Chapter 221
Three days later they found out Dumbledore
had ended up in the infirmary when one of
the few gossips of Ravenclaw had gone to get
a Potion for, as they blushed and explained,
study stress.
"That's that done," said Harry, smiling to his
bondmates.
However, half an hour later he noticed
Hermione was upset.
He walked over, dragged her to a couch and,
with her wrapped in his arms, asked, "Alright.
What's wrong?"
It took a little while. Harry just held and
cuddled her while he waited for her to
respond. She eventually replied, "We killed
him, Harry. We set him up to die."
"Those are two different things, Hermione,"
he replied. "The first would be considered
murder. The second is we engineered a
situation where we knew he'd end up dying
because that's what happened in the original
timeline."
"We didn't kill him, love," said Daphne
coming over to cuddle her from the other
side. "This event was going to happen. All we
did was bring the event forward in time.
Dumbledore is one of the pre-eminent minds
of knowledge pertaining to magic in the
world. He knew better than to put the ring
on, even with the compulsion charm it had
upon it. He's a Master Occlumens, and he
should have been able to easily overcome it."
"All we've done is moved up what was going
to happen by about fifteen months," added
Harry, before he asked, "Did Roma tell you he
still had to die?"
Hermione sniffled and nodded. "I asked why
and she told me it was both his time and that
he needed to be 'removed from the
equation' so that the rest of the wizarding
world would prosper."
"And you've never been one to agree that
the needs of the many outweigh the needs of
the one," said Harry.
She snorted and quickly had to wipe her nose
with a handkerchief before she replied. "No,"
she replied, while wiping. "That's no
different than Dumbledore's own 'The
Greater Good' nonsense."
"Alright," sighed Harry. "We know that
horcrux had to be destroyed, right?"
She nodded.
"And we know it was also the
most magically protected of them all, right?"
Again, she nodded.
"And we also know the only one who was
likely to be able to get through all those
protections was Dumbledore, right?"
After she'd thought about it for a while;
again, she nodded.
"Then he had to go after the ring, and have it
destroyed as a horcrux, before the third
task," said Harry. "I think we kind of left it to
the last moment, don't you?"
With a sigh she replied, "Yeah, I guess we
did."
"No guess about it, love. We did," added
Daphne. "We have no idea what the
Unspeakables would do with it if they found
it. If what I hear about them is correct, they
would have held on to it for almost forever
simply to study it."
"We had to send him, so we sent him," Harry
firmly said. "Grieve for the man he once was
and should have remained. Please, don't
grieve for the manipulative old fool he has
become."
It took a few days but, a week after
Dumbledore went after the ring, Hermione
had managed to reason her way through it.
However, she still felt a little ashamed each
time she saw him.
This time around, the old man was wearing a
skin-toned glove to cover his hand. But the
three also knew exactly what that hand
looked like under the glove - blackened and
shrivelling.
Harry decided it was high time he contacted
his godfather again, to share experiences.
Holding the mirror he whispered across the
surface, 'Padfoot."
It took a little while but the mirror finally
buzzed the connection being made before
the fog cleared and Sirius's face appeared.
"Hello?" he said. "Do I know you?"
That caused Hermione to laugh, Daphne to
smile, and Harry to give a hard-done-by sigh.
"It's not been that long, Sirius," he snarked
back.
Sirius looked back at him in shock and
gasped. "You know my name?"
"Alright, alright," grumbled Harry. "I get the
very obvious hint. You want me to contact
you more often."
"Good," Sirius firmly said. "Now, what can I
do for you?"
"Well, I was only contacting you just to say
hello, you know?" said Harry. "However,
since I'm contacting you and all... you can tell
me how Remus is doing in his new job."
"Well, he expected a small bursary he'd have
to look after; and that it would, therefore, be
a short term job. When he found out just
how much money had been set aside, and
that it wouldn't be the total amount, he
nearly flipped," explained the old dog. "He
then angrily Floo-called me yelling about
how much he was supposed to be paid. And
demanded I talk you out of it.
"I then contacted Ackerman and Co, and they
then contacted him with the evidence that it
was the going rate for someone at his level.
Only then did he back down on refusing to
accept that much pay.
"From me, that was a bloody clever way to
get Moony to accept a decent job with
decent pay, Harry."
"I just hope he's happy doing it," sighed
Harry. "I know it'll be a rewarding job and
he'll be able to get a lot out of it. However,
it's also going to be a very demanding job.
That's why there are provisions to employ
Under-Bursars as soon as possible. So he's
not run ragged."
"You can be assured he loves the job, Harry,"
Sirius said, well, seriously.
"I'm glad," said Harry. "Now, have you been
doing any excavating?"
"Oh," said Sirius perking up again and
twigging to what his godson was getting at.
"Yep! And it's all done already. I'll give you
the full tour when you come to visit me this
Easter. You wouldn't recognise the place.
That is, you wouldn't recognise the place if
you'd been here before, which you haven't."
"I get it, Padfoot," said Harry. "Your godson
needs to visit his godfather and spend a bit
of time with him. We'll do it."
"Good," said Sirius. "I'd expect you to bring
your wives with you, so no need for the hint.
I've even already set up a room for the three
of you, with an extra-extra large bed." He
then grinned somewhat evilly back and said,
"I also expect you to put up your own
silencing charms."
When both ladies almost instantly blushed,
Sirius barked with laughter again.
Chapter 222
When the connection was cut, Harry turned
to his wives and said, "You do realise, this
means we're going to have to prank him,
right?"
"Definitely," Daphne firmly replied.
Hermione just nodded.
After a few minutes Hermione said, "I have
an idea." And promptly dragged Daphne
away to softly talk to each other. From the
squeals and laughter coming from the two of
them, Harry thought it must be a
The next morning owl delivery saw a stack of
owls coming to Hermione and Daphne. The
two girls eagerly checked the loads and
started removing them from the individual
owls. When Harry moved to help, he found
the back of his hand resolutely smacked by
Daphne.
"This is for us ladies, Harry," she
mock-scolded him. "We'll let you know what
we're up to later."
Harry just pulled his hands back in a gesture
of surrender and smiled.
During History of Magic, both his wives sat
next to each other - a very rare occurrence as
they usually sat either side of Harry - and,
while whispering at each other, were madly
filling out forms of some kind and snickering
to each other.
When they were ready to head to lunch, the
two girls said they had to attend the owlery
first and would meet Harry there; sending
him on his way, alone.
Walking down to the Great Hall, Harry felt
somewhat naked. He hadn't not had a witch
on his arm for walks like this since they'd
started the school year.
When he walked into the Great Hall he went
immediately to the Ravenclaw table. Of
course, Harry not having one or both of the
school's most beautiful witches on his arms
was so odd that all talking stopped as he
walked in.
It was only Luna who asked. "Missing
something, Harry?" she asked.
