Chapter 151
"Wow!" said Hermione. "That's just... wow!"
Harry smirked to himself. Hopefully, he'd cemented
the groundwork for her father to talk to her about the
Betrothal Agreement he knew her father and Sirius
would be discussing that evening. He just didn't know
her parents didn't want her to know about it until it
was effectively a 'done deal'.
_‗_
―==(oIo)==―
ˇ
Harry timed things with dinner to sit down to eat at
just after 6.00pm.
The Grangers arrived home at 'five to' and an almost
fretting Wendell asked, "Is he here, yet?"
Harry noticed the very slight jab Monica gave him to
his kidney area from behind him. And definitely
noticed Wendell instantly school his features better.
"No pureblood of high standing would ever consider
being early, unless they were specifically invited to be
so," smiled Harry.
"What'd you kids get up to, today?" asked Monica,
quick to change the subject.
"I've been tea- We've been working to improve
Hermione's understanding of wizarding Britain
culture," he said.
"It's alright to say you've been teaching me, Harry,"
chided Hermione "I don't mind and it's true."
"Nothing inappropriate?" asked Wendell, but Harry
noticed the twinkle.
"Daa-deee!" Hermione instantly whined.
Harry firmly replied, "No, Sir."
"What sort of things were you teaching, Harry?"
Monica smoothly cut in.
"The differences between the different levels of the
Heirs of the Noble Houses, information on wizarding
contracts and the subtle differences between them
and the ones in the muggle world, how I was able to
figure out some of the things Dumbledore was up to
while we were at Hogwarts and how magic played a
part in contracts, oaths, vows, that sort of thing," he
replied.
"Harry's a good teacher," said Hermione. "He made it
so that the information was better understandable and
the reasons why the wizarding world do things like
that a certain way."
Then her expression clouded over as she added, "And
I found out Dumbledore used the house elves, the
castle's ghosts and the portraits to spy on the
students. That was upsetting.
"Then we wrote a letter to Madam Marchbanks, the
new Headmistress, to let her know Dumbledore had
been doing that; so she could order them all not to do
that any more."
As she hung up her and Wendell's coats in the main
floor hall closet, Monica muttered, "That... man..."
"She'll be able to do something about it?" asked a
concerned Wendell.
"Yep," replied Harry. "As Headmistress, they all now
answer to her. All she has to do is tell them and they
have to obey. That's how Dumbledore got them to do
it, in the first place."
They'd all just moved out of the hallway, with Monica
heading for the kitchen, when there was the sound of
a big bore motorcycle engine approaching from up the
street. Then it sounded like it pulled into the driveway.
With a frown, Wendell was about to head for the door
when one of the aurors walked in and said, "Wait here
a moment, please." Then he signaled to one of the
other aurors, already inside, to follow him out.
"That's unusual," Harry muttered. Then his eyes
widened in delight. "Sirius's recovered his motorcycle
from Hagrid!"
He was about to dash out, irrespective of the wishes
of the aurors, when they came back in leading Sirius.
"Hi everyone," he cheerily greeted.
Harry noticed both aurors were frowning at his
godfather before both ducked back out the front door
again.
Harry stepped forward to give him a quick hug, with
Hermione following behind for one of her own.
"What's for dinner?" Sirius immediately asked.
Harry immediately asked right back, "Those potions
make you ravenous, too, do they?"
"You betcha," replied Sirius, grinning away. "One of
them is an appetite stimulant. It practically forces you
to take in fuel for the other potions to do their work on
everything else."
"I was wondering why I'm so hungry, so often, now,"
said Harry.
"Well, if you feel hungry, eat," his godfather
immediately ordered. "As I said, it's necessary."
Harry nodded and said, "I'll go check on things in the
kitchen."
He'd only managed to take a step when Dobby
popped-in in front of him. "Dobby be taking over
now," he declared. "You has visitor."
"Do-obs!" he sighed.
"Cheffing be done. Now be servings," the elf defiantly
declared back.
He probably wouldn't mind so much if he didn't also
hear snickering coming from behind.
"Fiiiine!" he grouched.
Turning back, he pouted towards his still snickering
godfather and said, "Well. If everyone's hungry?"
They were just all sitting down when the current
senior auror said, "Lord Black, I'm sorry to tell you
that I'm going to have to notify the Misuse of Muggle
Artefacts Office about your... 'moty-cycle'."
"Go for it!" said Sirius, not fazed at all. He didn't even
stop readying himself for the meal.
"You realise it's illegal to enchant such an item, do
you not?" the auror pressed.
"Yep!" he readily admitted.
The auror frowned back and said, "You... aren't upset
about that?"
"Nope!" he grinned. "It's just a fine. I'll pay it."
"Fight it!" Harry immediately cut in.
Sirius looked at him and said, "It's just a fine, Harry. I'll
pay it."
"No; fight it, please!" said Harry.
"Why?" asked his godfather.
"Because, as a rightful Lord, I can stand as your co-
law-wizard and defend you." he replied.
"You want me to fight it and have it brought before the
Wizengamot, just so you can co-defend me with Ted?"
asked Sirius, a little confused.
"Nope!" Harry happily replied. "I want you to fight it so
I can show the Wizengamot just how much a bunch of
daft morons they are! This is an easy win."
The auror gave a pained look and said to Harry,
"You're going to get me fired."
"Nope!" Harry was practically bouncing in his seat in
excitement. "And, if they try to, I'll happily defend you
in the Wizengamot against that, too! You, auror, is
what is known as an 'Instrument of the Law'."
Wendell gave a sudden short bark of laughter. "He's
right!" he declared. Then turning to the auror he said,
"If it's anything like our police, your job is to uphold
the law; not to be Magistrate."
"He means 'Chief Adjudicator'," Harry clarified for the
auror.
"At my level," the auror wryly returned. "We're also
expected to determine whether or not a legal matter
should be pursued, or even be passed up the chain of
command."
"Then, pass it up, dear boy," declared Wendell. "If
Lord Black has broken the law... as you believe... then,
you're in the clear."
The auror gave a sigh and turned to Harry. "Lord
Potter, why is it you believe you'd win such a matter?"
"Sorry," he piously declared. "As co-representative for
Lord Black, I must decline to answer on the grounds it
may be prejudicial to the successful defence of my
client."
Hermione whacked him on the arm as Wendell again
gave a bark of laughter. He was joined by Sirius.
Hermione and Monica just grinned.
Still chuckling, Sirius said, "Alright, Lord Potter; if I'm
charged, you can work with Ted and co-defend me."
"Yes!" replied Harry with a fist pump added for good
measure.
The auror gave a pained sigh and said, "I'm going to
regret this. I know I am."
"Jut do everything by the book," suggested Wendell.
"If you do that, no one can legally blame you if the
matter before your bench goes sideways on you. You
did your job; so that means, either the law or the
bench failed in theirs."
_‗_
―==(oIo)==―
ˇ
After dinner Wendell, Sirius and Harry went to
Wendell's office and sat to talk.
Monica stayed out to talk to Hermione. Her excuse
was, she wanted to talk to Hermione more about her
day and her relationship with Harry. In reality, she
didn't want the girl spending too much time
wondering what the three were talking about behind
closed doors in the office. Sometimes, her daughter
was much too smart for her own good and needed to
be distracted.
Two hours later they came out.
Hermione immediately asked Harry, "I thought it was
about business between Daddy and Sirius."
