Chapter Two: In Which Old Men Meddle In Little Boys' Lives
Professor Albus Dumbledore sat thinking in his office. He knew that death-eaters had gotten more lively in the past year. Dumbledore always knew that Voldemort would come back. This didn't mean that the Dark Lord was, in fact, returning but it caused a great deal of concern. Another problem was the fact that, when Voldemort really did return, he would not have Harry Potter to use as a saviour. The only other boy who the prophesy could apply to was Neville Longbottom, who was currently living with his elderly grandmother. Dumbledore nodded to himself. The boy would make the perfect saviour. He was ignored and looked down upon by his grandmother and tortured by his great-uncle. If Dumbledore were to show up at their house and 'rescue' the boy, then Neville would look up to Dumbledore and eventually see him as a father figure.
WATCH-OUT—HE BE TROUUUBLE!
Neville sat at dinner, trying to choke back his tears. It was unpresentable to cry at the dinner table after all. He nursed his arm. Earlier that day, his Uncle Algie had dropped him out of the window. Luckily his magic reacted just before he hit the ground, causing him to bounce. Unfortunately, this did not completely save the boy, because he had landed on his elbow and skinned several layers of it. Everyone had been so overjoyed that they didn't even notice that his arm was bleeding.
Uncle Algie had gifted Neville with a toad, saying that it was a prize that his beloved nephew was no longer a squib. But, Neville knew that his great-uncle was still being cruel becauseeveryone knew that a toad was the lamest pet you could have. Algie did stuff like this all of the time. One time, he had kicked Neville off Blackpool Pier. Neville had only been six at the time and didn't know how to swim. If it weren't for his gran finally levitating him out of the water, Neville definitely would've drowned. He also tormented Neville to no end. Augusta Longbottom was no help either. She always condoned Algie and made remarks about how Neville will never live up to the Longbottom name.
So on this day Neville waited miserably for dinner to end so that he could ask Gran to fix his arm. It was about this time that a knock sounded upon the front door. "Go see who it is, Neville," Augusta commanded.
Neville nodded, sniffled a bit, a scooted off his chair. He went down the hall and struggled to pull the door open. What he saw was definitely not what he had expected. An old, wise looking wizard was standing on their doorstep, his eyes twinkling down at Neville. The man had a long white beard that was tucked into the belt of the most eyesore robes ever made in existence. But, this isn't what Neville noticed. It was the kind fatherly expression on the old man's face; almost as if the man knew him.
"Hello! You must be Neville!" correction: definitely knew Neville.
Neville nodded and sniffled a bit shifting his arm a little and letting out a cry of pain.
"Are you okay?" the man asked.
"Gran says it's just a scratch…" Neville mumbled.
"Can I see it?" the man said, his tone a bit harsher now. Neville nodded and held his arm out. The wizard waved his wand, and the torn skin began healing up. Neville gasped as he could no longer see his bone sticking out. He always loved magic.
"Better?" the old man asked. Neville nodded again. "Can I come in?" Neville moved to let the professor pass and followed as he went into their dining room. "Hello Augusta!"
Madam Longbottom looked up at the wizard and said, "Dumbledore, it's good to see you. Neville," she said, turning to her grandson. "This is Professor Dumbledore. He's headmaster at the school you'll be going to next year."
"That's nice, ma'am," Neville said politely.
Dumbledore stayed for a good while, chatting with Augusta and Algie. They eventually agreed that Neville should spend time with boys his age so that he'll have friends before he heads off to Hogwarts. Dumbledore insisted that the boy should visit the Weasley's often. They had many Gryffindors. Dumbledore almost hoped that if Neville spent a lot of time with the Gryffindor clan, he would end up there as well. Then he left off after pulling Neville aside and telling him to send a letter to the school if Algie did anything again.
Neville was very happy about this whole arrangement. Normally Gran would just keep him out of sight. The most friends he had were his relatives. Now he got to make friends with a boy his age! Not only that, but now Algie couldn't torment him anymore! Neville decided that night, that he really like this Dumbledore man.
DON'T FALL FOR IT—DUMBY BE BAD!
Harish, Fred, and George were in the twins' room with their heads stuck together, in deep conversation.
"Draco and I figured out how to roughly locate where the Chamber is," Harish said.
"How?" they two red-heads asked in unison.
"Well, we just need to figure out where in the castle would be large enough to hide a secret chamber."
The other two thought on this for a moment before nodding as the logic behind this statement sunk in. The Chamber would most likely be underground since there was nowhere on the grounds that was large enough.
Then Fred leaned forward but spoke louder, "We have another important matter to discuss," he said elusively.
"What do you mean?" Harish asked, genuinely confused.
"Well, we were—"
"Wondering if you were planning—"
"On joining the Quidditch team—"
"This year."
