Chapter 291
Her face went completely blank and she
stared straight at him. "I don't know what
you're talking about, Mister Potter. Everyone
knows all the Death Eaters were dealt with
during, or immediately after, the previous
war."
Internally, Harry gave a shudder and
apologised for interrupting the woman when
she was so busy. He wanted nothing less
than to get the Hell out of there as fast as he
could.
It was easy to deduce the woman, with
others assisting, had 'dealt' with the marked
Death Eaters through other means. There'd
be no trials for them.
As promised, they took Narcissa and Draco
on a couple of expeditions into 'Muggle
London'. One excursion was to a major
shopping mall, another was to the Tower of
London, and a third was to see a recent
major picture release at a cinema.
Each trip practically left the two purebloods
reeling in shock. Folks at the Black House
also made sure to leave at least a few days
between excursions lest they cause too much
shock and overload their pureblood
mentalities.
However, after the third such trip, the girls
decided to ask that Narcissa and Draco be
invited to the wedding. They felt they had
learned enough about muggles and the
muggle world that they could be both
trusted and comfortable enough to be
allowed to attend. After a bit of deliberation
between the Greengrasses and Sirius the
invitation was made; and gratefully accepted.
It was during this time that Harry's results
came in from his Ancient Runes exam at the
Ministry. He, surprising even himself, scored
an Outstanding. The score was barely in the
Outstanding range; but, it was there,
nevertheless. This meant he'd be joining his
wives for OWL year Runes.
He quickly wrote off a letter to Professor
Flitwick letting him know he'd be adding
Ancient Runes to his timetable and included
a copy of the results.
Because of the involvement of the angels,
the wedding was being held at a local
metropolitan church, Croyden Church of the
Church of England in Croyden Borough. The
church building was believed to have stood
since the time of the Founders and had
hosted the Royal family, at times, as well as
four Archbishops of Canterbury.
At other times, the girls would need to
disappear occasionally to deal with
something wedding related. And, at yet
other times, the three would work with
Sirius on mastering their forms.
Surprising the other two, Hermione - who
was slowest to recognise her form through
meditation - was the first to successfully fully
transform. But, it was only two days later
when Daphne and Harry both fully
transformed almost together. And only two
days shy of the wedding. They'd both had the
same 'A-ha!' moment of which Hermione
informed them was needed for that final
effort to complete the transformation on
their own.
Their other project was to prepare the false
prophecy sphere. Dobby had managed to
snag a few hairs from Professor Trelawney's
hair brush before going to Dumbledore's
private quarters and doing the same.
Everything else could be done by
transfiguration.
With their existing two unused potion phials
of polyjuice, they didn't need to brew a new
batch.
One day when the weather was right, Sirius
booked a room at the Hogshead where the
original prophecy was made. They then
entered and set up everything to recreate the
memory.
Harry was the one who could best imitate
the batty old witch's voice because he was
the only one who heard the prophecy in its
correct form from the memory in
Dumbledore's pensieve. Hermione took the
polyjuice to match Dumbledore. And Sirius
pretended to be Snape out in the hallway,
while Daphne remained under the invisibility
cloak behind Dumbledore.
They worried it would take them longer to
get it just right. However, with all their
planning, preparation and rehearsals, they
got it in only two 'takes'.
When they'd written down the actual words
of the real prophecy, Daphne realised there
was really only one line that needed to be
changed. 'And either must die at the hand of
the other for neither can live while the other
survives.'
That one line was replaced with, 'The chosen
one will face his foe in the place where it all
began. And there the Dark Lord shall meet
his final end.'
That left them with the following false
prophecy: 'The one with the power to
vanquish the Dark Lord approaches... Born to
those who have thrice defied him, born as
the seventh month dies. And the Dark Lord
will mark him as equal, but he will have
power the Dark Lord knows not... The chosen
one will face his foe in the place where it all
began. And there the Dark Lord shall meet
his final end. The one with the power to
vanquish the Dark Lord will be born as the
seventh month dies.'
Once they'd finished the four of them were
grinning from ear-to-ear to one another.
"This would have to be the greatest prank
ever done," said Sirius. "It'll be hard to beat;
if it ever can be."
The memory string was handed off to
Madam Bones the next day, who promised
them she'd speak to Croaker about switching
it out for the real prophecy.
"I don't know if Croaker will go for it,
though," she said, a little worried.
"It's still worth the effort," said Daphne.
"Better to ask and be rebuffed than not ask
at all when there's a possibility."
On the next morning, Madam Bones asked
Croaker to join her in her office. She was a
little nervous about what the man would say.
With a muted crack of apparition Croaker
appeared before her desk. "Amelia," he
softly said.
Though he'd, again, appeared in the middle
of her office as if to startle the witch, this
time Madam Bones wasn't surprised by the
visit, as she was expecting it.
"Algernon," she said. "Thank you for coming
to see me."
"What's this about?" asked the Unspeakable.
"I would like you to do something for me you
might find yourself reluctant to do," she
began.
"Well, now you have me intrigued," he
replied with a little smirk. "What would you
have of me to do?"
"That prophecy sphere in the Hall of
Prophecies we talked about? I need you to
remove and replace it with a false one," she
explained.
"And why would I do that?" he asked with a
frown.
"Because the prophecy mentions Riddle and
he knows of only part of it. He'll be coming
to get it when he feels he has enough
support to do so," she explained. "I'd like
him to have a false version of that prophecy
to worry about."
Chapter 292
"Potter?" asked Croaker.
With a nod, Madam Bones replied, "Potter.
He knows Riddle wants to know what the
prophecy states and will make a play for it.
He further believes Riddle should be allowed
to have it - the false one, that is."
"Have your pensieve with you?" asked
Croaker.
Amelia reached across to one of her side
cabinets and pulled out 'her' solicitor's
pensieve she kept in her office to
immediately review evidence. She placed it
on her desk in the back corner before pulling
the memory Harry'd given her; and dumping
it within.
"Shall we?" she asked, indicating the stone
bowl.
Together, the two entered the memory.
When they came out a few seconds later,
Croaker said, "Interesting. From the original
they've only altered one line. However, that's
a significant line."
"Would it stand up to scrutiny?" she asked.
"It would," he nodded. "They had everything
else almost down to the last detail. The only
things they got wrong where the clothes
Dumbledore and Trelawney wore. However,
they're very close there, too."
"Then, will you do it?" she asked. "Will you
switch out the spheres?"
Croaker seemed to think for a long few
minutes before he obviously reached a
conclusion. "Yes," he said. "However, the real
one will still exist. It will merely be in a safe
within my office. This false one will take its
place on the racks. It will then not be our
fault Riddle believes it to be real."
Letting out a sigh of relief from a breath she
didn't realise she'd been holding, Amelia
drew the memory back out of the pensieve
and returned it to the memory phial before
handing it to Croaker.
"Thank you, Algernon," she quickly said.
With a simple nod back, Croaker apparated
back out of the office.
After replacing the pensieve back onto it's
shelf in her cabinet, Amelia sat down and
drafted a quick note to Harry.
Mister Potter,
He agreed.
Amelia Bones
When the Ministry owl arrived at Grimmauld
Place less than two hours later, Harry gave a
whoop of delight before showing his wives
the note.
