Chapter 321
With a firm nod, she said, "Thank you.
Now, head back to the DMLE and process
the prisoners. I expect to interview all of
them tomorrow morning. None are to be
released until I've done so; clear?"
"Yes, Ma'am," reported the auror before
he headed off with his partner.
Dropping down into the basement,
Madam Bones led them to a blank section
of wall directly under the stairs. She
carefully used her wand to cut her palm
and smeared the blood that had welled up
onto a section of stone. It glowed brightly
for a moment before the stone
shimmered and disappeared.
With the stone wall now out of the way,
she said, "I trust you three to keep the
location of the keystone a secret."
"I'll go you one better, Ma'am," said Harry.
As he was still holding his wand in his
hand, he raised it to give oath. "I, Harry
James Potter, Head of the Ancient House
of Potter, swear on the honour of my
House to keep the location of the
keystone of Bones Manor a secret to all,
unless instructed otherwise by the Regent
or Head of the House of Bones. So I say, so
I swear."
The flash of light encompassed Harry and
his wives.
Staring back in shock at Harry, Madam
Bones said, "Well... as I would never have
asked it of you, that was completely
unnecessary. But... thank you." Giving
herself a bit of a shake, she turned back to
the keystone.
Indicating where the three were to pump
their magic in, she said, "Place the tips of
your wands there and be ready to pump
your magic into the stone."
As the three stood together and did as
instructed, Madam Bones raised her cut
hand and smeared blood onto one of the
runes. She then raised her own wand and
placed it into the middle of the same rune.
"Push now," she said.
All four then pushed hard with their magic
and felt it flow into the stone. After about
thirty seconds the runes on the stone
began to glow.
"That will do," Madam Bones quietly said.
The three Potters then relaxed their magic
and stepped back, feeling quite drained.
A few moments later, Madam Bones did
the same with a sigh.
She then indicated back out beyond the
'door' of the missing stone wall and the
four stepped out. They watched as the
wall shimmered back into existence. All
sign of what they'd done was gone. Even
the original smear of blood was no longer
there.
Turning to the three Potters the older
witch quietly said, "Thank you."
"You're most welcome," said Harry.
"However, I wonder if we might be able to
trouble you for a round of pepper up
potions? That took a lot out of us."
"Of course," said Madam Bones. "We shall
head for the informal dining room. I'll
have Ticker make us some tea to go with
it."
Wearily, the four then climbed back up the
stairs and made their way to the dining
room that formed part of the kitchen.
A round of pepper-up potions later, all
four were sitting quietly sipping their tea.
"Once again," sighed Madam Bones,
"Thank you."
"Think nothing of it," said Harry, giving a
little wave-off gesture. "It's what allied
Houses are supposed to do for one
another; yes?"
Madam Bones could only nod back in
acknowledgement. She said, "I'll allow you
to let yourselves out when you're ready. I
need to head back to the Ministry to find
out what happened at Azkaban. I fear I
will not get much sleep, tonight, if any."
And, with that, she quickly made her way
back to the fireplace and floo'ed away.
"I think there's no point remaining here,"
said Daphne. "I dare say Professors Snape
and Flitwick will be worrying about us, a
little."
With a nod, he said, "Agreed." Turning to
both wives he asked, "Me first?"
"As always," smiled Hermione.
In the same order they arrived, the three
floo'ed out of Bones Manor and returned
to the school by way of Professor
Flitwick's floo.
As they each exited the fireplace in
Flitwick's office, each again had their
shields immediately erected. Harry, of
course, was out first.
Knowing he was likely to slip over, as with
Potter Retreat he used the momentum to
drop to his knees and skid across the floor
while casting a shield with one wand and
preparing to cast offensively with the
other. A quick check of the environment
and he dropped the shield and began to
rise as Daphne, who was next, popped out
with a shield immediately erected and a
curse on the tip of her tongue for the
other wand. And, finally, Hermione, with
the same actions.
Professor Flitwick, who was sitting alone
at his desk at the time, watched each with
amusement.
Once Hermione relaxed and released her
shield, the grinning diminutive professor
asked, "Have you three been receiving
training from Alastor Moody behind my
back?"
Both Harry and Hermione looked a little
abashed but firmly met his eyes with
some measure of defiance. It was Daphne
who replied, "No, Sir. With the current
state of affairs, unless we have recent
advanced notice of the conditions of the
other end of the connection, we treat
every arrival as... as Hermione would put
it... arriving in a 'hot zone'."
"That means we expect to arrive in the
middle of a major battle..." began
Hermione before the Professor held up his
hand to stop her.
"I'm aware of the term, Missus
Granger-Potter," the Professor gently
reproached her. "However, why not make
a floo-call first?"
"Two reasons," she replied. "First, the
scene at the other end might be a 'set'
scene with the bad guys out of view. And,
second, floo-calling first would alert the
bad guys that we were coming; which
would lose us the element of surprise."
"So, you intend to enter every area that
way?" asked the Professor, genuinely
curious.
"Yes," she immediately replied back. "Plus,
if there's someone there we know, we ask
them challenge questions, or give a quick
oath that we are who we appear to be
and only relax when they do the same."
"Ingenious," he smiled. "I'll pass that
along to the staff to do, as well.
Nevertheless..." The professor snapped his
wand out and had it pointed at Harry in
almost a blur.
As Harry looked back a little surprised, the
Professor asked, "Mister Potter; the first
time I called your name out for the roll,
what did I do?"
With a grin, he replied, "Toppled off your
stack of books, sir."
With a matching grin of his own, the
Professor said, "Indeed." And the wand
immediately disappeared again.
Two days later two things occurred that
Harry had been awaiting with high
anticipation. The first was the twins'
development of a potion similar to the
Draught of the Living Death that would
work on contact with the skin; and the
second was the purchase and delivery of
the paintball guns.
The twins had come up to their apartment
one evening and brought two potions with
them.
"We know you only wanted a potion that
would knock out the target, Harry," said
one twin.
"However, we also had to develop a
counter-agent for it," said the other.
"It was the only way it would work," both
said.
"Can I see your notes?" asked Daphne
with a frown, holding out her hand.
As one twin reached into his robes, drew
out a small sheaf of notes and handed
them to Daphne, Hermione asked the
other, "Why the need for a counter-agent?
Wouldn't an ordinary poison antidote
work?"
"Nope!" replied the second twin, beaming.
"That's what makes this idea better."
The first twin said, "Just as we were able
to, you'd be able to develop a
counter-agent if given enough time. "
"However," said the first, "The potion..."
"What we call..." said the second,
interrupting.
"Sleepy-byes!" said both.
"... is completely absorbed into the skin,"
continued the second.
"And will take a great deal of time and
effort to effectively counter without the
potion in liquid form," said the first.
"Reaction times?" asked Daphne, going
over the notes in her lap.
"For Sleepy-byes, direct skin contact takes
about three seconds," replied the first.
"Depending on the amount of layers of
clothing over covered areas, it will take
longer," said the second.
"But, through a Hogwarts robe, jumper
and shirt, for example..." said the first.
"Expect it to be about five seconds,"
continued the second.
"And for the counter-agent?" she asked.
"It takes about fifteen seconds if given
through the tongue," replied the second.
"Sorry, but it must be given orally liike
Veritaserum," explained the first.
"We can't get it to work through the skin,
as with Sleepy-byes," said the second
"Actually, that's perfect," said Daphne,
looking up from the notes and smiling
back.
"It is," grinned Hermione. "It's even better
than we hoped."
That had both twins beaming back at the
praise.
While they'd been talking, Harry had been
thinking.
"Boys," he said, with an evil little smirk at
the twins. "Get this properly written up. I
think we... that is, you... can get this taken
to Madam Bones of the DMLE for use of
her aurors and hit wizards. I'm sure she'd
be most interested in this very effective
way of putting bad guys down and making
sure they cannot be revived by a simple
anti-poison antidote or Renervate."
Realising where Harry was going with it,
Daphne grinned and said, "He's right. You
can also make the recipe for both
confidential and demand non-disclosure
agreements if the DMLE push it."
