Room of Requirement, 1/14/1992, 06:03
Harry followed behind Professor Peverell and Draco as they walked down the seventh-floor corridor in the wee hours of the morning.
Harry was still feeling very confused about why he had been woken up by a house elf at such an early hour.
The elf had told him to meet Professor Peverell in the hallway in ten minutes before popping away without giving him an explanation.
Harry followed behind Draco as Professor Peverell held open a door across from a tapestry of a man trying to teach trolls how to dance ballet.
On the other side of the door was what looked like an unused classroom. Though why there was a classroom this high up in the castle baffled him.
"Sir, why are we here?" Draco asked warily as soon as Professor Peverell shut the door and turned to look at the two first years.
"You two are here because your mother and Sirius want you to learn to defend yourselves properly," Professor Peverell replied easily.
"You mean like duelling, sir?" Harry asked hopefully, feeling excited at the prospect of learning how to duel.
"I will be teaching you basic defensive spells but I will mostly be focusing on hand-to-hand fighting techniques," Professor Peverell corrected.
"Why not just duelling?" Draco asked in confusion.
"Because your cores are not developed enough for sustained magic use. Prolonged use of magic at your age can actually do damage to your core. That is why the first-year spells are so unimpressive. Until you hit your third maturation at thirteen, your core is still... delicate," Professor Peverell explained.
"Oh," Draco said looking a bit disconcerted at that explanation.
"Don't sulk Draco, what I am about to teach you will be more than enough to deal with the average Hogwarts student," Professor Peverell chuckled.
"What spells are you going to teach us?" Harry asked with interest.
"Well unfortunately the shield charm requires a significant amount of power to use. So I will be teaching you how to swat spells which takes next to no magic to do. I will also be teaching you ways to use spells from the first-year syllabus in a duelling situation," Professor Peverell answered.
"And Sirius wants me to learn this?" Harry asked sceptically.
Sirius had always been a bit overprotective as far as Harry was concerned. Harry knew it was because of what happened to his parents when he was a baby but he still found it a bit annoying at times.
A prime example of this was last year when Sirius had refused to let him attend quidditch camp because it was 'too dangerous' and Sirius didn't like the look of the instructors.
"I believe this was mostly Narcissa's doing, to be honest. She needed you for leverage to get the headmaster to sign off on letting me train Draco," Professor Peverell confided with an exasperated shake of his head.
"I swear my mother could have been a dark lady if she had put her mind to it," Draco muttered sounding almost exasperated himself.
"Indeed. Either way, I will be teaching you both how to avoid being found unconscious in the corridors again," Professor Peverell said, looking amused at Draco's last comment.
"Do you know who attacked us?" Harry asked.
"No, though Bellatrix believes the attack was aimed at Draco," Professor Peverell admitted.
"That's what I think too, sir," Draco said, shooting a smug look in Harry's direction.
"Just out of curiosity, who runs Slytherin?" Professor Peverell asked as he looked over at Draco.
"A seventh-year named Melanie Selwyn. The Carrow twins are her enforcers and are most likely going to take over control of the house next year," Draco answered, a look of understanding crossing Draco's face.
"Then those three would be my first suspects for the attack," Professor Peverell said, looking thoughtful.
"You think they attacked us?" Harry asked in alarm.
"I don't know and right now it doesn't matter. We have some training to begin," Professor Peverell said as he closed his eyes and a look of concentration crossed his features.
Harry was a bit confused about what his professor was doing until the room expanded in all directions. The room grew from the size of an unused classroom to a cavernous room the size of an Olympic gymnasium. Harry jumped as large lights flared to life in the ceiling thirty feet over their heads, casting the room in ample light. The floor shimmered for a second and changed from bare stone to being covered in soft blue padding that resembled a wrestling mat. The rough stone walls shimmered in a similar manner and were soon covered in the same padding, making Harry wonder if Professor Peverell expected them to get thrown into the wall or something.
"To start with, I am going to have you run and go through different exercises to strengthen your bodies," Professor Peverell said as he transfigured their robes into sweatpants and a simple tee shirt.
"Like in physical education?" Harry asked.