"Now we just have to let him take it,"
smirked Daphne. "No need to run off to the
Ministry to stop him."
"Well, in all fairness, we didn't go to the
Ministry to stop Riddle getting his hands on
the prophecy," said Harry, a little shamefaced.
"We went there to rescue my godfather."
"Who wasn't there and was, instead, here
having a nap or something," said Daphne
before she suddenly scowled. "I'm glad Sirius
got rid of that elf. Traitorous little so-and-so."
On the afternoon the day before the
wedding the two girls Floo'ed from the Black
House and went to Greengrass Farm. There,
they'd be waiting for Tracey and Luna before
all of them would be side-along apparated to
the Granger residence, where they were
starting the 'muggle' side of the wedding
preparations that evening. Narcissa went
with them.
As soon as the girls and Narcissa were gone,
Sirius rubbed his hands together, gave an evil
little laugh and immediately started making
Floo calls. Harry and Draco just glanced at
each other and grinned.
During the preceding two weeks the unlikely
pair had developed a strong friendship. They
still had their moments, but Harry came to
understand that Draco had pretty much been
brainwashed by his father into the pureblood
doctrine. His three excursions into the
muggle world had really opened the other
boy's eyes, and put paid as fiction to much of
his taught beliefs.
Over the next few hours they were joined by
Neville, the twins, Blaise, Cedric, Anthony
Goldstein and Michael Corner. The last two
had no idea Draco was now living at The
Black House and they were asked, and
promised, not to tell anyone until Draco,
himself, announced it.
"Well, it looks like we've got a good mix of all
four houses, here," grinned Sirius. He then
turned to the twins and said, "Pranks are
allowed, but nothing that causes damage or
cannot be undone by the time we all
eventually go to bed tonight. And no just
picking on the Slytherins."
"Yes, oh great Padfoot," they both intoned,
bowing in response.
The evening turned out to be a lot of fun.
There was talking, some games played, a few
pranks pulled - of which Harry was just as
much responsible - but no real harm caused.
The twins were amazed when Harry and
Draco, working together, managed to prank
them by giving them a potion that made
them think they had been resorted, due to
the deviousness of their pranks, and both
were now in Slytherin.
When both boys were on their knees before
both Remus and Sirius, begging and praying
to both not to 'forsake' them because they'd
been re-sorted into Slytherin, both Harry and
Draco were rolling about on the couches
roaring with laughter.
Neville was trying to convince them they
hadn't been re-sorted but was quite
unsuccessful. They just couldn't believe him.
Remus was the first of the two adults to
work it out. He looked over to the pair of
them and asked, "They haven't been
re-sorted, have they? How'd you do it?"
"A modified compulsion potion blended with
a very mild nightmare inducer," said Draco.
"They're absolutely convinced Professor
McGonagall had had enough of the two of
them and had them re-sorted. They,
supposedly, ended up sorted into Slytherin,
though they begged to be sorted into
Ravenclaw. It's their worst fear."
"It'll wear off in about thirty minutes,"
chortled a red-faced, teary-eyed Harry.
"Clever," smirked Remus. "You're aware
they'll be looking for payback, aren't you?"
"Not when we tell them we're giving them
the recipe for product development for their
store," smirked Draco.
Remus snorted and said, "Harry's right,
you're inherently a Slytherin with Gryffindor
tendencies."
"Hey!" exclaimed Draco, mock offended.
"Don't go spreading that around!"
When the potion finally wore off, the twins
asked for the recipe and promised not to
retaliate before the two had a chance to
make the offer. They thought it was brilliant;
scary, but brilliant.
Having already written the recipe down,
Draco smirked when he saw the looks on
their faces as he handed it to them.
A little later, he said to Harry, "If I knew just
how easy it was to bribe the pair of them I'd
have done it in first year."
Chapter 293
"You just have to have the right coin,
cousin-of-mine," replied Harry. "Gold's gold;
but, a prank potion recipe with the rights to
brew it is priceless to them."
Though they'd had a late night the night
before, the residents of The Black House,
both permanent and temporary, were up
early for a filling breakfast. Headache and
hangover potions did the rounds before the
group needed to get ready.
When one of the twins moaned from where
he was resting his forehead on the tabletop
and verbally wondered what time the ladies
would be up, Remus smiled and said, "They'd
have been up for hours, by now."
"Think about the Yule Ball," Cedric added,
from where he was making distasteful faces
at a bowl of freshly cooked scrambled eggs
before grabbing some dry toast. "That took
them, on average, about three hours to get
ready. A wedding takes them a lot longer
than that."
"What time's the wedding again?" whined
Neville from where he was trying to keep
down the porridge he was trying to eat.
"Eleven," said Harry. As he had only drunk
butterbeers the night before, he was in much
better shape.
"And the time now?" asked Blaise.
"Just after eight," said Draco.
"And just why did we have to be up so
early?" asked the other twin.
"We need to leave by ten fifteen at the
latest," said Remus. "And you needed to be
up early enough to eat breakfast and take
potions to improve your seedy dispositions
before you need to get dressed. You don't
want to arrive at the wedding still feeding
ill."
After Harry had finished his breakfast and
potions, he went back to his room and
quickly headed for the shower. He stayed
under the stream for a little while as the
potions quickly did their work.
When he finally emerged he quickly dried
and dressed before heading back down to
the kitchen. There was no one waiting for
him.
Just after he settled at the table, Chuckles -
or whatever the house elf's name really was -
popped in. "Is there something I can get for
you, Master Harry?"
"No thank you, Chuckles," sighed Harry. "And,
breakfast was delicious this morning. Thank
you."
"You're welcome, Master Harry," replied the
little elf as it gave a slight bow, before
popping away again.
As he sat there, Harry meditated a fair bit. He
hadn't cleaned up his memories for a while.
So, he spent time doing that. He also chose
to use some of that sorting time to set aside
memories that filled his heart with joy and
love. Those memories would be perfect for
powering powerful patronuses.
It wasn't until someone called his name that
he realised others were in the room.
When he opened his eyes he saw the
expressions on the faces of those in the
kitchen with him. Remus had a knowing
expression and was the one who called him.
Sirius also had a similar expression, as did
Blaise. But the twins just looked at him
curiously. The others weren't in the room.
"Sorry," he smiled. "Meditating to sort
memories for my Occlumency."
That was when the twins understood.
"The cars are here," said Sirius. "Is everyone
ready to go?"
With a chorus of yes'es in his ears, Harry just
smiled and firmly said, "Definitely."
From the Black House, Sirius had organised a
pair of 'stretch' Rolls Royces in burgundy to
take the Groom's party to the
Over at Greengrass Farm, the girls rose early,
just as Remus said they would.
Deece had arranged for specialist wizarding
make-up and hair stylists for straight after an
early but light breakfast. They had arrived as
the group of ladies: Deece, Cele, Daphne,
Hermione, Narcissa, Tracey, Luna and Astoria
sat around the informal table just off the
kitchen.
The only two males in the house, Matthias
and Ant, made sure to stay out of the way.
They had their own morning meal while the
ladies were in the ladies' sitting room, which
had been converted to a beautician's and
dressing room combined.
Through the morning, the two father's sat
and talked, took a walk together and talked,
and then sat and talked some more.
