Peverell Beach House, Cornwall, 1/1/1983, 13:49
Harry was just finishing up some more work on the nursery, he was determined that little ones would have a nice room when they arrived. The room was covered in a soft green carpet that had been enchanted with a cushioning enchantment.
The walls were covered in green wallpaper with solid pink and solid blue snakes that were animated to slither around the walls that they had picked out.
Harry had already set up the cribs, the rocking chair, and the changing table, he thought he might need to invest in a wardrobe and a toy chest for all the toys Tonks had helped pick out for the babies.
Harry thought the nursery was coming along pretty well though it was not quite finished just yet.
He also had to hang the mobiles over the cribs and set up the temperature wards over the room. He wanted to make anotber trip to the alley to get the other furniture so he could put away the clothes and toys that were currently piled up in the cribs.
"This looks very nice," Bellatrix said as she entered the room admiring the slakes slithering over the wallpaper.
"I know, I had my doubts about the colour scheme but I am starting to like it," Harry admitted with a grin.
"You should never doubt Bella's choice in decor," Bella said smugly.
"I have learned my lesson," Harry said in faux seriousness.
"Good, we'll discuss your punishment later," Bellatrix said as she inspected one of the cribs
The cribs were very sturdy and had a large headboard that had blank placards affixed to them, when tbe decided on names they could etch them into the placards. The cribs were painted a soft white, one of them had blue bedding and the other was a soft pink. They both sat low to the floor so Bella would have no trouble lifting the babies out when they got bigger.
"Punishment?" Harry asked curiously.
"Yes, naughty Harry should never doubt Auntie Bella," Bellatrix grinned as she moved to the other crib and scowled at the toys and clothes piled from the bedding to the top of the bars.
"So what did Narcissa want?" Harry asked changing the subject.
"She wants you to take care of another job for her, she wanted me to help convince you," Bella sighed exasperatedly.
"What is the job?" Harry asked tiredly.
"She wants you to get close to Lord Ogden and talk him into using his influence in the light faction to pass a new bills Lord Greengrass is presenting to the Wizengamot," Bellatrix replied with a shake of her head.
"Oh buggering hell, there is no way I'm doing that!" Harry exclaimed irritably.
"I told her as much," Bellatrix giggled.
"I am not a politician, killing people I can do, kissing some wrinkled old politician's ass is something I refuse to do!" Harry ranted.
"I told her you wouldn't do it," Bellatrix said calmly.
"If she thinks she can talk me into that she has another thing coming," Harry continued.
"I know," Bellatrix said sounding very amused.
"What bill is she trying to get passed anyway?" Harry demanded.
"Some law that mandates veritaserum be used in every criminal trial no matter their social standing," Bellatrix answered.
"Of all the... wait What? that actually sounds like a good idea," Harry said sheepishly as he turned to look at his smirking wife.
"Yes, Bella thought so too," Bellatrix agreed.
"I still can't do it, maybe she should charm the man herself, she's certainly manipulative enough," Harry said as he took a seat in the rocking chair.
"Narcissa prefers to pull the strings from the shadows, she doesn't like getting her hands dirty and risk breaking a nail," Bellatrix shrugged as she came over and sat in his lap.
"I've noticed, just out of curiosity what's the job pay?" Harry asked.
"Seventy-five thousand galleons, if the law passes, of course," Bellatrix said with a shrug.
"I wonder what she get's out of this," Harry muttered.
"I don't know but Auntie Bella needs your help in the bedroom," Bellatrix said as she got up and pulled him to his feet.
"What do you need help with, Auntie Bella?" Harry asked innocently as he followed her into their bedroom.
"Auntie Bella needs a good shag," Bellatrix answered huskily as she unbuttoned her robe.
'God bless these pregnancy hormones,' Harry thought as Bella's robe pooled at her feet and revealed she wasn't wearing undergarments.
Peverell Beach House, Cornwall, 1/5/1983, 07:39
Harry came inside after his morning run, it was a chilly morning and he was glad to return to the warmth of the house.
He had received a letter from Newt yesterday asking him to meet with him on the fifteenth to carry out a massive extermination job in northern Scotland.
Harry had a suspicion as to what the job was and was a little nervous as it would be a lot more dangerous than their adventure into the chamber.