"Exactly like that, now let's get started," Professor Peverell instructed with an unreadable expression on his face.
Harry had been enrolled in muggle primary school until last year. After he turned six Sirius had taken him out of Missy Cissa's day school except in the summer months so he was familiar with very physical education by now.
Professor Peverell started the morning the same way as the coach in primary school started P.E.
Professor Peverell had them go through stretches before they began running laps around the gym.
Harry could instantly tell this was new to Draco as he was very clumsy in his stretches and seemed a bit confused as to why they were doing this. Once the running began, Draco seemed to get the hang of things and they both fell into a comfortable pace as they ran around the gym.
After five minutes of running, Professor Peverell called for them to slow to a walk and then had him and Draco come to stand in front of him.
"Since Draco is new to this, we will be starting from the beginning. Every morning we will start the day with a run. As time goes by, the run will last longer. Now let's start some callisthenics before we start going through some basic stances," Professor Peverell said, a bit too cheerfully for his and Draco's liking.
The rest of the morning was exhausting for him and Draco as their professor led them through a bunch of simple exercises and then began running them through a set of blocking exercises over and over again.
When Professor Peverell dismissed them, both boys were feeling sore and covered in sweat. Even worse in Harry's opinion, was that Professor Peverell promised them that they would be going through the same thing all over again tomorrow morning.
"That was awful," Draco exclaimed as soon as they stepped into the hallway.
"The twins have been training like that for a few years," Harry pointed out.
"I know, mother threatened to send me to train with him if I ever flew my broom without her permission again," Draco scowled.
"Well there is an upside," Harry pointed out as they began walking toward the grand staircase.
"What's that?" Draco asked incredulously.
"She can't use that as a threat anymore," Harry smirked.
"She'll just come up with something worse," Draco snorted.
Harry and Draco parted ways at the stairs, the both of them in desperate need of a shower.
As Harry walked the corridor to Gryffindor Tower he couldn't help but wonder how long it would take before he was forced to use what he was being taught by Professor Peverell against an attacker.
'I hope this training helps,' Harry thought to himself before stepping through the portrait hole and making his way up to the first-year boys' dorm to get a quick shower before breakfast.
Serpentine Lake, Arizona, 1/19/1992, 12:29
Harry had been having a long morning as he inspected the horned serpents one by one before he released them into different sections of the now curse-free lake.
Harry had received word two days ago that the curse breakers had succeeded in breaking the curse over Serpentine lake but had been forced to wait to leave until his last class on Friday.
Harry had just checked over the infamous green serpent and released her into the lake a few minutes ago. Thankfully she hadn't tried to ingest him and was quite cooperative during the examination.
Come to think of it, all of the snakes were in a very good mood this morning. He really shouldn't be surprised, they had been stuck in those tanks for weeks and were more than cooperative with him because they knew as soon as he gave them the okay, they could return to the lake.
Harry had been planning a trip to this reserve for next summer before the incident last month. These checkups were long overdue and Harry made a note to come back here this summer anyway.
In the past few days, the workers at the reserve had found another way to cover the massive fees owed for breaking the curse over the lake. For the past few days, reserve workers had been diving in the lake to retrieve shed spikes and horns from the lake bottom before the serpents were released.
From what Harry gathered, they were selling them to local apothecaries and wandmakers. This would most likely cover the cost of hiring the curse breakers and they would still have plenty of gold left over.
Sanjay had come today as well and was checking over a few serpents on the other side of the lake though he had conveniently avoided the man-eating green snake.
Things were starting to settle down at the reserve now that things were going back to normal and Harry was sure that the warden was pleased about this. In the last month, the reserve had gotten a lot of publicity because of the attack but things were starting to settle now.
Harry had saved releasing Adsila for last but that was more so he could take his time with her checkup than anything else.
From what he had seen when he arrived, she was back to perfect health again and was getting just as restless in her tank as the other serpents were.
Harry was currently making his way over to where her tank was set up on the shore of the lake. The reserve staff had moved the tanks to different places around the lake near where they believed each serpent's territory was.
Harry couldn't help but smile as he watched Adsila swimming gracefully around her tank as she saw him approach.