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---------------
Chapter 152
"Not quite," replied Harry. "But, what needed to be
talked about has now been talked about. Sirius and
Ted will write up the papers and Sirius will bring them
back tomorrow to talk about again."
"You're talking about a contract of some form," she
frowned.
"We're talking about House business of some form,"
he shot right back. Then immediately asked, "What do
you know about having a House created?"
Blinking in surprise at the question, she frowned in
concentration for a long moment before she replied, "I
didn't find anything on that. I didn't know it was
possible."
"Then how did you think the Houses came into
existence in the first place?" he asked.
She looked back in surprise again before she said, "I
hadn't thought of that."
"Something we may want to talk about tomorrow,
then," he declared.
"I need to go check my History of Magic text," she
stated before she ran up the stairs.
Monica smirked at him and quietly said, "Nice
diversion. You didn't say that's what you, Wendell and
Sirius were talking about, but you've led her to believe
it was."
"Have I?" he asked. "I was merely setting up a subject
to discuss between us, tomorrow."
Monica's smirk turned into a grin before she said,
"Once she finds out what's been going on, she's
going to be angry with you."
"Meh!" he shrugged. "She's going to be angry with all
of us, anyway. At least, this way, she won't be worried
about what's going on."
Monica nodded.
"Besides," he added. "It's been an ongoing project of
mine to get her not to keep asking what the wizarding
world see as inappropriate questions. And I've already
warned her that, instead of just outright telling her off
for it, I'd try and divert her first. If that didn't work,
then I'd tell her off for it."
"She'll still be angry with you," she warned.
"And I'm accepting of that," he replied. "It's not my
place to tell her that... this... is going on. It's Wendell's
and yours. I just have to respect that; and I do."
Harry was hoping to speak with Sirius, Wendell and
Monica about the idea of he and Hermione getting
private tutors. But, due to the now late hour, decided
to put it off. After all, there was likely almost a month
before they had to go back to Hogwarts.
_‗_
―==(oIo)==―
ˇ
Due to their hour earlier start, breakfast the next day
was even earlier.
Hermione didn't join them, this time, but Harry was
there for the Grangers.
Immediately following Hedwig and the Daily Prophet
owl, in came an owl Harry didn't recognise. It landed
in front of him and held out its leg with an attached
letter for him.
"Hello," he said, as he reached for it; owl treat at the
ready.
The bacon was for Hedwig.
Suddenly, Dobby popped in on the table and loudly
cried, "No, Master Harry!" Then grabbed the letter
himself.
With a twist, swirl and what looked like an implosion,
Dobby and the owl disappeared.
"What in Merlin's name?!" the auror with them cried,
jumping to her feet as her wand shot into her hand.
She quickly waved her wand over the area and yelled
out, "Dawkins! Patterson! Get in here!"
As the other two aurors ran into the room, the
Grangers and Harry were already on their feet and
backing away.
"Portkey signature!" declared Charlotte Watkins, the
female senior auror. "A damn powerful one!
"Damn! Where?" said Dawkins, coming forward,
raising his own wand and gesturing with it.
"Dumbledore!" he suddenly growled.
Dumbledore, not having access to his second secret
wand where it was stashed behind a painting in the
apartments of the headmistress, had created - or,
rather, adjusted - the portkey with the Elder wand.
No one heard Hermione running down the stairs until
she hit the last set between the first floor and the main
floor. After the rapid series of thumps on the stairs
and a few moments for her to run between the stairs
and the kitchen she came charging into the room with
her wand drawn and slid across the polished floor in
her bed socks. She crashed into one of the aurors
before she was able to arrest her motion, stand up
straighter and scan the room.
Harry took one glance at her standing there facing him
in a see-through short baby doll nightie and tight bed
shorts, nearly choked on his own spit and quickly
spun away from her, coughing.
'I saw her nipples!' he immediately thought, trying to
clear his airway.
The third auror, Henrietta, took one look at him, then
at Hermione, smirked and conjured a robe about the
girl's shoulders.
Wendell and Monica both saw Harry's reaction, and
turned in time to see the younger female auror,
Henrietta Patterson, conjure a robe about their
daughter's shoulders. Monica was at an angle to see
why, but Wendell was not.
"Hunh?" asked Hermione, confused by the robe.
As the other two aurors continued to track the trace of
the portkey, Monica pointedly and lightly cleared her
throat, drawing her daughter's attention to her, cocked
an eyebrow and pointedly stared at her daughter's
chest before lifting her eyes back.
Hermione looked down, coloured and quickly drew the
edges of the robe closed by pulling them tight and
overlapping them and belting it with the sash
provided. "Oops!" she quietly said to her mother while
madly blushing.
That had her mother smirk again. Wendell frowned at
her before glaring at Harry's back, who was still
turned away. His blush could be seen even on the
back of his neck. Wendell had figured it out.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------
---------------
Chapter 153
Dumbledore was just about to rise from his desk to
head to the Great Hall, after he'd heavily warded his
new office to stop Harry Potter from being able to
leave again when he turned up, when the portkey
began to arrive five feet in front of his desk.
With a pleased little start he quickly sat back on his
office chair and adopted a mien of pleasant but firm
statesmanship. 'Perfect timing,' he thought.
With a massive twirl the portkey finished arriving. But,
instead of Harry Potter standing there, there was the
owl he sent and a house elf holding the letter, who'd
just released the owl.
As he jumped forward to his feet in shock from his
chair, the house elf glared at him, snapped its fingers
and he found himself flung back into the wall behind
his desk as if banished.
By the time he managed to climb back to his feet from
where he landed sprawled on his side against the wall,
the house elf was gone. Only the owl remained as it
flew about the ceiling of the room, looking for a way to
get out.
"Nooo!" he cried.
Yet another plan for that boy suddenly going up in
smoke. This time, interfered with by a house elf, of all
beings!
With a cry of rage he snatched his wand out of his belt
and sent a blasting curse at one of the few armchairs
he'd managed to get into the small room. It shattered
into bits as splinters of wood and wire bounced off the
walls and bookcase, with stuffing flung into the air of
the room. It was his favourite chair, other than his now
gone 'throne' from the Great Hall.
Glaring back at it and slamming his Occlumency
barriers closed he had to take a few moments to get
his breathing back under control before he called for
an elf.
"Clean that up!" he snapped, viciously gesturing to
the now pile of scrap.
As the elf banished the remains of the chair, he
stormed out of the room. The owl used the
opportunity of the open door to fly out after him.
_‗_
―==(oIo)==―
ˇ
Back at the Grangers, as those around the dinette
were calming down, there was a crack of displaced air
as Dobby appeared back on the table. He was still
holding the letter.
"Dobby!" Harry exclaimed in relief.
As everyone whirled on him he was a moment before
he held out the letter to Harry. "Dobby be sorry, Great
Master Harry Potter, Sir," he quietly said. "Dobby did
yell at Master Harry Potter, Sir, when Dobby sees
Master Harry reach for magicked letter. Dobby had to
stop Master Harry from touching bad magicked letter."
"Dobby, it's fine!" said Harry. "You did a very good
job!"
"Dobby, I take it you rode the portkey all the way to its
destination?" asked the senior auror, jumping in.
"Yes, Miss Auror Watkinsy," replied Dobby. "Dobby be
taken by magics to old Perfesser Whiskerses new
office in Hoggywarts. Dobby not stay, though."
