"Completing magic spells involves a psychological, emotional aspect that's hard to describe," Harry mused as he looked down at the teddy bear. "Spells have a certain feeling to them, and they work best for you when you are in the right mindset. The word a lot of wizards use to describe finding the right state of mind and feeling with a spell is 'knack'." Once you get the knack for a spell, it almost always becomes quite a bit easier to perform. You must also focus on using your intent to affect the world around you using magic. Intent can also be called your will or need. Do you understand?"
"Yes," Gabby replied immediately while nodding along. Truly, she'd already heard about much of this 'knack' many times in the past, but the word had never had any real meaning to her until now."
"It's hard to explain how someone should feel when performing a spell, and that's why teaching magic is hard to do and only the most accomplished wizards or witches should be professors." All of the sudden, Harry had another eureka moment, and his eyes took on a luminous quality in his excitement. "Gabby… How do you feel about my aura shroud?"
"I like it a lot, 'Arry. It makes me feel safe." Gabby beamed a huge smile at her elder brother, and wasn't the least bit surprised when he scooped her up into a hug.
"Okay then," Harry began while obviously thinking out loud to himself. "You've felt me project my feelings to you like the feeling of a hug or the feeling of being happy right?"
Gabby nodded wondering where hArry was going with this.
Harry sat down in the middle of her bedroom with his legs crossed and motioned for Gabby to sit down close by in front of him. "What I'm about to do is cast several Wingardium Leviosa spells in front of us. While I do that, I'll have a strong aura shroud out, and I'm going to project to you how it feels from my perspective to cast the spell. You should become more familiar with how I feel while I work the spell and hopefully you'll find the knack. How does that sound, Gabby?"
As Gabby caught on to what Harry had in mind, stars formed in her eyes, she bounced around the room, and she even threw a few more fist pumps before crashing down onto the floor in front of the man with her shoulders leaning against his stomach. "Okay 'Arry! Let me feel the spell now," she demanded with the utmost levels of enthusiasm.
Harry smiled, covered Gabby in his aura shroud and pointed his wand out in front of them. While concentrating on the levitating bear that he wanted to see and focusing all of his will upon having the spell do as intended, Harry performed all of the wand movements and incantations textbook precise, as if he was back in first year in Professor Flitwick's class.
The bear rose into the air following the tip of Harry's wand, and it danced in the air before slowly dropping back to the floor.
"Did you feel it all Gabby," Harry asked, interested to know how well his shroud conveyed his methods...
Just below Harry's chin, Gabby nodded an affirmative, but she was clearly focusing on reenacting every little detail about how the spell felt in her mind.
Pleased with Gabby's determination, Harry began the spell again, pouring his entire focus into the mechanics behind its completion. Then, when Harry was done repeating the spell, he did it a third time and then a fourth. Over and over for about three minutes, Harry repeated the spell until all of the sudden Gabby grabbed his arm and lowered it.
Slowly Gabby climbed back to her feet, smiled down at Harry and said two words with the utmost level of confidence. "I'm ready."
"'Arry will have our children becoming prodigies, and they won't even know that they're the least bit out of the ordinary," Fleur whispered while wiping another tear from her face. "He's so special mama..."
By this point, Appoline was crying too and hugging her daughter tightly, which is why she didn't immediately notice when Gabrielle marched into the room, until the little girl stood before her, an all business expression upon her tiny, heart-shaped face.
"What is it, Gabby?" Appoline's curiosity was peaked even further when Fleur began beaming at the little girl for seemingly no reason.
Harry walked into the living room next, at which point he deposited a small teddy bear on the living room floor, and then sat down on the couch with the rest of the family. "Go ahead Gabby," he offered, while smiling at the littlest Delacour.