Just as they were about to head up to get
dressed, a Greengrass house elf popped in
with orders from the ladies to do exactly
that.
"Us mere males are clearly not capable of
working it out for ourselves," Ant dryly said
to Matthias.
"Were we ever?" the question was asked
back.
Once the menfolk had showered and
changed, they met up outside the door to the
ladies' sitting room. They gave each other a
'once over' before Matthias raised his hand
to knock.
Astoria opened the door and stuck her head
out.
"Oh, you're ready," she said, before she
pulled back and pulled the door open as she
did.
With a chuckle to one another, both fathers
stepped into the womenfolk's sanctuary.
Tracey and Luna were daintily sitting
together on a large lounge in an almost
mirror reflection of one another. Astoria
went to join them.
Daphne was sitting at one of those stage
makeup mirror dressing table arrangements
with Deece hovering as the hairstylist was
making a few minor corrections. And it was
the same with Hermione and Cele at the
other of the two. However, she had the
make-up witch working on her.
Glancing to the doorway, Deece said,
"Almost ready."
After the beautician and the hairstylist did
one last switch between brides, they were
declared 'ready'.
From the ladies' room they went down to the
welcoming parlour. Matthias then pulled
three portkeys off the mantelpiece and said,
"Ant and I will go first. Once we're there, I'll
prepare to cast cushioning charms and the
like in case someone arrives unsteady on
their feet.
"Then have it Deece, our two bridesmaids
and attendant. And, finally, Celeste and our
two lovely brides. The portkeys will have you
arriving in the middle of the Granger's sitting
room. Now, all set?"
When the ladies nodded back, Mathias
activated their portkey by tapping on it with
his wand.
Chapter 294
As soon as he and Ant arrived in the Granger
sitting room, he began to cast cushioning
charms while Ant pulled the coffee table out
of the way.
As soon as the second group arrived, Ant was
lucky to be close enough to catch anyone
before it even looked like they were going to
fall over. However, everyone else arrived
safely and comfortably on their feet.
They pulled the ladies out of the way just in
time for the final group to come through.
And Ant was able to catch both Cele and
Daphne as Matthias caught Hermione. Cele
had the worst of it.
"Alright, we're all here?" asked Deece.
When no one said anything Ant went to have
a look outside the front window. He was just
in time to see their rides turn up. He'd
organised a trio of matching white Rolls
Royces to take the bridal party to the church
in Croyden.
With a last minute check they had everything
they needed, Ant ushered everyone out the
front, down the walk, and to the cars. The
rear doors were held open for them by three
matching uniformed drivers.
Winky watched them go from the front
window. And, as soon as they were gone, she
called Dobby and Jiffy, the head Greengrass
elf.
"They has gone and we has work to do," she
said to the other two.
Both nodded back and elf popped away
moments before Winky followed.
Just as the cars were pulling away from the
Granger house with the combined bridal
party safely ensconced within, the two
burgundy Rolls Royces of the groom's party
were pulling up outside the Croyden church.
Remus led them inside as Sirius made sure
the payment for the service of the
chauffeured cars was paid.
The party was met by the Bishop of Croydon,
of all people. He introduced himself as
Bishop Wilfred Wood.
As Sirius joined them while they stood in the
entry hall - the narthex - the Bishop softly
said, "It is a very great honour to meet you,
Mister Potter."
"Oh?" asked Harry, worried the bishop had
contacts in the wizarding world.
The Bishop gently guided him slightly apart
from the others. And both Sirius and Remus
watched on carefully while his wizarding
friends all looked about in wonder.
The bishop said, "A couple of months ago,
I'm ashamed to say, I was suffering from a
lack of faith. I was here, in the church,
praying for guidance when I was... I was
visited by..."
"Three angels, sir?" asked Harry, gently
smiling.
With an obvious sigh of relief, the bishop said,
"Yes; three angels. They told me I had a very
special job to do. I was to officiate at a very
special wedding between three people.
"At first, I was alarmed. Weddings are
supposed to be between only two people; a
man and a wife. However, they assured me
this wedding has the direct blessing of our
Lord. I was wondering if you could sate an
old man's curiosity by telling me why?"
"We're soul-bonded, Sir," replied Harry. "The
three of us... Our souls have bonded together,
for eternity. And it's a bonding that was
created by those, shall we say, upstairs?"
"Ah!" the bishop replied. "I must say, it is
most unusual."
"I'm led to believe it has not occurred in
recorded history, Sir," grinned Harry. "We are
bonded because, I'm told, the three of us are
involved in a true prophecy. We have a
destiny ahead of us; and Heaven felt it would
take the three of us being bonded to meet
that destiny."
"I see," the bishop nodded. "Then, I thank
you for allowing me to be a part of it. I shall
pray, tonight, to thank those angels, too."
"I think you'll be able to do that in person,
soon enough," said Harry.
When the old man looked a little alarmed,
Harry mentally face slapped himself before
he quickly said, "I did not mean that the way
you think, Bishop. I mean, I believe they'll be
putting in an appearance some time today."
"Ah!" the bishop sighed in relief again.
When Harry rejoined the others, Sirius took
them through the doors into the main floor
of the church - the nave. There were a few
gasps from those who'd never seen the
inside of such an old church before. Of course,
that was all of them. However Sirius, Remus
and Harry had visited once before; just so
they knew how to get there and what to
expect.
"Alright guys," said Harry. "You now know
what our other magical witnesses are going
to be expecting. Fred and George, you're
tasked with warning them not to gog about
as if they've never seen the inside a church
before, even if they haven't. Make sure they
all know to come and sit in the first few rows
of pews up at the front."
The twins nodded back.
"Alright Harrikins; leave it to us," said one.
"We'll get them sorted, don't you worry,"
said the other.
Turning to Draco, he said, "Draco, can you
stand up near the front row of pews, that's
the long wooden backed benches, and guide
people into those pews? We only have about
a couple dozen guests, so they shouldn't plan
on sitting right back here."
"You can count on me, Harry," he solemnly
replied.
"Blaise, do you mind giving him a hand or, at
least, keeping him company?" asked Harry.
"Will do, Harry," said Blaise.
"Cedric, please make sure that if there's an
elderly lady turning up on her own that you
escort her to a seat."
"As any gentleman would do, Harry," smiled
the older boy.
"Neville," he said looking to his best male
friend. "You're with me in front of the altar in
the crossing." Indicating towards the front of
the church, he said, "That's the area just
beyond the rails on the red carpeted area.
Until just before the time the bridal party
turns up, we stay here and greet guests."
"Got it, Harry," nodded Neville.
"Still got the rings?" asked Harry.
Neville smiled back and tapped the vest
pocket of his mourning suit. "Right here,
Harry. Same place as the last time you
asked."
"And the time before that," grinned both
twins.
"Alright," said Harry, as if he hadn't heard
the responses, giving a bit of a sigh and
rubbing his hands together. "Guests should
start arriving any minute."
Now that they'd arrived at the church, Harry
was really starting to feel the nerves.
Chapter 295
The first people in through the outside doors
were their three angels dressed as muggles.
As John approached Harry, Della and Roma
walked over to a stunned bishop, who was
looking back with a look of shock.
"Hello Harry James," said John.