"No, that's fine," the auror was quick to assure him.
"By old Professor Whiskers I take it you mean
Professor Albus Dumbledore?"
"Yes, Miss Auror Watkinsy," replied Dobby.
"Thank you!" she happily replied. "Gotcha!" she then
quietly but firmly exclaimed.
"Dumbledore caused this?" asked Wendell.
"Yes," replied Watkins. "Dobby's confirmation as to
the destination confirms our identification of the
magical signature on the portkey trace.
"I'll need to notify Madam Bones, immediately. Well,
as soon as she gets into her office. That'll be in
about―"
"Thirty five minutes," Dawkins immediately added.
Watkins used a levitation charm of some form to take
the letter from Dobby's hand before dropping it into
an evidence bag Patterson was holding out and open.
"And that's the physical evidence," said Watkins.
She then turned to Dobby, who was still standing and
looking dejected on the table, before she said,
"Dobby, don't look so sad. You did a very, very good
job."
"Dobby did yell at Master Harry Potter, Sir," the elf
firmly replied. "Dobby must be punished."
"No," Harry firmly replied back. "Dobby did his job.
Dobby protected his master. Dobby will not be
punished for that, ever."
With hope, Dobby looked up and said, "Thank you,
Master Harry."
"There is no need to thank me for doing what is right,
Dobby. It is I, who should be thanking you. So, thank
you."
Dobby looked stunned before he said, "No, no! Master
never need to thank Dobby―"
"And, as I told you before, if you did something I
would thank another person for, I'll be thanking you as
well."
Monica smoothly cut in and asked, "I take it the
excitement's over?"
"Yes," replied Watkins. Turning to Harry she said, "I
think we'll be checking all mail heading for you, from
now on."
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------
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Chapter 154
"Yes, Ma'am," he replied. "And I think I'll go back to
using detection charms on everything again."
"If you know them, you should be using them," she
sternly told him.
"Yes, Ma'am," he replied. "But, what I want to know is
how he managed to get a portkey to activate within
here. That should not have been poss... oh, wait."
"Wait?" asked Watkins.
Harry sighed and looked a little pained before he
replied, "I asked the goblins to set up anti-portkey
wards that would stop a portkey getting into here. I
didn't ask them to set up a ward that stopped them
going out."
"It should have still stopped that," she frowned.
"However, Dumbledore is powerful enough... and the
portkey trace certainly appeared powerful enough...
Dumbledore might have suspected an anti-portkey
ward and overpowered it."
Dawkins said, "We'll need to check the wards." Then
left to go and do exactly that.
"That done, we need to head for work," said Monica.
Turing to Harry she said, "Harry, can I speak with you
a moment before we go?"
"Yes, Ma'am," and blushed again.
As they stepped into the kitchen and before Harry
could say a word she said, "Listen to me, Harry."
When he nodded back, she quietly said, "I know what
you saw when you first saw Hermione come into the
dinette."
Harry immediately deeply blushed again and tried to
speak around his suddenly dry throat.
"Shh!" she firmly said.
When he stopped trying to talk, he looked away.
"What happened was an accident," she firmly said.
"Hermione forgot we had guests, or forgot how she
was dressed. Either way, it doesn't matter.
"Then, when she crashed into the auror, your
attention was immediately drawn to her. You then got
an 'eyeful'."
"U-ummm―" he stammered.
"Hermione knows what happened and doesn't blame
you for it," she explained. "She knows she was at fault
and I know she's already accepted blame. Expect her
to apologise to you for it."
"Sh-she really doesn't need to do that," he tried. "I...
umm... I know it was an accident, too. She heard
trouble and came down with her wand ready to help. Iit would just embarrass us both."
"You're a good boy, Harry," she gently said. "You saw
there was a problem with her dress and you
immediately averted your eyes. That shows you have
respect for her."
"Can we... not talk about this any more?" he almost
whined.
She grinned and said, "Now that I've said what needed
to be said, yes."
When Harry seemed to sag in relief she said, "Have a
good day. But, when Hermione apologises to you, let
her. She'll feel she needs to. Then, once she does, you
can both drop it. Alright?
"Yes, Ma'... errr... Monica."
"Good," she firmly stated. "Time for Wendell and I to
go to work. We'll be back home about the same time
as last night."
Then she left.
With a sigh, thankful she'd left, he leaned back against
the kitchen counter and thought about what he'd
seen. And then tried not to.
_‗_
―==(oIo)==―
ˇ
Wendell awaited Monica near the door to the garage
downstairs, holding her coat for her. As soon as he
saw her, he readied the coat before helping her into it,
then held the door open for her, not saying a word.
As soon as they stepped in, Wendell closed the door
behind them and turned to her. She was already
turned about to look at him with a firm look on her
face.
"'Dell; calm down!" she firmly said, before he had a
chance to say anything.
"He ogled our daughter's―" he tried.
"He bloody well did not!" she snapped over the top of
him. "Hermione rushed downstairs and charged into
the room. Her crashing into the auror drew his eyes to
her to check and make sure she was alright.
"As soon as he saw that her top was translucent - not
transparent - he immediately... and I'm talking quicker
than I thought his reflexes should be... averted his
eyes to the point he spun completely about so his
back was to her," she firmly stated. "He did everything
he could to make sure he wasn't looking at what he
felt he shouldn't be looking at. He did nothing wrong
and everything right."
"But that still means he had to look down to see―" he
tried.
''Dell; your daughter is a pale-skinned Caucasian. She
doesn't topless sunbathe, so the skin of her breasts is
as pale as it gets. She also has dark areolae―"
When Wendell gave a start and tried to back off, she
immediately snapped. "No; you need to listen."
When he calmed down, still fuming a little but also
uncomfortable, he gave a little nod. But he wouldn't
say a word.
Seeing it, she continued, "She has dark areolae about
the size of double florins with almost too tiny to be
useful nipples, also dark. But that last has to do with
her age, as you well know.
"When she came charging into the dinette her breasts
were also bouncing a little because, like me, she
doesn't wear a bra to bed. So, whether it was just
adrenalin or the fact her nipples were rubbing on the
inside of the material, they had hardened. And were,
therefore, jutting out."
"Mo-on!" he whined. "This is my daughter you're
describing to me!"
"Just a sec," she shot back. "So, Harry caught the
flicker of movement out of the corner of his eye,
caught sight of your daughter crashing into the auror -
who was otherwise busy and never visually noticed a
thing - and movement under her translucent top drew
his eyes to follow it. That was purely instinctive on his
part.
"And, I remind you, as soon as he realised what
happened and what he was looking at, in less than a
second he was already spinning away. As I said, that's
bloody quick reflexes.
"Harry did not 'ogle' Hermione, as you put it. If
anything, he proved to be incredibly chivalrous. Can
you possibly tell me, at his age, you'd have done
better?"
Slumping against the door-frame, Wendell quietly
replied, "No."
"Then, stop with the nonsense!" she demanded. "I'll
also point out that Henrietta also immediately saw the
problem and conjured a robe for her."
Grumbling a bit, he said, "You make it hard to be a
righteous father when you keep getting so bloody
logical on me."
"I know, dear," she smiled. "That's because, all too
often, being a righteous father is illogical."
He sighed and said, "How about we travel in one car,
today? We're both leaving work at the same time and,
on the drive, we can talk more about this... Betrothal
Agreement."