Making his way upstairs he took a quick shower and got dressed for the day before heading into the dining room.
He was about halfway through his breakfast when the delivery owl flew in with the paper, after paying the bird he unfurled the paper and read the headline scowling at the stupidity of the government.
Azkaban Prisoners are Scheduled for Retrial in the Coming Months
Harry read the article and couldn't believe what he was seeing, according to Rita Skeeter, all prisoners sentenced to prison during Bartemius Crouch's time as head of the DMLE would be retried as there had already been two instances of wrongful imprisonment under his tenure.
There was speculation that Barty had made other mistakes and that was not even factoring in the damning evidence that had come to light after the capture of Crouch Jr.
The dates of the trials hadn't been announced yet but according to a quote from Rufus Scrimgeour, the lower security prisoners would be tried first as he was confident the six high-security inmates were guilty of their crimes having personally encountered many of them in the last war.
"Thank god for small favours," Harry muttered.
Turning the page he saw a few campaign ads, Bagnold had resigned from minister effective June first and there were several people running for office.
Harry was surprised when he saw one of the candidates was none other than Cassiopeia Black, she had his vote and Lord Gamp's to he would imagine.
Chuckling he got up from his seat and made his way to the deck to watch the ocean, he wanted to wait for Bellatrix to wake up before he ran a few errands to prepare for the task he would be assisting Newt with.
Mostly he needed to get a large amount of antidote as well as a few household potions that were running low.
Walking outside he saw that the sea was pretty choppy this morning, he hadn't come out here for quite a while now and he was looking forward to the summer already so he could have his breakfast out here again.
Harry sat down and cast a warming charm over himself and watched the ocean waves crash into the shoreline.
Now he understood why Cissa was trying to get that law pushed through, she wanted the death eaters to stay in Azkaban. After reading the Prophet this morning he felt conflicted about whether he should bother trying to help her with Lord Ogden.
On the one hand, it would be wise to keep the inner circle death eaters confined to that island, safely locked away from the rest of the wizarding world.
On the other hand, if they went free he could pick them off one by one without having to go anywhere near that accursed island.
There was also the fact that politicking was outside of his wheelhouse, he knew he could be charming when he had to be but he hated politicians on principle and had no interest in becoming one himself.
He also knew that this job was part of Cissa's scheme to push him towards a Wizengamot seat so she could use him to further his own goals
No he didn't think this was a job he wished to take on even if the payout was quite substantial.
Harry was pulled from his internal debate as he heard the door open.
"It's rather cold out here," Bellatrix said as she joined him on the deck.
"I know, I was just waiting for you to wake up," Harry said looking at his wife.
"Why?" Bella asked as she came to sit beside him on the couch.
"I need to go into the alley to get supplies for when I work with Newt," Harry explained.
"The extermination job?" Bellatrix asked.
"Yeah, I need to get some antidote for acromantula venom and a broomstick from this timeline," Harry said grimly.
"I hate spiders," Bella scowled.
"I'm not fond of them either," Harry agreed as he wrapped his arm around her.
"Be careful," Bella sighed laying her head on his shoulder.
"I'll do my best," Harry assured her.
"You had better, when are we going to the alley?" Bellatrix asked.
"Whenever you're ready, I thought we might pick up some furniture for the nursery while we're out," Harry said.
"So you can get the junk out of the baby's crib?" Bella asked.
"Yes, I don't know why I let Tonks pick out so many toys it will be a few years until they can play with them," Harry grinned.
"Andi's brat is always causing trouble," Bella scowled.
"Pretty soon she'll be Hogwarts problem," Harry shrugged.
They sat out there for a little while longer and enjoyed the waves before deciding to head to the alley and get their shopping over with.
Harry was just glad that he would be starting his apprenticeship soon, he had no idea how long it would take but soon he would be a certified magizoologist and could work on his own.
'Hell I might even write for the quibbler one day," Harry thought with a grin as he stepped through the floo.
Three Broomsticks Pub, Scotland, 1/15/1983, 09:59
Harry stepped into the almost deserted pub and saw Newt seated at a table sipping a cup of tea.
"Good morning, Mr Scamander," Harry said as he took a seat across from Newt.
"It's just Newt, Harry," Newt chastised.
"My apologies, Newt," Harry grinned.