Gabrielle nodded, super serious, (so cute) and brandished her pencil exactly like a wand. For several moments, she just stared at the teddy bear as if it was the center of her entire universe. Finally, she looked ready and smiled at her family before turning back towards the little bear. "Wingardium Leviosa," she intoned, with the gravity of a Patronus level spell and with picture perfect swish and flick movements. The little teddy bear on the floor slowly but surely lifted up off of the floor and wandered around the room where Gabby was pointing her pencil. Gabby squealed in delight while yelling out her enthusiasm. "I did it and I knew I could do it! I can cast two spells, mama!"
Harry, Fleur and Appoline clapped and cheered because, yes, this was a big moment for the little girl, and as soon as the spell lost its power, they caught the girl who dove into their arms. Appoline had yet more tears in her eyes now, and she looked like she was going to cuddle her daughter for the rest of the afternoon.
"Well done," Harry cheered with an enormous smile upon his face. "You're very good Gabby, very fast to pick it all up, and I imagine all of the prep work Appoline gives you is exactly the reason why."
Appoline immediately gave Harry a look filled with intense gratitude for the way that he was plugging her lessons. She knew better though... Her technique diagrams and incantation sheets just cannot adequately describe how your intent, body and magic need to be in sync while casting a spell. Even harder was describing the psychology of casting magic and how to feel the spell in just the right way. Appoline was sure she could get Gabby performing a new spell if given a day of concerted effort, but in less than fifteen minutes? Harry was clearly a prodigy of a teacher, with a profoundly special gift...
Gabby on the other hand had fallen for Harry's words hook line and sinker, she was looking at her mama with stars in her eyes and was clearly going to be tearing into her lessons from this moment forward.
"From now on, if Appoline tells me that you've learned a spell by textbook standards, I'll swing by to provide some guidance and magic." Harry explained as Gabrielle squirmed happily in everybody's arms… "By the time you go to Beauxbatton, we can have you performing a lot of your first and second year material with ease, because at that point, the only thing slowing you down will be the fact that your magical core is still growing into them."
By this point, Appoline was clutching at Harry's arm, and was visibly struggling to keep it together.
Which was nice, but wasn't really Harry's primary concern…
While yes, Harry was quite happy to amass brownie points with his step-mother, that outcome was only a bonus to his primary objective… Over the summer, Fleur explained to him how hard Beauxbatons was for her back when she first attended, because being incomparably beautiful comes with many struggles and pitfalls… For that reason alone, Harry was determined to make Gabrielle a magical phenom by the time she was exposed to all of that, and if he could do so without her ever understanding his true intentions, then that was for the best. Harry wanted Gabby capable of magically curb-stomping any bullies that she runs a foul of, but he also wanted to preserve her innocence for as long as physically possible.
He would do it. He already knew it…
At the tail end of that thought, Harry noticed Fleur following his thoughts in the bond and falling to hot, little, pieces over him… and in physical reality, he reached out to hold his wife's hand.
Fwoooosh!
Out of nowhere, a masculine voice called out from the Entry Hall announcing that Adrien Delacour had come home from whatever errand he left on. As he walked into the living room, he saw the tangled mess of his family on the couch, smothering Gabrielle with affection, and one of his eyebrows rose before Harry sensed Appoline filling the man in. Then his eyebrows crawled even further into his hairline as his attention turned in Harry's direction. "Can you do it again?"
From his spot on the couch, Harry looked over at the pencil and then a moment later he nodded. "It's done. Gabby?"
Gabby nodded and smiled like a loon even as she wiggled free from her family's clutches, marched into the middle of the room, picked up the pencil, and then speared the teddy bear with her undivided attention. Moments later, she was casting the spell again and the teddy bear was floating around the room at her direction.
By the time the bear collapsed to the floor, Adrien was collapsing onto the couch in a similar fashion with an immensely proud smile growing clear across his face. Then, when he looked aside at Harry, his smile widened even further. "Tell me 'Arry. Where will you be living this upcoming summer?"