"I'd like that," she replied with a nod.
"But, this evening," he declared, stopping as he was
about to head for the driver's side door of his car.
"You will talk to our daughter about what she wears to
bed."
"I intend to," she replied. '... not,' she thought.
_‗_
―==(oIo)==―
ˇ
As the Grangers pulled out of the driveway, Hermione
was watching from the window of the parlour. When
she saw they were both in the same car she didn't
bother to wait for the other to also pull out.
She wondered what the delay was all about but
thought it would be her mother laying down the law
with her father. She knew he'd been upset. While her
mother was talking with Harry in low voices in the
kitchen, her father had glared at her and told her in
one single clipped sentence she and her mother
would be talking about her state of dress, that night.
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Chapter 155
Knowing she needed to apologise to Harry she went
looking for him. He wasn't in the kitchen and
suspected he'd gone back up to his room.
Quietly, she made her way up there.
Finding the door open and seeing him sitting at the
desk side-on to her, she could see he was holding his
communication mirror and staring at it. She could also
see it wasn't active.
Standing in the doorway she quietly said, "Harry?"
When she saw him immediately snap his head around
and saw her, then immediately blush before turning to
look away again, she knew she had to get through this
or it would become an issue between them.
"Harry; please look at me," she quietly said.
She watched him stiffen and give a little firm nod that
he probably didn't even realise he made before he
turned to look at her. "Good morning, Hermione," he
quietly greeted her.
"Good morning," she returned. Then gave a small
smile back.
"I..." he tried, before looking down at the ground.
"I'm... I saw―"
"I know what you saw, Harry," she quietly returned.
"And I'm sorry I embarrassed you."
When his eyes snapped up to hers he looked
shocked. "I... ummm―"
"I shouldn't have come down dressed like that," she
said. "I heard the aurors shouting and thought
something had happened. Well, it did, but I didn't need
to come down without being properly attired, first."
"No," he disagreed. "I mean... you heard danger and
you reacted. That's a good thing. Sometimes, it may
mean your life taking time to make yourself
presentable. Your instincts were good. Don't
apologise for that.
"Yes, if you have time, then you need to appropriately
dress. But, sometimes you may not have a choice."
He hesitated a moment, sighed and said, "Your
mother told me you'd apologise to me for... what
happened. And that I was to let you. But, I'm sorry,
too. I looked at your..." Then he blushed, looked away
and waved his hand at her.
As Harry talked she'd managed to get her own blush
under control. He was being sweet. But that didn't
mean she couldn't tease him a little to get him to
relax.
"My what, Harry?" she smirked and asked. "You can
say it."
"Your..." Blushing further, he muttered, "Lady parts."
'Lady parts?' she thought. 'This will not do.'
"My breasts, Harry," she firmly returned. "But you see
them covered all the time. Just as you see the breasts
on other girls.
"You'll have to be more specific," she pressed.
"Damn it!" he muttered. "Alright. I saw your... nnndarker bits."
"Darker bits?" she asked. "Do you mean my areolae?"
Confused he asked, "Arri-what?"
Surprised he didn't know, she replied, "Ar-e-o-lae. It's
the plural form of ar-e-ol-a."
Carefully, she walked slowly forward until she was
well inside the room and only about five feet from him.
Though he didn't shy away she could see her close
distance was now making him just a little
uncomfortable. He still couldn't keep his eyes on her.
She stopped.
"The areola is the dark circle of skin that surrounds
the nipple," she explained, causing him to give just a
little jump at her word use. "It can come in all different
colours from normal skin tone, which makes it almost
unnoticeable, to the darkest of browns.
"The skin tone can also change when it's cold, or
overly warm, usually does when you're pregnant... or
when you're aroused."
As she was talking she could feel herself flush a little
and her nipples harden.
"Mine, when I compare them to other girls, are a tad
darker than the medium. That is, of course, when I'm
talking about other Caucasian girls. Parvati's are
significantly darker than mine; but, that's because
she's Indian and has swarthier skin. Sophie's and
Fay's are a little lighter while Lavender's are lot
lighter."
She gave that a moment before she continued, "In the
centre of that area, but sometimes a little lower than
centre, sits the nipple."
That had Harry give a silent start again.
"Nipple, Harry," she said. "Nip-ple."
When he still appeared to be a little uncomfortable she
said, "Harry, the nipple is an important part of a
woman's body. We latch our babies onto them. It's
through them that they draw milk from the mammary
gland within the breast. Try thinking of them as a
function and you might be more comfortable thinking
about them, at all."
He blushed again, but at least kept trying to look at
her instead of looking away. That made it look like his
eyes were darting about the place, but she knew he
was trying.
Getting a little frustrated she demanded, "Harry, look
me in the eyes for a minute."
She saw him take a deep breath, clench up a little and
firmly turn his eyes to stare directly into hers.
"Do you trust me, Harry?" she directly asked.
He nodded back.
"And I trust you, Harry," she said. "It's because of that
trust we have in each other that I trust you will not do
anything inappropriate with or to me; understand?"
"Yes," he firmly said.
"Good, because I'm going to do something you are
not to stop me doing," she said. "You are just going to
sit there and I know you won't do anything
inappropriate. Do you understand?"
"Yes," he repeated.
She turned to look at the doorway for a second to
make sure there wasn't anyone there. There wasn't.
And turned back. As she turned back she made sure
to catch Harry's eyes with her own.
Giving a nod she reached up and untied the sash
around her waist of the conjured robe.
When it looked like Harry realised what she was
doing, his eyes suddenly widened.
Just as his eyes started to dart away she quickly
snapped, "Look... me in the eyes, Harry. Hold the
gaze."
As the sash dropped away she raised both hands and
slipped the shoulders off, letting the robe drop to the
floor.
Harry now looked as if he might be hyperventilating,
but his gaze into her eyes held firm.
"Alright Harry, this is the important part," she said
with earnest seriousness.
With her own heart hammering in her chest in excited
fear she let her arms cross her torso to grab opposite
sides down low of the material of the baby doll nightie
short top. And paused.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------
---------------
Chapter 156
'Yes, I'm nervous, damn it,' she thought. 'However, this
should help get him through this. But, that's really
only an excuse I'm using... I've thought about showing
a boy my tits for so long... especially, Harry...'
Suddenly, she yanked upwards with both crossed
arms crossing her face at the forearms, as the bottom
of the baby doll nightie top came with them. Barely a
second later, she was lowering her arms out either
side with the top dangling in her left hand.
'Gods!' she thought. 'I'm bare-chested in front of a
boy!'
A moment later, 'Why isn't he staring at my tits?'
'Oh! I told him to lock his eyes with mine and he's
doing it through sheer willpower!'
Screwing up her courage she smiled and said, "Well
done, Harry. I thought, for sure, you'd look." Then she
softly said, "Now, look at them, Harry. But, no
touching!"
When she left about fifteen minutes later, she had
used her own breasts to show Harry all the relevant
parts. Even going so far as to press her left breast out
flat to show the slight ridge that denoted the edge of
the internal mammary gland.
When he started to relax and began asking questions
back she was happy to answer them. He even said he
thought the nipple would be bigger.
"It will get bigger; they will get bigger," she replied.