Harry smiled and cocked an eyebrow at her.
"The ladies are engaged in some secret
women's business that me, as a mere male,
am not privy to."
Luna cocked her head and looked at him
before she said, "They're engaged in setting
up a prank. I don't know who the intended
victim is, but I know it's not you or me."
'Sirius,' thought Harry. 'Look out, godfather!'
It was a couple of days later when Harry's
mirror buzzed indicating Sirius wanted to talk
to him.
When he answered, the first words out of
Sirius's mouth were an almost barked, "You
did this!"
Harry could hear the laughter coming from
the background behind Sirius and recognised
it as the laughter of both Remus and
Nymphadora Tonks. 'Well, that's one
relationship I won't have to worry about
making sure happens.'
"What am I supposed to have done?" he
calmly asked.
"Magazine subscriptions!" barked Sirius.
"Lots of them!"
"You have magazine subscriptions?" asked
Harry.
Harry didn't notice his wives suddenly look at
each other, get up and walk into the
bedroom before closing the door behind
them.
"No!" barked Sirius. "Well, yes! But I didn't
organise them! There are owls everywhere!"
"Wait," said Harry. "What did you subscribe
to?"
"I didn't subscribe to anything!" barked Sirius.
"That is, I didn't subscribe to anything except
the Prophet. You did this!"
"What? No!" decried Harry. "I wouldn't
have... well, yes, I would have if I'd thought
of it... but I didn't!"
Harry could see Sirius frown at him for a long
few seconds before he turned on his friend,
Remus, in the background. "Moony!" he
barked.
Harry heard Moony laughing. "It wasn't me,
Padfoot. I told you that. Marauder's
honour!"
Meanwhile he could still hear Tonks laughing
near-hysterically in the background.
When Sirius turned back, he again glared at
Harry before he asked, "If not you; then
who?"
Suddenly, Harry heard Tonks's voice call out
in a sing-song voice, "Yoo-hoo! Sir-ius! Your
copy of Well Hung Wizards has arrived!"
before she broke down hysterically laughing
again, with Remus.
"Well Hung Wi..." Harry started, shocked. He
suddenly smirked and said, "Sirius? Do I need
to worry there won't be a rightful Heir of
House Black in the future?"
"Whoever did this has declared war on a
Marauder!" his godfather cried out. "Get off,
you ruddy bird!"
Harry looked up to see what his wives
thought of all this, only to notice they'd gone
and the bedroom door was closed. 'Ah!' he
thought.
When he looked back, the scene in the
mirror changed and bounced around a bit
before suddenly Remus's face was in the
mirror. He'd been laughing so hard he
appeared to have been crying.
"Wuh- Was it you... Cub?" he asked, red
faced.
"No, Uncle Moony," replied a Harry who was
now chuckling. "However, I think I know who
it could have been."
"Oh?" asked the old wolf, calming down a
fair bit. "Pray tell. Who is so brave as to have
declared a prank war on a Marauder?"
"Well, Padfoot got a bit... well, smart-alecky...
with Daphne and Hermione about our sex
life a few days ago," replied Harry, as he
listened to his godfather rant and rave in the
background while his young
metamorphmagus cousin laughed at him. "I
think this might have been their retaliation."
Remus almost goggled at him before he
suddenly smirked back. "Well, if it was... and
I'm not going to tell him, by the way... it was
a bloody clever retaliation prank. This place
is both swarming with owls and there's
naughty, and even a few not-so-naughty,
magazines everywhere!"
"Hey, Sirius!" he heard Tonks call. "Can I
borrow this copy of HouseWitch's Quarterly?
I've not read it, yet!"
"Well, it's just a few magazines..." grinned
Harry before his honourary uncle laughed
back.
"A few?" he scoffed. "They started arriving
last night. Sirius was... shall we say...
entertaining a lady-friend when the first...
errr... risqué one turned up. Apparently,
according to Sirius, she stormed off in a huff
saying she was going to tell all her single
friends what a... errr... 'dirty wizard', he
was."
"Ah!" said Harry, understanding. "I'll tell the
girls to stop," he said.
"That would be nice," agreed Remus,
grinning his head off.
Chapter 223
Harry disconnected his mirror and, pocketing
it, went to find out what his wives were up
to.
He just walked into their bedroom to find
both on the bed, laughing their heads off.
"Alright, you two," he said, amused. "Just
how many magazine subscriptions did you
sign Sirius up for?"
"All of them!" laughed Hermione.
"Wait. What do you mean, 'all of them'?" he
asked.
"All of them!" she laughed. "Every magazine
subscription we could get our hands on."
Harry sighed, trying not to laugh himself.
"Well, I think I can honestly say, if he finds
out it was you two, he'll admit you won. Now,
can you shut them down?"
"Oh, it was only a short term subscription;
and, therefore, a short term prank," said
Daphne. "He gets the latest issue and one
back issue, that's it."
Harry smirked and decided he wasn't feeling
sorry for his godfather, after all. The man
brought this on himself.
"I want a copy of all the subscription forms
for the... male homosexual ones," he said.
"That got the attention of his wives. "What?
Why?" squeaked Hermione.
"I think Draco needs to widen his reading
material," he calmly replied with a wide grin.
Both girls looked at him for a second before
they both burst out laughing, again.
"Oh, and Remus knows it was you two," he
added. "But, he won't tell Sirius. He agrees, I
think, that Sirius deserves it."
"Who knows," said Daphne. "He might just
learn something from those witch romance
magazines we sent him."
"I don't know about those; but, I do know
one of the subscriptions was for a magazine
called Well Hung Wizards," he said. "I heard
Tonks, in the background, laughing at him
about it."
"Tonks was there?" asked Hermione,
surprised but happy.
"Yep," grinned Harry. "I think that's one
relationship we don't need to worry about
making sure still happens."
"Good!" she sighed. "I want to see Teddy,
again."
"Teddy?" asked Daphne. "Who's Teddy?"
"Remus and Tonks's son," replied Hermione.
"He's a metamorphmagus, too."
Surprised, Daphne asked, "Professor Lupin
and Auror Tonks have a baby together? Isn't
he old enough to be her father?"
"Well, for a start, there's only about ten
years age difference..." he began, before
Hermione cut in.
"Thirteen," she said.
"... Thirteen years age difference between
them," he corrected himself. "So, it's really
not all that much. He didn't become a
Professor until she was already two years out
of school and into the Auror academy, so
there's nothing wrong there. And, it
was her chasing him."
"She fought hard to get him to date her," said
Hermione. "She kept having trouble with
wizards wanting her to use her metamorphic
abilities to change into movie stars, and
things. And, she hated that. Remus both
knew and understood her pain from that sort
of disappointment. He never asked her to
change into someone else either before or
after they got together. And was happy for
her to be whatever she wanted. If anything,
it was that attitude that made her fall head
over heels in love with him."