"I was hoping he could stay here, papa," Fleur immediately supplied, while just barely holding back a triumphant smile. This was her opportunity to broach a hard topic after all... "'Arry has decided to test out of 'Ogwarts at the end of this upcoming summer. Until then, I would appreciate it if he could stay here. I want to be with my family while I seek out my future career, but 'Arry is my bonded and I'd find it hard to be away from him. At the same time, I intend to help him learn everything he needs to know to get O's on his OWL and NEWT exams…"
Adrien looked momentarily troubled as he was just reminded that Harry Potter deflowered his daughter, and he rubbed his chin as he stared at the boy... Then, belatedly, Adrien remembered that the two of them were a fantastically happy bonded couple, exactly as he always hoped for his daughter... Drawing in a very deep breath, he squared up with the boy and gave him a meaningful look. "Harry... I need you to know this because it's the truth and I am working on it. A small part of me will most likely always resent you for taking my daughter away from me. Do you understand?"
Harry nodded because he did think he understood. He was fiercely protective of Gabby and to a certain extent even Hermione. Then, in a moment of inspiration, Harry knew exactly what to say. "Adrien, I do understand, which is why I propose we come to a new arrangement. I suggest we form a truce, team up, and focus on keeping the unworthy away from your youngest. I also know that I'll be relying on you for help regarding any daughters that I have in the future. I need to know how you operate, Adrien. Your experience is of vital importance to me."
Adrien and Harry locked eyes for several very long moments. No more words were spoken, but you could tell that they'd come to an understanding. Their serious moment was ruined however, when both Fleur and Appoline began giggling like madwomen and couldn't seem to stop. Soon after, they were both being hugged by overjoyed Veela and it was hard not to smile.
"If you allow me to stay here this summer, I'll assist with Gabby's magic lessons, offer what help I can, and make my magic available," Harry added as an afterthought.
"Deal," Adrien announced while extending a hand in Harry's direction. The two men shook hands while being smothered by their wives.
Fwoooosh...crash...flop...roll
As Harry climbed back to his feet from a particularly terrible Floo entrance, he thanked the Gods that he had to enter this property alone first in order to alter the wards, because for once, no one was around to witness his terrible Flooing. At exactly the same time, he felt the foreign feeling of unfamiliar Wards settling into place within his mind and he allowed his Mindscape to organize all of the different impressions for him.
Adrien did warn Harry that entering into ownership of a fully warded home can be quite uncomfortable, because the existing ward schemes take up residence in your mind, but rather than uncomfortable, this just felt… weird… In a similar fashion to his magic on the first night that he released it from his core, the Wards felt like a limb that he never knew he had stretching outwards in every direction.
A few moments earlier, while entering the Floo, Harry'd felt a little bit nervous, but the sensation paled in comparison to his magic, so he wasn't all that troubled. He also knew exactly what to do with his brand new awareness, because it was informing him that there was a secret panel next to the fireplace that he could open with a magic filled touch.
A moment later, after opening the panel, Harry saw a chalkboard containing a list of people welcome within his Wards, and he saw that as things stood, he was the only one allowed to enter the house under the name Lord Potter. Pulling out a piece of chalk that Adrien handed him in advance, Harry carefully added the names of the Delacour's and all of his friends into the list of permitted people. Then, when that was done, he Floo called the Delacour home and stuck his head inside.
Fwooosh...ugh..
In an instantaneous, gut-check reaction, Harry absolutely hated the feeling of making Floo calls, and he knew that he'd have to invent something far more user friendly ASAP, even as he looked up to find that his discomfort wasn't a secret to the Delacour family.
"Okay everyone. I changed the Wards so you may all come over." Harry didn't wait for an answer before pulling his head back out of what felt like microwaving yourself inside of an operating drying machine. Yes... He'd definitely be creating a magical communication device sometime very soon...
Moving away from the Floo, Harry took a look around his France-side property for the very first time, and found that it was very... dusty. The house appeared to be pretty upscale and nice, but the stasis charms were worn quite thin and weren't up to the task anymore.