Both boys high-fived each other and
grinned.
The three were explaining to the twins
about the 'delivery method' for getting
the Sleepy-bye potion onto their targets
when there was another knock on the
door.
When Hermione answered it, she
squealed in glee before practically pulling
Sirius and Remus through the door. And
both almost fell over from stumbling due
to the surprise.
"Hi guys!" said Harry, rising and going to
both to hug them. When he backed off he
asked, "What brings you to our humble
abode?"
After a quick nod towards the twins,
Remus said, "Certain packages have
arrived."
Realising his godfather and honourary
uncle didn't know how much the twins
knew of their plans for the paintball guns,
Harry said, "If it's the paintball guns, it's
okay. The twins have been developing the
knock-out potion for the paintball loads."
As Padfoot gave a slight shrug and nod,
and as Remus gave his own nod, both men
then pulled shrunken loads out of the
pockets of their robes, reaching down and
placing them on the floor about a foot
apart.
Once their pockets were empty of the
boxes, Remus then cast the Finite charm
to allow them to reassume their original
sizes.
"Voila!" declared Sirius to the teens with a
grand sweeping gesture to the boxes.
Remus gave a quiet snort and rolled his
eyes at his best friend's antics.
Grinning his head off, Harry quickly moved
to the stack of boxes and, checking their
labels, quickly opened a box containing
paintball rounds as he said to Remus, "You
bought more than the half-dozen guns
requested."
He pulled out a small handful of rounds
and brought them back to the coffee table,
as Remus stepped to the boxes and
opened one containing guns.
As Remus hefted the gun out, he replied,
"I thought it prudent. Six might have been
your minimum, but it made sense to have
far more than that for what you wanted to
use them for."
Harry held out his hand and offered each
of the teens one of the rounds. "These are
the paintball rounds," he explained. "They
have a flimsy 'plasticky' shell and are filled
with a liquid that is called paint, but isn't.
"Instead, they're filled with a tinted
vegetable oil often used in deep fryers and
the like. It makes it easier to wash out,
that way; once you're done playing for the
day."
"We get it," said Remus. "You intend to
replace the oil with the potion."
"Yep," grinned Harry.
While Harry had been explaining the
rounds, Remus got one of the guns ready
and brought it over. Showing it to the
group, he explained, "And, these are the
paintball... or, should I say, potionball...
guns that shoot them."
While each held one of the paintballs in a
hand, twirling them about, one twin asked,
"So, how do these gun-things work,
exactly?"
Chapter 322
Grinning, Harry said to Remus, "How
about getting a half-dozen of these guns
ready, and we take them to the Room of
Requirements for a demonstration?"
Grinning himself, Remus quickly began to
assemble a half-box worth of guns. Each
box held a dozen such.
While Remus was busy, with Sirius
watching on with curiosity and confusion,
Harry held up one of the balls and said to
the twins, "Now what we need to work
out is how to replace the oil within these
little beauties with your potion."
As they were trying to figure it out,
Hermione began by offering suggestions,
"A switching spell, perhaps? Or, maybe we
can get the syringes I asked Sirius to also
organise? One to draw out the oil and
another to pump in the potion."
Frowning while thinking hard, Daphne
offered, "A very specific vanishing spell to
remove the oil, and another to put the
potion in?"
"That might be risky," said one twin.
"How... fragile... are these shells?"
"I think we can demonstrate how fragile
they are once we get to the Room of
Requirements," said Harry.
As the teens tried to figure out a solution,
Remus got the last of the guns ready. "All
done," he said, bringing the six guns over.
"Alright," said Harry. "If you wouldn't
mind shrinking those and a box of the
rounds... in case we pass others in the
hallway... I'll lead us to the Room of
Requirements."
Harry then led their small group across
the castle to the corridor with the tapestry
of the dancing trolls. After explaining what
he was about to do, he then went and did
it, walking back and forth along the
corridor a short distance thinking hard
about what sort of room he wanted.
On the third pass, the door appeared. And,
before Harry could turn around, Hermione
walked right up to it and opened it,
gesturing for everyone to enter.
Harry was just thankful it wasn't one of
the evenings Nott was going to be there.
He didn't want to have to explain to any
'outsiders'... the twins... on why they
couldn't get in.
Inside was a reasonably large room with
one side set up with a wide duelling area.
This was very similar to a spell casting
duelling area, but the mannequins were
not of the animated variety.
Gesturing to the area, Harry turned to
Remus and said, "I take it the salesperson
for the guns showed you how to operate
them?"
With a wide smile, Remus softly said,
"That he did."
After unshrinking the guns and box of
paintballs, Remus stepped the group
through how the guns worked, how to
replace the little gas cannisters if they
ever needed to, how to load the paintball
'hopper' with rounds, and where the
safety was found. For the magically raised
he then demonstrated how to grip the gun
with both hands and how it could be held
to the shoulder with the short 'shoulder
stock'.
After the demonstration he walked up
onto the duelling area at the other end
from the mannequins and fired off a
dozen rounds at the dummies as everyone
watched.
Listening to the 'phut' sound of the gun
firing, and the meaty 'twack' of the rounds
striking the dummies, Daphne said,
"That would have to hurt!"
"Oh, it does!" grinned Remus back. "It also
can leave a very nasty bruise depending
on how far away you are from the person
firing at you, and how many layers of
clothes you're wearing at the point of
impact."
All six then walked up to the dummies to
have a look at the impacts. And Sirius
reached out and wiped a bit of the 'paint'
off one with his finger, before rubbing it
between his finger and the ball of his
thumb. He then raised it to his nose and
gave it a sniff.
"Yeah, it is cooking oil," he said, a little
surprised.
"Don't eat it, though," frowned Remus.
"Whatever they add to it for the colour is...
as the saleman said to me... not fit for
human consumption."
Giving a nod, Sirius wiped his finger and
thumb off on the dummy.
Meanwhile, one of the twins had picked
up what remained of one of the shells on
the ground and both were peering at it
closely. They were passing it back and
forth and softly talking about it. Then they
seemed to come to a decision.
Harry was watching them and asked,
"You've figured something out, right?"
"Yes," both replied.
One then continued. "Vanishing the
contents and them replacing it with the
potion might not be the safest idea."
"The shell is both too weak and too flimsy
to cope," continued the second.
"Plus, we need to know if the contents
affects the Sleepy-bye potion in some
way," said the first.
"So, we think we need to test some of the
existing contents..."
"... With the potion first, before we go any
further."
"Makes sense," said Daphne giving a firm
nod to them.
"Take as many as you need," said Remus,
indicating the large box filled with
paintball rounds.
Now checking out one of the burst shells
herself, Hermione said, "I think we need to
develop a switching spell uniquely
designed to switch out the contents with
the potion. Something that can be done at
the same time, which will then stop the
shell from collapsing."
"Alright," said Harry. "The twins will
experiment to see how and if the current
contents affects the potion, and the girls
will try to figure out a quick and easy
purpose-designed switching spell to
switch the contents."
"Excellent," said Remus, once he realised
decisions had been reached and agreed
upon. "Now; who wants to try shooting
target dummies?"
The other five immediately grinned back.
Once they got the hang of it, the twins
and Daphne turned out to be quite good
shots, as was Hermione. However, Sirius
only hit as often as the twins simply by
way of firing off far more shots. Hermione
castigated him over how it was his
continued laughing as he yanked on the
trigger that caused most of his shots to
completely miss.
Once she got the hang of it, Daphne
proved to be almost a machine in the
focus of firing paintballs with an almost
pure rhythm of about one every one and a
half seconds.
Chapter 323
"This is annoying," she muttered with a
frown on her face, as she fired.
"What is this about, dearheart?" asked
Harry.
"The... paintballs... They seem to want to
curve off at different angles," she replied,
lowering the gun to turn to him.