"However, he wasn't so sure about starting a
relationship with her," said Harry. "First, he
worried his lycanthropy would lead to her
getting infected. And, later, worried that any
child they had would be born with the
affliction.
"I think, in the end, she practically raped him
during one of the times he was feeling sorry
for himself and needed some cuddling. Not
rape, per se, but 'took advantage of',
definitely. They married in the summer of
1997 and died at the Battle of Hogwarts,
together, less than a year later. In the mean
time, they had a son, Theodore Remus Lupin,
who was less than a month old when his
parents died, almost together. He was... will
be... my godson."
With a sigh, he said, "That was one of the
hardest things knowing, coming back, that he
might not be born this time around. Knowing
that Remus and Tonks seem to have started a
relationship means there's very good
chances he will be again. Whether or not
they ask me to be his godfather, though..."
He shrugged.
"Well, that's both heart lifting and
depressing at the same time," said Daphne.
Climbing off the bed, she said, "You wanted
copies of the subscription forms, you say? I
organised two of everything in case we
ruined the first ones. We didn't; so I've still
got the second copies."
As Harry and Hermione followed her, she
went to 'her' carrel in the living room and
pulled out the stack of small forms before
turning back to Harry and handing them to
him.
"Do you need a hand choosing the right
ones?" she coyly asked.
"Yes, please," he said.
Together, the three sorted through them
selecting just which ones to 'gift' Ferret Boy.
During breakfast mail two days later the girls
received a small white flag with an outline of
a grim on it, sitting on its own little flagpole.
This had them both cracking up laughing
again.
"It seems your victim has surrendered," said
Luna.
Daphne reached out and stood the little flag
on its pole up in the middle of the table.
"I daresay it's only a lull in the war," replied
Harry. "I think we can call this one a short
battle, which the girls won. The flag is just
Sirius's way of acknowledging their victory
for this round."
"You think he'll retaliate?" asked Hermione.
"I do," he replied. "But, it'll not be for a while.
I think he'll wait until summer, though; as
we're heading towards the final task and
exams. He might be a prankster, at heart, but
he won't want to distract us from what it is
we need to accomplish."
Chapter 224
It was the very next morning when a large
abundance of owls swooped in carrying large
envelopes and headed directly for the
Slytherin table. Particularly, towards one
skinny blonde male teenager.
Harry glanced at both girls and said, "You're
grinning too much. He'll know it was us if he
looks this way."
Luna cocked an eyebrow at them before she
looked towards the Slytherin table, herself.
She was just in time to watch as Malfoy
began to loudly berate the owls as they all
tried to get to him at once. His dorm and
House mates began to shy away from him as
more owls flocked in.
The sheer number of owls, of course, quickly
had the attention of everyone in the Hall.
As Malfoy tried as quickly as he could to shed
the owls of their loads, everyone watched as
Goyle opened one of the envelopes. In full
view of everyone, he pulled out a magazine
with a picture of a half-naked man on the
cover.
This had the whole Hall gawking as both
Professor Snape and McGonagall swooped
down upon them.
Before they got there, though, Goyle had
already opened another and pulled a similar
magazine from within, unconcernedly
holding it up.
The three bondmates were trying their
hardest to stifle their laughter as Professor
McGonagall practically snatched the latest
magazine out of Goyle's hand, and looked at
it.
The Professor took a long moment to read
the cover before she rounded on Malfoy and
practically screeched, "Mister Malfoy! What
is the meaning of this?" As she waved the
magazine almost under the boy's nose.
That started the Hall snickering, at first,
before they began to laugh. That allowed the
three bondmates to finally release their own
laughter.
A very red faced Malfoy was spluttering, "I
don't know, Professor! This has nothing
to do with me!"
That brought the Headmaster down to find
out what was going on.
"Well, they have your name on them, Mister
Malfoy!" she shot right back. "Or, should I be
calling you, Draco Teddybear Malfoy?"
That was it for the student population. Just
about every student began almost howling
with laughter. Some of the staff was trying to
look appalled but were failing miserably with
grins on their faces.
By then, Professor McGonagall realised what
was going on and was trying her best to
ensure she didn't so much as smile. However,
the twinkling in her eyes showed her own
mirth.
Meanwhile, Professor Snape was scowling at
his godson, one moment; and doing his best
to vanish the loads of magazines as they
were released from the owls, the next.
The rest of Slytherin House were trying their
damnedest to slide along the benches as far
away from Malfoy as possible. The table
almost appeared to be of two smaller Houses
with Malfoy sitting between them. Even
Goyle eventually saw the wisdom of that,
though not Crabbe.
"It appears Mister Malfoy has been the
victim of a well-executed prank, Minerva,"
said Dumbledore.
"You think?" she shot back. In a clear voice
she exclaimed, "I don't think Mister
Teddybear... sorry, Malfoy... would be so
foolish as to subscribe to a magazine called
'Your Wizard'... which is clearly of nude men...
and have it delivered in the Great Hall
at breakfast!"
Professor Flitwick, bless him, fell off his chair
and to the floor, where he proceeded to roll
back and forth while howling with laughter.
Professor Sprout was attempting to
simultaneously berate her colleague while
also laughing her head off at the table. Other
students were matching him roll for roll.
Of course, the sheer amount of noise was
also upsetting the owls who were still trying
to deliver their loads. They were flying about
above the scene while hooting, screeching
and barking their displeasure.
As other students began leaving, Harry snuck
the three of them and Luna out of the Great
Hall, lest it give someone ideas they had
something to do with it.
The next morning, Harry received a letter
from the Minister's own office. It was even
signed by him.
"Hmm," he muttered, flipping it over to open
it.
A quick read through and he handed it off to
Daphne, as Hermione was looking far too
eager to read it. The girl still needed to curb
her demands to know information.
"Nice," said Daphne, staring at Hermione for
her eagerness. Once Hermione backed off,
she then handed her the letter.
"It's about time," said Daphne.
Once Hermione practically devoured it with
her eyes, she let out a bit of squeal and
hugged Harry.
"So, next weekend," said Harry. "The
Minister, himself, wants to award me the
Order of Merlin in the Atrium of the Ministry
at 10:00am, sharp, Saturday."
"Uh-hmm," she said. Looking at Hermione,
she asked, "And what shall we dress him in?"
"Huh?" asked Harry.
"I think that might depend on what the
colour of the ribbon is," said Hermione,
thinking about it.
"Crimson," replied Daphne. "And the medal
is gold."
"Greens to contrast, or Reds to
compliment?" asked Hermione.
"Reds," said Daphne. "We don't want it to
look like he deliberately dressed to make the
Order stand out. Besides, he's an heir of
Gryffindor, and he used the Gryffindor sword
at the time."