No big deal.
According to Fleur, the location of this property, Cassis, was one of the most beautiful places in all of southern France, was warm nearly all year round, and was famed for its beautiful beaches. A little bit of dust wasn't going to scare Harry off…
Fwooosh
Harry knew without looking that his wife just joined him, because their bond gained both strength and thickness as the distance between them closed... "We were hundreds of miles away from each other just now, and yet I could feel you quite strongly," Harry pointed out while turning around to regard his wife.
"Yes, I felt that too," Fleur replied with a smile in her voice. "It proves that the Peverel vaults really aren't in this dimension, because I'm not sure any geographical distance on Earth can completely close our bond. Sure, it becomes thinner and less substantial, but even just now it was nowhere near closing."
"I find comfort in that fact," Harry easily admitted, along with an unconcealed sigh. "You felt our bond go silent for a few minutes back at Gringotts, so you know how it feels to have it close, but I was without you for five whole hours, and It was... awful."
Sensing the vague unease that her husband was feeling, Fleur ran her hand up Harry's back and he smiled because she was merely proving his point. Feeling her, being felt in return, the care, the warmth, it was his normal now, and he couldn't even imagine going without it.
Fwooosh...
Gabrielle bounced into the room next, remaining on her feet as if doing so was completely trivial (Harry was intensely jealous), before skipping across the room and looking around. "I can see it needs a cleaning, but I cannot tell what the rest of the house will be like from here."
"Well, there's at least one thing that I've heard so far that does sound promising," Harry prompted, before smiling at how both girls closed their eyes with similar timing.
Both ladies went quiet for several seconds, at which point their eyes snapped back open and they smiled at each other in their enthusiasm.
The sound of waves hitting a beach could be heard off in the distance.
Fwoooosh...
Appoline entered the room next, and like a consummate housewife she immediately began casting dust-repellent charms along all of the surfaces of the room.
Dutifully, Harry opened a nearby window to cast a strong dust-attraction charm in its designated spot next to the shed in the yard (most wizarding homes have one and they're pretty easy to point out). Soon after, the dust from the room was drifting out of the window in almost unnoticeable particles that were picked up in the light from the window.
Harry smiled in a rare moment of pain free nostalgia from his youth. When he was a kid, he'd fantasized that floating dust particles under beams of sunlight were all manner of magical creatures flying around in the air. Now he was using real magic to easily dispose of the stuff, and the irony was amusing him.
Fleur joined Harry at the window as he enjoyed that thought, smiling at him and taking in the view. It was... Well it was beautiful. It was a slice of land saturated in magic in the middle of the French Riviera, so yeah it was beyond gorgeous.
Fwooosh...
Immediately after walking out of the Floo, Adrien joined Harry and Fleur at the window and gazed out into the sunny day. "Wow," he said with unconcealed appreciation filling the single word. "Now that... is some of the most beautiful property I have ever seen. It's wild and yet tame. It's magically under control because of its design and the way that the magic was put down, but time has allowed all of the flowers to grow so thick and... just wow. It's obviously overgrown, but I don't know if I'd even change it..."
"I agree," Harry whispered, while staring at a garden that looked like one of Neville's wet dreams. It was large and plotted to allow a long pathway down towards a golden beach in the distance, and it had several balconies and grassy areas interspersed for lounging and walking around.
Long story short, Harry's new property looked like a fantasy painting created by a brilliant stoner, leaving Harry shocked that he'd walked into this kind of absurd fortune.
A level of surprise that was in itself a surprise…
Harry was well-aware that he was wealthy, but as it turns out he just never really imagined himself owning property until the idea finally became a solid reality. This property would be worth more than a few million galleons merely because of where it was, let alone how clearly magical it was.