Having overheard her response, Remus
said, "The man in the shop said it had to
do with the seam where the two halves of
the paintballs are fused. It creates a little
drag and causes the ball to spin. When it
spins one way or another it causes the ball
to... swerve... in that direction. Or,
something like that."
"Oh!" said Hermione, understanding. "It
puts 'english' on the ball. That is, it causes
the ball to spin in the air. This causes a
drop in air pressure on one side; which
then drags the ball in flight in that
direction. It's similar to how an aircraft
wing works."
The only one who even had a hope of
understanding that was Harry. The others
all looked back at Hermione in confusion.
Noticing it, Hermione was about to clarify
when Harry interrupted.
"You're just confusing them even more,
Hermione-love," he soothingly said with a
wide grin. "All they need to know is that
the balls won't fly completely straight
because of the little seam. And that they
just need to be aware of it."
Turning back to everyone else, he said,
"You just need to be aware of it so that
you know that the randomness of the
flight of the ball after a short distance
means that you need to be close enough
to shoot. You also need to know that the
little ball will not break apart... and coat
the target in the potion... if you're too far
away before you shoot. The paintball loses
it's speed."
"Then, how close do we need to be?"
asked Daphne.
"No further than about fifty feet is what
the salesman told me," replied Remus.
"Any further than that and the curve of
the paintball could have it turn too far
away from the target to hit, and means it
loses too much speed to break open on
impact.
As for shooting, while Hermione was at
first quite tentative; she too, however,
quickly picked up on the rhythm Daphne
seemed to almost instinctively find and
maintain.
Surprisingly, Harry would've been the
worst shot if not for Sirius. His ability to
cast accurately with a wand did not
transfer to marksmanship with a paintball
gun.
"This is fun!" Sirius barked out in laughter.
However, after half an hour of shooting
the paintball guns, Remus called a halt.
"The idea, here, is not to blow through all
the paintball rounds having fun firing
them off. These are for a very important
role in the defence of the castle. Let's
keep that in mind, shall we?"
With a sigh, Harry flicked the safety slide
on to safe the gun before lowering it.
"Safeties engaged, please," called Remus.
With a few grumbles of 'spoilsport',
especially from Sirius, the group 'safed'
their guns and lowered them.
Once he saw everyone had stopped
shooting and had safed their guns, Remus
said, "I think we should all empty the
paintball hoppers back into the box and
head back to the Potter apartment. We've
got work to do."
Harry checked to see how much 'damage'
with paintball guts they'd painted the
dummies and the walls with and used his
wand to charm the walls and dummies
clean again. He then followed the others
back to the apartment.
Once back, Remus took the guns back -
with a bit of a whine and pout from Sirius,
who was reluctant to hand 'his' gun back -
and packed them back away.
"So," said Harry. "Was Hermione right? Is
using paintballs filled with Sleepy-bye and
fired through paintball guns a good
defence idea in magically inert areas
throughout the castle?"
"It's brilliant!" exclaimed the twins
together.
"I must say, Harry," said a much calmer
Remus, "I did not think it would work.
However, that demonstration in the Room
of Requirement shows the idea... has
merit. It should work... so long as the
potion works."
"It does," grinned one of the twins.
"So long as that vegetable oil is inert in
the potion it will still work," said the other.
"We'll test for that using a couple of these
ball things," said the other.
"Paintball rounds," said Harry, almost
distractedly.
"Paintball rounds," nodded the twin.
Chapter 324
Harry and his bondmates had been asleep
for a while when the voice of Winky woke
them up.
"Master Harry, sir!" she firmly called.
"Master Harry needs to be waking up!"
Groggily, Harry woke and muttered "I'm
awake."
"Master Harry and Mistresses needs to be
getting up," she said.
Hermione, from where she appeared to
have only just been stirring, suddenly shot
up sitting bolt upright. "Winky?" she
called back, a little fearfully. "What's
wrong? Have my parents been attacked?"
"Mistress Celly say baby coming," replied
Winky. "Master Antnee acting funny.
Mistress Celly send me to tell you they
goings straight to hospital; and ask if you
meet them there."
Hermione practically leapt out of bed as
soon as she heard 'baby coming'. Knowing
what was coming, Harry patted Daphne
on the bum where she was sleeping face
down and muttered, "Come on, get up. It
looks like Hermione wants us to head to
the maternity hospital."
"Of course, I do!" Hermione almost
snapped back, as if Harry would be an
idiot for thinking otherwise.
With an almost moan Daphne sighed and
said, "Alright, I'm getting up." Then
started to manoeuvre into a position to sit
up before swinging her legs over the side
of the bed.
With Hermione already up and grabbing
robes out of the dresser to get dressed,
Harry was able to slide out the same side
as Daphne slowly climbed out of bed.
"She's just giving birth, love," he sighed.
"She's not involved in a life or death
situation."
"Just giving birth? Just?" she keened.
"Really?"
Harry immediately raised his hands in a
calming gesture. "Hey; whoa!" he said. "I
understand. But, you need to approach
this logically. Giving birth is
considered routine, these days. And a
maternity hospital is set up to handle
every contingency. There's no safer place
for her, right now."
"I don't care!" she almost snarled back.
With a sigh, Harry began to walk to the
bathroom to wash his face as he watched
Hermione almost frantically try and dress
herself in school robes. It took Harry a
moment to realise that would not be wise.
"Hermione-love," he calmly said, stopping
to address her. "You need to dress
in muggle clothing. We're going to
a muggle hospital."
Startled and almost blushing from her
mistake, Hermione muttered, "Of course, I
do. Silly me. What was I thinking?"
As Harry continued to the bathroom,
Daphne walked over to Hermione - who
had turned back to the dresser and was
madly clawing through her 'civilian'
muggle clothing - and grabbed her by the
upper arms. "Hermione, sweetheart; take
your time. We have this all planned out,
remember?"
Hermione, stunned that she'd been
grabbed, took a few moments to figure
out through her sleep-addled mind what
had happened. That was enough for the
teen to begin thinking straight again. She
blushed in embarrassment. "Sorry," she
softly said.
Realising she had her bond-mate calmed
down again, Daphne just said, "It's
alright. Now you're thinking straight." And
turned to her own dresser to pull out
similar clothing.
When Harry walked back out of the
bathroom after washing his face, the girls
were mostly dressed. Noticing Hermione
had calmed down again, he gave both girls
a nod before turning to his own dresser
and pulling out clothing.
Both girls finished getting dressed and
then ducked into the bathroom to wash
their own faces and ready themselves.
Considering the time of year, and how
long they were likely to be spending at the
hospital, all three dressed in light jeans,
collared t-shirts, pullovers and trainers.
They'd already scoped out the hospital
where Cele was planning on giving birth,
and the facilities available to those waiting
on news.
Noticing it was still very much dark out,
Harry immediately checked the time on
his watch as he donned it. It was close
enough to 4:30 in the morning.
Giving his head a little shake trying to
dispel the last of the sleepiness he was
feeling, he walked into the living room and
grabbed a small piece of parchment and a
muggle pen before sitting at one of the
study carrels. He wrote...
Professor Flitwick,
Just received word via house elf that
Hermione's mother has gone into labour.
We've gone to calm down the expectant
father. We'll return as soon as possible, or
otherwise send word.
HP, HG-P & DG-P
Once he'd finished he rolled the
parchment into a mini scroll and turned to
walk over to Hedwig. As he was tying the
note to her leg, the girls came out of the
bedroom ready to travel.
"Ready?" asked Hermione, her frenzy
again starting to develop.
"Almost," said Harry, as he finished tying
the note to Hedwig's leg. Looking directly
into the owl's eyes he said, "No rush, girl.
At breakfast would be fine."
Hedwig gave a small bob of her head and
bark before she checked to make sure the
load was firmly affixed. Once she was sure
it was, she turned about and leapt out the
window.
Watching to make sure she was safely
away, Harry turned to the others and said,
"It's the wrong time of the day to use the
Floo through one of the Professor's offices.
And even the Three Broomsticks will be
closed. That, of course, is if the castle's
front door and gate are not locked to
allow us egress."
