52Chapter 33
Chapter 33:
Charlie's POV
Charlie stood outside a tiny yet charming cottage. It was located just outside of Tinworth, and he prayed the small home had been overlooked by Dumbledore. Him and Bill had spent three days going over the documents George had given them. Today he finally had the opportunity to look at the two homes that had been decided he could handle. The unnamed house in Hogsmeade and this cottage. Bill being a Cursebreaker was better equipped to handle Potter Manor and Potter Cottage. Both were well known and the chances were Dumbledore had warded them to alert him if anyone, especially Harry, went there. Bill would feel the wards long before Charlie and knew how to avoid or dismiss them. So that left Charlie with the two lesser known homes.
The house in Hogsmeade had been warded heavily enough that Charlie hadn't even bothered to try and enter the home. It left him angrier than he had already been at his old headmaster. How could this man fake, lie, and pretend so well. When he clearly committed acts that betrayed his true character. Hiding his parents' will from Harry. Warding him from his own homes, paying kids to be his friends. How had they all missed it before. He had sighed and sent his brother an owl, telling him he would have to come inspect this one. Charlie had been sure he could force his way through the wards but not if they wanted to keep the old fool in the dark about what they were doing.
The cottage felt different. There wasn't the same busy feeling of too much magic in the air, like the Hogsmeade house. Charlie reached out his hand and ran it along the property line. There was a small hum under his hand, a well worked charm to keep the house hidden. He smiled when he felt none of Dumbledore's magic and moved forward.
Once he walked past the opened wooden fence, the scenery changed. The cottage doubled in size and a beautiful yet unkempt garden surrounded it. He recognized some of the different plants and flowers. They weren't just planted because they were pretty but because they were useful.
There was also a greenhouse that looked a little worn out. He could barely see through the stained glass, it seemed more overgrown plants filled the inside. He would have to make time to check it later. Turning back to the cottage he stepped carefully along the leafy footpath to the front door.
Or doors to be more accurate. Two tall wooden doors. Along the outer edges of both doors was some incredible artwork that moved as if swaying in a gentle breeze. Lily flowers, painted in faded reds, yellows, and oranges. The flowers were tangled and twisted around dark green Ivy. It was very pretty against the dark wood that made up the doors. Charlie smiled and wondered if Fred would be able to touch up the colors on the flowers. At the center of the left door was the Potter family crest. Charlie had never seen it in person, only as a picture in a book his father owned. The crests colors where fades as well, the magic bound inside it had not. He could feel the familial magic even without touching the doors. It was strong but felt non threatening. He smiled again. It seemed both Lily and James Potter had left their mark on the small cottage. He hoped Harry would like seeing it.
Taking a deep breath Charlie stilled his nerves and reached out for the door knob.
A jolt of something ran up his fingers the second he made contact, then it ran along his palm fading as it reached his wrist. It hadn't hurt, though he jerked in surprise. There was a shimmer of magic through the air and the front doors opened. Stunned he stood there for a moment trying to figure out what just happened. He knew he had been tested by the magic either placed on the door or the cottage and it seemed he had passed, but he had never felt anything like it before. Nor had he read about a ward or spell that could do that. He looked back to the fence, he hadn't even felt magic outside of the charm meant to hid the house from muggles and crest on the door. Had one of them hidden this spell? He shook his head, I'll think about it later.
Cautiously he pulled out his wand and stepped into the house.
A medium sized entrance way greeted him. The walls were made of a light colored ash wood while the floors seemed to be a darker oak. He could actually feel the warm magic held inside the room. It seemed happy to welcome him and as he stepped further inside; it light up. It wasn't just the few torches he saw hanging on the walls, but sort of muggle electricity from lights on the ceiling. It was an interesting mix of the two.
He quickly moved into the first room he found, a large living room, two large couches sat across from each other. One was dark grey the other black, decorative pillows lined the cushions of both. The black couch had a small red and gold blanket folded over the armrest and he could see snitches moving around on it. He grinned at the thought of seeing Harry with the blanket.
There was a desk in the corner, littered with forgotten papers and books. He lost his earlier grin as he wondered about clearing them up, so that Harry didn't have to do. He didn't like the idea of his young friend having to be reminded that his parents lives had been uprooted because of Voldemort, Dumbledore, and their war. Despite his want to protect his friend, he wasn't sure Harry would like him going through his parents things. He would have to ask the twins before he or anyone else touched anything.
His curiosity told him to check the rest of the house, but he hesitated outside the living room. He felt like he was invading, even if the cottage had allowed him in. He was stuck between wanting to make sure it was secure and not wanting to intrude on Harry's family home.
Hoping Harry would forgive him, Charlie checked the rest of the cottage. By the time he was done he felt exhausted. While the cottage didn't appear to be large from the outside, it was clear that James or Lily had used expansion charms throughout it. He had found two kitchens, three living rooms, an empty office, it seemed James preferred to work in the first living room. There were two libraries, though the second had been well hidden and held books Charlie was sure the Ministry wouldn't have approved of, a number of bedrooms and several bathrooms.
The entire house had stuck with the theme of mixing muggle technology and wizarding magic. Such as the modern laundry room on the second floor, that left Charlie confused, and the sitting room on the first that was partially in the backyard. It had been an impressive bit of magic. You enter the room from inside the house only to step into a large dome like structure made of glass windows and grass floors.