Harry already knew that he'd be creating a magical door from this property to whichever one he chose to adopt as his living arrangement back in Britain, so that he and Fleur could treat both properties as if they were wings of one overlarge property. At the same time, Harry could feel Fleur making similar plans through the bond, and he ended up smiling because his wife truly did believe that it was only a matter of time before he broke time and space for her (she was right, he would).
Summoned by everyone's attention, Gabrielle suddenly started climbing up Harry's back like a squirrel to get a better view out the chest high window, and when she saw it, she gasped. For the very first time since Harry first met Gabrielle Delacour, the miniature Veela was rendered completely speechless.
Harry and Fleur grinned at each other because they'd noticed that fact at exactly the same time...
After waiting for Gabrielle to get her fill, Harry finally interrupted the moment in a quiet but warm tone of voice. "Would you ladies care to tour the rest of the house?"
"Yes," both Fleur and Gabrielle replied immediately and in a rare show of synchronization.
As Harry and the girls joined Appoline and Adrien inspecting the rest of the house, it became increasingly obvious that Appoline was completing a spring cleaning the likes of which he'd never seen before. The woman obviously knew every household charm known to man, because the long neglected property was rapidly transforming into a very clean and well organized household.
Turning towards his wife, Harry began whispering into her ear. "I can feel it, Fleur. Appoline's made this house spotless while adding protections against almost all forms of pest, leak, draft, rot, rust, dust, dander, spill, stain, smell and mold." Harry shook his head in wonder. "We've only been here for ten minutes, love. How did Appoline become such a monster of productivity?"
"Monster of productivity," Fleur mused out loud, while sporting a feral grin. "You should see what the Lady Delacours can achieve when we're doing the exact opposite of this. If you saw that, then the name you just gave her would be even more appropriate."
Harry was curious about what his wife just said, but since red flags were going up in her mind, it appeared she didn't want him investigating that thought in the bond just yet. Nodding his understanding, Harry resolved to stick to his more mundane methods of speculation…
With Gabrielle swinging from their linked hands, Harry and Fleur took their time walking around the property, taking in all of the common trappings of a house, except a little larger and grander than normal. This house was of similar size to the manse that the Delacours owned, with the notable exception that it was less modern, had almost no furniture, had one additional guest bedroom and a full ballroom on the east side of the house.
By the time they were finished with their tour, Harry was just a little bit overwhelmed at the size, grandeur and opulence of it all, and he saw that Fleur was right there with him. At the same time, Harry's magic was informing him that the house rested on only one ley line of power, which meant that it wasn't the magical powerhouse that they were looking for...
Turning towards Fleur as she leaned into his body, Harry embraced his wife and drew in a deep breath through her hair. Then, when they broke away from each other, Harry said what was on both of their minds. "I love this house, but I can think of at least four things that I want to improve." Harry stopped explaining there, because he could feel that Fleur was already on the same page.
Fleur merely nodded because she was thinking along similar lines and was aware of what her husband wanted.
"For those of us not connected by a superhighway of information exchange like the two of you, what do you have in mind, Harry?" Adrien appeared amused by the fact that Harry and Fleur were already forgetting that never communicating out loud was of poor etiquette.
"My apologies," Harry immediately replied, while smiling at Adrien. "I want to increase the strength and complexity of the Wards to a ridiculous degree, modernize the utilities, open it up structurally by taking some interior walls down while adding some sunroofs, and build at least two escape tunnels deep underground like you have in your home. I can actually create modern media equipment that will work in magical settings, but the anti-Apparition tunnels are still a brilliant idea. I'll be getting in touch with Goblin Silverclaw just as soon as we finish checking out the other property."
After pausing his explanation for a moment, a serious look grew in Harry's eyes. "And since I'd like to create five Portkey bracelets that immediately transport the wearer here upon activation, I'd like this location to be as secure as possible..."
Adrien canted his head to the side while assessing the various meanings of Harry's words. "Is all of that necessary? I mean, I don't mind the idea, I just don't like the underlying theme of danger and being a target."