"We'll need to use elf travel," grimaced
Hermione.
"Only to outside the wards," said Daphne.
She then pulled a long ribbon out of her
pocket with a grin. "This is a portkey to
the laneway next to the hospital. Dad
made it for us."
With a sigh of relief and gratitude,
Hermione gave her sister-wife a hug and
said, "I'd still prefer not to use the elves
for this sort of thing."
Turning to Harry, she asked, "Can we still
try walking to the front gate, first?"
"Sure," said Harry. "If you want to take
your time." He pulled out his Map to
check to see if the corridors were empty,
before refolding it and putting it away in
his pocket. "We're clear," he said.
"Everyone's abed."
Their hurried walk on silenced feet down
to the entrance hall went without incident.
However, as soon as they reached the
main doors, they found them locked.
As Harry was reaching out to open them,
Hermione softly commanded, "Hold it."
Harry immediately obeyed. He knew that
when Hermione used her 'command'
voice, it was to be instantly obeyed. It had
saved them more than once during their
horcrux hunt during the first time line.
Chapter 325
Drawing her wand, Hermione cast a
detection charm on the door. It glowed at
the point of the simple locking latch.
"A simple alert ward," she explained. "If
the latch is disengaged, it sends the alert."
"Can we use the elves now?" asked
Daphne. "We're simply going to have the
same problem with the gates, you know."
With a sigh, Hermione nodded back. "But,
just to beyond the wards. We'll use the
portkey from there."
"Dobby, Winky," Daphne softly
commanded.
Both elves popped in. Before they could
ask why they were called, Daphne quietly
asked, "Can you take the three of us to the
other side of the front gate, please?"
"Yes, Mistress," said Dobby. He then took
the hands of both Daphne and Harry
before popping away.
They popped back into reality a moment
later. And, less than three seconds later,
Winky popped in with Hermione in tow.
"Thank you," said Hermione. "We really
appreciate that."
Both elves nodded before popping away
again. And Daphne pulled out the pink
ribbon from her pocket she identified as a
portkey.
When Harry pinched onto the ribbon he
noticed it was silk. Then, as soon as
Hermione also took a grip on it, Daphne
softly commanded, "Baby time!"
The three then felt the hook behind the
navel effect of a portkey whisking them
away.
A few moments later, the three appeared
in an alley just along from the City of
London Maternity Hospital. Harry, as per
usual, crashed to the ground. However,
both wives were able to land on their feet.
Used to his landings now, Harry simply
rose and used a wand to scourgify his
clothing while looking about. "Know which
way to go?" he asked.
"This way," said Daphne, leading them to
the closest end of the narrow lane.
As soon as she reached it, she turned left
and, as she walked, indicated the hospital
mere yards ahead. She didn't even have to
identify it as the large, brightly lit sign
outside made it quite clear.
With Daphne still leading the way, the
three walked in through the main doors.
However, once inside the three stood a
moment side by side, Daphne asked,
"Ummm... what's the muggle version of a
'Welcome Witch'?"
"Reception," said Hermione, indicating the
desk clearly marked as such; and led the
way across the small foyer to approach
the desk.
As soon as she had the receptionist's
attention, Hermione said, "Apparently my
mother was brought in. She went into
labour. Celeste Granger?"
The receptionist looked at the computer
monitor before her and made a couple of
keystrokes before looking back. "Second
floor; turn right out of the lifts; follow the
signs to the waiting room," she instructed
while making gestures with her hand.
"Thank you," said Hermione, turning to
look where the receptionist indicated
where the lifts could be found.
With Hermione now leading the way, the
three took a lift to the second floor and
followed the directions, as instructed.
Moments later the three walked into the
'Expectant Families' waiting room and
found Matthias and Deece inside.
After a quick greeting between the five of
them, Hermione asked, "Where's Mum
and Dad?"
"Ah!" said Deece. "I don't know if you'll be
able to stay with them long, if at all, but I'll
take you to them. Everyone else is going
to have to stay behind in here, for now."
Deece quickly led Hermione back down
the corridor towards the lifts, and went
further along before turning to a door and
softly knocking. Harry and Daphne
watched all that from the corridor outside
the waiting room.
They watched as the door was opened
and Hermione was practically crushed in a
hug by Ant before being dragged into the
room and the door being closed. Deece
simply walked back to join them.
"News?" asked Daphne.
Deece explained, "The baby's a little
early... about a week and a bit... but it's
definitely not a false labour. The little tyke
will be with us before too much longer."
"Now what?" asked Harry.
With a smile back, Deece said, "Now; we
wait."
Harry gave a thoughtful nod before he
asked, "About how long?"
Matthias gave a chuckle and said, "As long
as it takes."
"Some births are pretty quick," explained
Deece. "And, some births are pretty slow.
However, I think it might be a few hours
yet. According to Ant, Celeste isn't... her
body is not quite ready to deliver just yet."
"So, we just wait?" he asked.
"We just wait," she confirmed with a
smile.
About half an hour later, after being told
for the third time to sit down and stop
pacing by Daphne, Harry asked, "Any
other family coming?"
"Later in the morning," replied Matthias.
"Cele's mother is coming in, along with
her brother and his wife. However, it's
going to take them time to get here from
wherever it is that they live. And her
brother, Robert, has to go and collect their
mother first."
"They didn't contact them until they knew
it wasn't a false labour," said Deece. "And
that only happened about fifteen minutes
before you got here."
"That must've been just after they sent
Winky to tell us," said Harry.
"It was," admitted Deece. "They also
didn't want to tell you until they knew it
was going to happen today."
Just then Hermione walked in with a large
grin on her face.
"News?" asked Daphne, the first to spot
her and ask.
"She's dilating but it's going to be a little
while yet," grinned Hermione. "But,
according to the nurses, everything is
going as planned. No problems."
"How's your dad holding up?" asked
Matthias.
If anything, Hermione's grin got wider. "I
think the nurses must've given him
something to calm him down. He's still
pretty hyper, though. He's now utterly
focussed on helping Mum with her
breathing while holding her hand."
"Did the nurses give any clues as to when...
you know..." asked Harry.
Chapter 326
"Not for a couple of hours yet, they
guess," she replied. She then got a more
serious look on her face as she looked at
Harry. "Harry, do you mind if I..."
"If you need to be with your parents, go!"
interrupted Harry.
As Hermione looked relieved, Daphne
added, "Just remember to keep coming
back and letting us poor 'lesser' family
members know what's going on."
Hermione was about to turn around and
leave again when she skipped over and
kissed both him and Daphne. "Thank you,"
she breathed to them. Then she quickly
left again.
Once she'd gone, Daphne sighed and said,
"So. What do we four do in the
meantime?"
Once Hermione had left, Matthias smiled
and looked around before saying anything.
There were a clear three other groups in
the large waiting area determined by the
four distinct groups they made. Clearly,
they'd be unable to perform any magic
out in the open like this.
Giving a firm nod, Matthias beckoned the
other three toward him and said, "Two
male, two female. Deece, you can take
Daphne with you. Find someplace
uninhabited and apparate directly from
there back to Greengrass Farm. Have an
early breakfast if you like, and pick up
something to read. Whatever it is, we can
charm it with a muggle Notice-Me-Not
charm so no one will see it's a magical
book. Once you return, I'll take Harry and
we'll do the same thing.
"In the meantime, if Hermione comes
back to tell us something important,
either of us can go to the toilets and
summon one of the elves to pass on a
message to the other, to let them know to
come back. Does that work for you?"
The other three nodded and Deece said,
"We'll have to remain in the same clothes,
though. That would be too hard to
otherwise explain. If anyone asks about
the books we bring back, we can just say
they were left in the muggle...
car-thingy..."
"Car; yes," said Harry.
"Car," said Deece.
"Works for me," said Matthias.
Over the next near two hours, Deece and
Daphne, then Matthias and Harry, and
finally Deece and Hermione, made short
apparition trips to Greengrass Farm so
they could 'freshen up', grab something to
read, and grab a bite to eat before
returning to the hospital.
