Chapter 351
With a smirk, Remus corrected him.
"Thirteen," he softly said. "And, it's not as
if she's actually needing the potions, you
understand; because, I don't believe
there's a boy in her life. I think it's just a...
precaution."
With a grunt of acknowledgement, Quincy
nodded and said, "They just seem to grow
up so fast, these days."
With the 'argument' between Harry and
Matthias apparently over for the time
being, Harry approached the counter and
asked, "Any news on when the new Bolt
broom is likely to hit the markets?"
"Not yet," replied Quincy. "However,
rumour has it, it'll be called the
Lightningbolt; and it'll be even faster than
the Firebolt."
"Well, can you keep me informed?" asked
Harry. "I'd like to be one of the first to buy
it, when it finally hits the market."
"I'll go you one better, Mister Potter,"
smiled Quincy. "I'll let them know you're
interested, and see if they might be able
to find a way for you to get one of them
even before they hit the shelves."
"Really?" asked Harry. "That'd be brilliant!
But, I don't want to have to actually
endorse it, or anything, to get it early. I've
got the money to pay for it fair and square,
just like everyone else."
With a smile Quincy replied, "I'll let them
know."
After returning to Greengrass Farm, Harry
set aside the gifts he purchased for family
and friends and sought out a quiet room
to meditate to begin the process of
getting in touch with his magic. He found
the best room was right next door to the
Potter room, in one of the guest
bedrooms.
Settling down, he found it easiest to sit
lotus-style with his shoes off and his wrists
resting on his knees. It was the sitting
style he used to learn of his animagus
form.
'Sitting comfortably, check,' he thought.
'Not too hot and not too cold, check. Relax.
Begin breathing. In through the nose, hold
it. And out through the mouth, pause. In
through the nose, hold it. And out through
the mouth, pause'.
As he focussed on his breathing with one
part of his mind, he let the more
conscious part imagine a lit candle sitting
before him in a dark room. He focussed on
the flame. And focussed on the very
centre of it.
As he continued to breathe in a steady
rhythm he imagined himself losing himself
within the steady flame of the candle. He
became part of the flame. He was the
flame.
His meditating was shortly interrupted by
Hermione, who had apparently come
looking for him.
"Harry, love," she said, pulling him out of
his meditative state. "Harry. Open your
eyes."
When he finally opened his eyes he
realised just how alive and relaxed he felt.
Turning to look at her he frowned, a little
annoyed to have his meditation broken.
"What's going on?" he asked. "I've only
been at this for a few minutes. I need
more time."
"Harry, you've been sitting in the same
position for more than three hours," she
softly replied. "We're being called for
dinner."
Shocked at how much time had actually
passed, he asked, "Three hours?"
"More than," she replied. "It's been closer
to three and a half."
When he unkinked his legs and tried to
stand he realised how numb they felt, and
groaned.
Hurrying forward, Hermione helped pull
him to his feet, supporting his weight.
"You alright?" she asked.
"Yeah," he softly replied with a slight hiss.
"My legs are just a little stiff, that's all."
After getting feeling back into his legs, he
said, "Better, thank you."
"Need me to help you down to the
kitchen?" she asked, tentatively stepping
away from him a bit.
"Nope. Thanks, though," he replied with a
sigh. "I'm fine now."
Together, they walked downstairs to join
the rest of the family for dinner.
After a wonderful Christmas Day, the
three Potters moved to the Granger
residence. This time, instead of side-along
apparating, they took a portkey from the
safe room to the garage at the Grangers.
Dashing to the door, Hermione flung it
open and called, "We're here!"
"Cele!" called Ant from somewhere within.
"I think I'm suffering from auditory
hallucinations! I can hear Pumpkin calling
us!"
"Daddy!" Hermione happily exclaimed
before she ran across the hallway into the
front parlour.
As the others glanced at one another with
matching grins, they followed Hermione
through the door and across the hall. They
entered the parlour just as Cele walked in
through the other door cradling little
William in the hollow of her shoulder.
They found Hermione attempting to
squeeze her father half to death with a
hug. But, noticing her mother walk in with
the baby, Ant was quickly abandoned with
a squeal as she then quickly made her way
to her mother and the baby.
Gently pulling the blankets wrapped
around the baby aside, so she could see
her baby brother's face, Hermione was
cooing to the sleeping infant's face.
"Ooooh, he's getting so big!" she softly
said.
"I should think so," said Cele. "He's almost
two and half months now."
"I'm missing so much!" whined Hermione.
As Hermione was cooing over the baby,
she was joined by Daphne as Harry made
his way over to Ant.
"How was the Farm?" asked Ant.
"Yeah, good," replied Harry. "It's just a pity
we don't get to spend a lot of time with
any of you."
"Two weeks isn't a lot of time, but it's
better than nothing," shrugged Ant.
Watching Hermione and Daphne fawning
over baby William he said, "Don't either of
you get too clucky. I have no interest in
being a grandfather just yet, thank you
very much."
Daphne just grinned as Hermione poked
her tongue out back at her father, before
turning back to the baby.
"It's not going to happen, Ant," said Harry.
"None of us have any interest in
parenthood until both Riddle and our
studies have been dealt with. And, even
then, we want to establish our careers
first."
Chapter 352
With a quite audible sigh, Ant said, "I
know, but accidents happen."
"Not with the potions," said Daphne, who
had overheard. "I understand there were
risks with the muggle potions; but, they
don't exist with the magical ones."
"But, what about with how magically
strong..." said Ant, gesturing to Harry. "We
were told there was a risk because of the
bonds."
"There was," she acknowledged.
"However, if that was going to happen, it
would have happened before now."
"We're safe, Daddy," nodded Hermione.
"The potions are strong enough to ensure
we won't fall pregnant until we're ready.
We're being responsible."
"See that you continue to be so," said Cele.
"I'm sure little William here doesn't want
to be an uncle to someone in the same
year as him at Hogwarts. Or even only a
few years his junior."
"Study, Riddle, study some more,
establishing careers and then babies," said
Harry. "By the time a nephew or niece
turns up at Hogwarts, little 'Wags' will
probably already have graduated."
Cele scowled at him. "I wish you wouldn't
call William that. That sort of nickname
tends to stick."
"Sorry," he smiled back. "But, the oldest
Weasley boy is named 'William'... Bill.
So..."
"And you don't want to be reminded of
the Weasleys..." she sighed.
