After showering and changing into casual clothes the two met on the stairs. They both went towards the kitchen and chatted about their day. No one else was around, probably hidden in one of the bedrooms. After all, they had learned a bit these last few days.
Harry was just worried that they were plotting on his return to Hogwarts. He'd pretty much made up his mind about that. He was just unsure how his friends would take it. Still, he was going to stand by his decision. They'd just have to accept that.
Making to the kitchen, they spotted Bill pouring over some documents.
"What's up, Bill?" Harry asked, sitting at the table.
"Just going over some stuff for work. Just because I took a bit of time off my regular job, doesn't mean the goblins won't give me busy work," the redhead said, tucking the parchment in his robes. "How was the ministry?" he asked, reaching over and getting some tea.
"Informative," Sirius answered, pouring his own tea. "Met a few people we needed to, and a few we didn't," he said, taking a sip. He added a bit more milk and tried again. Better.
"Yeah, there was the Minster and his toady," Harry grumbled, grabbing a biscuit. "Merlin, she gives me the creeps. All that pink, and that face, worse is her voice," he added, shaking his arms, like trying to rid it of spiders. "She sounds like Micky Mouse on helium."
"What?" the other two men said.
"Never mind," Harry sighed, vowing to take Sirius out to see a few movies, or something.
Bill did a full body shudder. He too, didn't like that Umbridge woman. "Damn, sorry you had to meet her. She's crazy, that one. She tried to get Gringotts closed, stupid woman. She almost started a rebellion," he said, glancing at Sirius.
"If she tries that shite again, I'll be there to stop her. That book has a lot of blackmail material, and I can't wait to use it on that toad," Sirius said with an evil smirk.
"Good for you," Harry stated, matching his brother's evil grin.
"Care to share?" Bill said, leaning forward a bit.
"Nay, I think I'll keep it for a moment. I'll let you all know at the meeting, then you can use it at your leisure," the dogman stated, giving them a wink.
"Sound good," Bill said, sitting back in his chair.
"Can I tell the others?" Harry asked, a hopeful look on his face.
"If they need it, then tell them. Until then, lets keep to us," Sirius said with another wink.
"Alright, but if they need it, I'm spilling," the teen stated, folding his arms.
"You do that," his brother said with a nod.
"I'll use it for the goblins. They would love to have dirt on her," Bill stated, almost clapping with glee.
"Anyway, Bill, there's a meeting tonight," Sirius said, looking at Bill. "We have some things to go over. Tonks says it's about Umbridge, speak of the devil, so we might be using that blackmail material sooner than I thought."
"Everyone?" the man asked, quirking his eyes.
"Not Ron or Ginny," Sirius said thoughtfully, rubbing his goatee. "Hermione either, come to think about it. Remind me to remind her to write her parents. Actually, I need to write them as well. Or maybe, Andi can take her home and explain what's going on," he said thoughtfully, then shook his head.
The Grangers weren't a problem, but he felt that maybe he could get Andi to have them leave the country for a few years. They should be back from their vacation in a week or so. He would see what they could do then.
"The twins should come if they want. They'll just listen anyway. This way you can control the information," Harry added, looking towards Bill.
"Sounds about right," Bill said, examining Harry for a moment. "You guys want to tell me what happened this morning?" he asked, peering at Harry's diminish scar.
"Yeah, but let's go to the study, I have better wards there," Sirius said, picking up his cup and leading the way.
They could hold the meeting there, but it just wasn't big enough. Then again, he could put the same wards on the kitchen, but that would interfere with the Floo. On the other hand, he could put temporary wards up. Yeah, he'd do that. Now that he had a wand that was compatible with him.
Both Bill and Harry grabbed refreshments and followed. They made it to the study unmolested and took seats facing each other.
"Keep this under your hat, yeah? We did an adoption ritual this morning," Sirius started, knowing Bill would keep this secret. The redhead was an honorable man, and he worked at the bank. So yeah, he could keep it to himself. "Anyway, Harry here, said that 'magic' told him we couldn't do it with Riddle in his head," he finished, picking up his cup.