"No worries, I suppose you already know what we're about to do?" Newt asked.
"I assumed we would be dealing with the acromantula colony that has been left unchecked since the nineteen forties," Harry said as he waved Madam Rosmerta over.
"Correct, after you mentioned them last month I talked to Albus and he confirmed there was a large acromantula colony in the forest. They are what we consider an invasive species and are already wreaking havoc on the Forbidden Forest's ecosystem Newt explained.
"What can I get you, dear?" Rosmerta asked cheerfully batting her eyes at him.
"Spiced apple cider, please," Harry said politely.
"Good choice it is frightfully cold this morning," Newt said as the barmaid went to get Harry's drink.
"That is intentional isn't it, the spiders move slower in the cold don't they?" Harry asked as a tankard of steaming cider was sat down on the table.
"Indeed, how familiar are you with acromantula?" Newt asked.
"I've encountered them once, very briefly. Other than that, just what I've read in your book," Harry admitted.
"Don't feel bad about that, most wizards only encounter them once and never live to talk about it," Newt shrugged.
"So, will it just be the two of us?" Harry asked warily.
"Absolutely not, I have requested the assistance of the Committee for the Disposal of Dangerous Creatures. Normally, I despise working with those people but at least we can put their love of killing things to good use for a change," Newt explained.
"Right, so when do we meet up with them? Harry asked sharing Newt's view of that department as memories of their treatment of Buckbeak sprang to mind.
" One thirty, I thought we would scout out the location before they arrive, did you bring a broomstick?" Newt asked lookng at him expectantly.
"I did, after the chamber I thought it wise to have one on my for these field trips," Harry said as he drained the tankard enjoying the rich cinnamon taste and the warmth that seemed to flow through his entire body.
"Good man, we might as well get cracking," Newt said as he rose from his chair.
Thirty minutes later they had entered the forest through the Hogwarts grounds and began heading straight through the brush not bothering with the paths.
"How did you find out about the colony anyway as I understand it you never attended Hogwarts?" Newt asked as they weaved their way through the trees.
"Lord Black used to sneak into the forest when he attended Hogwarts, according to him, he and his mates stumbled into a clearing full of massive spiders and nearly got themselves killed. What I don't understand is how they got in this forest, to begin with," Harry said as he drew his wand to start clearing the brambles out of his path.
"That would be the groundskeepers doing," Newt sighed.
"Who's the groundskeeper?" Harry asked feigning ignorance.
"A man named Rubeus Hagrid, he really is very good with animals but doesn't have a lick of sense about dangerous beasts," Newt explained as the forest opened up a bit after they exited the patch of brambles.
"Wait wasn't that the bloke who was accused of opening the chamber back in forty-three?" Harry questioned as they continued to walk deeper into the forest.
"Indeed, though that notion is completely ridiculous, the beast that prefect reported was responsible for the attacks was what I believe we are after today, the patriarch of the acromantula colony," Newt explained before he came to a sudden stop in a dark section of the forest where the canopy was so thick it looked like dusk.
Harry heard movement up ahead and listened closely as the underbrush moved and white eyes stared at them from the shadows.
"It's a thestral, I think," Harry said walking closer.
"Yea, I believe so. Mr Hagrid had a domesticated heard of them that pull the school carriages," Newt said as a large black-winged, skeletal thin horse with large white eyes stepped out of the underbrush and eyed them curiously.
"I think we just entered their territory, perhaps we should go," Harry suggested.
"Yes, they can be quite aggressive if their young are near," Newt said leading Harry away from this section of forest.
"What else is that groundskeeper hiding in here?" Harry muttered having quite a bit of experience with some of Hagrid's 'pets' from his timeline.
"Nothing of note according to Albus, just a small herd of hippogriffs, and if the rumours are true he has a cerberus," Newt answered before casting a point me charm.
They continued heading North-East to where Harry remembered the clearing was though from memory he knew it would be at lead another half hour of walking.
They didn't encounter many other creatures except a couple of bowtruckles as they walked through the thick underbrush, it seemed that most of the animals avoided this area, there weren't even any birds in the trees.
"Aha!" Newt exclaimed excitedly when he spotted webbing strung between the upper branches of trees not far away.