"Oh, it's not that, exactly," he said, hoping
to show it wasn't too big a deal. "I know I
can trust the twins, Fred and George. I'm
pretty sure I can trust Bill and Charlie, the
two oldest, too. The same goes with
Mister Weasley, Arthur. I'm not sure,
though, about Percy. And
we definitely cannot trust Ron, Ginny or
Molly.
"It's just that, in the old timeline, there
was no William Aragon Granger. And
William, Bill, proved to be quite helpful
when he knew I was Ginny's boyfriend. He
dotes on her, as she does him. However,
now that I'm one of the ones who saw her
face trial for the attempted Amortentia
dosings, that trust may no longer exist;
though, I'm pretty sure it should."
With a sigh, Cele relented a little. "Fine,"
she said. "But, only in the presence of
family. Please don't use it in public. And,
when he starts to make friends and
they're over, not in front of them."
"Better 'Wags' than a lot
of other nicknames I could think of,"
smiled Ant.
Over the course of the break, Harry
continued to spend as much time as he
could working on recreating the bond he
had with Riddle through his curse scar.
However this time, as he would be the
one controlling it, he made sure to set up
defences between the connection and his
mind. This was his penultimate layer of
protection; with the final layer being his
active Occlumency defences. This time,
Riddle would not be able to send him false
visions or torment him in his sleep.
His concept, which he made reality, was to
first find where the connection was
originally anchored in his mind. Once he
found it, he built an all encompassing
fortification around it with a small
doorway that only he could pass through.
It was essentially keyed to his own magical
signature. Other than that, the
fortification was of null magic
construction; that is, Riddle couldn't cast
spells at it to tear it down.
Next was spent a great deal of time trying
to find the actual link between his and
Riddle's minds. And, once he had it, he set
about trying to configure it to be only
one-way. That is, he could enter Riddle's
mind, but Riddle couldn't come back the
other way.
It was on the final day of their break,
before heading to Platform 9¾ the next
morning, that he felt he was ready to push
down the link.
It was after a very satisfying night of sleep
and a fulfilling breakfast, Harry retired to
the bondmates' room to make the first
attempt at entering Riddle's mind.
First, he cast upon himself a mental
disillusionment, sense confounding and an
overlaid Notice-Me-Not charm before he
began to explore the path between the
two of them. Then he gently began to
ease along the connection.
At first he only sensed an emotion of
disgruntlement with an underlying more
primal sense of fear. Holding off Harry
tried to figure out why Riddle was feeling
that way.
'Of course,' he thought. 'The whining is
from his apparent loss of magical power;
and the fear is from it being discovered by
his lickspittles.'
Pushing forward, Harry began to sense
conscious thoughts. Again, he held
position to see if he'd been detected.
As the thoughts did not change, he
pushed further forward until, almost
suddenly, he could make out things
through Riddle's eyes. He could almost
peripherally smell a musty scent, feel the
touch of the Acromantula silk robe on
Riddle's body, the slightly seeping cold,
and hear everything even slightly muffled.
Wondering how long it would take Riddle
to sense his presence, Harry held position
in the connection and just monitored.
By the time he ended the connection,
which felt like a couple hours, Harry
understood why Voldemort hadn't
ordered as many attacks as the last run
though. He was spending almost every
waking hour researching why he was so
magically weak. Instead of sending his
Death Eaters on attacks, he was sending
them around the world looking for books
that would give him the answers he
sought.
Of course, he couldn't just send them for
books specifically related to magical
weakness. He could not risk them figuring
out he was weak. So he sent them after
books on a range of subjects. Some were
on soul magic including soul bonds, soul
bindings and the like. Others were on dark
rituals used to strengthen the core, both
temporarily and permanently.
Owls were often flying in with the latest
acquisitions from around the world.
As for the few attack 'missions' Riddle had
sent his minions on, they were because he
wanted to keep those DEs he kept in
England busy. The one on the train, Saint
Mungo's and the assassination attempt on
Harry and Professor Flitwick, and the one
on Amelia Bones were the few Riddle had
developed, personally. All the others,
especially the attacks on the homes of the
muggleborns, were initiated and devised
from among his followers.
That the four attacks Riddle had
personally developed were all failures was
causing a great deal of doubt in his
abilities among his so-called loyal
followers. He'd had to kill half a dozen of
his new recruits after the failed attack on
the train, just to enforce discipline.
The other news Harry had learned was
that Riddle was definitely planning an
attempt to gain the prophecy from the
Department of Mysteries; and, as they
expected, an attempt to collect the
information about muggleborns the
Ministry had in its possession. It was also
clear that Riddle was unaware the
information had all been placed under a
Knowledge Fidelius and was, therefore,
useless to him.
Chapter 353
New information to Harry was that the
attempt also had a third objective, a
second attempt at assassinating high level
Ministry employees; including Amelia
Bones and Tiberius Ogden. He watched as
Riddle wrote down the information and an
overview to the plan on parchment before
him at the conjured desk he used.
Carefully withdrawing from the
connection, Harry wrote down what he'd
seen and witnessed through the
connection. He wrote out the same plan
overview, and then started on listing who
Riddle had summoned to his presence to
give further instructions.
While the Death Eaters all wore masks
while out and about, they were banned
from doing so in the privacy of Riddle's
'throne room'. Other added names were
those who he specifically named for
specific tasks in the plan.
Once he was finished, Harry made a copy
of everything he'd written down and sent
a copy, together with a covering letter, to
Madam Bones. Hedwig took it to deliver it
a little while later.
Walking into the kitchen he found his
wives and Cele sitting around the kitchen
table drinking tea. He already knew that
Ant was at the surgery for the day.
"Here he is," smiled Daphne. "How'd it
go?"
"We came up a couple of times to check
on you," explained Hermione. "You
seemed to be alright, so we left you to it."
With a wide grin, Harry replied, "It worked.
I was able to get into his conscious mind
without being detected; then used that
connection to spy on him."
That had both wives perk up.
"What did you learn?" asked Hermione,
almost eagerly.
Before answering, he passed the
parchment he'd been writing on across to
his wives and replied, "This is a copy of
the information I discovered. I've already
sent Hedwig off with a copy of it to
Madam Bones."
Quickly scanning down through it all,
Hermione gasped and said, "This is
amazing!"
"What date is Riddle likely to try for the
Ministry?" asked Daphne.
"No idea, yet," he replied with a sigh.
"And I think that's because Riddle doesn't
know when he wants to make the
attempt.