"Oh…" Harish exclaimed, trailing off. He hadn't even thought about Quidditch. "I guess so. What positions would you two be trying out for?"
"Beater," they replied together, George swinging an invisible bat towards Fred's head, who feigned being knocked out.
"I'll probably try for Seeker then. Draco and I figured this out years ago; he'd be the star Chaser and I'd be Seeker."
"Your friend is—"
"Mighty pompous, isn't he?"
Harish nodded. Draco had always acted that way, trying to live up to his father's example.
"BOYS!" Mrs. Weasley's voice sounded through the thin walls of the Burrow.
"Yes, Mum?" both twins shouted.
"IT'S TIME TO LEAVE FOR DIAGON ALLEY!"
"Yes, Mum!" came the reply.
The three second years scrambled to pull on shoes and comb hair and ran down the stairs to the fireplace in a flash. Mr and Mrs Weasley and Percy were already waiting on them.
"Sorry Ma'am," Harish apologized, shooting her a winning smile.
"That's alright dear," she said kindly, before barking at the twins, "Grab a handful of floo powder! We don't have all day!"
Then she threw her own handful into the fire. The flames leapt up, turning green. Mrs. Weasley stepped into the fireplace and exclaimed, "Diagon Alley!" before disappearing in a brilliant flash of green flames. Percy did the same and Harish followed him. Then he found himself spinning in the fireplace and walked out of the grate into Flourish and Blotts.
"Now boys, you can go and buy your things. Just be sure to make it back here by one o' clock," Mr. Weasley said once both Fred and George made it through.
The three of them nodded and dashed away down the alley. Harish led them to Gringotts, for he needed more money. Once there, he held out his key and stated, "I am here to draw money from the Potter vaults."
"Griphook will be with you shortly."
It was about two seconds before a goblin with black hair and long fingers stepped up saying, "Follow me."
The trio did as they were told and were herded out into a stony passageway where they climbed in a rickety cart. From there they rode to the vault.
Harish heard Fred and George gasp behind him as the vault door was opening. There were heaps and heaps of money. Beyond that were stacks of books, trunks filled with heirlooms, and countless other objects. As Harish was scooping galleons into his money bag, something caught his eye. It was a lumpy mass of brown paper, but something silver was poking out of the wrappings. Harish tilted his head, looking at it before climbing into the vault and grabbing the lumpy package. The twins watched as he opened the wrappings and a cloak flowed out and onto the floor. They both gaped as Harish picked it up and spread it out to look at it.
"That's an invisibility cloak they—"
"Are really rare!"
"I know," Harish said quietly, looking at the cloak almost reverently. "The question is what do we do with it?"
He shot the twins a grin and knew that they were thinking the same thing as him: there were so many places they could explore with that thing. They could go into the forest, roam the corridors at night, or search down closed off areas. This cloak could aid them in finding the Chamber! After thinking of that Harish made up his mind that he was going to take it, stuffed it into his book-bag, and finished scraping money into his money bag.
"Come on," he finally said. "We still have to meet with Draco."
So they went to the Apothecary where they had agreed to meet the junior Malfoy. Then the four of them got fitted for robes. After that they bought their books for the year, and then headed to Florean Fortescue's where Harish bought all four of them ice creams.
"I can't believe that the holidays end this Monday," Fred said glumly.
"I know!" George agreed, licking off a large hunk of ice cream.
"And then it will be a whole other year before I can play Quidditch with Harish again!" Draco exclaimed with a horrified expression.
"Don't worry," Harish said, leaning back and smiling. "After that year you'll be going to Hogwarts with us."
"It seems so long away…" Draco moaned.
"That's because—"
"You're still a child."
"Am not!" the blonde boy squawked indignantly.
I-SCREAM-FOR—IIIIIICREAM!
Arthur watched the three boys interact with a smile on his face. Most of his problem with Malfoy Senior wasn't that he was a Malfoy, but because he really was a horrible person. He was glad to see not only that Draco seemed to be less dark, but that the twins were mending the feud between the two families. And he had Harish Blake to thank for that.
Molly Weasley, however, had a whole different view on this situation. She was standing by her husband watching them warily. She feared that the Malfoy boy was corrupting her sons. Harish seemed a polite kid, but his father definitely seemed to be on the dark side. What would the twins do for acceptance in their house? Would they start using terms such as Mudblood as well, or would they resort to something worse? What if her precious sons became Death Eaters? She knew that she shouldn't make them feel so out of place in the family because they were in Slytherin, or would be absolutely certain that they would follow Harish and Malfoy down that path.
Both Weasleys sighed, one out of contentment and one out of reluctance. One thought went through both of their minds at the same time. "We'll just have to wait and see."