Once Hermione returned, she
immediately headed back to the room,
only to find that Cele had finally been
moved into one of the 'birthing rooms'
and she wasn't allowed in. She returned to
the waiting room and told them what was
happening.
As she was explaining about muggle
birthing rooms to the others, five more
people walked in; three of whom Harry
recognised. As soon as she noticed them,
Hermione cut her explanation short and
hurried over with a cry of, "Grandma!"
before carefully launching herself into a
restrained hug with the slight elderly
woman who was part of the new group.
While the old woman hugged a clearly
happy Hermione back and chuckled, Harry
gestured for the others - Robert
Cummings, his wife Marybeth and whom
he believed to be their two teenaged
daughters - to come and join them.
"Hello Harry," said Robert with a grin
while holding his hand out to shake.
Harry smiled back and shook the man's
hand before turning to Marybeth. "Hello
Marybeth. It's good to see you again."
When the woman returned his greetings,
Harry then indicated Deece and Matthias.
"You remember Deece and Matthias don't
you?" he asked.
"Of course," said Robert, first shaking
hands with Matthias before turning and
doing the same with Deece. Matthias,
ever the gentleman, bowed and lightly
kissed Marybeth's knuckles as Deece then
leaned forward and lightly bussed the
woman's cheeks.
"And these are our daughters, June and
April," said Robert, indicating both girls in
turn.
After the pleasantries were completed,
Marybeth asked, "How're things
progressing with the birth?"
Hermione, leading her maternal
grandmother Elizabeth to the group, said,
"She's just been moved into the birthing
rooms. That was about five to ten minutes
ago."
"Then I should have another grandchild
before too much longer," said Elizabeth,
firmly.
Looking to the others, Robert asked, "How
long've you been here?"
"A couple of hours," replied Matthias with
a slight shrug. "It's not been a bother.
We've all taken time to go for a walk
outside and to grab a bite to eat for
breakfast."
"We stopped in at a traveller's layover on
the way in and ate there," explained
Robert. Harry knew Matthias and Deece
didn't understand, but knew it would
appear odd if they showed their
ignorance.
As the group settled down to wait,
Hermione was animatedly talking to her
grandmother about school at the
'secretive private school for the gifted up
north'; to which her grandmother was
attentively listening with a small smile.
After a little while, Hermione was too
anxious awaiting news from her parents,
and couldn't wait any longer. She excused
herself from her chat with her
grandmother and walked back to the
hospital room to see if she could discover
any news.
Harry decided to go talk to Elizabeth,
rather than see her sit alone. Approaching
her where she sat slightly apart, Harry
gestured to the seat where Hermione sat
and asked, "May I?"
"Of course," the old woman replied with a
smile.
As Harry sat down she suddenly asked,
"How's life at Hogwarts?"
"Oh, it's pretty..." he started to reply
before what she asked caught up with his
cognitive thought processes, and he
stopped in shock. He hesitated for a
moment before he softly asked her,
"Ummm... How... how did you know?"
With a pleased smile she'd guessed right,
Grandmother Elizabeth leaned towards
him a little and replied, "Hermione is not
the first witch in our family. My sister was
one, too."
"Was?" he asked, dreading the answer.
With a wistful look away, Elizabeth replied,
"We didn't learn of it for a long time.
However, we found out she and her
husband were killed by those masked
terrorists... Death Eaters?... in the late
nineteen seventies.
"We found out some time after..." she
paused and suddenly snapped her head
around to stare at him with a look of
shock and not a little fear. "Are you...?"
Responding with a wistful smile of his own,
Harry asked back, "Am I that Harry Potter?
Yes; yes, I am."
"So, it's true?" she asked. "The head
baddie is dead?"
Chapter 327
"Yes... and no," he replied. "Tom
Riddle...that's his real name, by the
way... did die that night. However, through
some ancient and very dark magics, he
prepared for the possibility he'd be killed.
He created some things that would anchor
his soul to this plane of existence. And,
only a few months ago... in June... was
able to create for himself a new body for
that soul to inhabit. Sad to say, he's back."
"So, he can't be disposed of
permanently?" she asked.
"Now he can," Harry replied with a bit of a
grin. "Hermione, Daphne and I... in
secret... have destroyed all those anchors.
However, we were unable to destroy all of
them before he was able to create a new
body for himself. Next time he's killed,
though; it's permanent."
"Can't he just create more of those... spirit
anchors?" she asked.
"Nope," he replied. "What his spirit now
inhabits is not a true human body, even
though it looks like one. It's a magical
construct known as a homunculus. The
closest non-magical analogue to that
would be... 'cyborg'. Or, better yet,
'biological android'."
Elizabeth took a few moments to think of
that before she quietly, but clearly
fearfully, asked, "If this... Riddle man is
back, are they targetting muddle... no...
mogg..."
"Muggleborn," corrected Harry. "And, yes.
The so-called Dark Lord and his followers,
the Death Eaters, are once again targeting
muggleborns; those born of non-magical
parents and families."
Harry watched as Elizabeth's face fell at
that news.
"However, they're not the only ones; not
by a long shot," he continued.
"Muggleborns are just the excuse. They
target anyone who speaks out against
them. Including those born of a
non-magical family and a magical family...
like me... and those who're born of purely
magical families who disagree with them.
They call them 'blood traitors'. Daphne
and her family are in that category."
"So, you're all in danger," she said,
indicating the Greengrasses, Daphne and
he.
"Yes, but so are you," said Harry. "Your
security... your protection... comes from
what's called 'security through obscurity'.
Riddle's band of terrorists does not
understand the non-magical world. They
do not understand about telephone
directories and the like. They do not know,
other than those who live with a wizard or
witch in the muggle world, how to find
anyone like you. Therefore, you currently
have some measure of protection... for
now.
"However, Tom wants to also conquer the
muggle world. But, he's not going to do
that until he's conquered the magical
world. If all goes right, he'll be stopped
before that happens; just as he was in
nineteen eighty-one."
Harry and Elizabeth talked for some more
before Hermione came back. The look on
her face showed there still wasn't news
yet.
"Sorry, nothing yet," she said, seeing the
inquisitive looks on the faces of the
others.
She walked over to where Harry was
sitting with Elizabeth. As she approached,
Elizabeth indicated the chair to her other
side from Harry, which Hermione
gratefully took.
Looking across Elizabeth, Harry quietly
said to his wife, "Grandma Elizabeth is in
the know, Hermione. It seems you had a
great aunt who was also a witch."
Hermione looked between the two with
shock before she finally fixed her
grandmother with a stare. "Really?" she
squeaked.
"Really," smiled Elizabeth right back.
With a look of both fear and happy relief,
Hermione began to ask questions at her
often rapid pace before Harry interrupted
her.
"Hermione-love," he said, getting her
attention. "As she knows about 'our'
world, perhaps it would be a good idea to
explain to her about our unique
relationship. I think you're the one who
needs to handle that."
And before Hermione could refuse, or
Elizabeth asked him questions, he quickly
rose and walked over to the Greengrasses.
He took a seat next to Daphne and quietly
told her about how much Elizabeth knew,
and why. "I think you need to go over and
sit with them to provide Hermione
support. I don't know how Elizabeth is
going to take the news of our three-way
marriage."
Daphne nodded back, gave him a chaste
kiss to the cheek, and walked over to join
Hermione and her grandmother.
Seeing her go, Deece walked over and
took Daphne's seat next to him and
quietly asked, "What's that about?"
So, Harry explained.
"Then I think I shall join them," she firmly
said, rising and walking over to join the
three ladies, where they were now in
deep but quiet discussion.
As the others began to notice the now
four ladies had moved off to the side to
chat, Harry walked over to join them.
Thinking quickly he came up with a
plausible excuse.
"I think they're talking about fantasy
fiction books," said Harry. "Personally, I
don't see the value. But, it seems
Elizabeth is a fan."
"Oh, she is," said Robert. "I think my Aunt
Muriel was a member of some faction of
the... what did they call it?... Society for
Creative Anachronism, or something. She
was always dressed just a little weirdly.