"If it's never necessary to use any of the precautions that I'm planning, I'll still think they're both time and Galleons well spent," Harry calmly replied. "I'm in the Triwizard tournament because someone has an interest in harming me, and Harkenen is still out there. Also, and I apologize for this in advance… The easiest way to destroy me is by hurting the people that I care about."
"I see," Adrien slowly, seriously replied.
"I'd also be interested in bolstering your home's boundary Wards," Harry breathed out with a hand rubbing the back of his neck…"
Adrien arched an eyebrow at Harry now, because of the lengths that he was going. The wards around Adrien's home were already very modern and powerful.
Harry saw Adrien's confusion, but all he could do was shrug helplessly. "I know it all seems rather paranoid, but once I'm done with all of these projects, my magic might stop beleaguering me about being prepared. My magic is insistent that overkill is just the right amount of precaution when it comes to my family, and it's the same variety of feeling that had me training like a madman for events that I didn't even know about yet... Do you see why I take my magic so seriously?"
Adrien nodded again because, yes, he did understand. Harry was way more prepared than he would've otherwise been in joining the tournament.
Half an hour later, the Delacour family found themselves sitting around on a pair of Conjured couches in the Entry Hall of the Cassis Potter House, where they would wait for Harry to unlock their next location.
Harry was about to enter the Floo again to travel to his largest property back in Britain, which would most likely be the last location that they would visit for today…. There were several much smaller properties that Harry owned all over the world, and in the Peverel case, one much, much larger location, but time constraints and safety made those properties a matter to be tackled another day.
Needless to say, Harry had no intention of putting everyone's lives at risk at the Peverel property merely to satisfy his own curiosity.
No, Harry would visit that location alone, if possible (Fleur was going to make that idea difficult), and he'd stick to normal, non-lethal locations whenever he had company.
Fwooosh... teeter..scramble... spin...roll...clatter... smack...
"Damn."
Once again, Harry almost, almost ended up on his feet after exiting the Floo, after performing a cartwheel, into a roll, but he ended up smacking his knees into a low table and then fell onto his face.
While scrambling back to his feet, Harry once again felt the new awareness of a Ward scheme completing itself inside of his mind, allowing him to confidently walk over to the fireplace and remove a thick brick from the mantel. Inside, Harry found another small chalkboard, upon which he added the same names as before, and then bit the bullet.
Harry shoved his face back inside the fireplace again and quickly said the words, "you can come over now," before immediately retracting his head.
Shaking off the extreme discomfort he just felt, Harry moved away from the fireplace, scanned the rest of the room, and found that the stasis magic in this property had done an excellent job.
This property was spotless and... sterile, to the point it was more like no one had ever lived here rather than it just being clean.
Harry was aware that his parents lived in Godrick's Hollow rather than here, but this property had the air of a mausoleum and he could see that he'd have to change that as soon as possible. Looking around, Harry saw that he was in a very large Entry Hall with several Floo entrances that were stoned up and deactivated. Of course, he could see the sense in that, because back during the wizarding war, any extra Floo entrances would only have been added security hazards. Next, Harry saw that there were like thirty sleeping portraits of what he presumed were Potter family heads and their wives lining the walls of the room. It appeared that Harry was going to meet the last fifteen generations of the Potter family line as soon as these portraits woke up from their suspended animation.
Fwoooosh...
With a nearly silent grace, Fleur walked up behind her husband, at which point it became apparent she'd felt his thoughts about how empty and cold this location felt when she wrapped her arms around his waist from behind and began kissing the side of his neck. "Home is where you are, 'Arry," she whispered up into his ear.
Harry was completely charmed, and he smiled as he turned towards his wife, determined to make the most of their moment of privacy. He swooped in, they kissed, they hugged, they quickly broke apart.
Fwooosh...
Gabrielle launched out of the Floo next, skipping across the room, excited to explore. Then she saw all of the magical portraits and she stopped in her tracks to stare. "Oh wow, there are a lot of generations represented here!"