"Every girls' breasts develop differently. Some girls'
breasts even develop differently from each other. For
some, it seems their nipples develop first and then the
rest of the breast seems to follow along. That means
they can have decent-sized nipples and areolae before
they're past an 'A' cup. For me, it's my nipples that are
the slowest. A year ago they were still the same as a
little girls. I was worried I was going to develop
breasts with no real nipples, until they finally started
to grow."
"What size..." he tried.
"At the moment, I'm an average 'B' cup but, if genetics
hold true, I'll end up an average to slightly large 'C'
cup."
"How big would that be?" he asked.
She thought about it for a moment before she replied,
"Henrietta's size."
"Henrietta?" he asked.
"She's the younger of the two female aurors currently
watching over you."
"Oh," he replied. "Sorry, I'll have to see if I can figure
that out when I see her next. I wouldn't have a clue
how big she is, at the moment. I've not noticed."
Hermione gave a little laugh and said, "Anyway. I'd
better get up to my room to get dressed before the
aurors come looking for us." Then asked,
"Understand better now?"
"Yes, thank you," he brightly said and smiled.
She quickly pulled her baby doll nightie back over her
head and slipped the arms through the armless sleeve
holes. Then picked the robe up off the side of the bed.
She'd moved it there earlier when she became a little
worried he might make a grab at her. She didn't want it
tangling her feet if she had to hurriedly back off.
He didn't, though. He kept his hands to himself, as
she knew he would.
Slipping the robe back on and re-belting the sash she
leaned forward, placed her hands on his shoulders
and kissed him on the cheek.
"You have a call to your godfather to make," she said,
standing up. "But, not a word of this to anyone,
including him."
"No, this was private," he firmly agreed.
She gave him a smile and walked to the door. Just as
she passed through she smelled the scent of a
perfume, looked to the thick carpet, looked up and
smiled.
As she closed the door a bit she quietly whispered,
"Come up to my room." And poked with a finger into
the midriff of the person she knew to be standing
there.
_‗_
―==(oIo)==―
ˇ
Harry sat at his desk again, again with the mirror in
his hand.
He felt deeply honoured that Hermione would show
him her breasts like that; and even went over, for him,
how they worked and developed.
But, now he needed to make a mirror call. He needed
to tell Sirius what happened at breakfast.
When Sirius answered it looked like Harry'd just
woken him. "Wha?"
"Sorry, I just woke you, didn't I?" said Harry.
Sirius gave his head a shake and said, "If it's
important, you're forgiven."
"Dumbledore just tried to abduct me using a mail owl
delivered auto-portkey," he immediately said.
Sirius was a moment before his eyes widened in
shock. And a few moments later his face morphed into
fury. "Yeah. That's important enough. Tell me what
happened."
Harry described what happened, how Dobby
intercepted the letter, which was then when he
realised it was a portkey by it activating as Dobby was
portkeyed away instead; and how the aurors were
very quickly right there.
Then he went over their investigations into the trace
of the portkey signature, Dobby popping back, he
handing over the letter that was the auto-portkey to
the aurors and Dobby telling them where the portkey
took him.
"The aurors now have a copy of the outgoing portkey
trace, the actual portkey used and Dobby's verbal
statement," he concluded. "Then, Madam Bones was
also informed."
"Right, anything you missed?" asked Sirius.
"Nope," he replied.
Sirius nodded and said, "Leave this with me. I'm going
to see Bonesy and have this dealt with! You know,
trying to kidnap one of the Seven is an offence of
such magnitude it can easily see the culpable party
tossed through the Veil."
"I've got no problems with that," said Harry.
_‗_
―==(oIo)==―
ˇ
Up in her room Hermione had waited only a moment
after spinning around and staring at the door until a
now visible Henrietta Patterson walk in.
"How did you know?" asked the auror.
"While you were using a disillusionment charm, you
forgot about the scent of your perfume," explained
Hermione. "That alerted me to the fact you had very
recently been there, or that you were still there. The
second clue and the one that alerted me to you
actually still being there was the impression your
boots made in the carpet."
Patterson sighed and said, "If my bosses heard I'd
forgotten about those two details―"
"They won't from me," smiled Hermione. "But, I need
to know, what are you going to tell anyone else about
what you saw?"
"Nothing," Patterson immediately replied. "It's not our
job to stop either of you from even deciding to 'bonk
like bunnies' on the table in the dinette. We'd only
step in if either of you was non-consenting to what
was going on. And it's not our job to tell your parents
anything, either.
"If you thought us a risk of telling your parents when
you get up to something you felt they might not
approve of, you might decide to give us the slip.
That's a security issue. Therefore, we don't discuss it
and we don't tell anyone about it."
"Thank you," sighed Hermione.
Patterson gave her a nod and smiled before she said,
"What surprised me the most was that Potter did not
get up and try and fondle your girls. That showed a lot
of willpower."
"Harry's too much the gentleman to do that," she
immediately replied. "Though, I admit, I had worried
about it."
Patterson gave another smile and a nod before she
said, "I'll leave you to getting dressed." Then turned
and left the room.
Turning to her bureau, Hermione began to pull clothes
out she'd be wearing after her shower. She never
closed the door.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------
---------------
Chapter 157
When Harry returned downstairs he looked to the
senior auror and asked, "Can you make a copy of the
letter Dumbledore sent me?"
The auror frowned but warily replied, "I... can..."
"Can I have one, please," he said. "If the old man's
actually written something, I'd like to know what it
says."
The auror gave nod and pulled the evidence bag out
of her pocket. She then simply created a copy of the
entire thing and handed the copy to Harry.
Harry was quick to remove the letter and vanish the
bag. He didn't need or want that.
Carrying it into the dinette, he sat at the table and read
it. It only took him a couple of minutes.
~ # ~
Mister Harry Potter
c/- Doctor and Doctor Granger
Granger Residence
Wimbledon
Harry my boy,
This letter should have been a portkey that would
have brought you directly to my secure care. If you're
currently reading this it means it, somehow, failed.
Harry, it is very important you immediately return to
the safety of our wonderful school. Outside of the
blood wards I painstakingly placed on the home of
your loving aunt and uncle you are at risk of serious
harm unless you're under the wards of Hogwarts.
I cannot stress this enough with you. You must return
to dear Hogwarts immediately.
With you staying at the parents of Miss Granger, you
have placed her and them in extreme danger. Those
who wish to do you harm will not hesitate in harming
them in trying to get to you. Please do not be so
careless of their well-being by remaining there.
I know you may not think well of me at the moment,
but I have always had your safety at the forefront of
my mind. The wizarding world owes you so much and
I feel it is my duty to ensure your safety.
On a second matter, as a champion in the Tri-Wizard
Tournament your attendance is mandatory at the Yule
Ball. This event will be held, as the name suggests, on
Christmas night.
There is now only a little over two weeks until that
night and you need to be prepared for your role in it.
As a representative of the school, you will be
upholding the honour of Hogwarts. A poor
performance on your part, not only will be widely
published in the wizarding press and on radio, but will
also reflect on Hogwarts.
For both your own urgent safety and the honour of
Hogwarts, as your true friend I must urge you most
strongly to come home to the castle with all due
haste.
Yours,
Professor Albus Dumbledore
~ # ~
As he finished, Harry was at first stunned by the
man's audacity, before then laughing to himself to the
point he was almost crying.
'Oh, Gods!' he thought. 'This is just tooooo funny!'
When Hermione came down carrying her bookbag,
ready to learn more about wizarding British society,
he grinned and handed her the letter.