She used to talk, when they thought I
couldn't hear them, about spells and stuff
like that."
Matthias suddenly focussed a stare upon
Harry, who gave an almost imperceptible
nod back. Matthias then looked surprised.
After a moment, he asked Robert, "You
said, your Aunt Muriel?"
Robert just gave a slight shrug and said,
"Yes. Muriel Patterson. She and her
husband were killed in an attack of some
sort. It was a home invasion, if I
remember correctly. The police thought it
was a home robbery gone badly. It was
back in... late in the nineteen seventies;
about... nineteen seventy seven? No.
Nineteen seventy nine. There were quite a
few of them all over London, back then.
They seemed to just stop some time in
nineteen eighty or eighty one.
"The police never did find out who was
doing it. But, they put it down to some
splinter faction of the IRA that was doing
it to raise funds for their terrorist
organisation. I'm just glad that the IRA has
now stopped that. Too many lives were
taken as a result of that nuisance."
While Robert was 'reminiscing' Harry and
Matthias were sneaking 'looks' at one
another. Both knew exactly what was
going on, and why the culprits were never
caught.
It was into this tableau that Ant came
almost running into the waiting area. He
took one look at everyone and almost
shouted, "It's a boy!"
After finally getting a chance to go in and
spend a few minutes visiting with Cele and
the newborn Granger boy, the group
trooped down the corridor and into the
room where the Grangers were.
"Introducing... William Aragon Granger,"
said Ant, quite proudly, holding his new
son in his arms.
"Aragon?" asked Robert, a little surprised.
"Merchant of Venice?" asked Hermione,
having personally experienced her
parents' penchant for Shakespearean
character names.
"Correct!" beamed Ant.
"Ant wanted Aragon as the first name,"
said Cele, a little tiredly from where she
rested back in 'her' bed. "This time,
however, I put my foot down."
"Shakespearean names are classy," said
Ant, as if he was simply stating an
undisputable fact. "Bill Granger is
common; but, William Aragon Granger has
class!"
After they'd been visiting for a short while,
a nurse entered and bid them all leave.
"Both mother and baby need their rest. I
dare say, so does the father. You may
return later this afternoon during normal
visiting hours, but not before."
With only a few light-hearted grumbles,
the entire party left again. As they were
walking down the corridor away from the
room, Matthias quietly asked Ant, "Feel
like staying at Greengrass Farm? Either
Deece or I will be more than willing to
shuttle you back and forth. It'll be quicker
for you."
Grateful for the offer, Ant replied, "If it's
not too much trouble, thank you. I think
I'd bounce off the walls if at our place on
my own."
"You're more than welcome," said Deece,
assuaging Ant's fear he wouldn't be.
As they piled into a lift, Robert said, "Mum
wants to be close by for the next couple of
days. We'll be booking in to a hotel..."
"Nonsense!" scoffed Ant. "As I'll be
enjoying the hospitality of the
Greengrasses, as they live quite a bit
closer, you'll have my place for the
duration." And with that, and before his
decision could be disagreed with, he
pulled his set of keys out of his pocket and
separated out the keys for the house.
Handing them to Robert, who was a little
reluctant to take them, Ant said, "Make
yourself at home. It's only about a thirty
minute drive to the hospital from there."
"What about your clothes and personal...
you know," asked Marybeth.
"Already packed and in my car," replied
Ant. "I have everything I need."
After Robert and his family left with
Elizabeth, Ant ducked away with everyone
else and called Winky.
"Yes, Master Ant-knee?" asked the little
elf.
After Ant got through explaining what he
needed the little elf to accomplish, she
called for help from Dobby, and the two
elves popped away.
Their 'mission' was to ready the Granger
home for a visit from a muggle family of
five, pack some personal effects and
clothing for Ant from the house and move
it to Greengrass Farm, and move Ant's
BMW to the farm, as well.
Once the elves were on their way,
Matthias created a portkey to take
everyone else back to the Farm; and they
were away.
The bond-mates were only at Greengrass
Farm for a couple of hours before they
had to leave. Classes for the morning were
breaking up and they needed to be back
before the afternoon classes began. Plus,
they also wanted to spend lunch with
their friends so they could update them
on what had happened.
From Greengrass Farm they Floo'ed
directly to The Three Broomsticks, and
then walked back to the school through
the main gates.
They arrived just after lunch had begun,
and hurried to the Ravenclaw table. As
they walked in through the main doors to
the Great Hall, Harry caught the eye of
Professor Flitwick and gave him a bit of
wave, confirming they had returned.
After they had eaten their fill, and caught
Luna up on what had happened, they
were soon joined by Neville, Tracey and
quite a few others.
"A baby!" squealed Susan, after they tried
to explain where they'd been. "What's his
name?"
"William Aragon Granger," replied a very
happy Hermione. "I now have a baby
brother."
Before lunch was fully over and students
headed for their next classes, the three
were able to get a copy of their
assignments they missed receiving from
the morning's classes. Yes, they still knew
all the material, but appearances needed
to be kept.
And that afternoon they were able to give
the news of the birth of little William to
one of the two Professors the three
admired the most; their Head of House,
Professor Flitwick. Through unspoken
agreement, the three only told Professor
Snape that Hermione's mother had given
birth to a second child, a son. They did not
give the baby's name. And the Potions
Master did not push for it.
Snape only gave a grunt in reply before he
changed the subject. "I am... most pleased
to see improvement in your brewing," he
said, looking to Harry and Hermione. He
then turned to Daphne and said, "As I can
only assume their improvement is the
result of your personal tutoring, I believe
you have the makings of a fine teacher,
Missus Greengrass-Potter."
Daphne only gave a firm nod back before
she just as quietly replied, "Thank you,
Professor." She had no intention of letting
the man know it wasn't she who had
taught the other two. Rather, it was the
advanced brewing they'd undertaken to
NEWT level in the old timeline that had
improved Harry's, and even Hermione's,
brewing.
Snape was not 'in-the-know' about the
three of them going back in time, and the
three wanted to keep it that way. They
knew the man had master level
Occlumency shields, and believed his
mind had not been intruded upon by
Riddle in the old timeline; but, they
couldn't take the risk 'old snakeface'
wouldn't do it this time around. If that
happened, the risk to the Grangers would
increase from 'quite concerning' to an
almost 'dead-set certainty'. It would be
just like Tom to attack the Grangers just to
hurt Harry.
Seeming to hesitate a moment, Snape
gestured for Harry to step aside a little
and quietly told him, "I know you will tell
your wives this, anyway; however, I
promised the headmaster I would tell you
in private."
Knowing the likelihood of what the
Potions Master would tell him, Harry
didn't even bother to respond. He simply
waited for the man to get on with it.
With a frown at the lack of response from
Harry, Snape said, "The Headmaster left a
number of memories in my possession he
wishes for you, and you alone, to view.
They are concerning the background of
the Dark Lord, and information concerning
certain... artefacts he believes you need to
deal with."
Before Snape could continue, Harry
quietly said, "Thank you for the offer,
Professor. However, I'm
already well aware of the artefacts, and
they have already been dealt with. Plus,
I'm also well aware of the memories
Dumbledore would like me to view, and
have no need to view them, as they relate
to the background of Riddle and the
artefacts. Clearly, Dumbledore spoke to
you about these memories before we
spoke with him on the second of
September.
Chapter 328
"Albus Dumbledore was a fool. He wanted
to keep all the important secrets to
himself, and wouldn't trust anyone else to
have them. If anything had happened to
him, such as an accident of a simple slip
while walking down stairs and breaking his
fool neck, we'd have been in all sorts of
trouble in trying to defeat Riddle. And,
among many other faults Dumbledore had,
he simply could not envision anyone else
being as clever as he, and knowing what
was going on. He was very wrong."
Turning to look more fully into the face of
Snape, who was looking back with an
almost masked expression of surprise,
Harry said, "I take it you've already viewed
these memories?"