With a sigh of almost relief, Harry replied,
"Hello John. I'm glad to see you here."
"We wouldn't miss it," he smiled back. "Now,
you must excuse me; but, I need to join the
others in talking with Wilfred Andrew."
Harry just nodded back as John smiled again
and walked over to join the others.
"Anyone we know, Harry?" asked Draco.
"Just a friend," he replied.
"And what's with the first names?" asked
Cedric.
"It's the manner he speaks," replied Harry
with a little smile. "As do his two friends.
They talk to people using all their first names;
and, kinda, refuse to use family names. Think
of it as a religious .
The wedding went off without a hitch. The
muggle families from the Granger side didn't
even bat an eye to see two brides and one
groom.
The bishop, after a short hesitation where he
said 'man and wife', merely corrected himself
to 'man and wives' and kept going.
Of course, there was the doubling of that
part of the ceremony where he asked 'who
gives this woman to this man and woman'
and a couple of similar adjustments; but, it
flowed quite smoothly.
Harry was happy to see their three angels
stood side-by-side just off to the side and
witnessed the entire ceremony.
Soon - and after what felt like almost forever
- Harry was escorting both his brides back
down the nave to the narthex.
Waiting outside for them were now the five
Rolls Royces. And the entire bridal party was
soon whisked off to the reception venue.
Due to the security involved this was taking
place in the backyard of the Granger
residence.
After the bishop saw to the guests being
escorted back out of the church he stood at
the crossing looking to the doors and said,
"That would have to be the most unusual
wedding I have ever officiated. And, I've
officiated some doozies."
The three angels walked over to join him
from where they had stood and witnessed.
Della was softly chuckling while the other
two were grinning.
"You did very well, Wilfred Andrew," she said.
"Heavenly father is most happy with you."
"May I ask a question?" he asked.
"Certainly," she immediately replied. "We
may not be able to answer it for you,
though."
"Those three," he said. "They have a...
destiny ahead of them, don't they?"
"Yes, they do," she replied. "In some ways,
the weight of the world rests on their three
sets of shoulders."
"But, fear not. We're confident they're up to
the tasks," added Roma.
When he turned to ask them another
question from his staring out towards the
narthex, they'd already disappeared.
Chuckling to himself, he muttered, "No one
will ever believe me if I told them of this. But,
I know. My faith is healed and I'm confident
in leading the flocks again."
As soon as the bridal party had left the
Granger residence in the three white Rolls
Royces, Winky, Dobby, Chuckles, Jiffy and the
other Greengrass elves were soon joined by
the Potter elves. Jeeves heard of what was to
be done and brought 'his' elves with him.
And, soon, they were working hard and fast.
A large white marquee was erected in the
backyard and party tables were brought in.
They were quickly covered with white
tablecloths and joined by similarly clad
chairs.
Centrepieces of wonderful designs were
placed in the middle of each table; tables,
which were soon festooned with shining
cutlery.
Along one side a long table was erected and
also covered with a white tablecloth. This
table was soon loaded at one end with
enough crockery from the Potter collection to
sit forty people at a five course feast.
Elves set to work in the Granger and
Greengrass kitchens to prepare the
traditional wedding breakfast. Then the food
was moved to the long table in the marquee
in large tureens, platters and plates. Each
was placed under a stasis charm.
By the time the combined wedding party
returned to the Granger residence the elves
had readied everything they needed to have
done in advance. All but Winky and Dobby
had departed again, while those two held
themselves disillusioned and carefully
watched.
The party moved through into the sitting
room and awaited their guests to arrive. The
teens, except Harry and his wives, moved out
to the backyard. As soon as they stepped
outside, they were surprised by what
awaited them.
"Is that a tent?" asked Draco.
"No, it's called a marquee," said Victor, who
had joined them on their ride back. "We
often haf them at matches for... VIPs."
Victor then led the way down the steps to
the marquee, and was first to enter with
Astoria on his arm.
"Wow!" said Astoria, looking around. "This is
nice!"
After the other teens had their own looks
inside, Draco said, "Alright. We need to get
organised, here. Potter's relying on us; and I
have no intention of letting him down."
"We'll be on that wooden deck thing," said
one of the twins.
"And we'll send the guests down to here,"
said the other as they hurried back out of the
tent.
Neville said, "I'll let Harry... no, Ant... know
you've got things under control out here."
And he headed back inside.
Looking to the others, Draco said, "I can't see
a seating plan, can you?"
The others took a look around but couldn't
find one.
Looking to the head table, Fleur said, "Zat
ees whair the bridal partee will sit. We
should put close familee at each of the next
two tables."
"And the rest of the guests, external family
and friends, at the rest," continued Draco.
"Good idea."
The teens got to it as Harry, his wives and
their immediate family waited in the sitting
room to greet guests as they passed through
to the backyard.
Chapter 296
The reception was a smash. Professor
Flitwick was having a ball pretending to be
someone who suffered from, as one muggle
family member put it, 'dwarfism'. And
Professor McGonagall was remembering
back and telling the story to him about the
day she first visited the house to explain
Hogwarts and the magical world to Hermione
and the Grangers.
When Blaise told them about how he played
a small part in helping earlier in the summer
to build the outside deck, 'the muggle way',
both Professors were simply astonished.
Both had the same thought, 'If Harry and his
wives were easily able to have a
dyed-in-the-wool pureblood like Blaise Zabini
working like a muggle construction worker,
what else would they be able to accomplish
in later years?'
During the reception Professor Flitwick
pulled Harry aside and let him know he'd
received the request to add Ancient Runes to
his timetable, congratulated him on the fine
score, and said the request was granted.
After a fine luncheon, and when it appeared
guests were getting a little antsy about
leaving, the three took the hint and left.
What they did here was leave in a car and
drive only a few blocks before portkeying out
of the back of it direct to Potter Retreat.
Of course, Jeeves and the other Potter elves
had been monitoring them and were waiting
for their arrival in the welcoming hall.
Almost immediately after their arrival, Dobby
popped in with their luggage and quickly
took it to their room to unpack.
One would think there would be a problem
between Dobby and Jeeves, but there was
not. Dobby would remain Harry's personal
valet while Jeeves would remain majordomo
of Potter Retreat. This way, whenever Harry
was away for extended periods from the
manor, Dobby would accompany him; while
Jeeves remained at Potter Retreat and took
care of the household. And both elves were
happy with the arrangement.
Because Winky was now happily ensconced
at the Granger residence, Jeeves assigned the
only female manor elf, Sally, to be the
'lady-in-waiting' elf for the ladies.
"Do I need to find another house elf,
Jeeves?" asked Harry.
"No, Master Harry," the elf replied. "You'll be
spending most of your time at Hogwarts until
graduation. There be not be enough work for
elves until you move to Potter Retreat,
permanently."
Harry gave a nod back and said, "Hermione
would practically kill me if she thought the
Potter elves were being overworked."
"I would, too," smiled Hermione.
Jeeves gave a small nod and a smile before
he said, "You have had a busy day, Master
Harry, Mistress Hermione and Mistress
Daphne. Yet, I feel there is still something
you need to do. I shall leave you for now."
When Jeeves gave a small bow and popped
away, Harry asked, "What did he mean?"
Both girls smiled at him and blushed.