"Read this, if you would," he smirked as she sat at the
table and took it. "Then take note of the words he
used - especially his choice to use and what he used
as adverbs and adjectives."
As Hermione read through it, she began to frown.
Once she was done she scanned back through it and
began to mutter, "That... manipulative... old... so-andso!"
He nodded back with a grin and said, "He can't seem
to get it through his head that his little tricks of
phrasing and the like, whether written or verbal, just
don't work on me."
"So, what are you going to do?" she asked.
He gave a grin and replied, "Retaliate in like manner,
of course!"
"You're going to send him an auto-portkey?" she
asked.
"No, but thank you for the idea," he said. "A portkey
made by anyone but the Headmistress won't work
through the Hogwarts wards."
"Then, how did Dumbledore manage it?" she asked.
"I'd say the portkey was already made," he said. "But,
that's just me. No, my idea is to respond to his letter
using the same word-trickery he tried to employ.
However, I intend to go way over the top."
She laughed and said, "You're incorrigible, you know
that?" Then she smirked and pulled her bookbag
across the table top towards herself. "I'll get
parchment, ink and quill out."
However, she'd no sooner readied the stationery when
the auror with them at the time, Cassidy, gave a start
and did that peering off into the distance thing.
"Visitors," she muttered.
Already knowing not to follow her, both teens waited
in the dinette.
As the auror walked to the front door they heard the
knock.
Less than fifteen seconds later she walked in leading
Madam Bones and two more aurors.
'Her bodyguard,' thought Harry.
Hermione immediately rose from her side of the
dinette opposite Harry and moved around to his side.
Harry slid across to the next chair to give her room.
Madam Bones smoothly slid into the seat Hermione
had just vacated.
"Lord Potter, Miss Granger," she said.
"Good morning, Madam Bones," Hermione politely
replied for them both. "I take it you're here because of
the portkey incident, this morning?"
"Indeed," said the woman. "Because there was an
auror present in the room at the time, I don't need to
ask either of you for a copy of your own memories of
the event. I'm just here to let you know I'm already
investigating."
"Lord Black contact you yet?" asked Harry.
"He has," she nodded. "He's... quite upset."
"It's alright to say he was ready to blow his top,"
smiled Harry. "He was right ropable when I finished
my call with him."
"As your godfather, he wishes to press charges
against the culprit," she said. "As you're now an adult
in your own right―"
"I wish to also make a formal complaint," replied
Harry. "And, yes, I'm aware of the possible result of a
successful prosecution against him."
"Whether or not I have a chance at a successful
prosecution, as you put it, is not for you to worry
about," she said. "That's my concern."
When Harry gave a short nod back, she said, "I'll take
the complaint now; but, I've already begun my
investigation. The complaint just makes it official."
Again a Dicta-quill was produced and Harry verbally
gave his complaint. He never mentioned Dumbledore
by name as the one he was making a complaint about,
but did mention that his bonded house elf reported
directly to him that the portkey deposited him into
Dumbledore's presence at Hogwarts.
When he was done, the Dicta-quill was packed away
and the now completed statement was properly
signed by Harry and witnessed by her and Senior
Auror Charlotte Cassidy.
'That's her name!' thought Harry of the current senior
female auror currently overseeing them.
With that aside she then flat-out asked, in the
presence of the aurors concerned no less, "Do you
have any issue with how the aurors on-site at the time
handled the situation?"
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------
---------------
Chapter 158
"No, Ma'am," he immediately replied. "I was an idiot.
Since I've been staying with the Grangers over the
past few days I've felt so safe that I forgot to take
some basic safety precautions. The first being, I didn't
cast detection charms over the letter, as I should
have. That won't happen again."
"An auto-portkey is not something you should have to
worry about, either," she said. "However, there are
other possible attacks that can come by way of mail
owl. For that reason, a mail owl redirection charm is
being placed on you.
"That charm will have the mail redirected to the onsite senior auror. And the on-site auror will scan it to
ensure it safe before handing it to you."
Harry frowned and said, "I don't like mail redirection
charms. Dumbledore had a damned strong one on me
from the time he had me grabbed from Godric's
Hollow right up until I had it timed to be removed
immediately following the First Task.
"That's why I never received any mail from people
who just wanted to send a letter to 'The-Boy-WhoLived'."
"Oh, Gods!" Hermione suddenly exclaimed. "Why did I
not think of that?"
"Why didn't anyone think of that, Hermione," replied
Harry, "Would be the better question.
"Think about all those students and staff at the
school," he suggested. "And not one of them made
mention of how little mail I received? No. I think
Dumbledore probably added something like a
confusion ward concerning the issue of my mail into
Hogwarts's wards... among other things."
Bones immediately slid the still blank sheet of
parchment Hermione had pulled out earlier and slid it
over in front of herself. Then picked up the quill, also
sitting there ready, and dipped it into the pot. "You
don't mind if I borrow this, do you?" she distractedly
asked.
"Not at all," replied Hermione.
As Bones wrote she asked, "What else do you think
Dumbledore might have done to the wards?"
"How is it that no one asked, nor told their parents
about, how Quirrell suddenly disappeared?
"How is it no one told their parents about the danger
on the third floor corridor in first year, that students
were warned right from Dumbledore's own mouth in a
public statement at the end of the Welcoming Feast,
would lead to their dying a most horrible death if they
went there?
"How is it that no one told their parents about the
Chamber of Secrets issue - the message daubed in
blood on the wall, the petrifying of Filch's Cat, NearlyHeadless Nick, Justin Finch-Fletchley, Colin Creevey,
Hermione and Penny Clearwater that occurred at
various times through that year?
"With all these dangerous events that have occurred
at the school over the past three plus years... at
least... why weren't there parents or guardians coming
to the school, writing letters to the Daily Prophet,
reporters coming and demanding information, that
sort of thing?
"Four hundred students and not one of them, or a
member of staff, said a word about it outside of the
castle walls? I smell something fishy going on and
we're not near the sea.
"Madam Bones, did your ward and niece - the rightful
Heiress Apparent of your House - not tell you about
any of this? Or, at least write to you about any of this
while she was there?
"If she didn't, why not? Does she not know what your
duty is as Director of the DMLE? But, if she did, why
did you not act on it? Think about it."
Harry paced his 'questions' so he wasn't hitting her
with too much, too fast. But could also see her frown
more and more as she quickly wrote."
"I'm stupid, stupid, stupid!" said Hermione as she
leaned her head on Harry's shoulder to hide her face.
Sitting up straighter, she firmly declared. "I have been
so blind! How am I supposed to hold the so-called title
of the 'Smartest Witch of Her Generation' when I didn't
even suspect any of this?"
"Ea-sy, Hermione," said Harry, putting his arm around
her and drawing her back to his side. "No one else,
apparently, thought anything of it, either."
After she finished and set the quill aside, Bones sat
back and massaged the bridge of her nose. Then
sighed. "All very good questions, Lord Potter."
He replied, "It's because of those points, I can only
deduce... extrapolate... that the only thing it could be
is a ward on Hogwarts."
A moment later, he gave a slight start and exclaimed,
"Oh! Another point."
She was quick to take up the quill again.
"'Harry Potter' is supposed to be this great hero to
many. He's also the last of his line and would be One
of the Seven when he reached of-age; if he lived that
long - a Lord of a Noble and Most Ancient House.