"I believe it is time to take out our brooms," Newt said as he dug into his pocket and unshrunk an old Shooting Star racing broom.
Harry pulled the brand new Nimbus twelve hundred he had purchased specifically for this excursion and unshrunk it.
He thought it would be best not to use the comet or the Nimbus two thousand he brought from his timeline. He didn't want Newt or anyone else for that matter asking awkward questions about brooms that wouldn't be on the market for another decade.
Newt mounted the broomstick and Harry hurried to copy him, they both kicked off the ground and rose over the treetops.
Harry could make out the large clearing the spiders occupied a few hundred yards away.
Letting Newt take the lead they flew towards the spider colony, when Harry looked down into the clearing he gave an involuntary shudder. There were thousands of spiders down there, they crawling everywhere, it looked like something out of a horror movie.
"Good lord, it's worse than I imagined!" Newt exclaimed as he pulled a set of omnioculars from his pocket and began zooming them in.
"I don't think the ministry team will be able to handle this," Harry commented as he took out his own omniculars and pressed the record button.
"No, there have to be over a thousand full-grown acromantula and at least twice that many juveniles," Newt agreed as he looked the clearing over.
"That really big one looks like it's gone blind," Harry added as he zoomed in on Aragog, not seeing much difference from the time he met him in his second year.
"They don't depend on their eyesight very much, so it's no less dangerous," Newt said dismissively.
"I know, I read it in your book," Harry chuckled as he panned around until he found the other massive spider.
"Excellent, now do you see the other large spider?" Newt asked.
"Yeah, I think it's a female that's why it's so much larger than the blind one," Harry said as he studied the spider.
"Very good, she is the most important spider in the clearing, acromantula tend to only breed males in a setting like this. When the female reaches the end of her life cycle she will create a single female egg to take her place," Newt lectured.
"That sounds more like honey bees," Harry said thoughtfully.
"Yes and no, a honey bee hive is mostly female but if a female larva is fed a special jelly all of its life then it can become a queen which will fly off and start a new colony. Thankfully, acromantula's don't do this. They continue to grow one colony with one female, the female's magic determines when the time is right to create another female and then the old female will die," Newt lectured while never taking tbe omnioculars from his eyes.
"So if we were to kill the queen then the colony would die out on its own?" Harry asked somewhat hopefully.
"It would, but that would take centuries for them all to die of natural causes. By then they would have done irreparable damage t the forest," Newt said grimly.
"So we will have to wipe them all out," Harry sighed.
"Indeed, usually I am against killing magical creatures but these things are a scourge. Ever since they were smuggled off of that island they have been causing problems," Newt muttered as he pocketed his omnioculars.
"Is there a way to contain them in that clearing and hit them with draught of living death or something?" Harry asked looking at Newt.
"Probably but I never had much practice at warding, I would have to bring in some warders," Newt said as he pulled a map out of his pocket and marked down the location.
"I know fire is thought to be the best way to deal with them but I don't think we could do that here," Harry said thoughtfully.
"No, definitely not it would undoubtedly spread," Newt agreed.
Newt started flying around the perimeter observing their behaviour and Harry decided to stay quiet and let the man think while he watched four large spiders move out of the clearing and into the forest.
"We won't be tackling this today, the job is much bigger than I expected I think we should have a quick word with Albus before we do anything," Newt said as he began flying towards the school.
Twenty minutes later they touched down in front of the steps leading up to the entry doors.
"Good it's almost lunchtime, we won't have to track him down," Newt said after checking his watch.
They had barely stepped through the front door when they were met by Minerva McGonagall heading coming down the grand staircase.
"Mr Scamander, I assume you are here to see Albus?" Minerva asked looking over at Harry in slight confusion.
"How many times have I told you to call me Newt, Minerva?" Newt chuckled.
"Very well Newt, are you here to see the headmaster?" McGonagall asked briskly.
"Yes. Oh, let me introduce you to my temporary apprentice, Harry Peverell," Newt said gesturing to Harry.
"Pleasure to meet you, Professor," Harry said politely offering her his hand.
"Yes, you as well. Albus tells me your wife is expecting a baby?" Minerva asked politely after shaking Harry's offered hand.
"Two, we're having twins in May," Harry grinned.