After a slight hesitation, the professor
replied, "I have."
Nodding a bit as if the man's answer was
obvious, Harry continued, "If I was to
guess at what the memories contained,
there would be information on Riddle's
background, at least. Yes?"
"Yes," replied the Potions Master with the
same very quick hesitation.
Again with the nod, Harry continued,
"Orphaned boy, biological son of Merope
Gaunt and Tom Riddle, a muggle squire's
son; his biological mother grew up in a
hovel, nearby - the Gaunt Shack, in Little
Hangleton, not far from Riddle's
resurrection site.
"After his mother died a few minutes to
hours after his birth, Riddle grew up in
Wool's Orphanage until Dumbledore, in
his role as Deputy Headmaster, brought
him his Hogwarts acceptance letter. He
came to Hogwarts believing he was
muggleborn and was sorted into Slytherin.
That would have made life very hard for
him.
"A few years later, he discovered he was
actually the son of a long line of
purebloods and a muggle, making him a
half-blood, not muggleborn. Further
investigations also showed that the
Gaunts believed themselves to be the last
living descendants of Salazaar Slytherin,
himself. And that, therefore, made him
the Heir of Slytherin after his biological
maternal uncle. A quick dispatch of him,
and Tom became the actual Heir of
Slytherin.
"During his time at Hogwarts, after
recently becoming a Prefect, he managed
to find the fabled Chamber of Secrets and
bound the basilisk within to his control. It
was not too much later he slipped up in
his handling of the beast and young
Myrtle Malone, a Ravenclaw muggleborn,
died in the bathroom, which houses one
of the main entrances to the chamber.
"He realised Dumbledore immediately
suspected him, so decided not to revisit
the Chamber again. However, to cover his
tracks, he laid the blame on a third year
Gryffindor, Rubeus Hagrid, and his pet
baby acromantula. A bloody stupid idea,
really, that should never have worked. But,
Riddle was panicking a bit. A post mortem
of poor Myrtle's body would have
confirmed there were no spider bites to
be found, and Hagrid and his spider would
have been exonerated. However, Tom had
already figured out that witches and
wizards are inherently daft, and no such
post mortem was carried out.
"How am I doing so far, Professor?" he
asked.
Snape just stared back at him for a while
with a very thoughtful looking frown on
his face. It was one of the rare times Harry
had ever seen the man openly show
emotion.
It was quite a long moment before Snape
quietly asked back, "And how is it
you know all this, Mister Potter?"
"The answer is as simple as it is shocking,
Professor," replied Harry. "Almost every
single witch and wizard I've come across,
including the muggleborns, have lost... or
never had... the ability to actually think.
They're incapable of engaging rational
thought and logic into how they think
about things. I admit there are a few, such
as you, who've managed for the main to
retain sufficient cognitive function; but, I
find they seem few and far between.
"For example, just about everyone turned
against me in late nineteen ninety-two
and accused me of being the Heir of
Slytherin, and opening the Chamber of
Secrets. And stayed that way for
about eight months! Even someone with a
modicum of sense would have realised I
should have been the last one to be
considered that; even with being a
parselmouth.
"It was already well known that Riddle
told everyone he was the Heir of Slytherin.
He attacked my parents and me. He is my
mortal enemy. Therefore, how the bloody
hell could I be considered the Heir of
Slytherin? That's just blatantly stupid! And,
is proof witches and wizards are
inherently daft!
"Now, I can accept that there would
be some who might leap to that
conclusion. After all, the world needs a
few idiots here and there, just to show
everyone else how not to do something or
think. However, for nearly the entire
school to reach that conclusion? Daft!"
"I'm a parselmouth; history is littered with
evil wizards who were parselmouths;
therefore, I must be evil. By that same
logic, Professor McGonagall's animagus
form is that of a dog. Everyone knows
dogs have four legs and a tail; Professor
McGonagall's animagus form has four legs
and a tail; therefore, Professor
McGonagall's animagus form is a
dog. Sheesh!
"That logic error, by the way, is known as
the 'Fallacy of the Undistributed Middle'.
The students, plus many of the staff,
engaged in that when they failed to
consider there were also witches and
wizards who are, or were, parselmouths
who weren't evil. A very good example
was Merlin; who was also a parselmouth."
Realising he was well and truly into rant
mode, even if he wasn't raising his voice,
Harry reeled himself back under control.
"Sorry, Professor. I let myself go there for a
bit. What I was trying to demonstrate is
that it is not hard to figure out the history
of Tom Riddle, and what the artefacts
likely were, without Dumbledore knowing.
All it takes is for someone to engage their
brain and think.
"For instance, the Trophy Room contains
information on Tom Riddle, including a
picture of him. I came across that the first
time I received detention and had to
polish trophies. The Ministry records also
contain information on some of the
childhood and young adulthood of one
Tom Riddle, including where he grew up,
and what he did after school. And
Dumbledore, for all his supposed wisdom,
was not averse to letting things slip to
show how knowledgeable he was. Some
of that related to Riddle.
"A bit of reading in the Black library and I
discovered that the diary I destroyed at
the end of my second year was, in fact,
used as a soul container. Riddle's
penchant for collecting trophies led me to
the likely identity of what he used for
others. Plus one."
Chapter 329
"That is, it took me little time to work out
that he made me an accidental soul
container when he attacked my parents'
home. Thankfully, he wasn't able to
perform the necessary ritual on me to
actually make me a horcrux; so, the soul
fragment he left behind in my scar when
my mother's magics destroyed his body
was easily removed by an expert on soul
magics."
Snape then gaped at him, and Harry
nearly burst out laughing at the man's
expression. "It's gone?" Snape quietly
asked.
"Yes," replied Harry. "It was removed
before the start of fourth year; my fourth
year."
"Dumbledore told me..." the Potions
Master began before shutting up.
"Dumbledore told you I had to die to
permanently defeat Riddle, didn't he?"
asked Harry. Without awaiting a response,
he continued, "That was yet another thing
he was wrong about. For the people who
removed it, and a little pain on my part,
the fragment was easily removed and
destroyed. Together with all the other soul
containers being stripped of their soul
fragment or outright destroyed, including
that bloody snake of his, there are no
more containers that need to be found
and dealt with. Riddle is, once more,
mortal. He can now be killed and it will be
permanent this time."
Staring straight into Snape's eyes, Harry
firmly stated, "There is no longer any
reason I must die."
Flat-out shocked, the usually dour Potions
Master, once again, gaped back at Harry.
"You... know? Knew?"
"As I said, Professor," replied Harry. "It was
not hard to figure out. Once I was able to
figure a few things out, it was also not
hard to figure out that Albus Dumbledore
was setting me up to die. Then I was able
to ascertain why. The school diary of Tom
Riddle was my first clue; and, I daresay it
was Dumbledore's first clue, too, about
the soul containers.
"Next, I've been informed there's a
prophecy about me. I've been able to hear
it, and have taken certain actions to try to
ensure it comes out in my favour...
contrary to Dumbledore's actions of
keeping me in the dark and not training
me from the get-go. That's why I know
why you offered me training; or, to the
point, why Dumbledore asked you to offer
me training.
"Dumbledore falsely thought he was the
cleverest magical alive. And that,
therefore, only he could figure it all out.
He forgot to take into consideration that
both my mother and my wives were...
are... considered the smartest witches
of their generations. Nor, that they
could also figure it out. For all his
supposed wisdom, he was blind to facts. If
they did not fit his worldview, or plans, he
did not consider them worth his
understanding. For all his wisdom, he was
just as daft as the next wizard or witch."
After their little 'chat', training with Snape
upped its intensity. To Harry, it was now
clear the man was training him to stay
alive, rather than just putting in a good
showing and hoping for the best. During
their next training session, the Professor
ordered him to start casting incantless - or,
silently. Harry was able to perform as
asked for many of the spells, but not all.
Many of the advanced curses he still had
to at least mutter the spell.