"If all that is the case, then he... me... should have had
all the birds looking to snag a future Lord, let alone
the supposed hero of the wizarding world, fawning all
over him; especially from the magical-raised
purebloods and halfbloods. That kinda happened on
the Hogwarts Express when they 'womaned-up' and
hunted me down. But, at the castle? Not a one. I know
they didn't do it with Neville Longbottom, either; with
him being a pureblood Heir Apparent over me being a
halfblood. What gives?"
"Not one?" she asked.
"Not. One," he replied. "Now, at first I suspected the
Weasleys of going around me and blocking anyone
who even looked like wanting to get to know me
better. But it would have meant Ronald had to be coordinating it. However, it didn't take me long to realise
he's just not that smart; and he's lazy, anyway.
"His trying to steer me away from anyone wearing
green was illogical bigotry, rather than keeping
possible friends from me. And he didn't take long to
be accepting of Hermione being around me.
"The only conclusion I can reach is potions, charms
and wards; or a combination of those. Then again, I
only have a third year wizarding education boosted
with self-study."
"Yes; it's for me to investigate," she firmly said. "And,
believe me, I will!"
"With Dumbledore no longer in control of the wards of
the school - and it now being Madam Marchbanks -
you shouldn't have that much difficulty convincing
her to have experts give the wards a 'once-over'," he
suggested. "I honestly shudder to think what might be
in them; and also what should be, but isn't."
"And I was thinking I was going to have such an easy
day, today, when I got up," she muttered. "All the trials
were out of the way and a week past... things were
calming down... a week until the next meeting of the
Wizengamot..."
"I'd apologise," said Harry, wryly. "But, I'm not
responsible."
"No," she sighed. "No, you're not. They just all seem
centred on you."
"They also seem centred on Dumbledore," he
returned.
She smiled and said, "Point."
_‗_
―==(oIo)==―
ˇ
After Madam Bones left with her two aurors the other
three spread out again. Harry, by now, was certain
they were moving about under disillusionment
charms. He knew he'd smelled that young female
auror's perfume a couple of times when he was sure
she hadn't been in the room for quite some time. But,
so long as the males weren't spying on Hermione in
the nude or something, he'd not press the issue. He
didn't care one way or the other if the females were
spying on him.
It was about an hour after Madam Bones left, while
Harry and Hermione were writing drafts of letters to
Dumbledore in reply to his 'portkey letter' to Harry,
that Sirius dropped by.
He found the pair of them laughing themselves halfsilly in the dinette.
Happy to see his godson not freaked out about the
'kidnapping attempt', as he called it, he smirked and
asked, "What's so amusing?"
Hermione replied, "Harry's drafting a letter back to
Dumbledore, using Dumbledore's own word tricks, to
reply."
Concerned, he asked, "Is that wise? Writing back, I
mean. The man did try to kidnap you."
"Your 'kidnap' is his 'getting under the protection of
the wards of the castle'," replied Harry. "You know
that's what he's going to argue."
"And 'kidnap' also implies 'ransom demands'," added
Hermione. "Think about it; if there was no ransom
demand, can it be successfully argued that he
attempted to kidnap?"
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------
---------------
Chapter 159
Shocked, he asked, "You don't think he tried to kidnap
you?"
"Oh, he did!" replied Harry. "But, it's easy to see what
his defence strategy will be."
"Even with all the evidence gathered," said Hermione.
"Madam Bones is still going to need to prove his
attempt was more than his 'My only concern is the
safety of our newest Lord'. And, 'He's currently
residing in a muggle home. Just how safe do you
think it could possibly be?' Understand?
"He doesn't need to prove innocence; he only needs
to provide doubt. If it cannot be proven, beyond
doubt, his intent was to kidnap; then you're not going
to be able to secure a conviction."
Standing in the doorway, Sirius sagged against the
door-frame and sighed.
"Damn!" he vehemently muttered.
Noticing Harry writing again, he asked, "So, what have
you got so far?"
Harry grinned and handed it to him.
~ # ~
Albus Dumbledore
Tenured No-Longer-Respected Professor
Manipulator-at-Large
ex-Headmaster of Hogwarts
ex-Chief Warlock of the Wizengamot
ex-Supreme Mugwump of the ICW
ex-Leader of the Light
ex-Whatever else you wanna throw in there
(Hidden) Dark Lord
Albie-old-boy!
Many thanks for the disappointing and surprisingly
rude attempt to kidnap me, this morning. It made for
an interesting start to the day. I hope you thoroughly
and in good humour enjoyed the visit from my house
elf. He, though, thought your hospitality was dreadful.
Not even the offer of a nice cup of tea? Really, Albie?
Such poor manners! You should be ashamed of
yourself. You need to work on that.
I must say, though, the aurors were less than
impressed. But, at least you were kind enough to give
them a chance to put their investigation skills to the
test. That was nice of you.
I think they would have preferred it if you'd at least
asked first, though. They might have made other plans
and your interfering with their day ruined those for
them. That was rude of you. Tch! I'm so disappointed
in you, Albie.
And you did it while wearing your title as 'Professor',
too. How will the honour of dear old Hogwarts survive
such a besmirching? But, to be fair, it's not as if you
have any other title you could use, is there? Of
course, there's still 'Mister'. Maybe you should try that
one the next time you come up with one of your Trollbrained schemes.
Or, maybe we'll soon all be lucky and the title will
become 'The Late'.
Well, lucky for everyone else, I suppose. The rest of
us will all be singing and dancing in joyful celebration
in the street on that wonderful night. My, the
Obliviators will probably be even busier than the night
my parents took care of Tommy-boy for you. With all
your experience at it - Obliviating staff, Obliviating my
relatives, attempting to Obliviate me - you could
probably give them plenty of pointers.
Oh, wait! You won't be there. Oops! My bad.
On to your error of belief I have to attend some
cockamamie Yule Ball in Hogwarts on Christmas
Night.
Pftftftftftft! (That's as close as I can come in writing
the sound of a big raspberry being blown in your
direction.)
Really, Albie? Is that the best you've got? Have you
really reached such a low point of written cognitive
discourse you now resort to poorly concealed threats
couched within the adverbs and adjectives of
admonitions?
Oh, Albie! I am, again, so disappointed in you! Tch,
Tch, Tch! You need to learn to accept, Albie! It's For
the Greater Good!
Alas! I have other plans for the evening of Christmas.
I'm actually going to be spending Christmas with the
people I now consider my true family. It would be rude
of me to hare off to 'Good Ol' Hoggy Hoggy Hogwarts'
to be at an event I really have no desire to even think
about, let alone attend. And you don't actually want
me to be rude, do you Albie? What sort of message
would that send?
But, do not despair. I shall advise Hogwarts's new
Headmistress, Lady Griselda Marchbanks (and isn't
that such wonderful news, Albie?), that I shall not be
attending for her to have plenty of time to make other
arrangements. I'm sure she'll be able to weather any
criticism that comes her way. After all, she's currently
managing to weather through the criticism that she
has a manipulative, conceited, up-himself, Dark Lord
for a Professor soon to begin teaching there. That
Lord Harrison James Potter, Lord of the Noble and
Most Ancient House of Potter, has sent his apologies
should be a bit of a doddle for her.
However, with all your worldly wisdom and
experience, perhaps you can actually be of assistance
rather than the minor annoyance you've been.