"Good heavens, do keep Sirius Black away from them won't you?" Minerval said before turning to Newt, " come along Albus should be sitting down for lunch by now you two might as well join us."
The two of them followed her to the head table, Newt took a seat beside Dumbledore while Harry was forced to sit between Minerva and Horace Slughorn.
"Mr Peverell this is Horace Slughorn our potions master," Minerva said as food appeared on all of the tables.
"We met briefly at Lady Malfoy's Christmas Eve party, I believe," Slughorn said jovially.
"I remember you, my wife speaks very highly of you, professor," Harry grinned as he helped himself to Salisbury steak and mashed potatoes.
"Just Horace, please, And she was one of my most gifted students though her sisters weren't nothing to sneeze at," Horace chuckled.
"Yes, she is very gifted at enchanting, though I have heard from Lord Black that she is frightening in the duelling arena," Harry grinned.
"Best hope you never find that out first hand," Minerva cut in.
"Agreed, I have seen Sirius incur her wrath before," Harry grinned.
"I heard a rumour that Sirius Black is betrothed to Amelia Bones, do you know if that's true?" Slughorn asked casually.
"Yes, it's true," Harry shrugged amused at how gossipy the two professors were acting.
"Good lord, if those two have a child I will put in my resignation," Minerva exclaimed.
"He isn't that bad, though he does like to antogonize Bellatrix more than is good for his health," Harry admitted.
"Sirius black and his little gang were terrors, during their time at Hogwarts," Minerva argued.
"I imagine little Harry will be quite the nuisance when he startsschool but I'm aftaid you have bigger problems, professor," Harry chuckled.
"What could possibly be worse than Sirius Black raising James Potter's son?" Minerva asked in disbelief.
"Nymphadora Tonks, daughter of Andromeda Black, metamorphmagus and always getting into trouble," Harry answered enjoying the look on McGonagall's face.
"I take it she's getting close to eleven?" Slughorn asked curiously.
"Yes, she should get her letter next year," Harry nodded.
"Maybe I should take Elphinstone up on his proposall and retire," McGonagall muttered to herself.
"Alright Harry I think we can go now, good seeing you again Minerva," Newt said from Harry's right.
"Okay, it was a pleasure meeting you both," Harry said as he got to his feet.
"You as well, good day," Minerva said distractedly.
"I hope to see you again Harry," Slughorn said shaking Harry's hand vigorously.
"Sorry for throwing you to the wolves, Harry," Newt said after they had exited the castle.
"It's fine, what did you need to talk to the headmaster about?" Harry asked as they walked towards the main gates.
"I had to get his permission to bring a warding team on the grounds to trap the spiders in that clearing," Newt explained.
"What about the ones wandering g through the forest?" Harry asked.
"We can hunt them down one at a time if necessary, our main focus is to destroy the bulk of the colony and most importantly, the queen," Newt told him.
"So this job is going to take a while then?" Harry asked.
"Undoubtedly so, the wards will take around a week to set up and we are going to have to assist the warding teams," Newt answered as they exited the main gates.
"Alright," Harry shrugged.
"I need to get to the ministry, I'll send word when I know all the details," Newt said before disappearing with a soft 'pop.'
"I guess I had better get used to him doing that," Harry sighed before he disapparated back to his home.
Forbidden Forest, Scotland, 1/20/1983, 09:26
Harry was covering the warder from the ministry as he meticulously set the second wardstone at the South-East point of the clearing.
According to Bob Jensen, the warder he was watching over, the ward had to be set up in pairs. On the other side of the clearing, Newt was watching over the warder who was setting the stone for the North-West edge of the clearing.
This eight-point ward configuration eliminated the need for a centre stone but the stones had to be set at the same time as their opposites and would form an octagonal dome when the wards went up.
"This one's set," Bob said as he climbed out of the pit he was setting the stone in and began carefully covering the pumpkin sized stone in dirt.
"Why do you bury them so deep?" Harry asked as he watched the man work.
"So the spiders can't dig under the wards and so nothing can knock them out of alignment," Bob answered as he finished filling the hole.
"gotcha, so what's next?" Harry asked.
"Nothin' theses two stones have to power up before we can add the next set, this way is slower but we don't have to place a centre stone," Bob said with a shrug.