Daphne said, "Harry, we have just married. I
believe it is a tradition of the muggle world
to... consummate that marriage as soon as
possible after the wedding, is it not?"
"Oh, yeah!" grinned Harry back at his wives,
who were still wearing their bridal gowns.
"How could I have possibly forgotten that
little detail?"
"Then, I think the Lord of the Manor should
escort his ladies to the bedchamber, should
he not?" asked Hermione, a little huskily.
With a mile wide grin, Harry offered an arm
to each of his ladies and escorted them from
the room and up the stairs to the master
bedroom.
The three had fun at Potter Retreat. They
were on their own - except for the elves, of
course - and out from under 'adult
supervision'. During their two weeks there
they spent time delving through the large
library, wandering throughout the grounds,
investigating the out-buildings, and generally
unwinding.
Harry discovered sixteen brooms lovingly
cared for in the broom shed just behind the
house. However, of course, all were models
from more than fifteen years in the past.
None of them held a candle to his beloved
Firebolt from the previous timeline. He
wondered if he should donate them to the
school and replace them with newer models.
And instantly discarded the idea, as they had
no idea when they'd be able to move into the
manor for long enough periods of time to
make it worthwhile.
He was wandering through the greenhouses
with both girls, one day, when he asked, "Do
you think we can convince Neville at some
time to come and have a look at our
greenhouses and make some
recommendations?
"I know he wants to be a herbologist when
he finishes his schooling; and we may be able
to grow ingredients and the like here he
hasn't the room for at Longbottom Hall."
"We can ask," said Daphne. "We'll need to
also purchase house elves with greenhouse
experience to maintain them for us. None of
us have much interest in herbology."
"Why would you want to grow ingredients if
you're not interested in being a herbologist?"
asked Hermione.
"I may not want to be a herbologist but my
interests currently lie in Potions," said
Daphne. "Having fresh plant-based
ingredients on hand would be nice."
With a shrug, he replied, "I figure, since we
have the greenhouses, we should make use
of them."
"While we're at it... and since we have
stables..." began Hermione.
"You'd like horses to be here?" asked Harry, a
little amused. "I think that's a wonderful idea.
Plus, their droppings can be added to the soil
as fertiliser for the greenhouses."
"I just... found I enjoyed learning to ride at
Greengrass Farm," she replied with a bit of a
shrug.
"Thank you," sighed Daphne. "I think I'd like
that, too."
Thinking about how both girls were
defaulting decisions to him about what he
considered to be minor things, he said,
"Loves, I've given you both substantial trust
accounts for a reason. I don't expect you to
spend all that on just apparel, make-up,
perfumes, jewellery and the like. If you want
to do something like purchase horses, or
plants, or even donate sums of money to
worthwhile causes, I can't see either of you
being irresponsible enough for me to need to
say something.
Chapter 297
"The only sort of things I might want to know
about, in advance, is major and permanent
projects such as, adding a new wing to the
manor, building a huge barn, digging a moat,
buying a new property, things like that.
"For example, yesterday I was thinking about
replacing all the brooms in the broom shed.
Then I realised that would be kind of silly
until we were living here for much longer
than just two weeks out of the year. And the
ones we currently have are all quite
serviceable for now. But, when the time
comes, I know I could go and do precisely
that as it wouldn't be that big a deal.
"However, I also thought about whether or
not it would be worthwhile having a
combined poolhouse, hottub, and sauna
built. And for that sort of project I'd come to
you first about it and discuss it with you.
"Buying a small string of horses, together
with the required saddlery, I don't consider
that big of a deal. Yes, I'd like to know about
it, but you don't need my permission; since
we have a perfectly good stables and fenced
paddock for them already in situ."
Both girls gave little squeals of happiness and
took turns snogging him right in the middle
of the aisle in the greenhouse.
"We have such a wonderful husband," sighed
a happy Hermione.
"Yes, we do!" agreed Daphne with her own
sigh of happiness.
"In that case," said Hermione. "How do you
feel about modernising the manor?"
Curious, he asked, "In what way?"
"I want electricity," said Hermione.
"I need electricity."
"Then, once the risk of attack is dealt with,
you shall have electricity," said Harry. "But,
while the tradespeople are working, it's
going to require me to deactivate the wards
to allow them in.
"Never fear, though. We know I'll have Riddle
dealt with well before we finish school and
make this our permanent home."
And, of course, they also worked on getting
used to their animagus forms.
Wolf was pack. And pack hunted as a pack.
They needed not the game for food; but they
needed the game for practice.
Sheep were stupid; and cattle were slow. So
they went into the woods to the north. There,
they chased rabbit, deer and the like. Rabbits
zigged and zagged before dropping down
cleverly disguised holes they never strayed
too far from. But deer ran.
They never attacked the deer, other than to
make it run. They just used their teamwork
to shepherd the beasts in wide circles.
Another side effect of all being wolf
animaguses was they could also speak to
each other in canine language while in their
forms. Experimentation showed that for one
to talk to another and be understood, both
parties had to be in the same form, whether
that was human or wolf. But, their wolves
could listen to and understand human. Harry
wondered if they could talk to Sirius as
wolves while he was an Irish wolfhound. And,
he didn't even know if they could with
Remus.
That would be something for another day.
After their two weeks at Potter Retreat, the
three Floo'ed as expected and on time to
Greengrass Farm. Deece was waiting for
them just apart from the fireplace. As they
arrived, all three of them dispersed
Bubblehead charms.
"Wahoo!" exclaimed a happy Harry. "It
worked!"
"Bubblehead charms?" asked Deece,
amused.
Hermione replied, "Harry figured that, by
employing a Bubblehead charm while
Floo'ing, it would stop us from getting soot
on our faces and in our hair."
"Yes!" he exclaimed. "And it worked!"
"Why has no one thought to do that before?"
wondered Daphne aloud.
"They may have," smiled Deece. "But, it's
also considered a difficult spell to master."
Turning to Harry she said, "And thank you for
the idea. For us ladies dealing with the
soot-in-hair problem when Floo'ing has
always been a nuisance. We've usually used
a hood with a cowl up."
Harry gave a mock flourish of a bow in
response. His wide grin ruined it, though.
As Dobby took their luggage directly to their
room, the three headed for the informal
dining room. As they walked in, Astoria saw
them. The younger girl gave a little squeal,
rose from her chair at the table, and ran to
Daphne giving her a hug.
She stepped back, paused a moment and laid
one on both Hermione and Harry; before she
turned back to her sister and asked, "And
what's Potter Retreat like? Is it as big as the
Farm? Do you have horses there?"
As Harry and Hermione chuckled and giggled
respectively at the younger girl's antics, the
three made their way to the table and sat
around it. As soon as they were seated Nifty -
or Chef, the kitchen elf - placed a warm cup
of tea before each of them.
Turning back to her sister, who appeared to
be writing letters to her friends, Daphne
explained all about Potter Retreat.
As she talked, Astoria asked questions right
back.
Once the question and answer session ended,
Astoria said, "Mum's taking the four of us to
Diagon tomorrow. Did you get your letters
from Hogwarts yet? Did any of you get
Prefect badges?"
"Yes and yes. Hermione received a badge but
she returned it," said Daphne.
"Oh? Why?" asked the younger girl.