Coming up to the side of the tank, Harry walked over to the corner where the framework that supported the catwalk was anchored to the panes of crystal-clear glass and served to strengthen the corners of the tank.
Touching his wand to one of the three runic arrays etched into the steel, Harry channelled magic into the power rune. Harry powered up the array that caused the water in the tank to vanish and reappear in the lake.
Harry watched as almost three hundred thousand gallons of water vanished in the span of a few minutes as Adsila settled onto the bottom of the empty tank.
Touching the second runic array with his wand, Harry caused the long side of the tank closest to him to vanish, leaving a three-sided tank with a massive serpent lying on the glass bottom.
§ You can come out, Adsila§, Harry said softly.
§I am so glad to be free§, Adsila hissed happily as she slithered onto the sandy shore of the lake.
§I know you are. Your kind is not meant to live in tanks§, Harry chuckled as he began casting diagnostic spells over her gem.
Harry was very pleased when he got a positive reading from the scan, though he was already certain this would be the case.
Looking her over, he could hardly tell that this was the same snake he had seen when he arrived here a month ago. Her face was completely scar-free and she looked just as majestic as he remembered her from his first trip to the reserve. True her gem was about half the size it once was but it was still the size of a cricket ball and would continue to grow as time went by.
§We are not, but you have our gratitude for preserving our home§, Adsila hissed as she watched him curiously.
Harry tapped an enchanted tape measure that was paired with a quill. It was similar to what Ollivander used, when the tape began taking her measurements, the quill would record them on his clipboard. The tape and quill were Christmas presents from Bella that she had made for him. It was very handy for measuring larger snakes though today was the first time he had tested them out.
§You have grown three feet since the last time I measured you§, Harry said as he looked over the figures with interest.
§I still have yet to lay my egg§, Adsila said, sounding very pleased at this news.
§It shouldn't be very long now§, Harry said thoughtfully as he stepped forward and Adsila opened her maw to allow him to inspect her fangs.
Harry had been doing this all morning but it was still unpleasant to lean into a serpent's open mouth with sabre-length fangs above and below him. Harry knew that horned serpents had no interest in eating him but it still made him a little nervous to know that one bite from the serpent would literally cut him in half.
Harry was able to quickly do a visual inspection of her teeth and gums. He was pleased to see that her mouth was perfectly healthy, her fangs were ivory white as if they had just been brushed.
Harry quickly extricated himself from her mouth and placed his hand on the tip of her snout.
§You are free to go, Adsola§, Harry said as he ran his hand between her crests.
§Thank you for caring for me, Harry§, Adsila hissed, sounding almost childlike in her happiness.
§Think nothing of it, caring for serpents is what I do§, Harry smiled.
§Until we meet again, happy hunting, Harry§, Adsila hissed before she slithered into the lake.
§Happy hunting, Adsila§, Harry whispered as he watched her horns disappear under the water's surface.
"Well done," Sanjay said from where he was leaning against Adsila's tank.
"Thanks, are all of yours released?" Harry asked with interest.
"They are, the reserve workers are currently collecting their tanks to send them back to the aquarium," Sanjay said as he came to stand beside Harry.
"Good, I guess that means we can head back to Britain now," Harry said.
"Yes, I admit that it is good to come back here. This place used to be the highlight of my trips to Arizona," Sanjay said with a fond smile.
"I put off coming back here for too long," Harry admitted.
"Until a few years ago, you were swamped filling orders for two continents," Sanjay pointed out.
"True, now I am just getting fat and lazy as a professor, so I have plenty of time to visit," Harry chuckled.
"I always wanted a job teaching but there were never any openings," Sanjay admitted as the two of them began walking back to their campsite.
"It is a good job, though I could do without all of the giggling teenage girls," Harry said as a gust of wind blew across them.
"An old codger like me wouldn't have to put up with that," Sanjay shrugged.
"I suppose not," Harry agreed.
"So are we still on for Easter?" Sanjay asked as they neared their camp and saw Warden Moore sitting at their picnic table.
"Yes, I already filed the permits with the Greek ministry. We can leave the Saturday after Hogwarts lets out for Easter," Harry assured him.
