk asked.
"You're saying he's wrong?" Lucius asked.
"We're saying he lied so you wouldn't even try to break free," Alluk corrected. "Just as Dumbledore lied when he told people that soul fragments trapped in a living container can only be destroyed by killing the container. Perhaps Dumbledore doesn't know how to remove a fragment, but it is removable."
"So, you've succeeded in removing a Dark Mark and the person lived?" Severus asked.
"Yes," Alluk said. "The removal was a lengthy process and quite painful but ultimately successful. Unfortunately the test subject's death sentence was carried out before we could determine if the sterility the slave mark produces was reversed by removing it."
"Sterility?" Narcissa repeated.
"Yes, in females it produces complete sterility," Alluk said. "The womb is unable to support a child. If the female is pregnant at the time of the slave marking, the fetus becomes a monster and is expelled. It doesn't usually live long, fortunately, but it's uncommon for the mother to survive the event. For males, if they are lucky, they might be able to father a single magical child. No more. And even that child will likely have a weakened core."
Petunia watched as Narcissa and Lucius shared a horrified look. "Bella…" Narcissa whispered. "Bella was pregnant when…"
"No wonder she went mad," Lucius said. "He knew she was pregnant when he marked her."
"No wonder so many ancient families are gone," Minerva said in horror. "Entire families were murdered for opposing him, but then he sterilized his own followers? How does that even make sense?"
Narcissa spoke, wiping the tears from her face. "It makes sense if you assume that Riddle is mad and his goal isn't just to subjugate non-pure-blood magicals but to subjugate all magicals. And what do the ancient houses have access to that he and Dumbledore would want destroyed? Our family magic and our acquired knowledge. Generations of grimoires, ancient books on magic and rituals and ancient artifacts, knowledge and gifts passed down from one generation to the next. Knowledge that Riddle wants only for himself because his enemies might use it against him. Knowledge that Dumbledore has attempted to erase as being too dangerous for mere mortals to know but wants for himself and no one else."
"You make it sound like Dumbledore was working with Riddle," Minerva complained.
"Dumbledore created Voldemort out of an angry, abused boy who should have been safe at Hogwarts but wasn't," Flitwick said. "Grindelwald's plans failed simply because Dumbledore disagreed with the methods, not the ideals. There's nothing left to rule over if there's nothing left at all."
Griphook took up the damning narrative. "We at Gringotts believe that, even before Voldemort was created, Dumbledore was plundering the private libraries and artifact collections of ancient houses left with heirs too young to protect what was rightfully theirs by claiming guardianship over them. And after Riddle started his reign of terror, who could stop Dumbledore from looting everything in reach if a family was decimated because his vigilantes were too late to the rescue and he 'stayed behind' to check for survivors? What was found in the headmaster's library appears to confirm these suspicions."
"Also, to be clear, Riddle did not invent the slave mark, nor did he invent soul splitting," Alluk continued. "Those are both ancient and terrible rituals dating back to before humans wielded wands. The goblins know of the slave mark. It was used against us not just mark us as property but to torture us. Most of the oldest of the ancient houses possess writings warning against it. A copy of Salazar Slytherin's writings on the subject were found in one of the Lestrange vaults, written in parseltongue, in Slytherin's hand."
"We suspect the only reason Dumbledore didn't find Slytherin's private library or labs is they are protected by parselmagic and Dumbledore isn't a natural parselmouth," Bill told them.
"Riddle is," Severus stated. "Obviously Riddle found and opened Slytherin's private area, killing Myrtle Warren in the process."
"The Chamber of Secrets that Dumbledore swore never existed," Minerva added.
"A chamber that is only rumored to have been protected by an enchanted basilisk, despite Miss Warren being killed by petrification," Severus said.
"A chamber we're hoping to get into tomorrow or the next day," Bill chimed in.
Draco came running in, wide-eyed with excitement and possibly fear. Severus flicked his wand and ended the muffliato charm.
"Harry and Dudley… snakes… they can talk to snakes. How can a muggle talk to snakes?!" Draco demanded. "It's not fair! I'm the one in Slytherin!"
Petunia looked beyond Draco. Harry and Dudley were standing with identical sheepish grins.
Severus stared at the two boys and then at Petunia. "Was Lily a parselmouth?"
Petunia gave him a puzzled look. "Didn't you know that?"
Severus just stared at her.
"There were rumors when we were in school," Narcissa said. "I think most people dismissed the idea of a Gryffindor parselmouth. It was just too outlandish."
"There were students who claimed she was. Albus claimed they just wanted to get her into trouble," Minerva said. She looked over a Petunia. "Are you a parselmouth?"
Petunia nodded again.
Severus swore softly.
"No wonder you and your parents were so disappointed in me, and in Hogwarts," Minerva said. "Only wand users can go to Hogwarts. And you're a parselmouth witch who can't use a wand."
* What Ron said: "Get used to it, Malfoy. Hufflepuffs are taking over the world by impersonating Gryffindors and Ravenclaws and possibly Slytherins."
A/N many notions related to Hogwarts' problems are cheerfully attributed to That is IT! by FMPtrumpets