"Being a Prefect - and, later, Head Girl - used
to be my dream," explained Hermione.
"However, that is definitely no longer the
case. I have other priorities now. And, I don't
think I can do the job properly as we don't
live in Ravenclaw Tower."
"Oh, okay," the other girl said.
"I wonder if it'll be Lisa and Terry?" asked
Hermione. The other two teens heard the
unspoken 'again'. But, it had to be that way
as the older Greengrasses didn't want Astoria
frightened with what was to come if the
three couldn't radically change things.
"Let's consider it," said Daphne. "And, yes, I
think it'll be Lisa and Terry. Both seem to be
the most outspoken and unbiased of either
sex in our year group in our House.
"Now, what about Slytherin?" she asked. "It
should be Blaise and Tracey. However, I think
it'll be Draco and... Pansy? Professor Snape is
too biased towards his godson and he knows
Draco misses Pansy."
"I think it should be your first choices," said
Hermione. "And not because they're our
friends. But, because they're the most
level-headed and unbigoted of the bunch."
"My gold's on Draco and Tracey," said Harry.
"Draco, because of Snape; and Tracey,
because, if the badge is offered it to her,
Pansy would quickly determine Draco would
have the other and return hers."
"Our old House," said Hermione. "I think it
should be Neville and Fay. But, I think the
boy will be Ron."
"Even after the potioning incident?" asked
Daphne.
"Molly Weasley... sorry, Prewett... is a
member of the Order," explained Hermione.
"She'll pressure Dumbledore to overrule
Professor McGonagall's choice and insist the
male Gryffindor Prefect is Ron."
"What about what Neville told us about how
he thought Ron had failed his exams?" asked
Harry. "He should, by rights, be forced to
repeat the year."
Thinking a bit, Daphne said, "I don't think
McGonagall will stand for it. Not after the
potioning incident; and not after his poor
showing from the exams. I think the male
will be the Thomas boy. But, I agree with you
on Dunbar. She's the least... flighty... of the
three left since you moved to Ravenclaw and
Perks disappeared after second year and
didn't come back.
Sally-Anne Perks was a female Gryffindor in
their year that departed for summer break at
the end of second year but never returned.
Anyone who asked questions of any of the
Professors about her was met with a stony
expression and a stern warning masked as
encouragement to forget about her as she
wouldn't be returning.
"And, finally, Hufflepuff," said Harry, quick to
get off the uncomfortable subject.
"Finch-Fletchley and Hannah Abbott,"
Hermione instantly replied, just as happy to
get off the subject of what might have
happened to Perks.
Daphne nodded and said, "I agree. My
second choices for each would be Smith and
Jones.
"I'll put my knut in for Smith and Abbott,"
said Harry. "It's a pity we didn't organise a
pool for it towards the end of last year. It
would have been fun."
"You wanted to make money through illegal
gambling?" asked Hermione, a little shocked.
"No," he replied. "I'd have just declared the
one, or more, who guessed the most correct
the winner and given them the pool. We
don't need the money and it would have
been something fun to do for everyone else."
Chapter 298
The next morning Deece took the four
students to Diagon and they quickly
purchased their books. All three were
relieved to see the defence book for the year
was not Defensive Magical Theory by Wilbert
Slinkhard. Instead, it was Practical Defensive
Magic and its Use Against the Dark Arts. It
was the same book Sirius gifted Harry during
the fifth year last go-around.
Apparently, it was often used as the fifth
year text for DADA. They also
purchased Achievements in Charming for
Charms and The Standard Book of Spells -
Grade 5 for Transfiguration as their required
textbooks.
Then Harry added Advanced Rune
Translation, Magical Hieroglyphs and
Logograms, and Spellman's Syllabary for
Ancient Runes; A Compendium of Common
Curses and Their Counter-Actions, The Dark
Arts Outsmarted, and Self-Defensive
Spellwork for DADA; New Theory of
Numerology for Arithmancy as it was the gift
he bought Hermione the previous go-around
and he knew she loved it; and Theories of
Transubstantial Transfiguration for
Transfiguration.
Daphne took one look at the pile of books as
he placed them on the counter, smirked and
asked, "Up for some light reading, love?"
He shrugged and said, "We've read some of
them before, from last time, and they have
some very useful information that I'm sure
will come in handy."
Leaning in closer he said, "I also used the
opportunity to check what Harry Potter
books they had on the shelves."
"Oh?" she asked. "And, what did they have?"
"None," he grinned. "Only books such
as Great Wizarding Events of the Twentieth
Century and Modern Magical History, which I
know I'm in. However, the information
within both has been recently updated and is
now correct."
All four also had growth spurts during the
previous twelve months, so all four required
an update of their wardrobes. However,
Deece calmly suggested they hold that off
until the next day, "So we can spend a more
enjoyable time of it."
If Harry had chosen that time to look at both
his ladies he would have shuddered in fear at
the expressions on their faces.
Instead, they headed to Magical
Menagerie to update their pet supplies; then
over to Anderson's Apothecary to restock on
potions ingredients; and, finally,
to Scribbulus Everchanging Inks to restock on
parchment, quills and inks. Once they left
there, the girls wanted to go to Madam
Primpernelle's Beautifying Potions and sent
Harry next door to go and look at broom
related products at Quality Quidditch
Supplies, while they were busy with
'women's business'.
He was talking to the proprietor about the
delayed next generation Bolt broom, the
LightningBolt, when Astoria came in, told
them they were done, and practically
dragged him back outside.
"We're done!" she said, when he baulked a
little in protest. "We're coming back
tomorrow so you can look again then"
With a sigh he followed the others back up
the Alley and into the Leaky Cauldron to Floo
back to the Farm.
When they returned to the Farm Harry used
the opportunity to clean out his trunk of bits
and bobs before adding in their latest
purchases. He also suggested to the girls they
use his trunk for everything bar clothing, and
their trunks for clothing and uniforms.
"That's a good idea, Harry," said Hermione.
"No need to look so impressed by the idea,"
he mock-grouched. "I'd've thought you'd
already recognised I'm quite capable of
thinking things through now."
The next day his wives dragged Harry out of
bed early and told him they had a reasonably
full day of shopping ahead of them. Harry
told them he couldn't see how a whole day
could be spent on just purchasing new
uniforms. The resulting looks on the faces on
his wives as they grinned back at him told
him they were not just being fitted for new
uniforms.
He groaned and tried to climb back into bed.
But the girls were having none of that. They
basically frog marched him into the ensuite
and told him to hurry up.
When he exited, he dried and got dressed in
the robes laid out on their bed for him to
wear. He recognised they had dressed him in
clothes that could be quickly donned and
stripped off again. It was yet further
evidence of the sort of day ahead of him.
While the girls were in the bathroom he
pulled on his 'wizarding slippers' and headed
down for breakfast.
When he walked into the informal dining
room Astoria was already there. He glared at
her and mock-snarled, "You could have
warned me what was planned for today."
"Worked it out, have you?" she impertinently
grinned back. "The three of us girls need new
wardrobes, as do you. Your pants, for a start,
are now showing ankle; just as your shirts
are no longer covering your wrists."
Harry took a seat opposite, grumbled about
traitorous wives and family ambushing him,
and loaded up a plate for breakfast. He was
going to need the energy to get through the
day. Astoria sat and finished her breakfast
while grinning at him.