"Good, I am excited to see the basilisk hatchlings," Sanjay beamed.
"So am I," Harry admitted as Quincy noticed them approaching.
"All done?" Quincy asked as he spotted them.
"Yes, I just released Adsila and all of the other serpents were in perfect health, though I think Adsila will be nesting soon," Harry said as he handed Quincy his clipboard.
"We can't thank you enough for what you both did for the reserve," Warden Moore said as he looked over the measurements for the six snakes that Harry had released.
"It's what we do," Harry shrugged as he summoned three Cokes from his tent.
"I agree, we make out money on collecting venom. This is what makes our jobs interesting," Sanjay said as he accepted the offered beverage and handed Quincy his clipboard.
"Well nonetheless, the head of park services has deposited a sizeable amount of gold into both of your vaults as a token of our gratitude," Quincy said as he took the drink Harry offered him.
"Thank you, I always love coming to this reserve," Sanjay beamed as he took a deep drink and sighed appreciatively.
"I think I'll be coming back this summer," Harry admitted.
"You want to know if she's nesting," Sanjay said shrewdly.
"I have never seen a horned serpent hatchling," Harry shrugged.
"Neither have I," Sanjay admitted.
"Well you're both more than welcome here as well as that Scamander fellow," Quincy chuckled.
"Newt will be here in a flash if he hears there is a hatchling," Sanjay sniggered.
"True, can't say I blame him," Harry admitted.
"I think I'll get a start on packing," Sanjay said as a raindrop hit him on the head.
"Are you two heading back?" Quincy asked after taking a deep drink from his soda.
"Yes, I have a class tomorrow and I would rather not have to bring in a sub if I can help it," Harry shrugged as he drained the glass bottle and tapped it with his wand to vanish it.
"And my wife will have a whole list of things for me to do when I get home," Sanjay answered as he pointed his wand at his tent so that it folded itself up into a neat bundle.
Packing up the camp didn't take them very long and soon there wasn't any evidence they had been there.
As Harry and Sanjay slipped their shrunken tents into their pockets, Warden Moore made his way back to his office looking relieved that this whole ordeal was officially wrapped up.
"Well it's been fun," Harry said as he offered Sanjay the portkey.
"It has though I do hope we never have to come to the reserve for something like this again," Sanjay said as he placed his palm on the ink bottle portkey.
"I hear that, fish and chips," Harry said as he said the passphrase, activating the portkey that would take them to the ministry international portkey arrival area.
Avery Manor, Hampshire, 1/19/1992, 21:39
Voldemort sat on his throne as his most recent spy entered the room looking very nervous.
"You're very nearly late," Voldemort said as the man came to stand in front of him with his head bowed subserviently.
"I apologise, my lord. The headmaster called another staff meeting after the attack on the Potter boy," the man said softly.
"That was not your doing, I hope?" Voldemort asked, giving his servant a calculating look.
"No master, you ordered me to watch him and nothing more," The man assured him.
"Indeed I did. So what have you observed of the Potter boy?" Voldemort questioned, pleased with his servant's answer.
"Peverell has begun to train the boy since the attack. According to Dumbledore, Peverell is training Potter and Draco Malfoy at Narcissa Malfoy's behest," his servant answered.
"Do you know where they train?" Voldemort pressed, not surprised at this news.
"A room on the seventh floor across from the tapestry of Barnabas the Barmy," his servant replied at once.
"Interesting, I didn't know others knew of the room," Voldemort said looking thoughtful.
"From what I observed, the room is a muggle gymnasium, my lord," his servant piped up.
"The room is anything the user asks it to be," Voldemort corrected.
"Oh," the man said dumbly.
"Indeed, any word on who attacked the boy?" Voldemort asked, sounding genuinely interested.
"The gossip around Slytherin is that it was the Carrow twins, they are the unofficial leaders of Slytherin house," his servant answered.
"Perhaps I need a word with Amycus and Alecto about their nieces," Voldemort muttered.
"Lady Malfoy is on the warpath over the attack," his servant said nervously.
"I can only imagine. What has Peverell been doing other than training two first years?" Voldemort asked deciding to change topics.
"He left the school two days ago to go to a XXXXX reserve in Arizona," his servant replied.