"However, now that I know I can get into
his head without being detected... and
how... I'll be able to keep a near constant
eye on him."
"You're thinking of using his attack on the
Ministry as the time you go after him,
personally," said Daphne, leaping to the
same conclusion Harry had earlier.
"Yes," he grinned. "What better place to
defeat him than inside the Ministry itself?
Nice and public."
"You intend to set a trap," said Hermione,
already knowing what was to come.
"I do," he replied. "And, with the help of
Madam Bones, Unspeakable Croaker and
their combined forces, I intend to defeat
him."
"Then, we need a plan," said Daphne.
Though they knew there was no second
attack upon the Hogwarts Express
planned, the trip back to the castle still
saw a small contingent of aurors board at
Kings Cross with the students. They spread
out to be two per carriage, and
immediately transfigured their robes into
those of students. On their persons they
carried single doses of Polyjuice potion,
but they wouldn't be taking them unless
and until the train was actually attacked.
However, from Harry's initial trip into the
mind of Riddle, they knew the identity of
an auror who was feeding information
back to Riddle. And, using that traitor,
they ensured Riddle knew a trap lay in
wait for him and his Death Eaters if they
did attack the Express. Therefore, they
both ensured the Express wouldn't be
attacked, and the true trap was still kept
secret.
From within their compartment Harry and
his wives were the only ones who knew of
his connection to Riddle. It was such a
precious secret that they could not take
the risk Riddle would learn of it. Therefore,
they didn't speak of it with their friends.
The train was slowing down at the end of
its journey when Harry felt the wards at
Potter Retreat signal someone had arrived
by one of the special portkeys.
He suddenly stiffened in shock.
"Harry?" asked Hermione, first to notice.
"What's wrong?"
"Someone just triggered one of the special
portkeys," he said. "We need to go."
"What?" asked Tracey, confused by Harry's
behaviour.
"We need to go, Tracey," said Daphne, as
the three bondmates all stood. "We'll see
you at the castle."
Harry quickly pulled a knick-knack from
his pocket to pretend it was a portkey and
held it out as he and his bondmates all
ejected their main wands into their hands,
ready to cast.
"Ready?" he asked.
"Ready," both wives immediately replied.
"Activate home sweet home!" he said
almost barking it out.
The last thing the three saw as the portkey
swept them away with the hook behind
the navel feeling was their friends staring
back at them in shock.
As they were released from the swirl of
the portkey, all three immediately erected
shields with their main wands as they
ejected their second, hidden wands into
their hands ready for battle.
Landing in the entrance hall of Potter
Retreat, Harry quickly turned about
looking for trouble, as did his wives. All he
saw was the face of Ant peering around
one of the doors leading out of the room.
"Dad?" asked Hermione, also spotting the
man and quickly walking over to him
before enveloping him in a hug.
After ensuring there was no immediate
attack, Harry turned to Ant Granger and
asked, "Is everyone alright?"
Coming further into the room, he led in
Cele, who was carrying baby William in
her arms. "Yes," he sighed in relief. "The
three of us are fine. But, I don't know
about Winky."
"Quickly, what can you tell us?" asked
Harry.
"We don't know how many of them there
were," replied Ant. "All we know is the
alert ward triggered that magicals had just
attacked our wards.
"Thankfully, all three of us were in the
lounge when it happened. Winky popped
in and declared we were under attack.
Then she grabbed Cele, who was already
holding William, and disappeared with
them. Then she came back and popped
away with me.
Chapter 354
"She had taken us to the hidden room
with the CCTV equipment, which she'd
already activated. From that we saw there
was at least three of them; three Death
Eaters, all making their way to the front
door.
"As one of them used some sort of spell to
blow the front door off the house, Winky
ordered us to grab one of the quoits. Then
she... activated it.
"The next thing I know, we're here, in the
middle of the floor. But, no Winky."
"Three, you say?" asked Harry.
"Yeah, three," replied Ant.
"Winky's gone to ensure the protection of
whatever assets she can, Dad," said
Hermione. "She's been ordered to do so,
but her priority is to stay safe, herself."
Ant frowned and began, "I don't like..."
But was interrupted.
In the few moments they'd been talking,
Daphne had conjured a patronus and sent
it off. Harry and Hermione knew it was
being sent to Madam Bones as a
messenger patronus advising her of the
attack on the Granger residence.
Harry, not really listening, pulled another
quoit off the mantelpiece and held it out
to his wives. "Sorry, Dad; but, we have to
go again."
Both wives immediately hooked a finger
on the quoit as Harry continued, "We'll be
back in a little while. Call Jeeves and he'll
look after you."
Once both wives had secured a grip on the
quoit, Harry activated it before Ant could
respond, as Harry knew he would in an
attempt to stop them. And they were
gone again.
As planned, the portkey quoit dropped
them off in the garage. Allowing his senses
to expand outwards, Harry could sense
there were no anti-apparation or portkey
wards in place. Obviously, the Death
Eaters did not believe the 'muggles' would
have access to such.
Hermione quickly made her way to the
connecting door and, casting a quick
silencing charm on the hinges, pulled it
gently open; but only enough to peer out.
Quickly closing it again she turned to her
bondmates and indicated with her hands.
From her gestures Harry and Daphne
understood there were two to the left and
up - obviously, up the stairs. And one to
the right and further back - the end of the
hallway or kitchen.
They'd practiced this, so few words
needed to be said.
With the order of who was where, the
three bondmates assumed their positions.
All three then cast silencing charms on
themselves. Hermione was then first
through the door and stepping right,
ready with a shield charm. Then Daphne
through and to the left with the same
readiness. Finally, Harry stepped through.
A quick check to ensure those two upstairs
were not aware of them, the three made
their way stealthily down the hall and to
the kitchen.
Inside, they saw the back of a large Death
Eater, bent over with his head looking
inside the refrigerator. The three quickly
stepped in behind him.
Hermione cast a silent petrifying charm on
him as Daphne erected a small
anti-portkey ward around him. Finally,
Harry gently lowered the man to the
ground.
A quick stripping of his wand, a second
hidden wand, and two portkeys; the man
was quickly stunned, bound and dabbed
with the Sleepy-byes potion.
From the kitchen, the three carefully
returned to the downstairs hallway before
making their way towards the front of the
house and the bottom of the stairs.
Hermione reminded them of which stairs
creaked. However, Harry cast a silencing
charm on the whole staircase before
leading the three of them upstairs.