As they walked into Madam Malkin's the
woman herself greeted them. "Madam
Greengrass and the Potter's, right on time!"
she'd said. "Mister Potter; you're over there
with one of my assistants," she said,
indicating one of the measuring podiums.
"We'll get you out of the way, first."
As Harry moved with leadened feet towards
the podium, Malkin continued, "Miss
Greengrass? To my right, if you would. We'll
get you sorted first of the ladies."
When he had finally mounted the platform,
he turned to see that one of the shop
assistants had followed him over and started
a magical self-measuring tape going and bid
Harry to stand still.
While feeling the tape measure everywhere,
Harry saw his two wives come over and join
him, watching.
"I would have thought you'd prefer to join
Astoria and Deece," he said to them.
Both grinned and said, "No."
"It's more fun helping you find a decent
wardrobe," said Daphne. "We think we
should do this more often."
Hermione grinned and nodded.
As with the previous time he had to go
through what he considered the indignity of
this, both his wives made choices and
demands and he just went along with it all.
Sometimes, one or the other would join him
in the changing stall, just as they did last
time.
Thankfully, there were quite a few things he
didn't need this time. So, the time went by
much quicker. And, this time, he was also
given a better assortment of colours.
"How come the different colours?" he'd
asked.
"We remembered what Luna said," said
Hermione. "These were colours she
recommended. She was right; they do suit
you."
When his part of wardrobe shopping was
done, he noticed that Hermione had
disappeared a little while earlier, and had
already gone through the tape measuring
process.
As Harry joined Deece in the waiting chairs,
Daphne stepped up onto a podium for her
own turn with the tape.
"This is going to take a while," sighed Harry
to Deece. "I think I might go and get an
icecream."
"No," she simply said.
"When Astoria dragged me out of the
Quidditch store yesterday afternoon, she
promised I'd be able to go back when we got
here today," he said.
"She shouldn't have done that," said Deece.
"Your opinion is needed here."
"Why?" he almost whined. "The ladies have
got it hand."
"Because you proved you had a good eye for
colour and fashion when we were here last
year," she replied, not giving an inch.
"I can come back..." he tried.
"No," she cut him off. "Now be quiet and
watch. When your opinion is wanted; give
it."
Harry just slumped back and sighed.
It was going to be a loooong day.
The party of five - the three Potters and the
two Greengrasses - were just winding up
their purchases when there was a fair bit of
shouting outside and a fair few witches and
wizards; plus, no doubt, muggles; running up
the Alley from Gringotts and past the
window of Madam Malkin's.
Harry immediately dumped their freshly
bound packages back onto the counter and
looked with concern at his family.
"Go," said Daphne. "We've got your back."
"No!" exclaimed Deece as the three headed
for the door.
Turning back, just before he pulled the door
open, Harry said, "It's for me to do and the
ladies will be shielding me. Stay in here as I
can't protect both you and them."
And walked out with his wives on his heels.
Chapter 299
As he stepped out, Harry first looked towards
the left to see if there were Death Eaters in
that direction. Seeing none, he looked down
to the right and saw what he expected.
A small group of over half a dozen masked
Death Eaters were making their way up the
Alley and casting dark spells about them with
complete abandon and cackling laughter.
As he stepped more fully into the street both
girls took up positions either side of him and
just behind with both wands at the ready.
"Let's do this," said Harry, with not a little
firmness and anger.
Being powerful enough to cast it, Harry
immediately cast an anti-portkey jinx and an
anti-apparition jinx over the group to stop
any from making a quick getaway. With all six
wands the three then began to cast
bludgeoners, bone-breakers, piercing curses
and similar straight into the group of six; who
stupidly were grouped together, making
themselves both a big and single target.
Four were down before they even knew
someone was casting back. Another two
were down once they did but weren't fast
enough to get shields up. One immediately
attempted to portkey away, couldn't, and ran
far enough away he could, leaving two. He
was just lucky he had stumbled at the right
moment to avoid two curses sent his way by
Harry and Daphne.
Meanwhile, both wives were shielding with
one wand while casting with the other.
As soon as a Death Eater tried to cast the
killing curse back, Daphne already had a
marble block conjured to the side ready for
Harry to use. He immediately summoned it
and levitated it in front of the curse before
banishing its remains with terrific force
straight back at the Death Eater who cast the
curse. That one was the last to go down; his
body was near-mush.
The three quickly checked their environment
for any more hostiles before moving forward.
As they walked, all three allowed their
second wands to pop back into their
disillusioned holsters.
"First things first," said Harry as he stepped
into the anti-portkey jinxed area. "Accio
portkeys."
Over a dozen flew to his off hand. Most were
no more than a short piece of thick black
thread and perfect for hiding inside the
pocket of a black robe. None were any bigger
than a Galleon coin.
Hermione handed him a small plastic bag,
and Harry dropped them within.
As he worked on the portkey collection and
bagging, Daphne was forcing sleeves up to
bare Dark Marks and banishing masks. And
Hermione summoned all their wands and
dropped them into another bag.
They had managed to take down Nott, both
Carrow siblings, Selwyn, and others none of
them knew by name. Nott was the inner
circle Death Eater, according to the silver
patterns on his mask, and appeared to have
led the attack.
They had finished and were looking around
for further threats as shopkeepers and
shoppers alike were coming out of stores and
from where they had hid.
Harry was fuming. They had all run and hid,
allowing the Death Eaters free rein to do as
they pleased.
Looking around with an angry glare, he
bellowed, "Is there a bloody healer among
you?"
"Err... yes," said one middle aged witch. "I'm
a medi-witch."
"And what the bloody hell are you doing just
standing there?" he snarled. Pointing a finger
back down the Alley "There are people hurt
down there! If you're too much of a fucking
coward to raise your wand to defend yourself
and yours, at least make yourself fucking
useful and treat the injured!"
As the witch bent down to start treating the
Death Eaters, Harry snarled, "Not these
douchebags! Their victims!" Looking around
again he barked, "If there are any of you with
a modicum of first aid knowledge, go help
her!"
That had the medi-witch and a few others
running off back down the Alley.
"As for the rest of you dickwads," he snarled,
glaring about. "Look how many of you there
are. Look how many of these masked thugs
there are! You had them well and truly
outnumbered.
"You know Riddle is back! Many of you were
about in the previous wizarding war and
know what they're capable of if no one
stands against them. Why the fuck aren't you
preparing yourselves, yeah? What the hell
is wrong with you people? Stop acting like
fucking defenceless sheep in the face of a
pack of wolves and train yourselves!"
"But... that's what the aurors and hit wizards
are for," bleated one from within the crowd.
"Really?" scoffed Harry. "And just where the
fuck are they, hey? If that's the job of aurors
and hit wizards, then why aren't they here to
rescue your cowardly arses? Hmm? Maybe...
just, maybe... they think you already carry a
wand and at least have the common sense
you were fucking born with to defend
yourselves until they could get here!
"It seems to me they've radically
underestimated the combined cowardice and
stupidity of the average witch and wizard!
"We three school children were able to take
down these thugs in only a few moments
without any injury to ourselves. For Merlin's
sake, we haven't even entered our OWL year
yet! And yet we still took them down."