"So they have finally broken the curse I placed on the lake," Voldemort said thoughtfully.
"Yes, my lord. Peverell left to go check the serpents' health before releasing them back into the lake," his servant answered.
"Good, I was hoping he would get the serpents sorted out soon," Voldemort said, looking pleased for some reason.
"My lord?" His servant asked in confusion
"Those are some of the rarest and most magical snakes in the world. I did not wish them harmed anymore than was necessary to get the creature specialists out of our way," Voldemort confessed.
"Then you'll be pleased to know that Peverell saved them all, my lord," his servant said.
"Even the one I took the gem from?" Voldemort asked in surprise.
"Yes, my lord. From what I have gleaned, he gave her a potion to regrow the gem. That was the reason he was gone for so long, he was healing that serpent," his servant admitted.
"I am impressed, I admit that I thought a horned serpent wouldn't survive very long after losing its gem," Voldemort said, looking thoughtful.
"That is what I have heard my lord," his servant repeated.
"Well that is wonderful news but back to the matter at hand, I have a new assignment for you," Voldemort said.
"Anything my lord," his servant said at once.
"I want you to kill Harry Peverell," Voldemort said casually as though he were discussing the weather.
"K-kill him?" His servant stammered.
"You did say anything, did you not?" Voldemort chuckled.
"Yes my lord," his servant said, still looking conflicted.
"Peverell and his wife are a threat to our cause. They must be dealt with," Voldemort said, all levity leaving his features.
"It will be done, my lord," his servant promised, a look of determination crossing his features.
"Good wait for my command before you act but be prepared," Voldemort ordered.
"As you command, my lord," his servant answered.
"Good, you may leave," Voldemort said in dismissal.
Voldemort watched his servant bow himself out of the room as he pondered when he was going to give the command for his agent to strike.
He wanted to use the attack on Peverell as a distraction but he was indecisive as to what the main attack would be.
He still had yet to learn the prophecy concerning himself and Harry Potter. The problem was his only source into the D.o.M was killed in Azkaban over a decade ago. It would be foolish to try and retrieve it when he had no idea about the security around the department which he was certain would be very tight.
He had toyed with the idea of attacking Hogsmeade or Diagon Alley but he didn't want to attack magicals for the time being. He had made a mistake last time and he had no intention of repeating that this time around.
Truthfully, he had nothing against mudbloods, he just used the purebloods' hatred of them as a springboard to gain power. He now realized that he might be able to bring them into the fold as well.
No, if he wanted to gain more support, the attacks in the dead of night would not help him take over the wizarding world.
Perhaps it was time to create a new enemy for the wizarding world to rally against. Now he just needed to set things into motion.
Getting an idea, Voldemort began making plans to throw the wizarding world into absolute chaos. Then when the time was right, he would be the one to solve their problem.
'Yes, I do believe this will work wonderfully,' Voldemort thought to himself as he began making plans to put his an into action.
Slytherin Girls' Dorms, Hogwarts, 1/25/1992, 22:15
Narcissa sat on the bed of the seventh-year prefect as she waited for her quarry to arrive. This was a unique experience for her but she couldn't deny that it gave her a bit of a rush.
The Slytherin dorms were set up so every student had their own room. The furnishings were basic with a bed, a desk, and a simple wardrobe but it was much preferred to the other houses that had four or five students to a dormitory.
This made things much easier as Narcissa didn't have to worry about being interrupted during the conversation she was about to have with Melanie Selwyn.
Finding out who the unofficial leader of Slytherin was took very little effort on her part as Severus was very easy to manipulate. Finding a way to get into the castle undetected was a little more difficult but she found a way thanks to Sirius' intimate knowledge of Hogwarts.
Narcissa was pulled from her thoughts as the door opened and a tall blonde stepped into the room only to stop in her tracks when she spotted the Malfoy matriarch sitting on her bed.
"Melanie Selwyn, we need a word," Narcissa said as she rose to her feet.
"What are you doing here?" The girl demanded as she fumbled for her wand.
With a lazy flick of her wand, Narcissa blasted Melanie into the door she had just closed before summoning the wand out of the younger girl's hand.