Harry squirmed in his seat and tried looking elsewhere but Bill, who was staring at him with a bit of awe. Then the teen firmed his jaw and glared back. "It's not like I ask 'magic' to talk to me," he said gruffly.
"Magic… talked... I mean, why?" the confused redhead asked, never having heard of such a thing.
"I just told you, I don't know," Harry snapped, still glaring at the confused man.
"Can you explain what you were feeling at the time?"
"At first, it was like there was an argument in my head. 'Magic' was fighting with Tom, and then I felt… I don't know, like I should just stop them both. Then the voice said, that if I wanted to be related to Sirius, I needed to let it do its work," Harry explained, scrunching his brow trying to remember it all. "Then when Sirius was going to end the spell, it warned me not to let him. Then it told me to fight. Like I would help it end the battle faster," he finished, looking at both men to see if they understood. "Right before it all ended, I felt like someone was hugging me. Like I was loved," he added with a bit of a smile.
The other two were both in deep thought over what they heard. Each had a look of deep contemplation, and their eyes were moving back and forth, like they were reading over all the material that they had ever read on magic, but not getting the answers they wanted.
"Right, well, that's different," Bill said, pulling himself together. "Did anything else happen?" he asked, turning his attention to Sirius.
Sirius got up and got the vial from his safe. "This came from his scar. I don't know if it's a horcrux or just dark magic," he said, handing the container to the curse-breaker. "It still feels evil," he said, glaring at the vial like it should spontaneously combust. How dare that be in Harry's head.
Bill took it, placed it on a table, waved his wand over it and then sighed. "It's not a horcrux anymore, but there's malevolent magic in there. Better destroy it with the rest." He picked it back up and handed it to Sirius, who put it back in the safe.
"There was a question I wanted to ask," Harry said, watching Sirius sit back down. "I told Sirius a bit, but something strange happened while 'magic' was fighting the horcrux," he said and then went on to explain the battle that had happened in his mind.
"That is strange," Sirius said, thinking about what he knew from Remus' Occlumency.
"What was your question?" Bill asked, pondering over that form of mind protection, over the one the goblins used. Maybe he could read the book and then offer to teach the goblins. That might get him promoted. Or at least a bit of gold. Not that he was greedy, but with a poor family like his, every bit helped.
He'd have to ask Remus first. It was the man's invention. Oh, maybe Remus could get some gold too. He really needed it now that Umbridge had passed those werewolf laws. He'd have the man talk to the goblins to see if they could get a ghostwriter for that book. That would be helpful to everyone. Heck, he'd even volunteer.
"If someone dies in my head, do they die in real life?" Harry asked, bringing Bill out of his thoughts. Harry was worried about that. What if Snape or Dumbledore tried to read his mind and had to fight his aliens? He didn't want to kill someone just because they were a snoop.
"That's a very good question," Sirius said, looking to Bill to see if he could answer it.
"Yeah, really good. The problem is, I don't know that form of Occlumency, so I can't answer it. I know it's thought that if you die in your sleep, you might die for real. But that has never been proven. I mean, how could it? You can't access someone's mind once they are dead to find out what they dreamed of. Still, I wouldn't take any chances. If someone comes into your mind, scare the ever-loving crap out of them and get them out of there as soon as possible," Bill explained the best he could.
"I know what you described to me, has me quaking in my boots. I don't want to meet what's in your head," Sirius said, leaning over and mussing up Harry's hair to lighten the mood. "Good job, Harry. You've thought of something even Albus would pause at."
"Yeah, if I was going back to Hogwarts, I'd use it on Snape and Dumbledore," Harry smirked, his eyes glazed at the image of Snape running down the hall, screaming like a little girl. Then the picture flipped to the Headmaster offering the aliens some candy and losing a hand and then running like a girl. Well, that wasn't particularly funny, but still, he chuckled.
"So, you've decided?" his new brother asked, leaning forward a bit to look in Harry's eyes. He wanted to make sure that it was what Harry wanted.
"Yeah, with the prophecy and all, I think it's best to be trained by the best. Maybe, I can catch up on a few of my non-magical studies too. I feel like a right idiot when I talk to Dudley. And if you knew just how dumb Dudley is, you would understand my pain," Harry said, giving a huge sigh of relief, knowing he was making the right decision.