From the noises the two upstairs were
making it was easy to determine the two
were in the master bedroom. The door
was open.
Hesitating to make sure his two wives
were properly positioned to rush the
room, Harry gave the signal.
Stepping boldly into the room, Harry
quickly stunned the first one he saw as
Hermione, the second one in, stunned the
other.
Very quickly, both were bound, potioned
and stripped of wands and portkeys.
"Three, right?" Harry softly asked his
wives.
"That's what Dad said," Hermione replied
just as softly.
With a sudden pop, Winky appeared
before them. She almost got herself
cursed, so startled were the three of
them.
"One more out the front, Master Harry,
sir," she said. "Winky took care of her."
With a snort of amusement, Harry was
about to reply when Hermione suddenly
said, "Bring them inside and put them in
the lounge room, please Winky."
With a firm nod, Winky popped away
again.
As Harry and Daphne levitated the two
Death Eaters out of the bedroom and
towards the stairs, Hermione led the way.
And just because they now knew there
were four, did not mean they could lower
their guards just yet. She led with both her
wands drawn.
The three had just lined up the four
unconscious Death Eaters on the lounge
room floor when the repaired front door
burst open, and three aurors almost
stumbled in. The three had only had time
to feel the alert of the wards ping, and
turn to the front door with wands ready
and shields in place, before they were
inside.
"Identify yourselves," barked Harry.
"Awww," whined Hermione. "I'd
just repaired that door!"
The lead auror, on facing three wands
from whom he assumed to be teenagers,
hesitated only for a moment before he
raised his wand and other hand in the
surrender gesture. "Aurors," he calmly
replied.
With a gesture to his partners, he asked,
"Mister Potter? May we lower our
hands?"
With a nod, Harry lowered his wand. His
two wives did the same.
Looking down at the floor to the Death
Eaters as the three aurors stepped more
fully into the room, the auror smirked and
said, "Well, Mister Potter... ladies... yet
again you've done all the work except the
paperwork for us. Perhaps I should send
you a copy of the forms and you fill those
out for us too, eh?"
"I'll pass, thanks," smirked Harry.
Bending down, Hermione had already
removed the masks of the four on the
floor. Neither Harry nor Hermione
recognised any of them. However, Daphne
seemed to recognise at least one of them.
Chapter 355
"Wilkes," she sneered at the one who had
a little silver embossing on his mask. "I
never did like him."
"Brenton Wilkes," agreed the lead auror.
"His brother was a Death Eater and killed
in the last war. I was sure he wasn't one."
Giving a slight cough, Hermione stepped
forward and offered the auror one of their
usual wand and portkey bags. "Auror?"
she asked.
"Senior Auror Stephenson, Ma'am," said
the auror, taking the bag. "This is all their
wands and portkeys?"
"Yes, Senior," she replied. "And, they've all
been dosed with Sleepy-byes. All that's
left is to portkey them on their way."
The auror smirked and gestured to the
two aurors behind him. "You heard the
lady," he instructed them. "'Cuff 'em and
port' 'em!"
While his two partners set to work, he
asked, "Any muggles need obliviating? Or,
need a hand, here, to set things to rights?"
"No to both," she replied. "We contained
it in here. However, we've no idea how
much the neighbours saw."
"We'll take care of it," he said, gesturing to
doff his hat as he gestured for the other
two to follow him out. "Good evening," he
said, pulling the slightly re-ruined door
closed behind him.
"Well, back to Potter Retreat to send your
parents back," sighed Harry.
"I want to scan everything and again
repair the door before we go," said
Hermione. "We've no idea, yet, whether
those thugs left any magical traps, or the
like."
"Good idea," murmured Daphne.
After the three went through the house
from top to bottom, checking for traps
and the like and finding none, they
portkeyed back to Potter Retreat.
Arriving in the middle of the floor of the
welcoming hall, the three still arrived with
wands out in a defensive formation.
"Jeeves!" called Harry.
When the majordomo house elf arrived,
and confirmed only the Grangers were
there, the three relaxed. Just as they did,
Ant entered the room from the dining
room kitchen direction.
With a relieved sigh, he said, "I'm glad to
see you're all safe."
"We are," replied Hermione. "And so's the
house."
As they headed for the kitchen, where it
appeared Cele was at the informal dining
table in there, they explained about there
being four masked terrorists; and that all
four had been captured before they could
damage the house.
"I'll be checking with Madam Bones, in the
morning, to see if we can get the
protections on your house boosted," said
Harry. "The attempted attack should now
be enough for me to convince her to allow
me to boost those protections, yet again."
"But, it's safe now?" asked Cele.
"It is," nodded Harry. "This attack was not
a Riddle organised one. I think it was
organised and carried out by one of his
minions in an effort to see himself
elevated in Riddle's ranks. It was a... rogue,
for wont of a better term... attack. There's
no reason to believe it will happen again.
"However, it just might. So, that's why I
can use it to see your wards
strengthened."
"But, it's safe to go back, tonight?" asked
Cele.
"As safe as it can be in our current political
environment," replied Harry. "Besides,
Winky can get you out if, contrary to the
very low likelihood you're attacked again,
it does happen again."
"That's good enough for me," Cele stated
quite firmly. "Where is Winky, anyway?"
"Probably keeping an eye on things," said
Daphne. "Call her."
"Winky!" called Ant.
With a sudden pop Winky appeared
before him. "Yes, Master Ant-knee, sir?"
"Just checking to make sure you're alright,
Winky," he assured the little house elf.
"Thank you, Master Ant-knee," she replied.
"You is a kind Master."
With the help of a portkey, the Grangers
returned to the Granger home a little later.
The three Potter bondmates almost
immediately left via Floo for the Three
Broomsticks.
Stepping out of the Three Broomsticks,
the three bondmates were surprised
when they arrived just as the last few
carriages were loading with students to
head for the castle.
"Oh, thank Merlin," sighed Daphne. "We
don't have to walk."
"I thought we'd definitely be too late,"
agreed Hermione.
The three immediately hurried to jump on
the last carriage, even though with them it
made it a little crowded. Harry had to
stand on the loading step at the back and
hold on to the rail.
Walking directly into the Great Hall once
the carriage pulled up outside the main
doors, Daphne hurried over to the
Slytherin table to let Tracey and the others
know they'd arrived safely. Hermione
immediately sought out Neville to let him
and Hannah also know.