"Reds it is," agreed Hermione.
"Do I get a say in this?" he asked, a little
affronted.
"No; not for something this important,"
disagreed Hermione. "If you could, you'd
turn up in jeans and a pullover. And claim
that you'd dressed 'neatly'."
Harry rolled his eyes as Luna tittered at his
antics. "Well, I would have; wouldn't I?"
During the lunch break, the girls sent out
owls to Sirius, Remus, Matthias and Deece,
and Ant and Cele letting them know of the
award 'ceremony'.
Then, over the next few days, they
co-ordinated with the families to get the
Grangers in to witness the event; and
planned Harry's outfit. They chose a crimson
so dark as to almost appear black. With shirt
to complement and match.
On the Saturday morning Harry was dressed
in his dark crimson robes with black under
robes and pale, almost pink, shirt
underneath. He also wore a black cape to
take care of the chill in the air.
Chapter 225
The ladies were also dressed in high style.
Both were wearing late fashion robes of, in
Hermione's case, autumnal colours, while
Daphne wore robes that gave the impression
of sea foam. Both were also wearing
jewellery Harry hadn't seen before.
When he pointed it out, Daphne told him it
was on loan from the 'Greengrass collection'.
"During summer, we go down to the Potter
heirlooms vault and see what's available to
you," he told them while they waited.
They were just doing a last minute check of
their appearance when the Headmaster
walked up to them.
"Mister Potter... ladies," he said.
"Headmaster," replied Harry a little coldly.
"Have you found out anything about the
dream I've been having?"
"Errr... no, Mister Potter. I'm still
investigating that," replied the old man. "I've
come to ask you not to accept the Order of
Merlin, this morning."
"Why ever not?" asked Harry.
"I-I'm sorry?" stuttered Dumbledore.
"I asked, 'why ever not?'" replied Harry.
"Oh," said the Headmaster. "Errr... I do not
believe you are ready for the responsibilities
such an award carries with it."
"Again, why ever not?" asked Harry.
"Pardon?" asked Dumbledore.
With a sigh, Harry asked, "Headmaster, is
there something wrong with your hearing?
I'm being very concise and clear in my diction;
and I know I'm being loud enough for you to
hear."
"No, Harry; I'm just surprised by the
question," replied Dumbledore.
"I cannot fathom why, Headmaster," said
Harry. "It is, after all, quite logical. Why do
you believe I'm not ready for the
responsibilities of accepting an Order of
Merlin?"
"Oh, yes," said the Headmaster. "Because, I
believe you to be too young, Mister Potter."
"You mean, just like I was too young, as
an eleven year old, to kill my Defence Against
the Dark Arts Professor, who was being
possessed by the malevolent spirit of Tom
Riddle?" asked Harry. "Do you mean, just like
I was too young, as a twelve year old, to face
a sixty-plus foot long, one thousand year old
basilisk with nothing but my wits, your
phoenix and the Sword of Godric Gryffindor?
"And yet, Headmaster, that's exactly what I
did. I killed Slytherin's monster; a giant
basilisk. In so doing I saved the life of an
eleven year old girl and, quite probably, the
lives of a great deal more. Also, in so doing I
defeated Tom Riddle again, and in the
process stopped him from being resurrected
to again terrorise magical Britain.
"I'm not being awarded the Order because I
did all that as an eleven year old and then as
a twelve year old, I'm being awarded
because I did that, irrespective of my age at
the time. If I'm old enough to do that, I'm old
enough to handle the responsibilities of a
holder of the Order of Merlin.
"However, maybe it's not the responsibilities
that concern you, Albus Dumbledore. Maybe
it's that you cannot stand the idea that
there's someone else in magical Britain who
holds the Order of Merlin, First Class, besides
yourself and Fudge!"
Harry didn't realise it, but as he berated the
Headmaster his voice became louder and
louder.
The strident voice of Professor McGonagall
cut across the Hall as she stormed out of the
Great Hall. "Mister Potter, calm yourself!"
Harry almost flinched from the voice and had
to clamp down hard on his emotions. After a
few moments, during which Professor
McGonagall reached them, he turned to her
and said, "My apologies, Professor. But, the
Headmaster is... yet again... attempting to
butt his way into my life!"
Turning to Dumbledore, she asked, "Is this
true, Albus? After how much the senior staff
told you to stop; you're, again, attempting to
manipulate Mister Potter's life?"
"What I do..." began Dumbledore before the
Professor verbally rode over the top of him.
"There is no such thing as your 'Greater
Good', Albus," she shot back. "Stay out of
Mister Potter's personal life, or I and the rest
of the senior staff will go to the School
Board!"
Dumbledore braced himself up, stared coldly
at Harry for a moment, and said, "Very well."
Before he then turned about and strode from
the Hall with as much dignity as he could
muster, just as Sirius came striding in through
the main doors.
He took one look at the tableau before he
asked, "What'd I miss?"
Rounding on Sirius, Harry almost snarled,
"That antiquated, manipulative old fool..."
"Mister Potter!" barked Professor
McGonagall.
Again, Harry clamped down on his emotions
after almost flinching from the Professor's
rebuke.
Sirius cut in and said, "Perhaps we should
take this to Professor Flitwick's office. He's
waiting for us to use his Floo connection to
Floo to the Ministry of Magic atrium."
"Yes; thank you, Sirius," said the Professor. "I
think that's a wise idea."
Harry just gave a firm sharp nod in response.
With his wives on either arm, Harry followed
Sirius and Professor McGonagall up to
Professor Flitwick's office.
Once in Flitwick's office the little Professor
said, "I see from the face of Mister Potter
there was at least a verbal altercation in the
recent past. Who was it, this time?"
Professor McGonagall replied, "Albus has
been attempting to stick his beak in Mister
Potter's personal life, again."
"Oh," said the Charms Master. "From your
comments I take it the Headmaster was
slapped down for his efforts?"
"Quite resoundingly," smiled Professor
McGonagall. "And loudly."
Harry sighed and said, "Again, Professor; my
apologies."
"That's quite alright, Mister Potter," she
gently said. "The entire staff is now
fully aware of the manipulations of that old
man."
Harry looked at her rather calculatingly but
didn't respond, and she wouldn't elaborate.
The Potters were unaware of the loyalty
potions the staff had been dosed with; that
had now been utterly flushed from their
systems; and the staff had no intention of
informing them.
"How much time do you have until you need
to be at the Ministry?" asked Professor
Flitwick.
Chapter 226
"Almost twenty minutes," replied Sirius.
"Mmm," he acknowledged. "I'd offer you tea.
However, you really don't want that, as you'll
probably have to remain on stage for some
time as the Minister speaks."
"Its okay, Professor," said Harry. "But, thank
you for the offer."
"You need to learn to get better control of
your anger, Mister Potter," he calmly said.