Bob was in his thirties, with blonde hair, and kind of on the pudgy side, he gave Harry the impression of a government contractor who wanted to milk a job for all he could. Harry wasn't sure he believed the man about the pair of stones having to power up before they could set the next pair but he wasn't a warder so he didn't question it.
"Alright, let's meet up with you're partner and clear out, I can't wait to wash off this peppermint oil," Harry grinned as he mounted his broom.
" I hear that," Bob said as he mounted his own broom and kicked off of the ground, then started flying towards the other two.
They landed a few minutes later and Bob pulled a portkey out of his pocket, his partner grabbed ahold and the two of them vanished in a flash of blue light.
"I wish I didn't have to go through the ministry, Gringotts is so much more efficient," Newt sighed as soon as the warders vanished.
"They're going to drag this out as long as they can, aren't they?" Harry asked in amusement.
"Of course they are, they get paid by the hour," Newt sighed as he noticed movement in the trees ahead.
"Best get in the air before we attract the spiders," Harry suggested.
"Right you are," Newt said as he mounted his broom and kicked off.
"You're handling this pretty well, John was absolutely terrified about the spiders finding us," Newt commented.
"I am no stranger to working under pressure," Harry shrugged as they came to hover above the clearing.
"That will serve you well in this line of work," Newt nodded approvingly.
They sat there and observed the clearing for a while, Newt couldn't pass up the opportunity to document the social interactions of the colony.
"The spiders always send a group of four out to hunt," Harry commented as he watched four of the cart-horse sized spiders disappear into the forest.
"Yes, I noticed that the other day but you notice that that the four already in the forest don't return on any set schedule," Newt pointed out.
"They could be hunting different quadrants of the forest," Harry suggested.
"It's possible, there are a lot of mouths to feed down there," Newt agreed.
"So there is no way of knowing how many will be in the forest when we hit the colony," Harry reasoned out.
"Indeed," Newt agreed.
For the rest of the day they documented the colony, Harry got his first taste of what the life of a magizoologist was like and he couldn't deny that he found it fascinating watching the spiders go about their routine oblivious to the humans observing them from the air.
Forbidden Forest, Scotland, 1/23/1983, 10:45
Harry was watching over Bob as he set the Southern stone for the North to South pair, after this, there was just one pair left. Yesterday they had set the South-West to North-East pair with no problems, then Harry and Newt spent the rest of the day observing the colony.
Harry had to admit that this work was very interesting, they had seen all sorts of things in the past few days that had never been documented before and Harry was certain they would end up in the latest edition of Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them.
Harry had inquired about how long it would take before the wards were in place and Bob predicted that it would be about seventeen hours after they had set the West to East pair, the wards would come up on their own when they powered up.
Harry was thrilled at this news, the waiting was getting frustrating, once the wards were up they could commence deploying vaporized canisters of a potion that was highly toxic to spiders.
The ministry planned on harvesting the venom and silk from the acromantula so they had graciously supplied them with the potion.
Harry knew the only reason the ministry was so accommodating was to ensure their profits weren't damaged by more brutal means of killing the spiders. Harvesting the acromantula was an easy source of revenue for them and they wanted every sickle they could get.
On the upside, Newt had negotiated it so that both he and Harry received five per cent of the overall profits from the harvesting of the acromantula.
Harry was brought out of his thoughts as he heard the unmistakable clicking of pinchers not far from where they were working.
"Bob, how much longer?" Harry whispered as he looked in the direction of the sound.
"Five minutes, why?" Bob asked nervously.
"Because one of their hunting parties is heading this way," Harry said calmly.
"W-what?! a-are you su-sure?" Bob sputtered out.
"Yes, I can see the underbrush moving," Harry whispered back.
"W-we have to get out of h-here," Bob exclaimed his face a very pale colour.
"Not a chance, finish setting that stone I'll keep them back," Harry said as a twelve foot spider came into view.
"I-I can't!" Bob muttered hysterically.
"Bob just relax, finish setting the stone, I will keep them off of you," Harry said in a calming voive as he flicked his wand sending a piercing hex through one of the eyes of the spider that was approaching him clicking its pinchers excitedly.
The spider fell to the ground dead with a sheavy thump. The exoskeleton of the acromantula was resistant to most spells but their eyes were not which gave him an easy way to strike the brain killing it instantly.