When both his wives returned, Harry had
already sat at his usual spot opposite Luna;
and was about to ask her how her break
went when both wives joined him, sitting
either side.
"How'd it go?" he asked them both.
"I invited them up after the feast," said
Daphne.
"Me, too," said Hermione.
After the feast the three bondmates
immediately made their way to their
apartment.
"Dobby!" called Daphne, as soon as she
walked in.
"Yes, Mistress?" asked the little elf, after
popping in.
"When you're ready, you can collect our
trunks," she said. "However, we've also
invited some friends up for a quick hot
chocolate and a talk. There should be
about half a dozen of them. If you
wouldn't mind organising those for us,
that' be wonderful."
"Yes, Mistress," replied Dobby, giving a
little bow before popping away again.
Harry had pulled out his wand to do a bit
of 'interior decorating' when Dobby
obviously did it for them. There was now
sufficient lounge seating for a dozen
people.
"Hunh!" he huffed. "The little ratbag beat
me to it."
Daphne snickered at the almost
dumbfounded look on Harry's face as she
and Hermione walk
When he came out of his connection
meditation Harry smirked at his wives,
who were watching him.
"News?" asked Daphne.
Chapter 356
"Tommy's getting frustrated that he's
losing Death Eaters faster than he can
replace them," he continued to smirk.
"And, he's only able to replace them with
the unskilled and unfinancial. He's short
on funds and manpower, both. So, he's
beginning to learn he's losing his war."
"Awww... diddums!" laughed Hermione.
"Why is money such a big deal in fighting
a war?" asked Daphne with a slight frown
of curiosity.
"There are three 'Emm' ingredients in
prosecuting a war," explained Harry. "They
are Message, Manpower and Money. The
message is 'Pureblood supremacy,
pureblood rule' and 'Muggles are beneath
us, are a threat and need to die or be
forced into slavery'. You accumulate
manpower through your message. A good
enough message will bring support to you.
And, money is brought in through the
same method as manpower.
"Without money you cannot buy weapons,
food, potions or ingredients to make them,
and a host of other things you need to buy
to keep your troops fit, healthy and happy
to follow you.
"Right now, Riddle has a workable
message. However, with the information
control Minister Ogden and Madam Bones
have implemented, Riddle's finding it hard
to get his message out into the eyes and
ears of those he's hoping to pull to his side.
If anything, the counter-message from the
Ministry is pulling that support away from
him even further.
"In other words, Riddle is currently being
defeated through attrition. He has little
actual support; he has few followers left,
so cannot afford to use them as cannon
fodder; he cannot go and buy followers, as
he hasn't the funds to do so; he can only
gain followers through empty promises of
future riches, and only the weak minded
and desperate will fall for it; and without
funds he cannot hope to provide them
with food and other resources, anyway.
"So, all that is left to him is clever strategy
and shows of power he can achieve with
heavily reduced forces. That means
assassinations, bombings, and the like.
Those are the tactics of guerrilla warfare.
But, it also proves to one and all that he
lacks the support each time he employs
such tactics. He proves himself weak. To
counter that he's allowing them to run
their own little raids and attacks. That's
what all those attacks on muggleborns
have been, including the one on the
Grangers.
"That means he needs to be careful about
what he does and when. He will seek
maximum effect for minimal risk. But, if he
doesn't do much, those followers still
working for him will soon grow
disenchanted and leave. And they'll take
with them the message that Riddle is all
talk and no action."
"So, what's happening is, Riddle is being
forced into an action of our choosing. By
limiting his options we're reducing the
variables of what target and when. He's
being strategically forced into a fight we
want him in."
"But, wouldn't he know that?" asked
Hermione.
"Of course," replied Harry. "However,
there's little he can do about it. And one
of those little things is employing
distractions. Allowing his people to attack
the homes of muggleborns is, sadly, one
of those forms of distraction. That's little
different than Viking raiding parties of
yesteryear."
"So," said Daphne after a bit of a
hesitation. "You know he wants the
prophecy. You know he's going to go after
it. And, because it was a major turning
point in the old timeline, you expect it will
happen in a similar fashion in this timeline.
Because you know it's going to happen,
it's towards that confrontation you're
forcing him."
"Well, not me, per se," smirked Harry. "I
think that's what Madam Bones is doing.
Too many people will die if we don't give
Riddle a bit of a hurry-up and get on with
it. We know where; but, we don't
know when. My spying on him through
the link we have will, hopefully, help us to
learn that in the not too distant future.
"There are a very limited number of
people who can actually collect that
prophecy sphere. Dumbledore was one,
but he's now dead. Trelawney is another,
but he doesn't know that; he does not
know who spoke the prophecy. There's
someone working in the Hall of
Prophecies who can touch them... an
unspeakable probably; but he wouldn't
know who that would be. He, of course, is
another. And then there's me.
"Last time, he tried to fool me into getting
it for him. It very nearly worked, too.
However, this time he's going to have to
go, himself; and that's the opportunity we
need. His driving desire to know, and fear
of, the prophecy will now be his undoing."
The evil grin on Harry's face had both his
wives grinning right back.
"Now all I have to do is make sure Madam
Bones and I are on the same page with
this," he said.
Over the next few days Harry and Amelia
Bones; with input from Unspeakable
Croaker, Daphne and Hermione; hashed
out the plan to trap Riddle in the Ministry
for the final fight. The one between Riddle
and Harry.
When Harry gave his initial plan, at first
Madam Bones was reticent. However, she
also understood it would be a place where
Riddle had to be, and a place where they
could make sure what happened did not
result in a catastrophic breach of the
Statute of Secrecy, was in a place of their
choosing, and would mean a minimal loss
of life for either side.
Once she realised what Harry planned to
do, she immediately placed the plan and
preparation for it under the tightest
security seals she could; Unspeakable
seals of National Security. It went under a
Knowledge Fidelius.
Between times, the three bondmates
continued to work on their OWL year
assignments, trained and kept themselves
busy. However, at odd times, Harry would
disappear for a while and drop into the
mind link with Riddle.
As the Easter break approached and there
was no apparent movement from Riddle
to go after the prophecy, Croaker and
Bones went to Hogwarts to meet the
bondmates and to see what they could do
to push the confrontation along.
"I don't think there's much more we can
do without running the risk of Riddle
becoming suspicious about what we're
doing," shrugged Harry with a sigh.
"What're you getting from the link?" asked
Croaker.