"Anger can lead you to rash, ill-thought
action."
"In almost all situations now, Professor, I'm
able to keep my anger contained," replied
Harry. "However, Albus Wulfric Dumbledore
has a way of... riling me."
"That's
Albus Percival Wulfric Brian Dumbledore,
Mister Potter," corrected Professor
McGonagall.
"No, Professor, it is not. At least, not really,"
said Hermione. "The Headmaster added
those other two names to make himself look
more important when he was younger."
That stunned everyone except the three
bondmates.
"It's true," said Harry. "Notices of birth are
public records. We wondered why the
Headmaster had four given names and yet
his brother and sister only had two each.
"Our Headmaster was born Albus Wulfric
Dumbledore to Percival Wulfric Dumbledore
and Kendra Briana Dumbledore on the 7th of
July 1881. He changed his name when he left
Britain to begin his apprenticeship with
Nicholas Flamel in France at the turn of the
century soon after his sister died. I think he
was about nineteen then."
"That's... astounding," said the little Charms
Master, as Professor McGonagall suddenly
found herself needing to sit down in shock.
"His name's a lie?" Professor McGonagall
nearly gasped.
"Unknown," Harry replied with a shrug. "He
could have changed it through legal means
while he was in France. I've not looked."
From where he was sitting, Sirius began to
chuckle before he broke out into full
laughter.
"Something funny, Sirius?" asked Professor
Flitwick.
"It's never struck me that Dumbledore was
so vain," he chuckled. "He added more given
names to make himself seem more
important? He's right. As kids
that's exactly what we thought!"
"Well, he did it when he was nineteen," said
Hermione. "Back then he'd not found the
twelve uses of dragon's blood, apparently
become the partner of Flamel, defeated
Grindelwald and locked him up in
Nurmengard, got himself elevated to the
Wizengamot, or to the ICW."
"Sorry?" asked Professor Flitwick.
"Nurmengard?"
"Hmm? Oh!" said Hermione. "When
Dumbledore defeated Grindelwald in
one-on-one combat, he then had him locked
up in Nurmengard; the prison Grindelwald,
himself, built for his enemies off the
northern coast of Poland in the Baltic Sea.
Engraved into the lintel above the main
doors are four words: For the Greater Good."
"That's where Dumbledore got that saying
from," added Harry. "It was Grindelwald's
mantra when he and Dumbledore
became very close friends in 1899. That's
when Grindelwald was visiting his aunt,
Bathilda Bagshot, in Godric's Hollow; and the
two became romantically involved."
"We think that's why Dumbledore didn't go
after Grindelwald until 1945," said Hermione.
"He kept hoping his ex-boyfriend could
be... redeemed; and would give up his world
domination nonsense."
The three adults in the room sat stunned.
"Grindelwald's alive?" asked Professor
McGonagall, still quite shocked.
"As far as we know, yes," replied Daphne.
"Dumbledore's never claimed he killed him;
only that he defeated him. He's never lied
about that. However, he knows
people think he killed him; he's just never
corrected them of the assumption either way.
You can confirm it for yourself by asking
Dumbledore directly. I don't think he'd lie
about it, even now, if asked directly.
"Most of this you can probably confirm by
talking to Dumbledore's brother, Aberforth,
the proprietor of the Hog's Head pub in
Hogsmeade."
"But, anyway," said Harry, sitting up
straighter in his chair, ready to stand up. "We
need to think about making a move. The
Minister wants to hang a pretty ribbon about
my neck and, since Madam Longbottom and
Sirius worked him over pretty hard to get it
done, we'd best not keep the man waiting."
"Errr... yes," said Professor Flitwick, his mind
clearly on other matters. "Floo powder's on
the mantel."
As the four arrived via Floo in the atrium at
the Ministry, Sirius helped Harry to his feet
and used his wand to banish the soot off
their robes. "Bloody Hell, you three!" he
muttered to them. "Warn people, in future,
when you're about to dump shocking
information on them. I thought Minnie was
going to have a heart attack!"
"All that information is public knowledge,
Sirius," said Harry. "We just have smart
people we could send to go looking for it.
Lawyers and goblins really know their stuff."
As they talked, they were walking to the
checkpoint. All four were looking around,
looking for threats.
In front of the fountain that dominated the
'business' end of the atrium was a temporary
dais with some seating on it. No one was on
it, yet. The presentation was not for another
thirty odd minutes.
"We go see Madam Bones, first," said Sirius.
"She wants a quick word before she escorts
us in to see the Minister."
The four made their way through the
checkpoint, where their wands were
'weighed', before Sirius led them to the lifts.
They rode the lift to Level Two and quickly
made their way to the office of the Head of
the DMLE; where they were quickly ushered
through by Madam Bones's personal
secretary.
Walking in, Madam Bones was rising from
behind her desk, walking around to greet her
guests.
"Sirius," she smiled, offering her hand.
"Hello, Amelia," he replied back as she then
offered her hand to each of the others.
"Mister Potter, Missus Greengrass-Potter,
Missus Granger-Potter; welcome," she
greeted them each in turn.
"Ma'am," all three responded, in turn.
"Please, take a seat," she said, gesturing to
the four chairs she had before her desk.
Once all four had taken seat and she
returned to sitting behind her desk, she
smiled at them before looking at Harry with a
bit of a curious expression on her face.
Chapter 227
"I wonder if you could tell me, Mister Potter,
how it is you came to the conclusion I had
Death Eaters on my staff," she said.
"Logic," he smiled and shrugged back. "To
me, once we reviewed all the informational
evidence we'd gathered, it wasn't difficult to
reach the conclusion that the Ministry is
riddled with them - if you'll pardon the pun.
And, if not actual marked Death Eaters, then
sympathisers."
She looked back at him and his wives for a
few minutes before she suddenly grunted
and asked, "How's your Occlumency?"
"Very strong," said Harry. "For all three of us.
It has something to do with the bonds."
"Of course; I remember." She gave another
nod of acknowledgement before she said,
"What I'm about to tell you is not for other
ears."
When the four nodded back, she said, "My
senior staff and I have carried out a sweep of
the Ministry looking for such people. We
found a few in my Department, as you
anticipated. And we found quite a few more
throughout the other Departments across
the Ministry. There was barely a single office
within the Ministry where we did not find a
marked Death Eater, a witch or wizard who
would not hesitate to become a Death Eater
if given the opportunity, or a sympathiser; or
any combination of the three.
"If anything, almost every office
had multiple such people. And that included
my own Department... and, apparently, the
Department of Mysteries."
Sirius gave a low whistle.
"Why've we not read about this in
the Prophet?" asked Daphne.