"Aurors!" came a bark from behind them.
As the crowd parted Harry turned and saw
Rufus Scrimgeour leading the way. He
snarked, "Well; if it isn't the
'Johnny-come-latelys' finally putting in an
appearance. I hope this isn't what you'd call
a rapid response to a life and death situation.
We could have held a fucking bake sale while
we were waiting for you to finally finish your
morning teas, get off your arses and get
here!"
"That's enough, Mister Potter," snapped
Scrimgeour.
"No, Master Auror Scrimgeour," he snapped
back. "It's nowhere near enough! If you
people don't hurry up and switch on, Lord
Voldemort will be your Emperor within the
year! Get your shit together or practice
getting on your knees and kissing his
toes. That is your future; and that is, of
course, if you manage to live that fucking
long!"
Firmly stepping in front of Harry and
between him and Scrimgeour, Hermione held
out the two bags. "Auror," she firmly said.
"These are the portkeys that we found on
them. And, these are their wands. I suggest
you cast the Prior Incantation charm on them
to find out who cast what. You'll also see
evidence of the killing curse being used."
As Daphne tried to pull him away, Harry
snarled at the auror, "I see eight of Riddle's
thugs on the ground here, Scrimgeour. I
better see eight people in front of the
Wizengamot on trial within the week, heard
that they're dead, or I'll be coming directly to
you to find out why."
Chapter 300
"Some of these folks are seriously injured!"
said one of the aurors looking down at the
Death eaters. He then looked at the
bondmates and said, "You're not going
anywhere, Potter. You're under arrest."
"Oh, don't be a fucking idiot," barked Harry
back, bracing against Daphne pulling him
away. "They're all marked, they're all
wearing the regalia of Riddle's thugs, and
they were all attacking first! Its self defence
as per wizarding law, moron!"
"Kennedy; shut it!" barked Scrimgeour,
staring the man down. "Mister Potter is
correct. He's free to go." And, turning to
Harry, he snarled, "And he is going; right
now."
Harry finally allowed Daphne to pull him
away and back to where Deece and Astoria
were now standing outside Madam Malkin's.
Astoria was looking at the three in not a little
awe.
"Come!" said Deece. "We need to leave here,
now." And she turned and quickly led the
way back to the Leaky Cauldron.
Once back at the Farm, and after a bollicking
from both Deece and his wives, Harry was
more than ready to just sit down and sulk.
He might have sat in a chair for a lot of what
happened; especially after clothes shopping
for him was completed; but he remained
tense in his wooden chair from having to
focus so much. He needed to ensure he
didn't stick his foot in his mouth when his
opinion was asked for; and just saying 'It's
nice' was nowhere near enough 'opinion' for
the girls. He was just thankful opinions were
not required for school uniforms, as there
were no choices to be made except for
footwear.
Then, adding to that was the battle in the
Alley with the Death Eaters and its
aftermath.
"Right," he groaned sitting on the edge of the
bed, among the shrunken packages. "All we
gotta do now is unshrink all this, put most of
it away, as it won't be coming to Hogwarts
with us, and pack uniform and clothing for
Hogwarts."
""Wrong, Mister," said Daphne. "First, we go
through our closets and robes pulling out
everything that no longer fits. For you, that
is at a minimum every pair of trousers,
long-sleeved shirt and pull-over. Your foot
size has also increased, so that's also your
footwear; shoes and socks. As for clothing,
almost all of it will be coming since we now
have our own wardrobes."
Hermione added, "I also want to have a look
at your t-shirts, underwear and
such. You might not have noticed you've
broadened at your shoulders and across your
chest, but we have. And, anything that is
either worn out or too small will also be
tossed. We'll replace them tomorrow, if need
be."
"Underwear and such gets tossed in the
rubbish," said Daphne. "But, anything worn
outside of that gets set aside. That all goes to
the second-hand collectors for charity
collections."
Knowing he'd already lost the argument
before he could even begin, Harry stood up
again with a sigh and said, "Alright. Where
do you want me to begin?" Clearly, his day
was not over just yet.
About ninety minutes later, Harry had
managed to throw out just about everything
he wore. With the exception of a few
short-sleeved t-shirts just about every shirt
he owned was long-sleeved. And he only
owned one pair of mid-calf cargo pants, a
pair of swimmers and a pair of shorts. All
other pants were long trousers. Even his
overrobes got turfed as the sleeves were
now too short.
Thankfully, very little of his underwear
needed replacing except for all his socks. All
his shoes now went, except for one pair of
runners he swore black and blue were now
very comfortable.
Later that afternoon the three were visited
by Madam Bones with Shacklebolt and
another auror Harry didn't recognise.
Matthias ushered them into his downstairs
office to 'chat'.
After everyone was comfortable, Madam
Bones sighed and turned to Harry. "Mister
Potter, I've received a fair number of
complaints about your actions and words in
the Alley, this morning.
"Most of those complaints were to do with
the way you... spoke to the crowd. You were
reported to have used offensive language in
the presence of young witches and wizards;
and their parents, for a start, are not happy
about that."
"Noted," said Harry.
"No words in your defence?" she asked.
Instead of snapping back at her, as he
wanted, he reined in his temper and said, "I...
apologise for the use of swear words.
However, I will not apologise for the
message. Someone needed to smack them
for their cowardice and inactivity. It just
happened it was me who did it."
"You cannot expect them to stand a
reasonable defence..." she said.
"Of course I can," he sneered back. "Every
witch and wizard out there, over the age of
about eleven, carries on their person at all
times a deadly weapon, and every one of
those over the approximate age of about
fourteen has the ability to use it as such. It's
called a wand.
"Before much longer I'm going to be referred
to as 'The Chosen One'. The one... chosen...
to defeat Riddle. Well, in that, they're right; I
am. However, it's not my responsibility to
take care of all his thugs.
"The wizarding populace allowed their
previous Minister to run down the auror and
hit wizard forces. Now, you no longer have
sufficient of either to protect their arses.
Therefore, it's up to them to do it for
themselves. That's what I effectively told
them in the Alley today. They just didn't like
hearing it.
"Go to the Prophet and state that. It's time to
scare the absolute crap out of the populace
and make them start thinking of their own
safety. It's time for them to stop being
victims and time to start being responsible.
Stop being sheep.
"If they are unwilling to make the effort, I'm
telling you now, I flatly refuse to bail them
out.
"And Dumbledore won't be able to save
them, either. He's currently dying. He does
not have all that much time to live."
With the vehemence used and the shock of
Harry's words ringing in her ears, Madam
Bones soon left again.
"It is not wise to make an enemy of Amelia,
Harry," Matthias softly said.
"It is not my intent," said Harry. "They need
to be shocked out of their current denial and
take ownership of their own destinies. If they
don't, we all lose."
Death Eaters Attack Diagon Alley in Broad
Daylight
Boy-Who-Lived Foils Attack
Late morning yesterday, I witnessed our very
own hero of the Wizarding world, Mr Harry
Potter (15), and his wives, Mrs Daphne
Greengrass-Potter (15) and Mrs Hermione
Granger-Potter (15), stop an attack by Death
Eaters in the middle of the busy thoroughfare
of Diagon Alley, reports special
correspondent Rita Skeeter.