Harry heard more clicking, the other members of the hunting party must have smelled their comrade's blood and they were known to be cannibals.
"How's it coming," Harry asked glancing over at Bob.
"Al-almost.. there," Bob cried in relief when the stone glowed a light purple indicating the stones were in alignment.
"Good, cover it up and let's get out of here," Harry said as he cast two non-verbal piercing hexes in rapid succession dropping two more of the acromantula hunting party.
"O-okay," Bob said as he scrambled out of the pit then froze as he gaped at the three massive spiders laying on the ground.
"Focus, there is still one more out there," Harry said not looking away from the area of forest the three spiders had come from.
Harry heard Bob dropping dirt in the hole as the fourth spider climbed over the fallen acromantula, clicking its pinchers angrily, the sound echoing through the forest.
"Bob, you have thirty seconds before every spider in that clearing is on top of us," Harry said as he cast another piercing hex.
The spider shifted its body and avoided the spell before it charged forward, Harry was forced to hit it with an overpowered banishing charm that stopped it in its tracks before casting a second piercing hex that hit its mark.
"I-I'm done," Bob said not a second too soon as Harry heard the sounds of hundreds of clicking pinchers heading their way.
Harry and Bob mounted their brooms and kicked off into the air just as hundreds of the little nightmares burst through the underbrush swarming the area they had been working in.
Harry flew up to treetop level and watched as the new arrivals swarmed their fallen and began dragging them back towards the colony.
"You okay, Bob?" Harry asked as they started flying towards Newt and the other warder.
"Y-yeah, s-sure," Bob muttered as he followed Harry to the ground to land next to Newt and the other warder.
"How did it go?" Newt asked after seeing the terrified look on Bob's face.
"One of their hunting parties stumbled on to us, but we got out okay," Harry shrugged.
"You're insane," Bob exclaimed in a hysterical voice.
"Shut the hell up or they will come over here!" Harry whisper shouted.
"Let's get into the air," Newt suggested looking at Bob warily.
The warders didn't need telling twice and mounted their brooms and took off flying in the direction of Hogsmeade.
"Bob seemed a bit stressed," Newt said when they were hovering safely over the clearing.
"Yeah, he didn't handle the pressure very well," Harry shrugged.
"You killed the entire hunting party I see," Newt commented as he watched the spiders swarm over their fallen.
"Yes, though the last one sent out a distress call, if Bob had been any slower they would have been on us," Harry answered pulling out his own omnioculars.
"Yes, once they swarm there is very little chance of fighting them off," Newt said as he watched the female drag one of the corpses away.
"The rest of the day they watched the colony as the spiders fed on their own and Harry hoped that the next day went smoother than today had.
Forbidden Forest, Scotland, 1/25/1983, 05:37
Harry watched in awe from the air as the massive golden dome materialized over the spider clearing, Harry could make out the octagon outline on the ground and the way the flat sides slowly transitioned to a rounded dome shape before the wards became transparent.
Yesterday had gone much smoother, Harry was partnered with a younger man named Joe who set the final wardstone without incident. Bob had apparently refused to work on this project any longer after his run-in with the acromantula.
Harry and Newt had arrived at three this morning to confirm the wards coming up so they could begin the final part of this operation.
" We can drop the canister in now," Newt said as he flew to hover over the centre of the clearing and removed a glass canister the size of a coke can filled with red smoke, then hovered it in front of him.
Harry pointed his wand at the canister cancelling the shrinking charm, he watched it expand until it was the size of a fifty-gallon drum.
Newt cancelled the levitation charm, they watched it plummet to the ground, the canister passed through the wards without trouble as they were only designed to keep living things from entering and exiting the warded area.
When the canister slammed into the earth it shattered like a Christmas ornament and the pressurized potion exploded outward quickly filling the dome with the red potion vapours, making it look like half of a gigantic rememberall.
Luckily the vaporized potion could not leave the dome so Harry and Newt were safe to watch the potion take effect.
Harry heard frantic clicking and occasionally saw a spider slamming into the side of the wards as they tried to flee from the area.
"That was the most humane way to go about his," Newt said somewhat sadly.
"True, now the other creatures in the forest can thrive again," Harry agreed as the sounds from inside the dome quieted as the potion finally took effect.