Madam Bones gave a little squirm in her seat
and replied, "We've kept it under very tight
wraps. With the exception of my senior staff,
after each interview, the person was
Obliviated of the knowledge they'd been
questioned on the matter. A false memory
was implanted to lead them to believe the
DMLE was carrying out a very sensitive
investigation into the theft of classified items
from a sensitive location; and they were then
forbidden from talking about it with anyone
else."
"So, I take it, then," said Harry. "That the DEs
and their ilk are still at their desks and their
jobs? All you wanted to do was identify them,
for now?"
"Uh-hmm," she replied. "Do you know why?"
"You know that if you pull them out, more
will simply take their places," said Hermione.
"By leaving them where they are,
you know where they are, and can round
them all up at a later date when you need
to."
"Very good," congratulated Madam Bones.
"That's exactly why we've done that."
She then said, "Now, perhaps you could care
to explain why you believe I needed to do
that work you strongly suggested I do...
which I've done, by the way... by June?"
Harry was expecting the question so already
had an answer prepared. "I don't consider
myself a seer, or anything like that. However,
I have... dreams. Dreams, that I remember
when I wake up. These dreams pretty much
always have to do with Riddle and his
lickspittles.
"It's those dreams that lead me to believe
that, whatever it is that's going to happen, it
has something to do with conclusion of the
Tournament. And there's only the third task
left, on the 24th of June.
"I was entered into the Tri-Wizard
Tournament by someone acting against my
own desires. After so long without
discovering the identity of that person I
believe it's safe to say it wasn't a fan that
was looking to do me a 'favour', or the like.
"Instead, I'm left with the belief it was
someone intent on doing me harm. It also
had to be someone who knew, in advance,
how the competitors of the Tournament
were going to be selected. That left someone
with inside information from high up in the
Department of International Magical
Cooperation, the Department of Magical
Games and Sports, or the Minister's Office
being the person who supplied that
information.
"With how much I know I am a person of
interest for Riddle and his lickspittles, it is
not difficult to reach the conclusion it was
probably them. And, that means they're out
to do me harm.
"Now, they wanted me in the Tournament.
Which means, whatever it is they're planning
on doing, is directly related to the three tasks.
As we've now already completed two of the
tasks, it means... whatever it is they're going
to try to do... it'll be during the third task.
Personally, I think it's going to be a
kidnapping attempt.
"So, we know the Dark Mark is getting darker.
We know the DEs believe this means Riddle's
on his way back. We know that Riddle is
currently, or recently was, only a spirit. We
know that Riddle has twice already
attempted to gain artefacts to enable him to
be resurrected into physical form. We know
that, whatever it is that's going to happen,
it'll have something to do with the third task
of the Tri-Wizard Tournament being held on
Thursday, the 24th of June.
"Conclusion based on the known facts: It
appears apparent that Riddle has a plan for
his resurrection, and it somehow involves
me. And that it'll likely occur on the 24th of
June. We now know 'who' and 'why' and the
likelihood of 'when' and 'what'; however, we
don't know 'how' or 'where', if it's not in the
middle of the maze."
Madam Bones sat back and was deeply in
thought. Eventually she said, "And we can't
stop the final task as it would mean the
magic being stripped from the four
competitors, you included."
"Exactly," replied Harry.
"Well, what I can do is force Dumbledore to
allow me to station extra aurors throughout
Hogwarts. Especially within, as you surmise,
this maze you think will be part of the third
task," she said.
"I cannot interfere with the task, itself; as
that could also lead to the four of you having
your magic stripped. However, I can ensure
there are plenty of aurors watching things to
make sure you're not kidnapped."
"That would be... comforting," said Harry.
'And perfect,' he thought.
That meant there'd be plenty of aurors
around and within the maze who would
quickly be able to send out the alert that
he'd been kidnapped by the overlaid portkey
on the Cup. It also meant there'd be quite a
few on hand when he, as planned, used the
portkey to return to the school.
With that many, it should mean Crouch
Junior would not be immediately kissed... if
they didn't 'out' him earlier, as planned...
and there'd be plenty of DMLE witnesses
there to ensure his message that Riddle was
back would be properly heard. The ground
work had been laid so well that the Minister
could not now claim Harry was being a lying
attention-seeking git. Magical Britain would
know of Riddle's resurrection, immediately.
Chapter 228
After a few more words, Madam Bones
contacted the Minister to let him know they
were on their way, and escorted the four up
to the Minister's office on the next floor. She
took them up by way of an internal flight of
stairs installed for easy transit between the
two floors.
Leading the way, she escorted them directly
into the Minister's office. The man was
clearly waiting for them as he was sitting
perched on the edge of his desk in his finest.
The Pink Toad was sitting on a chair off to the
side, but close enough to being behind his
desk as to show she was considered his
'Right-Hand Witch'.
Ignoring everyone else, Fudge made his way
directly to Harry. "Ah! Mister Potter!
Welcome, welcome. I trust you're in fine
health?" he vigorously shook Harry's hand
with a wide smile plastered on his face.
"Minister," replied Harry.
As the Minister released his hand, Harry
indicated his wives. "Allow me to introduce
my wives, Missus Hermione Granger-Potter
and Missus Daphne Greengrass-Potter."
"Errr... w-wives?" stuttered the Minister, as
he held his hand out towards Hermione.
"Yes, Sir," said Harry. "As you can no doubt
deduce, we've finalised the bonds."
Quickly gathering his thoughts, Fudge took
Hermione's hand in his own before lightly
bending to brush his lips on the back of her
knuckles. "Missus Granger-Potter," he
muttered, before turning and doing the same
for Daphne.
While Fudge was lightly kissing the back of
Hermione's fingers, Harry watched as an
expression of distaste flittered across the
Pink Toad's face.
'You don't know this yet, bitch,' he thought.
'But your days on this earth are numbered.'
"And, of course," he said. "You know Sirius
Black; my godfather. I believe you recently
had quite the in-depth discussion."
Fudge blanched just a little before his smile
was once more firmly affixed to his face as he
turned to Sirius. "Mister Black," he said, as
he shook Sirius's hand.
"Minister," acknowledged a grinning Sirius.
Fudge quickly turned to introduce Umbridge.
"And, allow me to introduce Madam Dolores
Umbridge; my Senior Undersecretary." As the
woman came forward.
Before she reached them, Harry drolly said,
"Ah, yes. The witch who couldn't control her
outbursts and called me a liar at the
hearing."
That stopped the woman in her tracks as she
looked back in shock that morphed into
ill-concealed anger.
Turning back to a surprised Fudge, Harry
drawled, "I trust, Minister, you've educated
your... underling... on how to comport
herself in the Wizengamot in future?"
"Errr..." stuttered Fudge, before he decided
on a quick change of subject. "I... trust you're
ready for the presentation, this morning?"
"You're going to hang a medal around my
neck," said Harry. "I didn't find it difficult to
learn."
Fudge laughed with false cheer. "Oh, no; dear
boy! There's more to it than that!"