Amelia Bones and he were the only two
outside of 'family' who knew about the
mind link Harry was doing. With Harry's
permission, Croaker had also tried to use
Legilimency on him while he had the
mindlink open. However, Croaker could
only detect the link was there, not use it.
"He's getting more and more frustrated.
And, I've been trying to give him an
'impression' that his fear of what the
prophecy may state is making things hard
for him to properly think and strategise,"
replied Harry. "If I push any harder he's
likely to suspect his thoughts are being
tampered with."
Chapter 357
"But, you still think he's going to make a
play for the prophecy?" asked Madam
Bones.
"Definitely," Harry firmly replied. "His
planning is still heading in that direction."
"Can you gauge how firm his plans have
come along?" asked Croaker.
"I think he's close," sighed Harry. "Over
the past week his plan alterations are
more akin to... shuffling about what's
already in place. For example: Go for the
prophecy, first or second; go on a weekday
or the weekend; early evening or late at
night; that sort of thing."
"What seems most likely, at the
moment?" asked Croaker.
"A Monday or Tuesday, very late evening,"
Harry promptly replied. "With what little
funds he has available to him, he's likely to
hire mercenary hit wizards to boost his
own forces. He and his forces will go for
the prophecy while the hired hit wizards
will make a play for whatever senior
Ministry personnel are working back.
"Further, because he'll have to hire the hit
wizards, it won't be a spur of the moment
sort of thing. He has no choice but to
choose a day, in advance, to hire the hit
wizards for that specific purpose.
"They'll portkey into the atrium, take out
any aurors stationed there, then split up
to accomplish their various objectives.
Depending on who they know will be in
the Ministry working back at the time will
determine where all but Riddle and his
personal forces go or split up.
"Once they've completed their objectives,
they'll reconvene in the atrium before
portkeying away, again. However, Riddle's
trying to get someone associated with
control of the wards over the Ministry
building to have the anti-portkey ward
taken down for the evening. That way,
once their objectives are achieved or
they're ambushed, they'll be able to
portkey out immediately; rather than go
back to the portkey point in the atrium."
"What we have is our very
own Throckmorton Plot," said Croaker.
"An attempt to have the head of
government and possible replacements
removed by assassination and replaced
with their own, chosen, successor."
Harry nodded and said, "That's more than
likely to be Pius Thicknesse."
"Yes," agreed Madam Bones with a bit of a
low growl. "My own personal little
songbird, who's currently reporting as
much as he can of what I'm doing back to
Riddle."
"Senior auror, right?" asked Croaker.
"Yes," she nodded back.
"How about using him to draw Riddle out
on a specific day?" asked Harry, as he
developed a little smirk.
"How?" she asked. Her head suddenly
snapped up to stare at him. "You've
figured something out; or, have an idea for
a plan."
"I do," he agreed. With a small little evil
grin, he learned forward. "How
about this for an idea?..."
Chapter 358
Once Harry had outlined his idea to Bones
and Croaker, and between them they
refined the concept, the two left with a bit
of a spring in their steps. Everyone could
now see the endgame in sight.
The idea was to see Riddle informed of a
meeting of the Heads of Departments,
including the Minister and his
Undersecretary, on a Tuesday evening in
about two weeks. The meeting would
supposedly be for the Ministry to put in
place a strategic plan to combat the
problem of Voldemort. Of course, with the
exception of Amelia Bones, the actual
Heads of Department would not be there.
Instead, the roles would be filled by
combat specialists from the Department
of Mysteries and skilled combat hit
wizards and aurors from the DMLE.
The Unspeakables would also set in place
a second, back up, set of anti-apparition
and anti-portkey wards powered up but
inert, ready to be deployed. The Floo
network would also be taken offline after
Riddle and his forces arrived.
Once in place, the only way in and out of
the Ministry would be via the phonebox
and specially prepared portkeys made by a
single magical signature; Croaker's. Those
tasked with combating Riddle's forces on
the night would be the only ones who
carried the portkeys.
For the bondmates, especially Harry,
training in combat was suddenly increased.
Though Riddle's magic was obviously
nowhere near the previous levels, his
knowledge of magic, especially the dark
arts, was unchanged. He was still a
formidable opponent.
When Harry, two nights later, expressed
how he didn't want either of his wives
anywhere near the Ministry on that night,
he suffered over three hours of both
witches yelling and screaming at him.
It wasn't until after midnight before both
witches calmed down enough that he
could try and reason with them.
"You don't need to be there," he
reiterated for about the twelfth time. "It's
Riddle and me; not Riddle and us three."
"And that's utterly irrelevant," Daphne
shot back for about the tenth time. "We
are bonded, you moron! We've trained for
this. You've said it yourself; we are greater
than the sum of our parts."
"Just because you have to be the one to
ultimately kill him does not mean we can't
hurt him," added Hermione.
"And what happens if you die!" he shot
back. "There's no way I can face your
parents, after something like that."
"And if you die we're as good as dead,
anyway," snapped Hermione.
"You know that! Hell, it'd be more
merciful if we died alongside you. At least,
that way, we won't be tortured by Riddle's
flunkies before they eventually killed us
anyway."
"We're your 'shield-maidens', Harry," said
Daphne. "We provide defence while you
focus on attack. You're only going to beat
him if we work together."
"Your parents are going to kill me if I bring
you to face him," he moaned.
"You leave them to us," Hermione firmly
retorted.
"I wonder if this is why our angels
activated both soul bonds," he muttered.
"What was that?" asked Hermione.
"Nothing," he sighed. "I was speaking to
myself."
"So... finally... the matter is settled," said
Daphne, quite firmly. "We'll be standing
beside you when you face Riddle. And
there'll be no further attempts at stopping
us from doing so."
Harry just sighed and rested his head on
the back of the sofa he was sitting on
when the whole 'discussion' started.
"Fine!" he grumbled.
"And don't use that tone with me, or
you'll be sleeping on that couch for the
foreseeable future," she added.
He couldn't win a trick.
The one thing the three agreed on from
the start, was that the families would not
be informed of the plan until after Riddle
was dealt with. They did not want to see
the Order, Sirius, Remus or Matthias,
especially, turn up and get themselves
hurt or killed. The combined forces of the
DMLE and the Unspeakables was more
than adequate manpower to deal with the
issue without muddying things up with
others acting as righteous vigilantes.
Immediately after class each day, with the
exception of when they went into training
with Professors Flitwick and Snape, the
three headed directly to the Room of
Requirement. There, they configured the
room to be similar to the atrium at the
Ministry.