"We can do that," Sirius said seriously, leaning back in his chair. "If Remus and Bill can't get you caught up, I'll hire a muggleborn, or something."
"I can help with math," Bill offered, grinning at the teen. "Believe it or not, it's mandatory to have at least your A levels to be a curse-breaker. The goblins give you one year to get there. If you can't then you can't work for them."
"Wow, I didn't know that," Harry said, thinking of his future. Curse breaking sounded like something he could do.
"We'll set up a schedule with all those that are going to tutor you," Sirius said, going over who he was going to ask. Bill and Remus for certain, but would Moody and Andi want to help? Ted could give a few lessons on the government, and Andi could keep teaching protocol. The problem was all but Mad-Eye worked, and he wasn't sure if the one-eyed man would want to come out of retirement, especially after what he had suffered last year.
"Good. But not until after the rest go back to school, okay?" Harry said, not wanting to give up his summer.
"Okay, I'll get with everyone during the meeting tonight," Sirius agreed, then shooed Harry out of the room with hand gestures.
"Bill, the twins want to stay here too. I told them they had to ask Sirius, but I think they should g back to school. You know, to protect Ron and Ginny. I can imagine Malfoy taking potshots at them," Harry said, looking back and forth between the two men.
"I have no issue either way. If they want to stay here, if it's okay with Sirius, they can. However, I do see your point. Still, Ron and Ginny are good with a wand, so they might not be needed there," Bill said, going over the many different scenarios.
"I'll talk it over with them," Sirius offered. "I don't have an issue either, but I want to make sure that they know what they're doing. Besides, didn't you want them to hunt the horcrux?" he said, looking at the oldest Weasley child.
"Yeah, I kinda forgot about that," Bill said, rubbing his neck. "I'll talk to them then. I really need someone of age there."
"Settled then, after the meeting tonight, you can use this room to talk to them," Sirius said, clapping his hands to his knees and standing up to get a butterbeer from the bar. It was too early to drink.
"Wait, why are we going to Gringotts tomorrow?" the teen asked, standing up and then pilfering some cookies for him and his friends.
Sirius reached over and grabbed one for himself, then settled in his chair. He took a bite before answering. "I have to grab something there, and you need to look over your finances. I'm sure you haven't done that yet," he said, taking another bite of the chocolatey goodness.
"Am I going to be there for tonight's meeting?" the teen asked, wondering to himself it this adult would treat him right.
"It's about you, so yes, you're going to be there," his brother said, nodding his head. "Go on, find your friends and let them know you're staying here. Better to get it over with now," he said, leaning back in his chair. "Let the twins know that Bill wants to talk to them after dinner."
"Okay. I'm going," Harry said, hiding his treats in a napkin. Then shoving the bundle in the crook of his arm.
"You can tell them what you wish, remember they're not Occlumens," he reiterated, picking up his still hot tea. Magic was wonderful.
"I'll remember," Harry said and left the room. He wandered up the stairs to the twins' room, which is where he thought everyone would be. They were.
"Hey, Harry," came the greeting from most of them.
"What's up, guys?" he asked as he took a seat on the bed next to Ron. He laid out the biscuits on the bed and gestured for everyone to grab one.
"Nothing much," Ron said with a shrug, snatching up a cookie. "It's dead boring around here, now that Mum isn't making us clean. I've even finished my summer homework," the boy grumbled, shooting a glare at the twins when they started to chuckle. "Right funny you are. You've finished yours too," he said to his lookalike brothers.
They just laughed harder and each reached over and snagged a treat.
Ginny just smiled and ate her biscuit. "I finished mine at the beginning of the summer," she mockingly sniffed.
Harry reached over and put his hand on his best friend's forehead. "Are you sick?" he asked, grinning like a loon. "Your homework is done, and it isn't the end of August?"
"Leave off," the redhead said, pushing the other boy's hand away.
"Did you need help with your homework, Harry?" Hermione asked, reaching and taking her share of the treats.
"Nah, I got it done a few days ago. Andi insisted," Harry said, leaning against the bedpost.
"Well, that's good. Now none of us will be going back to Hogwarts unprepared," Hermione said with a big smile.