As he guided them all to seats and headed to
sit at his desk, he said, "There's a bit of
ceremony that goes with the awarding of an
Order of Merlin, dear boy. Allow me to step
you through it."
Harry and his wives then had to put up with
almost fifteen minutes of being told what
they already knew. And, knowing if he hadn't
been snarky, most of the talk would not have
occurred.
Harry, Daphne, Hermione and Sirius were all
sitting on the chairs on the stage to one side
while the remaining living Order of Merlin
Holders sat on the other. They were: Albus
Dumbledore - Order of Merlin, First Class (of
course); Newt Scamander - Order of Merlin,
Second Class; and Orabella Nuttley - Order of
Merlin, Second Class.
Harry was surprised to learn that Lockhart
actually did hold an Order of Merlin, Third
Class. However, the man was still happily
signing photographs with a crayon and giving
them to pot plants in the Janus Thickey Ward
in Saint Mungo's. As such he was considered
too ill to attend the event, that morning. A
chair was located at the far end but left
vacant for the man out of 'respect'.
There was another vacant chair on the inside
end for Fudge - another Order of Merlin, First
Class holder. Harry had no idea, though, how
the man could have possibly earned such an
award.
During their talk in his office, Fudge said,
"Madam Umbridge, who'll be holding the
little display box for the medal, will be sitting
on the stage, with us. She'll come..."
"No," Harry flatly said.
"Errr... pardon, Mister Potter?" asked the
Minister, his explanation suddenly derailed.
"I said, no," said Harry. "Madam Umbridge
publicly insulted me only a few short months
ago. While I think it somewhat justice for her
to be forced to hold such an award for me. I
do not want her anywhere near me.
"If you need someone to hold the award box
while you draw the medal out to hang it
around my neck, I'd rather someone of
Madam Bones's calibre do it. Madam Bones
is a Head of the DMLE; while Madam
Umbridge is, after all, only
a mere Undersecretary.
"Your underling, Madam Umbridge, may find
herself unable to blurt out that she thinks me
a liar, again. I'd hate to have to immediately
demand satisfaction through an honour duel
for her remarks. Especially during the
presentation, itself."
As Fudge sat there and appeared unable to
think how to proceed, Madam Bones calmly
said, "I would be honoured to, Mister
Potter."
"Errr... yes," said Fudge. "Of course, it's not
a requirement for Madam Umbridge to be
the one who holds the box; but, still, I've
already informed Madam Umbridge..."
"Uninform her," said Harry. "The woman is,
after all, sitting in the corner."
"Errr... yes," said the Minister as he clearly
thought very hard about what to do.
Eventually, he said, "Well, if you prefer
Madam Bones to be the one to hold the
award for you..."
"Minister!" exclaimed Umbridge, clearly
upset and enraged.
"Enough, Dolores," he said. "If Mister Potter
prefers Madam Bones, then it
shall be Madam Bones. You did, after all,
publicly insult Mister Potter only a few
months ago."
The Pink Toad almost curled in on herself and
quietly fumed.
"Now, then," said the Minister, continuing.
"Madam Bones will also be sitting on the
stage..."
That now led to Madam Bones wearing her
'parade' uniform and sitting in a chair
between the groups of family and Order of
Merlin recipients with the medal case sitting
on her lap.
Chapter 229
By the time the Minister finally hung the
medal around his neck Harry felt he needed
to run back to Hogwarts. Instead, he had to
give a short speech where he thanked the
Minister and the Wizengamot for the award.
During his speech he made sure to thank
both Madam Longbottom and Sirius for
'shepherding' the award through the
Minister's office before then thanking his
bondmates and Sirius for having the patience
to sit there while long speeches were given.
Then he quickly wrapped up and thanked the
crowd for taking the time to come and
witness the award.
He was ready to head back to Hogwarts
when the Minister informed him he had to
attend a Ministry reception for the award
being held in the Ministry reception hall.
He'd hoped to be able to avoid it by citing he
was still a competitor in the Tri-Wizard
Tournament and needed to focus his efforts
on that.
Of course, the Minister was too slick a
politician to allow him and his family to
escape. Fudge practically latched onto him
and dragged him to the reception hall, just to
make sure he didn't try to flee.
Then, for the next hour, Harry was
introduced to every Department Head and
what he felt was every Office Head, plus
many of their wives. He had to stand for
photographs with the Minister, with the
Minister and his wife, with the Minister
and his wives, with the Minister and the
three wives, with the other recipients, and
he couldn't recall how many others.
The only photograph he flatly refused to
participate in was one where he was
expected to stand with Madam Umbridge.
And he made sure Fudge was well aware
he'd very publicly deny the photographic
opportunity if it was attempted to be forced
upon him.
After Fudge took the Pink Toad aside and told
her, she stormed from the venue.
"Making friends, Pup?" asked his amused
godfather.
"The woman is a menace," replied Harry.
"She has single-handedly introduced laws
that have gone a long way towards driving
this society back to the fifteenth century.
She's a flat-out unrepentant blood bigot and
Riddle supporter, but too smart to allow
herself to be 'Marked'.
"The only way she's managed to rise as far as
she has within the Ministry is because she
holds blackmail material over a wide range of
people. She lacks talent but is as cunning as
all Hell."
"Well, don't hold back on your opinion, Pup,"
smirked Sirius. "You're an awardee of the
Order of Merlin, First Class, now. You're
expected to be outspoken about matters."
Harry just grinned back at his godfather's
attempts at lightening the mood and flipped
him the bird.
Eventually, the three returned to the castle.
Of course, they couldn't just walk back to
their room. Now Harry had to show the
medal to every one who wanted to see it.
Whether that was because they wanted to
see Harry wearing one, or because they'd
simply not seen one before, was irrelevant.
However, as soon as Harry stepped out of the
Floo in Professor Flitwick's office, he pulled it
off over his head and dropped it into the case
Hermione was carrying. Of course, Hermione
then went right ahead and laid it in the
case properly.
By the time they did make it back to their
apartment, they'd already missed lunch. The
first thing the three did was strip out of their
finest and throw on their 'weekend' robes.
The Order of Merlin in its little case was left
on their 'dresser'. At that time, Harry felt as if
he could just dump it in a draw and never see
the thing again. But, there was no way his
wives were going to allow that to happen.
Dobby, bless his little elfish heart, anticipated
their needs and had a light lunch laid out for
them when they exited their bedroom. It
even earned him a kiss on his cheek from
Hermione when she spotted it.
The poor little fellow blushed to his toes and
popped away, without a word.
As they sat down to eat, Harry sighed in
relief.
"Feet or Fudge?" asked Daphne.
It took Harry a little while to parse that
before he said, "Fudge, really. And all those
boring bloody speeches. At least we were
able to sit through it. Those Ministry workers
and those from the public just coming to
watch pretty much had to stand through it
all.