"I agree, Gabby." Harry smiled at the little girl because she was already doing a lot to make this place seem more like a home rather than a museum. "I also have the Ward scheme in my head and this property is quite a bit larger than the last one that we visited. This is a very, very large estate, and (Harry looked at Fleur) it's on three different ley lines of power, exactly like Hogwarts is."
Fleur smiled because she knew exactly what Harry had in mind with all of that ambient power. He had every intention of building her both a Room of Requirements and a portal of some kind to link the other house. The thought of her Harry doing such incredible feats of magic just for her made her begin to feel very… warm... Then she tore her thoughts back to other matters because now was not the time for that.
Fwooosh...
Appoline waltzed into the room next, at which point she saw that she didn't have any work to do. Bless her heart, she looked a little bit disappointed.
Harry smiled at Appoline because she'd probably been enjoying doing domestic tasks for once, and now she missed the chance. She was a housewife with a servant staff after all, and had probably been very bored before he'd turned her into the CEO of a growing company.
Appoline saw Harry grinning at her, causing her to poke her tongue out at the boy. "I like domestic chores, 'Arry, what can I say?"
Harry nodded and then gestured at the sterile Entry Hall. "I think rather than cleaning and proofing this estate against pests, the problem will be making it feel like a home where people actually live. It feels like the museum of the Potter family long past, and I would have it become more welcoming." Harry looked around the Entry Hall and put a hand to his chin. "Well... I might leave this room the way it is for image's sake and the public access door as well, but the rest..."
Appoline nodded and patted Harry on his shoulder. "I understand, 'Arry. You want to live here, not posture here."
Harry nodded and then grinned. "I told Fleur once that your family was the ideal for the way a magical family can live. You're wealthy and sophisticated without being snobby and officious. You're magical in the extreme, but also aware of and capable of using modern muggle technology. You're happy, gracious and welcoming. I would have my home and family find the same balance."
Appoline was charmed by Harry's very complimentary request for help, so she crushed both Fleur and her mate in a tight hug. "You'll have all the help I can offer, 'Arry, but maintaining the right mindset isn't hard, just don't bring magical society home with you. The attitudes of others can infect you and change your perspective, but only if you let them. You have the strongest Mindscape I've ever seen, 'Arry. I suggest you make a backup of what your aims are for your family, and then make reference to them when times become hard."
Harry snapped his fingers and beamed a smile at his stepmother. "That, Appoline, is an extraordinary idea. I'll be back in about two minutes." Without another word, Harry sat down on the low table and closed his eyes. He was in a meditative state almost immediately.
"Arry's going to make you extraordinarily happy, my daughter," Appoline predicted with a wide and happy smile.
Crouching down next to her husband, Fleur slowly ran a hand along his jaw. "How could he not… He tries so hard. 'Arry is far too strong to be influenced by the politicians and haters of the world, but this is the way that he operates. He isn't capable of risking my happiness in any way, shape or form. He always, always puts in the extra effort."
"Hooohhhhh nelly," Appoline sighed out, while resting a hand atop her eldest daughter's head, and watching her youngest bounce around the room. "We're going to have to hold mass auditions to try to find Gabrielle someone that she'll be truly satisfied with, after all of this. She will inevitably hold them all to 'Arry's standard, and break many, many hearts."
Fleur smiled and nodded her head in agreement. Yes, yes she will. On the bright side, she will have papa and 'Arry actively vetting them. If 'Arry and papa both agree that a boy is worthy, then he sure as hell will be."
Both women began giggling again because the overprotective male alliance was so damned cute.
Fwoooosh...
After stepping out of the Floo and shaking some ash off of a pant leg, Adrien looked around and then nodded his head at what he saw. "It's nice, if not a little austere..."
Appoline smiled at her husband. "Yes it is, and 'Arry has already recruited us to help him transform this museum into a home. I think it'll be fun, and it'll help keep Gabrielle occupied until she can go to school."