Perhaps you can help me with advice regarding a wellearned Christmas present I've been considering for
my house elf friend. I'm thinking of giving him a
pillowcase with the following motto on it:
Yay though Dobby be walkings thru the office of bad
'Perfesser Whiskers'; Dobby be not afraid.
For Dobby be the biggest, baddest 'female parental
figure' fornicator in the room!
What do you think?
Looking forward to your next communication only via
owl post, I am,
.
Harrison J. Potter
Lord of the Noble and Most Ancient House of Potter
Heir Tertiary of the Noble and Most Ancient House of
Black
Godson of 'Padfoot' of the Marauders
Boyfriend of Hermione J Granger
All-Round Wonderful Bloke
"It's so great to be me!"
~ # ~
By the time he'd finished reading it, Sirius was
laughing so hard he was sitting on the floor trying to
hold himself up from falling over. His face was red
from lack of air and he had tears in his eyes.
He finally managed to get enough air into his lungs to
gasp, "Oh, Merlin!" before he lost it again.
Harry was smirking at him. "Dobby," he called.
"Yes, Master Harry?"
"Would you mind getting a Calming Potion for Lord
Black?" he asked. "He appears to need one."
After the Calming Potion from who-knows-where,
Sirius grinned at his godson and said, "For the love of
Merlin; don't change a thing! It's perfect! Sign it and
I'll send it using my new owl, Sable."
"Sable?" asked Hermione.
"Yep," he replied. "She's a dark-feathered Spotted
Eagle Owl. She looks mean as all get-up, but she's a
softy.
"It should be enough for Albus not to think about
using her in some way to get to Harry. Besides, he's
not seen her before."
"I know it's funny," said Harry. "But, do you really
think it's perfect? I thought I could make some
improvements on it yet."
"No!" Sirius was quick to reply. "Leave it, just as it is!
Perfection cannot be improved upon, Pup."
Harry gave a shrug and gestured for it back. He simply
signed it, 'Harry P.' Then included a triple of 'X's' after
it as kisses so Dumbledore couldn't fiddle with it.
Sirius took one look at the signature, gave another
bark of laughter and said, "Alright! I was wrong!
Perfection can be improved upon!"
"Now," said Harry. "I've got a job for you; or, probably,
Ted to do..."
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------
---------------
Chapter 160
After her own breakfast, where she spotted a clearly
unhappy Albus Dumbledore sitting sulking in his seat
as he glared about at the few students still remaining,
Griselda Marchbanks made her way back to her office.
Dumbledore had left a frightful mess of the
documents and records and she was slowly working
her way through it.
Like Dumbledore before her, she preferred her mail to
be delivered to her office and not at breakfast. She felt
that reading mail at the table was disrespectful.
Carefully sorting through them - most were
congratulations she was still receiving from various
folks - she found one semi-formally addressed to her
from the young man who initiated all these changes,
Harry Potter; or, better still, Lord Harrison J Potter, as
it was addressed.
She broke the seal with her wand tip and unfolded it.
Reading through it she was at first perturbed by what
she was reading, then outraged.
'Did he?' she thought. 'Dare he? Yes, he bloody-well
would!'
"Damn, the man!" she snapped.
Turning to her side where she preferred house elves
to attend her, she firmly called, "Elf!"
When one popped in she immediately asked, "Did
Albus Dumbledore, while Headmaster, ever ask you
and or the other elves to spy on any student?"
"Yes, Lady Headmistress," the elf immediately replied.
With a thunderous frown that frightened the elf, she
asked, "Any particular student or students?"
"Yes, Lady Headmistress," the elf replied. "Elveses
being ordereds by Perfesser Whiskers to spy on the
Great Mister Harry Potter Sir, Mister Harry Potter Sir's
Miss Hermy Grangy and Mister Harry Potter Sir's
Mister Pi- Rronn Weasy."
"Anyone else?" she demanded.
"No, Lady Headmistress."
She thought a bit and muttered, "Time to flip the wand
on that son-of-a-squib."
Looking back at the elf she said, "How did you report
to Dumbledore what your spying discovered?"
"Perfesser Whiskers would have elveses come to him,
here at night, when he beings alone. We reports then."
Scowling, she ordered, "From this moment forth, the
elves are to no longer spy on any student for anyone.
If anyone gives you such an order you are to
immediately report the matter to me, even if I'm not
alone.
"Also from this moment, you are to use the same
orders Dumbledore gave you to spy on the students
to spy on him, instead. And report to me the same way
he ordered you to report to him. Do you understand?"
"Yes, Lady Headmistress," replied the elf.
"Now, find the ghost of... Sir Nicholas de MimsyPorpington and tell him I want to see him in my office,
immediately."
"Yes, Lady Headmistress," replied the elf, before it
gave a bob and popped away.
Then she turned her chair to stare at the portraits.
"Did Albus Dumbledore, while Headmaster, ever ask
the portraits to spy on any student?"
While the portraits of the past Heads gave indignant
huffs and splutters, the portrait of Dilys Derwent gave
her own huff and replied, "We do not report on the
matters of previous Heads, Griselda."
"Fine!" she snapped "Did anyone ever successfully
order the portraits to spy on any student?"
The portraits all muttered among themselves before
Derwent replied, "Yes. But, we cannot identify that
person."
"It's irrelevant," she snapped back.
"From this moment forth, the portraits are to no
longer spy on any student for anyone," she ordered.
"If anyone gives any portrait such an order it is to be
immediately reported to me, even if I'm not alone.
"Also from this moment, the portraits are to use the
same orders, whoever ordered them to spy on the
students, to spy on Albus Dumbledore, instead. And
report to me the same way he ordered to be reported
to him. Do you understand?"
When Derwent seemed to refuse, Black gave a
chuckle and replied, "Yes, Griselda. It shall be done."
"Good. Make sure those orders are disseminated
throughout the castle within the day!" she ordered.
"It shall be done," he repeated.
While she waited for the ghost of 'Nearly-Headless
Nick' to arrive, she sorted through more of her mail.
He arrived about five minutes later.
"You wished to speak with me, My Lady
Headmistress?" he politely asked, floating into the
middle of the room.
"Sir Nicholas," she said, in greeting. "Did Albus
Dumbledore, while Headmaster, ever ask the ghosts of
Hogwarts to spy on any student?"
"Yes, My Lady," he replied.
"Damn and blast it all!" she snarled. "From this
moment forth, the ghosts are to no longer spy on any
student for anyone," she ordered. "If anyone gives
any resident ghost such an order it is to be
immediately reported to me, even if I'm not alone.
"Also from this moment, the ghosts are to use the
same orders Dumbledore ordered them to spy on the
students, to spy on Albus Dumbledore, instead. And
report to me the same way he ordered to be reported
to him. Do you understand?"
"Yes, My Lady," he immediately replied. "We ghosts of
Hogwarts were never comfortable with the order the
scoundrel Albus Dumbledore gave for us to spy on
those three students. It was sickening.
"I will be most pleased to pass on your directive to the
ghosts of Hogwarts. It will be... satisfying to 'turn the
table', as they say, on that old... man."
"Good. Thank you," she quietly said.
Sir Nicholas gave a courtly bow that only dropped far
enough his head didn't tip off, before withdrawing
again.
Now she had a letter to send back to the young Lord
Potter. She would write his reply first of those she
would be writing that day.