"Yeah, about that," Harry said with a grimace. "I'm not going back," he said firmly. "I don't feel right returning, and I can't shake the feeling that it would be the worse year of my life if I did."
"Damn," came the joint reply. With only Hermione saying, "Really?"
"Yeah, Sirius and I ran into this woman at the Ministry, and she is downright creepy. Her name is Dolores Umbridge. She dresses like a pink toad, and it's gross to look at. But, when she looked at me, I felt worse that when even Aunt Petunia does. Like she wants me dead," Harry explained, making sure they knew to watch out for that witch.
"Yeah, Dad has talked about her," Ron said, sitting up straight and looking at his siblings. They were all nodding in agreement. "He said we were to stay away from her. Do you think she's going to be at Hogwarts?" he asked in horror.
"I don't know for sure, but there might be a chance she is," Harry said with trepidation. Maybe he should go to protect his friends.
His face took a downward thoughtful cast. His mind wandered on that, while the rest were telling Hermione about Umbridge. He heard snatches of conversation, but they were saying pretty much what Bill and Sirius had said.
Ron smacked him in the head, bringing him back to reality. "I know what you're thinking," his friend said, then narrowed his eyes at him and pointed a finger. "Don't," he demanded.
"But…" was as far as he got when George butt in.
"No," the twin said, also pointing his finger in Harry's direction. "We'll go back for our last year, and we'll watch out for these three," he said, glaring at anyone to defy that statement.
"Too right," Fred agreed. "You're not responsible for the wellbeing of us, or our family," he stated harshly.
"You're right. I know you're right," Harry said with a sigh. "It's just…" he left it hanging.
"It's your 'saving people thing'," Hermione said with a smile. "We'll be alright. I have a plan," she said conspiratorially. "You were part of it, but if you're not coming back, I can pick someone else," she added reassuringly.
"Leave it to you to make a plan," Harry teased. "Did you make a schedule too?" he asked with a wide grin.
"Yes, as a matter of fact I did. Thank you very much," she said faux snottily, sticking her nose in the air.
"Only you, Hermione," Ron said, nudging her with his foot.
"Don't worry, Hermione, we understand," the twins said, patting her shoulders, a bit roughly, until she shooed their hands away.
"Yeah, you're the smartest witch I know," Ginny said, giving her friend a smile. She really hadn't said much this summer. It wasn't that she was shy. No, far from it. However, she learned in her first year, that being silent makes people forget you're there. Then you learn more because they talk more. Tom may have messed with her head, but the teen had taught her some good stuff.
Not that she'd ever tell this bunch.
The therapy that she got because of Bill when they were in Egypt, helped a lot. At first her mum and dad didn't want him to spend that kind of money on her. Dumbledore had told them that she was fine. But Bill, the moment he heard what had happened, he whisked her to the bank and put her in front of a wizard healer. After an examination, the man declared her possession free, but she needed a mind healer. So, Bill got her one. She still wrote the man monthly.
She made a vow to herself that she was going to pay her brother back. Still, she felt loved at his gesture. She was miffed at her parents, but they worshipped the Headmaster. A bit too much, if you asked her. That could be a bit of Tom talking, but it made sense to her. She hated that her mum thought the man hung the moon. Her dad wasn't that bad, but he was cowed by her mum.
"Still, it's good that you have a plan. I know we've had our share of bad DADA professors. I hope your plan can help with that," Harry said, getting serious. He really couldn't shake the thought that it was going to be a bad year for everyone. He wondered if he could enlist the house elves to keep an eye on the students. He'd ask Dobby later.
"It will," she replied, beaming at his confidence. Then she mumbled to herself, "I hope."
"I believe in you, Hermione," Ron said, giving her an encouraging smile.
"Thanks, Ron, that means a lot," she replied, looking around the room for something else to talk about. If Harry wasn't going to go back to Hogwarts, then she needed to reevaluate her plan before she told them what it was. "There is one thing you three can help me with," she said, pointing to the twins and Harry.
"What?" all three of them said, then chuckled.
"I need a room. A hidden room," she stated, thinking over her plan.
"There are lots of rooms, but I don't know of any hidden ones," Harry said, rubbing his chin in thought.