There was wicker furniture and a round fireplace at its center. There had been so much magic in the room it took his breath away. He had spent 10 minutes alone in there looking around before he decided the magic was harmless and left. The last thing he found was a basement. It held a small potions lab and a heavily warded training room. Knowing that both James and Sirius had been Aurors the basement made sense.
It was dark when he stepped out of the house, the doors closing quietly behind him. He knew this was the place for Harry, at least for the time being. Dumbledore clearly didn't know about it and the magic of the house had kept it in pristine condition. As he walked back down the path he looked over the garden again. He knew George loved herbology and found gardening relaxing. It was one of the few things outside of Quidditch they both enjoyed. He would have to get the twins to help him fix up the outside of the house and let Bill do a walk through of the inside in case he missed anything.
In a happy mood he appereated back to Shell Cottage.
Bill POV
Bill wasn't in a good mood. He had spent the last three days talking to his fellow Curse breakers about Potter Manor. It seemed even the ones that had attempted to get in didn't know what Albus Dumbledore had wanted from inside of it. They hadn't even had a guess. Just said the headmaster had ordered them to break past the wards and seemed upset (Bill took this as the man was pissed but hide it well), and told them to leave.
Now that he was standing outside the large Manor himself and he felt, well, he felt lost and confused. He felt none of the hostile defending magic the others had complained about. Not the overwhelming feel of magic pressing down on him, like he had been warned about. In fact, as he stood on the large porch in front of the house all he felt was a few wards lightly blocking his path. Nothing hostile or scary about them. He had scanned them with his wand and suspected that if he was given a few days he could get past them, if he truly wanted too. He just couldn't understand why he had gotten this close and none of the others had.
Not wanting to push his luck he backed away from the house. Thinking it over, could it be as simple as he wasn't actually trying to get in? When he was at a safe distance from the wards he apperated home.
Charlie was sitting at his kitchen table reading over the same documents they had been going over for days now. Probably making sure they had everything. They had four days until the night of the eclipse and their small group had been running itself ragged trying to get everything in place.
It seemed though that Harry and Draco had chosen their friends well. Remus and Snape, with the help of the twins' supply cabinet, had gathered all the ingredients needed for the ritual. George and Blaise had snuck into the Gryffindor and Slytherin dorms and got the items needed for the tethers, without a problem, although Snape had been unhappy to learn a Weasley had been wandering around his school house without supervision. Blaise had sheepishly grinned at his head of house and told him he had kept an eye on him. George had chuckled and both had ran out of the room before the professor could hex them.
After that Lucius and Bill set about trying to find out about Black's trial. With Malfoy working at the ministry it had been easier then expected to find there hadn't been one.
Bill had asked the Goblins about Black's accounts and it turned out the man still had access to his personal and family vaults. The goblins had told Bill that without the proper paperwork from Wizengamot they hadn't shut them down. Goblins it seemed were very particular about their paperwork and protocols.
It had taken two days for Malfoy to find that Dumbledore had signed off on Black's arrest and lack of trail. He had smuggled them the papers and told them to hide them until it was necessary to show them, and only then to someone they trusted.
Fred had spent the few days looking into werewolf laws. It turned out Lupin had a right to Harry. It seemed the small minded purebloods behind the restrictive laws on creatures didn't think about someone giving custody to one. There was no law that stated a werewolf couldn't be a godparent, hell, according to Fred, there were no laws about werewolves and kids at all. It seemed Lupin could even adopt if he wanted. It was something they were going to keep undercover until Harry was back and safe before mentioning to anyone. They didn't want someone trying to change the law until after it was too late.
The last thing they had to do had been the houses.
"How'd it go?" Charlie asked looking up at him.
"I got closer than any of the others. It seemed the Manor liked me enough to get to the porch before it blocked me." Charlie snorted. Bill cocked his head and squinted at his brother.
"The cottage liked me as well. It opened the doors and welcomed me in. No sign of Dumbles anywhere near the place though, so that's good," Charlie said with a smirk.
"Huh," Bill muttered. "It could be the Potter's have some kind of unknown ward that knows if you are friend or foe. It would explain why I got so close and didn't feel threatened and why the cottage just let you in." He sat down. "But if they do, how did Dumbledore fool the Potters before?" he asked more to himself than his brother.
"It could be James and Lily trusted him. So their magic did as well," his brother said thoughtfully.
"Any idea what he wants from inside the Manor?" Charlie asked a second later.
Bill shook his head. "No one even knows what's in the house, let alone what he could be after."
"Well, I sent a letter to the twins, we are meeting up at the cottage tomorrow. Going to straightening everything up inside and out. Make sure it's ready and stocked for Draco and Harry when they get back. Want to join us and do a walk through just to be sure?" Bill nodded.
"So, that's it. Now all we do is wait for Snape, Blaise, and the twins to perform it and pray it works," he looked up just in time to see his brother wince.
"Yeah," Charlie mumbled.
Great, Bill thought, I hated waiting.
"You could always investigate that ward. It could come in handy," Charlie said with a grin. He smiled back, his younger brother knew him well. Keep him distracted so he didn't worry. Not that it was a bad idea. He would head back to the Manor after checking out the cottage in the morning.