"Don't insult my intelligence, girl. I know you are the one calling the shots in Slytherin," Narcissa chastised as she inspected the girl"s cherry wand.
"How do you know that?" Melanie asked as she shakily rose to her feet.
"Because I ran this house long before you were born and I have my fingers in a lot of pies," Narcissa smirked as she gestured for the girl to take a seat in the desk chair before she retook her seat on the bed.
"You're here because of the attack on your son," Melanie said after taking a seat, her face showing how scared she was of the older woman.
"I am. Usually, I have someone take care of these problems for me. Why I even had a friend of mine cut off Lord Crabbe's ring finger for calling me a prostitute but this matter is a bit more personal for me, so I decided to handle this myself," Narcissa said casually as she twirled the girl's wand in between her fingers.
"I-it wasn't personal, Draco was associating with some Gryffs so we decided to set him straight," Melanie said, her voice getting a lot higher now.
"We?" Narcissa asked with interest.
"The Carrow twins," Melanie said, her face paling at the look the older woman was giving her.
"I see," Narcissa said thoughtfully.
"Pl-please, I am sorry," Melanie exclaimed as Narcissa pointed her own wand at her.
"You will be dear, did you know that my sister invented that spell you used on Draco?" Narcissa asked as she rose to her feet.
"I di-didn't d-do anything t-to Draco, Flora and Hestia carried out th-the attack!" Melanie stammered, looking like she was about to faint.
"On your orders," Narcissa said, her voice glacially cold now.
"Yes but I-
"EVERBERATIUS LEVIOSA CORPUS," Narcissa hissed in fury.
Narcissa watched as the girl was lifted into the air by her arms before an invisible fist collided with her stomach, making her grunt and cry out in pain.
A second blow struck her in the face shattering the girl's nose with a sickening 'crack.'
"Oh, I forgot how powerful this spell was," Narcissa said conversationally as the next blow struck Melanie in the knee making her scream in agony.
"Stop pleeeease!" Melanie shrieked as another blow struck her in the thigh.
"Now now, I believe this was done until my son was unconscious, fair's fair, dear," Narcissa said as the next blow struck Melanie in the side of the face jarring her head to the side as her lip busted.
Narcissa took her time, directing where the blows landed so that the girl didn't pass out too early.
"I am going to let you keep your memory, Melanie, but if you tell anyone, I will come here again and I may just take a finger for my trouble," Narcissa said as she looked into the girl's tear-filled eyes, having to speak quite loudly to be heard over Melanie's sobs.
"Pl-pleaase stop this, I pr-promise that I won't say anything," Melanie begged as another blow struck her in the arm causing her to shriek as her bones cracked from the force of the impact.
"We're almost finished, Melanie. I do need to wrap things up here," Narcissa said as she concentrated and was rewarded a second later when a powerful blow struck Melanie in the face hard enough to dislodge a few of her teeth.
Narcissa watched dispassionately as the girl's eyes rolled back in her skull before her head lolled forward as she lost consciousness.
"One down, two to go," Narcissa said to herself as she cancelled the spell and watched Melanie collapse to the floor in a broken heap.
Unfortunately, she wouldn't be able to visit the Carrow twins tonight but she kind of preferred it that way. Those two would know why Melanie Selwyn had been attacked and they would be looking over their shoulders everywhere they went, knowing they weren't even safe in their own beds.
Narcissa donned the brand-new invisibility cloak and slipped out of the dormitory. She had a short walk to the fourth floor so she could take the secret passage back out of the castle.
Narcissa easily navigated her way into the empty common room and slipped out into the dungeon corridor.
Narcissa was surprised to find that she had actually enjoyed herself tonight, she usually manipulated someone into taking care of her problems for her but she couldn't deny that there was something satisfying about dealing with things herself.
As Narcissa slipped into the secret passageway, she was already making plans on how to deal with the Carrow twins over Easter.
"Though I doubt I'll be able to catch them by surprise like I did poor Melanie,' Narcissa thought to herself as she began making her way to Hogsmeade.