"We don't either. Like Harry said, there are tons of rooms, but hidden, not so much," George offered.
"Hey, Harry," Ron said, making the other teen turn his way. "Call Dobby," he said, waving his hand like Dobby would appear.
"Sure, I have to ask him something anyway," Harry agreed, and called the elf. Once they greeted each other, which caused everyone to laugh at Dobby exuberance, he waved to Ron.
"Hey, Dobby, you worked at Hogwarts for a year or two, right?" the redhead asked, smiling at the little guy.
"Yes, Dobby did," the elf replied, puffing out his chest.
"Do you know of any secret rooms?" he asked the question that was on everyone's mind.
"Ohhh, Dobby knows a secret, secret room," the little guy enthused.
"Can you tell us where it is?" Ginny asked, smiling at everyone, just happy that that was taken care of.
"Oh, yes, Miss Wheezy, Dobby can. It is being on the seventh floor, across from a tapestry of a man trying to teach trolls to be dancing," Dobby said, bouncing up and down like he was the happiest he'd ever been. Well, except when Harry Potter had taken him as his elf.
"I think I know the one you're talking about," Fred said, picturing it in his mind.
"Didn't we hide there once?" George asked, looking at his twin who nodded. "I don't think it is big enough for what Hermione wants, Dobby," he said to the elf.
"Oh, no, Mr. Wheezy, it is being as big as you needs," Dobby disagreed.
"How?" Harry asked, he too remembering a room on that floor and the Headmaster once told him of a disappearing loo.
"Yous needs to be walking back and forth three times, thinkings on whats you needs. And the room will be appearing," Dobby said, still bouncing.
"Oh," was the collective response.
"Thanks, Dobby. I have another question for you. Can the elves at Hogwarts keep an eye on the students? I have a bad feel about the new DADA teacher, and I'd feel better if they could help," Harry inquired, hoping beyond hope that they could.
"Dobby wills be asking thems. I is being knowing that they is being limited on whats they can be doing. But Dobby will ask them to at least tell a teacher if they is being seeing anything that needs to bes reported," the elf said thoughtfully, rubbing his large ears.
"That's great, Dobby. Thanks," Harry said, squeezing his elf's shoulder.
"Thanks, Dobby," the rest of the group added, all clapping the elf on the back.
"Dobby must be going now," the prideful, yet embarrassed, elf said and disappeared.
"Was that what you were looking for?" Harry asked, turning to his female friend.
"That's exactly what I need," she gushed, still reevaluating her plans. With this room, and the help of the elves they might just get through whatever had Harry spooked.
"I'm glad," Harry said, then looking at his watch. It was three hours before the meeting, so he said, "There's a meeting tonight at six, George, Fred. You guys are invited, but the rest of you can't come," he added, to the other three. "Bill said he wanted to talk to you about something."
"Oh?" they asked.
"He said after the meeting, but maybe he'll let the others know too. I'm not sure how much is being shared, but Sirius is pretty good at not hiding things," Harry said with a shrug.
"We'll ask him," Fred said, finishing off his cookie.
"before the meeting," George said, swiping another biscuit.
"What will you guys be doing?" Harry asked the other three.
"We can go over my plan," Hermione said with a shrug. There was no use crying over spilt potion.
"Yeah," said the two gloomy youngest Weasley's.
"Buck up, guys. I will tell you what I can. However, you need to read this book I have when I'm done with it. It'll protect your mind, then you can know more," Harry said, trying to cheer them up.
"We can actually teach them," Fred said, hugging his little sister with one arm.
"Yeah, they might learn better with verbal instructions," George said, doing the same to his little brother.
"Great," Harry stated, rubbing his hands together. "So, what do we do in the meantime?" he asked everyone.
"Lunch," Ron said, getting up from the bed.
"It's three in the afternoon," Hermione stated, aghast that they had missed a meal.
"To the kitchen," the twins crowed, and grabbed arms and pulled those still sitting up and dragged them out of the room.
"To the kitchen," Harry and Ginny agreed, letting themselves be pulled along.
They made a lot of noise going down the stairs, but that was okay, they were all happy. The ominous feeling Harry had forgotten, for now.