For those Snape heard, Harry found
himself getting tagged from behind by a
stinging hex by Professor Flitwick. It took
him a few stings to finally figure out Snape
was making a very slight gesture with his
off hand to Professor Flitwick whenever
he heard the incantation.
So, the next time he saw the gesture, he
immediately erected a hasty shield
between he and the diminutive professor
for a moment before returning to casting.
Straight after the shield, Harry was able to
tag the Potions Master with a piercing
curse to the wand arm as the Professor
appeared to hesitate for just a moment.
"Stop!" snapped Snape, straight after the
curse.
With his honed reflexes, Harry was able to
immediately halt and raise his wand to
the en garde fencing position, with the
wand tip pointing straight up in front of
his face.
Professor Snape immediately cast a
healing charm on his bicep, where the
piercing curse tagged him, before turning
back to look at Harry.
"Mister Potter," he demanded. "Why did
you cast the shield charm towards
Professor Flitwick when you did?"
Knowing lying was a fool's gambit, Harry
replied honestly. "I noticed the slight
gesture you make to Professor Flitwick to
signal him to cast a stinging hex at my...
behind, Sir. Once I figured out what you
were doing, I prepared for it. That time, I
saw the gesture and, knowing I had the
time to do it, momentarily cast the shield
charm to protect myself from Professor
Flitwick's hex."
The Professor only nodded back slowly as
Harry spoke. Once Harry had finished his
reply, he said, "Good. Situational
awareness. You're becoming more aware
of not just the curses coming at you.
You're learning from your opponent's
movements; including gestures. Rest."
Turning to where Hermione and Daphne
had stopped their own mini duel and were
looking back, Snape asked, "Did either of
you catch the gestures?"
"No, Sir," replied Daphne. "We only had
eyes for each other."
To anyone else in any other setting, that
comment might have elicited ribald
comments back. However, not here and
not in this environment.
"As you should," replied the Professor.
"However, you should know that... your
husband was correct." Holding up his
off-hand he indicated it and said, "My
gesture to Professor Flitwick was only a
slight flick of my index finger like so." He
made the gesture. "However, Mister
Potter clearly saw it and recognised it for
what it was.
"Can either of you tell me why it is
important to watch for such gestures?"
"Yes, Sir," replied Hermione. "The gesture,
like you used, can be used to signal
another to attack from a different
direction. Therefore, it behooves those in
battle to watch for them and be prepared
for an attack from another direction."
"Correct," replied the Professor. With a
bare hesitation, he commanded, "Step up,
Miss Granger... Your turn."
With a slight look of concern but
determination, Harry stepped away as
Hermione took his place.
"As with Mister Potter, I expect silent
casting," demanded Snape. "Either remain
silent or watch for the gestures if you
don't want your husband rubbing bruise
salve on your derriere tonight."
He gave her barely a moment before he
almost snarled, "Begin!"
And the two 'went at it'.
While the three engaged in the extra
training from the two Masters, they also
took time in the evenings to run in their
animagus forms outside and away from
other eyes. Often, they'd use the large
rock to block views from others, before
changing and taking off for the other side
of the lake. There, they could engage in
their play fighting and exercising their
forms.
They always ensured they returned to the
castle well before curfew, so they would
be back in their apartment in plenty of
time with others none the wiser.
However, with fifth year now ramping up,
so did assignments. This was their OWL
year, after all; so work was being piled on.
Other than the occasional run in their
animagus forms, the only break Harry had
from the school work and training was his
occasional bouts of flying about on his
broom on a weekend day. He was thankful
neither of his wives begrudged him his
time unwinding on his broom. He had to
admit, at least to himself, he missed
playing Quidditch. However, he no longer
had time to dedicate to the training Roger
Davies, the Ravenclaw Quidditch Captain,
would demand.
Chapter 330
As November creeped up on them one
weekday, the Weasley twins approached
during lunch and suggested they 'visit'
with them that evening. Of course, the
twins were immediately invited to an
evening in the apartment.
That evening, immediately after the
evening meal, the twins walked with them
up to the Ravenclaw wing on the seventh
floor.
Once inside, Harry called Dobby and the
little elf was dispatched to get them all
butterbeers. And, while they were waiting,
the twins pulled out a couple of the reload
canisters for the paintball guns they were
given filled with the paintball rounds.
After Dobby had popped back in with a
tray laden with the foamy drink, one twin
said, "We've solved it."
"We've solved the problem of filling the
paintball rounds with the Sleepy-byes
potion," said the other.
That then led the twins into describing the
system they'd devised to switch out the
contents of the rounds.
"We had to solve the second problem to
test the first," said one.
"It was taking too long to do the rounds
for testing purposes..."
"... So, we had to solve that problem
before we could truly begin testing."
"And we've done it!" they both crowed.
They then pulled out of their robes a
number of items. The first was a stone
block with two rows; one row of ten
evenly sized 'dimples' along it, and one
with matching dimples but much larger.
They were still matched up and in line
with the other row, though.
"Alright, here's how it works..." said one.
The other twin walked over to where the
boxes of paintball rounds were still
stacked and brought one of the boxes over.
As he was doing that, his twin had a large
glass bottle of the Sleepy-byes potion
within it. And he started to carefully fill
out, one at a time, each of the larger
dimples with the potion.
Once he was finished it was clear that
each large dimple also acted as a sort of
measuring spoon, as it appeared there
was the same amount of potion in each.
The twin who collected the box, then
picked up a handful of the rounds and
began to place one in each of the first set
of dimples.
Once all the larger dimples were filled
with potion, and the other row each had
an unaltered round in it, the twins looked
up and grinned.
"This automates the process a bit," said
one of the twins.
Indicating the stone block the second twin
was pointing at runes engraved in it.
"These runes carry out what we want to
happen much better, and much more
precisely than we can by doing it by
hand."
He then tapped his wand on a rune at the
end of the stone and muttered,
"Activate!"
With a bit of a flash of light, suddenly the
clear potion was replaced with the bright
oil-based 'paint' of the original contents of
the rounds.
"Whoa!" said Harry, reaching across and
picking up one of the now potion filled
rounds to peer closely at it. "That's
amazing!"
"It's also very clever," said Hermione,
looking closely at the block.
Daphne, also leaning closer asked, "You
used a rune-based switching spell;
multiplied... what... ten times?
"Yes, and a couple of others," replied one
twin.
"We came up with this method..."
explained the other.
"... Because we needed to create accuracy
to make the switching spell work..."
"... Without damaging the very thin walls
of the ball... round."
"The little impressions hold the rounds
and potion in place for you, right where
you want them," said Hermione.
"Precisely," said both twins.
"Using a rune-based switching spell was
the only way to accurately switch out the
oil for the potion," said one.
"It took us less than three days to figure
that bit out," said the other.
"The rest of the time was spent on
learning the runes..."
"... Making a prototype..."
"... Testing the prototype, each time, until
we had it..."
"... Then finally making the one you see
before you."
"If you can do it for ten, you can also do it
for a lot more; or, simply make copies to
do more," said Hermione.
"Precisely," both twins said together,
again.
"How soon can you begin production?"
asked Hermione.
"We already have," said one twin.
"If you guys brew enough potion, can the
house elves work the... switching stone?"
asked Harry.
"Yes," replied Daphne before the twins
could respond. "House elves can operate
rune sequences."
"Then we'll get Dobby to work it in his free
time," said Harry. "House elves are
significantly faster than witches and
wizards at this sort of thing."
"Good idea," said Daphne. "He should get
through all the boxes of rounds in no
time."
Looking to the twins, Harry said, "Boys,
you've done very well. How much more
gold do you need to come out ahead in
this?"
The twins glanced at each other before
they turned back and said, "We've not
spent all of what you've already given us."
"Plus, that switching stone, as you called it,
will come in very handy to us when we
open our shop after NEWTs."
"Well, as I said, anything you develop to
get the job done is yours to keep
afterwards," said Harry. "Clearly, we only
need the stone to switch out the rounds.
Once that's done, we've no need of it
again. So, it's yours."
"And we already have plans for it..." said
one twin.
"... In our business," said the other.