"Language, Harry James," said Hermione,
almost absentmindedly as she built herself a
lunch.
"However, that's me," he said. "You ladies
always seem to go for form over function
when you wear shoes. How're your feet?"
"Fine," said Daphne as Hermione agreed.
"Thankfully, we too sat through most of it."
"However, for your information," said
Hermione, "Witches shoes are designed to
both look good and be comfortable. Magic,
don't you know." She smiled back.
"I just hope I never have to go through
something like that again," Harry said with
feeling.
"You will," said Daphne.
"What? Why?" he asked, whining a little.
"You'll need to go through it, as one of the
ones sitting on the side with those who've
already received the award, every time
someone else gets presented with an Order
of Merlin," explained Daphne.
"Secondly, when you finally kill Riddle, I have
no doubt you'll be the first person since...
whenever... who'll be presented with
a second Order of Merlin, First Class."
"I looked it up," said Hermione. "It's called a
'Bar'. You'll then hold the Order of Merlin,
First Class, and Bar; designating the Order
being awarded a second time."
'Trust Hermione to look something like that
up,' thought Harry.
"As long as I don't get another hyphenated
bl-ooming name," he grouched. "What is
there now? The Boy-Who-Lived and the
Slayer-of-The-Basilisk?"
"I think they've settled on 'The
Slayer-of-Slytherin's-Monster'," said Daphne.
"For the alliteration of it."
"That's even worse," he sighed.
"Suck it up, Harry," said Daphne a little firmly.
"It's going to get far worse, yet. Think about
what our angels told us. You, with us by your
side, are going to drag our society up by the
bootstraps into the 21st Century, let alone
the 20th."
"You have two wives with knowledge and
experience of both the magical and muggle
worlds," continued Hermione. "Haven't you
worked out, yet, there's a reason for that?"
"I thought it was because of how much Fate's
using me as her personal punching bag," he
softly complained.
Both of his ladies smiled back.
"No," disagreed Daphne. "It's because of
how much work is ahead of us. Killing Riddle
is only the first stage on a long road."
Chapter 230
"I'm only interested in killing Riddle and
getting that sociopath off my back," said
Harry. "I've not even thought about what
comes after that."
"Nor should you," agreed Daphne.
"Let us worry about what comes next."
"And there will be a lot of 'nexts'," added
Hermione.
Life at Hogwarts settled down again as the
excitement of the approaching third task of
the Tri-Wizard Tournament had people
turning their attentions that way and away
from the Order of Merlin.
The perpetrators of the 'Great Magazine
Subscription Prank' were never caught.
However, the prevailing belief was it was the
Weasley twins who were responsible. Their
outright denials and exclamations they
always admitted to a prank when caught
were only believed by some.
Eventually, they approached the three in
their apartment.
"You did it, didn't you?" accused one.
"The only one who would specifically target
Malfoy is..." said the other.
"... Harry James Potter," they said in stereo.
"Now, that's not fair!" retaliated Harry. "Just
because Ferret Boy was the victim does not
automatically make me the perpetrator."
"Then deny it," said one.
"We know you don't lie, Harry," said the
other.
"Fine!" retorted Harry. "I did not come up
with the prank that saw Malfoy be mail
bombed by magazine subscriptions... There.
Happy?"
The twins looked at each other for a moment
before huddling their heads together and
murmuring to one another. Harry just hoped
they hadn't paid that much attention to
exactly what he'd just said.
When they both looked back at Harry, one
said, "But, you know who did!"
"Yes," he replied. "But, I'm not telling you
who. You know what sort of a vindictive
bastard Malfoy is. If he was to ever find
out..."
Again, the twins huddled for a few seconds
before they turned back. One said, "Then
please inform the prankster we stand
impressed!
"It was, as the Headmaster said, a
well-executed prank," said the other.
"And we'd never tell."
Out of the corner of his eye, Harry saw his
wives look at one another before they
seemed to reach an agreement. Both then
stood and turned to the twins before they
curtsied and said, "Thank you."
Both twins goggled back before they then
both grinned.
"Who'd have thought?" one said.
"The bookworm of Gryffindor..." said the
other.
"And the Ice Princess of Slytherin..."
"Together, pranking the..."
"Amazing Bouncing Ferret!" they said in
stereo. Then they both bowed back.
Both girls grinned.
"No wonder no one's been able to figure it
out," said one.
"It boggles the mind!" said the other.
Harry sighed and said, "Take a seat, boys."
As both quickly scrambled to sit, almost
eagerly, Harry said, "Now that you
know. Please don't go spreading it around.
As I said, Malfoy's such a vindictive bastard
he'll come after them. And, he'll do it with
the intention to physically hurt them;
considering how much he was embarrassed
by this.
"I know the Headmaster has put his foot
down regarding bullying in the school; but,
Malfoy's always had it in his head that both
his godfather and father will protect his arse
no matter how much he gets into trouble.
He'll do something to hurt, if not... heaven
forbid... kill, these two no
matter what threats he receives of
consequences for his actions."
"We will not divulge their identities," said
one.
"You have our word," said the other.
"Good," said Harry. "Now, as payment for
copping the fall, I give you the identities of
your idols. The original Marauders, whom
the two of you wish you were the equals
of…"
Both boys eagerly leaned forward.
"… They were Sirius Black, also known as
Padfoot; Remus Lupin, also known as Moony;
James Potter, also known as Prongs; and the
traitor, Peter Pettigrew, also known as
Wormtail. There was also a fifth, secret,
Marauder, Lily Evans, also known as Flower."
The two boys sat there, stunned.
"You alright, there, you two?" he asked.
"Professor Lupin was one of the original
Marauders?" asked one.
"Yes," replied Harry. "Considered the brains
the team, until my mother joined them in
their seventh year."
"And Pettigrew, the traitor of Gryffindor, was
another?" asked the other.
"Yes," he replied, again.
"However, never bring his name up when
talking to either Padfoot or Moony. It makes
them really angry."
"So, the Marauders were..."
"Your father..."
"Your godfather..."
"Your honourary uncle..."
"And the traitor."
"With, the previous 'brightest witch of her
age'..."
"Your mother..."
"A secret fifth Marauder."
"Yes," replied Harry. "And all of them, except
the rat, kept their school marks in the top
twenty percentile for their year group.
Moony went on to become a Prefect. And,
my Mum and Dad went on to become Head
Boy and Girl."
"That's why we also happen to know you
two," said Daphne, indicating the two of
them, "Are deliberately fudging your marks
in classes and exams. You can't be as good as
you are at your pranks and still have low to
average marks."
"Yeah, you said that before," said one, sadly.
"Back when Ginny and Ronnikins... you
know," said the other, just as sadly.
"But we didn't understand how you knew."
"Now, we know."