Once configured, and with the use of
duelling dummies, they went into
combat/battle training. They trained with
using both wands and making generous
use of the environment.
One problem they immediately recognised
was a complete lack of 'detritus' to use for
configuration into marble blocks to block
killing and cruciatus curses. To alleviate
the need for conjuration, and the inherent
waste of magical energy that went with it,
the girls carried with them little blocks of
stone. And spent a great deal of time
practicing snap-casting transfiguring them
into large enough blocks of marble to
block such curses.
Harry also practiced, more and more, the
aegis shield charm to surround the three
of them. However, even the aegis shield
with it's whirling objects, wasn't good
enough to block certain curses.
For example, area affect curses could not
be blocked that way. They had to be
dispelled before they reached you, or
soon afterwards. The same also applied to
charms such as Incarcerous, Fiendfyre and
the flame whip, and combinations such
as Aguamenti and Glacius. For each of
those they needed to be careful with their
counters. However, Fiendfyre would
always be a real threat, but required a
very skilled and powerful wizard or witch
to cast and control it. Riddle no longer
met the second of those conditions.
Because of the skill of Riddle, Harry
developed and practiced very quick spell
chains that rated from simply annoying
the victim, to being flat out lethal.
Everything was practiced and, where
possible, incorporated into the chains.
A particular favourite was the pranking
cantrips and hexes. Professor Flitwick was
firm in his conviction that such, used at
specific times, could even be the turning
point to bring about victory. He then went
and proved it with nothing more than a
tongue-locking jinx, coupled with a
jelly-fingers curse, tickling charm and
finally wrapping Harry up in ropes with an
overpowered Incarcerous charm. Not one
spell was beyond the capabilities of a first
year.
So, Harry's spell chains included those
plus jinxes and cantrips such as the knock
back and tripping jinxes, the scouring
charm, and a host of others. Anything that
would annoy Riddle and interrupt his
attacks was valued and used when
possible. The idea was to so annoy Riddle
he'd finally make a mistake that Harry
could use to slip through his concentration
and take him out.
Chapter 359
It was when they were about to return
from such an evening when they were
attacked using a method they'd not
previously considered.
While all passageways, corridors, and the
like throughout the castle were now
warded against spell casting, there were
still the odd areas that hadn't been so
warded. Of course, these included some
broom closets, though Luna had
recognised the issue and her teams of
rune carvers were attending to them;
some unusual sets of stairs; unknown
even to them hidden passageways; most
of the abandoned or unused classrooms;
and, of course, the Room of Requirement.
It was as they were cooling down after a
training session and walking back to their
apartment it happened. The first Harry
learned of it was when he was hit around
the kidney area and went down with an
arrow piecing his side.
He heard Hermione scream, "Harry!" and
saw and heard little more after a second
arrow hit him high in the right shoulder as
he tried to stay standing.
When Harry was hit, both girls spun about
and tried to conjure shields but found
them weakened by the anti-magic fields.
When a third arrow flew out of the
doorway of a broom closet at Daphne she
was able to dodge it but could not
retaliate with magic. Instead, she snatched
a handful of her remaining small rocks out
of her pocket with her left hand, and flung
them at the doorway, hoping to distract
the attacker.
Both girls heard a much hated voice cry
out, "Death-Eater bitch!"
Hermione screamed, "Dobby!" and the
little elf popped in.
Dobby took one look at what was going on,
flung his hand out and banished whoever
was standing hidden in the closet back
within, and slammed closed and elf-locked
the door. Again, they heard the hated
voice cry out as it was sent flying
backwards.
Grabbing Harry he said, "Master Harry
needs medical help!" and popped away
with him.
Daphne quickly checked to ensure the
door to what they recognised as a broom
closet was closed and warded before she
spun about and grabbed the arm of a
clearly shocked Hermione.
"Come on!" she barked, pulling her sister
wife along towards the stairs.
A few moments later, after being dragged
a few steps first, Hermione had snapped
out of her shock and was chasing after her
sister-wife.
Running down the stairs as fast as they
could, they sent other students scuttling
for the walls to clear their way as they ran.
As soon as they burst through the doors
into the infirmary they could see Harry
laying face down on a bed with Madam
Pomfrey working on him. Both arrows
were still sticking out of his back - one low
and one high.
Dobby was hovering nearby and bouncing
from foot to foot.
"This should not have been possible with
that ward schema you and Miss Lovegood
designed," said the healer.
"Someone found a way around it,"
retorted Daphne. "They cast arrows out of
their wand from within one of the
unwarded broom closets."
"It was something we had not foreseen,"
said Hermione, still upset.
"You're not expected to anticipate
everything, Missus Granger-Potter," the
nurse lightly scolded. "What you have
already accomplished has already made
my life a great deal easier."
"Why are the arrows still in him?" asked a
worried Daphne.
"Because I need to see if any damage will
happen if I remove them first, and be
prepared to deal with it," replied Pomfrey.
"At the moment, I have him under a light
somnulous charm to keep him asleep, so
he doesn't move about and cause further
damage."
A few moments later, the nurse muttered,
"Right," and with a wave of her wand
vanished the second arrow out of Harry's
shoulder. Then she cast a quick episkey
healing charm on the wound before
moving onto the first, more serious, injury.
As she worked, she spoke about what she
was doing and seeing.
"The arrow pierced through the top of the
kidney very close to the adrenal gland,"
she explained. "From there it's passed
through and also nicked a section of the
upper intestine. At the very least, the
arrowhead is lodged within them."
A few more waves of her wand and what
looked like a three-dimensional CAT scan
appeared to hover in the air above his
back. You could see the arrow head firmly
lodged partway through the kidney and
into one of the ropes of upper intestine.
"Alright," she muttered. She reached for
her ever-ready wheeled cabinet of potions,
selected one, and spelled the contents
straight into Harry's stomach. "Organ
heal," she muttered.
She gave that a moment and spelled a
second one in. "Skin knit," she also
muttered.
Another moment to let the potions settle
within and she vanished the arrow.
As blood bubbled up she was quick to
begin casting healing charms and hurrying
the potions to do their work.
As both girls and Dobby carefully watched
and fretted, Headmistress McGonagall
came striding in. "What happened?" she
asked.
Daphne stepped back from the bed and
turned to her. "An attack from behind.
Someone, we believe Ron Weasley, shot
wand arrows at Harry and us two. He was
standing within the doorway of one of the
unwarded broom closets on the seventh
floor under a disillusionment charm or
similar.