Peverell Beach House, Cornwall, 1/26/1992, 18:49
Harry appeared on the deck of his home feeling completely wrung out. The staff were beside themselves when they found the seventh-year Slytherin prefect badly beaten in her dorm this morning.
All of the spells used on the girl were cast from Melanie's wand so there was no way to find out who had attacked her by doing a wand check.
That's assuming that it was a student who carried out the attack in the first place which Harry highly doubted. No, Harry was pretty sure that he knew exactly who had done this.
As Harry stepped through the front door, he couldn't help but feel impressed at how vicious Narcissa could be.
Melanie Selwyn had been levitated into the infirmary with nine broken bones, a concussion, four missing teeth and quite a bit of internal bleeding. Madam Pomfrey had healed her up but the girl would be in the infirmary for a few days.
Harry stepped into the sitting room and was immediately hit with the delicious scents of food. Following his nose, Harry made his way to the dining room where he found Bella and the twins tucking into a savoury pork roast.
"You're running a bit late," Bella said when she spotted him entering the room.
"Cissa has begun seeking her retribution for the attack on Draco," Harry sighed as he took a sat beside her.
"I told you that would happen," Bella said smugly.
"You did, so how goes the construction?" Harry asked, pointedly changing the subject.
"They poured the slab today, the goblins brought in five of those muggle concrete mixer trucks," Bellatrix said between bites of her meal.
"Good, as soon as the concrete cures, they'll have your workshop up in no time," Harry beamed.
"Yes, Throat-Crusher said something similar though I asked them to add a bathroom and kitchen to the plans," Bella admitted.
"As long as you at least sleep here, that's fine with me," Harry said only half-jokingly.
"Yes, you can bet on that but if I need a snack or the loo, I don't want to have to come back to the house," Bella assured him.
"Good," Harry beamed.
"Hey daddy," Carina said when Harry glanced over at the twins who had been listening to their conversation with interest.
"Hey Princess, how was your day?" Harry asked.
"Good, Aunt Cissa was in a good mood today, she let us have ice cream," Carina said sounding very happy about this.
"You don't say," Harry said having to fight a laugh as he thought about what his daughter was saying.
"Yes and then she let us feed the birds," Carina continued.
"That was nice of her," Harry said, noticing Bella smirking beside him.
"What about you, Son?" Harry asked.
"I fed that yellow bird that tricked me into the fountain," Iggy said looking pleased with himself.
"Good, in the future you should let animals come to you," Harry advised.
"Is that what you do?" Iggy asked after swallowing a mouthful of roasted pork.
"Usually.Though as a parselmouth, snakes come to me anyway," Harry admitted.
"Speaking of snakes, Gringotts sent a letter. The Arizona reserve paid you a fortune," Bella said.
"I know, it should cover building your workshop," Harry said.
"And then some" Bella said.
"Good, we can use the rest when we go to Italy this summer," Harry beamed.
"You remembered?" Bella asked in surprise.
"Of course, we've been overdue for a family vacation but we're not going to a zoo," Harry said flatly.
"I promise I won't free the snakes again," Carina said, sounding very unconvincing.
"Right, I don't think so, Princess," Harry snorted.
"Hey dad?" Iggy asked.
"Yes?" Harry asked.
"When can we see another quidditch match?" Iggy asked hopefully.
"March," Bellatrix answered.
"Harpies vs Falmouth?" Carina asked hopefully.
"Yes," Bella answered, looking just as excited as the kids.
They went to see the Harpies vs Bats match last week and the kids loved it. Harry had enjoyed it immensely and was kind of glad Bella had made him hold off on giving them brooms for Christmas.
"I want you two to hurry up and finish your dinner," Bella told the twins.
"Why?" Carina asked in confusion.
"Because you two are visiting your aunt and uncle, while your father and I go out for a bit," Bella said as she pushed her empty plate away from her.
For the past few weeks, Harry and Bella had been scouting the Carrow's property to assess the defences around the area the giants were currently camping.
Harry knew Bella was getting a bit of payback on Andromeda for all the times she sent Tonks to stay over her when she was the twins' age.
As Harry watched Bella get the kids ready for a surprise visit to their aunt's house, Harry prepared himself for a long night of staking out the Carrow's property.