"The vapours should dissipate in an hour or so but our work here is done," Newt said as he led them back towards Hogwarts.
"I guess the ministry will process the colony?" Harry asked curiously.
"They will but we will go in and get a count of how many spiders were in that colony," Newt answered.
"Makes sense, this has got to set some type of record," Harry said thoughtfully.
"I believe this is the largest colony on record, outside of the Island of Borneo of course," Newt said as they flew down and landed on the Hogwarts lawn.
"The gamekeeper was lucky that those things never hurt anybody," Harry said as he fell into step beside Newt.
"Oh I think Hagrid will still be in deep trouble for this," Newt predicted as the stepped through the main doors of the school and headed up the grand staircase.
"Poor bloke," Harry said with a shake of his head.
"Jelly bean," Newt said as they arrived at the gargoyle guarding the headmaster's office.
They watched as the gargoyle leapt out of the way and revealed a doorway and a spiral staircase. They both stepped onto the first step, the staircase began rising upwards to the landing in front of the headmaster's door.
Newt reached up knocking smartly and they heard Dumbledore call, "enter," from the other side of the door.
Harry followed Newt inside and looked around the familiar office noticing it looked exactly the same as it did in his timeline.
"I take it you were successful?" Dumbledore asked politely.
"We were, the wards came up at five thirty-seven and we deployed the vaporized potion at five thirty-nine," Newt said taking a seat on the other side of Dumbledore's desk.
"Hagrid will be devastated," Dumbledore said sadly.
"If he hadn't brought the original spider a mate this whole mess could have been avoided," Newt shrugged.
"Indeed, how did you like your first trip into the field, Mr Peverell?" Dumbledore asked looking at Harry.
It went fine, though the first guy the ministry sent me lost his wits the other day," Harry chuckled.
"Yes, I did hear about that. Minerva informs me your wife is having twins," Dumbledore asked.
"Yes, we are already expecting they will be a handful," Harry grinned.
"Yes I can only imagine, thank heavens we only had one child," Newt cut in.
"I will let you know when the ministry arrives, I imagine you will want to count the acromantula," Dumbledore said turning back to Newt.
"Yes, I would also like to get some measurement on the larger two specimens," Newt agreed.
"If that's all I'll head home," Harry said hopefully.
"Yes go ahead, I'll contact you in the next few days," Newt said with a nod.
"Headmaster, may I use your floo?" Harry asked.
"Of course, my boy," Dumbledore said graciously.
Harry tossed some powder into the fireplace and stepped in vanishing in a flash.
"So what do you think of Mr Peverell?" Dumbledore asked as soon as Peverell disappeared.
"I like him, he seems to be very capable and keeps his head in tense situations," Newt shrugged.
"I believe he was trained in combat, according to Mr Jensen, Peverell killed four adult acromantula while Bob was setting the stone," Dumbledore said.
"That was his job, protect the warder," Newt pointed out.
"True, I think Peverell could be a valuable ally to have," Dumbledore said thoughtfully.
"Don't try and drag me into your manipulations, Albus" Newt sighed tiredly.
"Very well," Dumbledore grinned.
"I believe I will take my leave as well, I expect the ministry processing team will be here by the end of the week," Newt said as he got to his feet.
"Yes they are quite excited about this windfall though they were forced to give Hogwarts forty per cent of the profits," Dumbledore said matter of factly.
"Then for god's sake replace those miserable school broomsticks, I know for a fact you're still using the ones they taught us to fly on and they were out of date back then," Newt said as he approached the fireplace.
"I believe I will," Dumbledore said before Newt disappeared from his office.
Peverell Beach House, Cornwall, 1/25/1983, 07:30
Harry finished up his breakfast and headed upstairs to his room, the last week had been exhausting and he was looking forward to going back to sleep.
Harry slipped into the room noticing Bella was still asleep, quickly undressing he crawled into bed and got comfortable.
"How did it go?" Bellatrix asked sleepily.
"Good, the wards went up and we dropped the potion, I think we're taking the day off tomorrow," Harry sighed as he pulled Bella closer to him.
"Good Bella has been very lonely here," Bella whispered as she grasped him under the covers making him groan.
'I suppose I'll be awake a bit longer,' Harry thought as he felt himself reacting to her attention.