"Dobby banished him fully into the closet
and then shut and warded the door closed.
You should find him still there. Dobby
should be able to let him out for you."
"Don't let him still be here when Harry
wakes up, please," begged Hermione.
"Harry'll kill him without
even thinking about it."
"He won't be, whoever it is," said the
Headmistress firmly. "Now, if you'll excuse
me, I need to drag him out of the closet
and call the aurors," before she left again.
Harry woke the next morning, sore but
healthy. His wives were watching over him
but talking between them.
When he tried to sit up, he groaned from
the pain around his lower back. Both
wives turned to him and put their hands
on his chest, holding him down.
"Don't try and sit up, Harry," said Daphne.
"You were hurt pretty bad and the wound
is still healing."
Chapter 360
Suffering from fur-mouth he gestured for
water, which Hermione was quick to
provide.
After taking a couple of sips he sighed in
relief and asked, "Who attacked us?"
"Ron Weasley," Daphne near-snarled.
"Has he been... suitably dealt with?" he
asked with a bit of a growl.
"Headmistress McGonagall pulled him out
of the broom closet Dobby locked him
inside of, dragged him to her office and
called the aurors," explained Hermione.
"The aurors cuffed him and took him
away."
"For a start, she expelled him on the
spot," said Daphne with a pleased little
huff. "But, she couldn't snap his wand,
because it's evidence of the attack.
Madam Pomfrey had to vanish the two
arrows that were... sticking out of you...
but there was another that didn't hit
anyone still up in the corridor on the floor.
That's also been taken away as evidence.
The red-headed git didn't know, or forgot,
that conjured items retain the magical
signature of the caster."
"The aurors came back later and
interviewed us," said Hermione. "We've
both given memory strands and
statements of what happened.
"According to the aurors, irrespective of
what happens with this, Weasley's going
to Azkaban. He's breached the conditions
of his court order from the potion case, so
the full weight of the findings of that case
will be added to this one."
"And this one is a case of assault causing
grievous bodily harm at a minimum; but it
will probably be considered attempted
murder of a member of the Wizengamot,"
growled Daphne. "He's going away for
a very long time, if he doesn't get the
Veil."
"He's a minor," said Harry. "His sixteenth
birthday isn't until the first of March."
"That's only a couple of weeks away,"
scoffed Daphne.
"But no less relevant," sighed Hermione.
"You are not considered in full control of
your actions until you turn seventeen. And,
as he's only fifteen, he won't get the Veil
for his actions."
"But he will be locked away for a great
many years," said Harry. "The Veil may
prove to be a kindness for what he's going
to go through."
Harry was stuck under Madam Pomfrey's
care for another day before he was
released in the morning two days after the
attack. His wives made sure he had all his
assignments on hand, and they worked
together to get it all out of the way during
the day he was convalescing.
The next morning Harry and both his
wives received letters from the DMLE
detailing the court case of the Ministry of
Magic v Ronald Bilius Weasley. He was
informed he wouldn't be able to sit the
Wizengamot, that day; while his wives
would both be called as witnesses for the
prosecution.
It seemed that the Wizengamot were
most eager to speedily try cases when one
of their own was attacked, as the case was
due to be heard only three days later. Ron
was being kept in the DMLE holding cells
for the duration instead of at Azkaban due
to his status as a minor.
Harry was expecting his own personal
howler from Molly Prewitt over it all. He
wasn't aware until later that Professor
McGonagall had changed the wards so
that all howlers were automatically
destroyed as they crossed the school's
boundary, anyway. However, as far as the
Weasley twins knew, their mother hadn't
sent one.
"We're really sorry about this, Harry," they
told him.
"Not your fault, mates," he replied. "Ron's
jealousy and overblown sense of
self-entitlement was always going to lead
him towards doing something like this. I
just didn't expect it to happen while we
were all still at school."
"His mind healer, counsellor, is appalled,"
said one twin.
"Ron had her completely fooled," said the
other.
"She thought he was well on the way to
getting over his... issues," said the first.
"Apparently not," said the other.
"Look; know that I don't hold any other
Weasley responsible for this, yeah?" said
Harry. "And please make sure your Dad
knows that, too. This was all Ron."
"We're actually surprised he figured out a
way around the magic suppression
wards," said one twin.
"We didn't think he was smart enough to
do that," said the second.
"It surprised us, too," said Hermione. "It
was a... condition... of the wards we didn't
expect to be a weakness. We'll be working
to block that weakness, you can be
assured."
Once the twins left again, Harry turned to
Hermione and asked, "And how are we
going to do that? The wards and
anchoring runes would all need to be
recarved."
"No," smiled Hermione. "All we need to
do is finish warding those areas that are
not yet done; such as the closets."
"As long as there is no area where
someone can stand and launch something
like arrows at those passing by, the
weakness will be blocked," said Daphne.
"However, the weakness will remain for
active classrooms. Someone will be able
to stand within the doorway of the
classroom and attack."
"And there's nothing we can do to cover
that," sighed Harry.
"The ward scheme isn't the be all and end
all of stopping attacks, Harry," said
Hermione. "It's just made it a hell of a lot
more difficult for someone to do it
successfully with magical means. Of
course, someone can still attack another
with, say, a kitchen knife or something.
We can't stop everything."
Over the next few days, Harry worked
hard to recover from his injuries before
they could return to the Room of
Requirement and their combat training.
The only break was sleep, meals and
classes; with the one morning at the
Ministry for the trial of Ron.
Apparently still angry at everyone and
everything, Ron sat in the accused's chair
with the chains binding him tight. And,
from there, he glared at almost everyone.
Of course, much of it was a façade. A
careful look at his hands where his fingers
tightly gripped the arms of his chair
showed he was literally shaking in fear.
Harry sat in the visitors' gallery in support
of his wives. As he hadn't actually seen
anything he was not a witness; and
Madam Pomfrey was there to detail the
extent of his injuries.
Once everyone had provided their
testimony, and evidence such as Ron's
wand and the conjured arrow were
presented with the results of magical
analysis of both, the Wizengamot were
quick in their deliberations.
While they were deliberating, Harry
looked around. Arthur Weasley sat with
his five eldest sons and daughter, as Percy
was not the court scribe for the
proceedings. Molly sat apart but clearly
wanted to join them, casting her longing
eyes towards them every few minutes.
She refused to even look in Harry's
direction.