"That's an excellent plan, my dear," Adrien replied while smiling back at his wife. "It appears Harry will have these properties as secured as any Gringotts vault anyway, so there will be no safer environment on the face of the planet for our daughter to play."
"My bonded doesn't play around when it comes to protecting his loved ones," Fleur agreed while rising to her full height. "Over at 'Ogwarts, 'Arry teaches our friends how to defend themselves with a level of seriousness that they can feel in their bones, and then he wonders why they look to him for answers rather than Cedric or myself… Not only that, but I've already felt in 'Arry's mind that Gabrielle will be dueling him on a regular basis using his magic by the time she enters Beauxbatons. 'Arry doesn't take risks when it comes to safety or self-defense, because he's led such a dangerous life.
Appoline and Adrien looked stunned at the lengths that Harry would go to, but then a different expression grew across Adrien's face.
"I hate to say this and I do love Harry," Adrien hedged carefully. "But what have we become involved in with him?"
"'Arry does have enemies, so I understand your hesitation," Fleur began with an edge of steel in her voice. "The truth of the matter however, is that we'd all be dead or enslaved without his involvement in our lives, and your anxiety merely means you're underestimating my mate in the extreme. He will do what is required to fortify our homes and armor our bodies… and then, when the time comes, he will crush those that oppose him one - after - another…"
Adrien recoiled because he hadn't meant to imply that they were having second thoughts. He waved his hands in denial until Appoline curled her hands around his.
"Fleur knows you didn't mean anything by what you just said," Appoline assured Adrien, while giving her daughter a meaningful look. "Fleur was just making sure that we understand the truth of our current situation, as well as 'Arry's dedication."
Fleur nodded at her papa before apologizing by way of a hug. Adrien squeezed her a little harder than usual, but other than that, he was outwardly calm.
"Fleur is right, except that none of you owe me anything for intervening during the mercenary attacks," Harry injected into the conversation as he came out of his meditation and rose to his feet. "Furthermore, I owe Adrien an apology because I understand exactly where he's coming from. You three ladies are his main priority, and I may in fact be a threat to your safety..."
Adrien began shaking his head again as he had not meant to sound resentful.
"No," Appoline declared in an all business voice. "'Arry, you are family, and we owe you the devotion accorded by that fact. Adrien is concerned, but that doesn't mean that he regrets your involvement."
"That's right," Adrien quickly added. "I merely wanted to know what we can expect."
Harry smiled as he stretched out his body. "Truth be told, I'm not sure exactly what kind of threats are lying in wait for me, just that they're there. For that reason, you can expect that I'll make our homes harder to find than Atlantis and harder to breach than Gringotts. Appoline has helped me become exceedingly rich, even if I didn't have access to the Potter/Peverel wealth, which I do, and I'm going to use those Galleons to develop some rather amazing Wards for our homes. The wards will be more like a computer program than a traditional Ward scheme, because they'll have rapidly changing permutations that'll beguile anyone trying to unravel them."
"I understand," Fleur breathed out in an absentminded fashion, as she thought back to the three rotating domes that Harry created when he was replicating the CD player… Turning towards her parents, Fleur smiled in an almost evil fashion... "Mama, Papa... The wards that 'Arry is thinking about creating would be… I... I shall try to explain… Multi-layered and shifting every few moments. No one ward would be the same for long enough to even begin unraveling it… Strong... isn't even the right word. Strong like never before seen on Earth, strong. It would require upwards of four full-sized Ward stones for every property, but… worth it, very worth it..."
"The cost of that would be..." Adrien seemed completely stunned.
Stepping up next to Fleur, Harry slid his hand into hers as she leaned against his side. "Adrien... Over the summer, I created both the English and French translation bracelets on a whim, two weeks ago I successfully adapted muggle technology to work in magical settings for the very first time, and earlier today, I thought of a way to adapt the Protean Charm into a jewel to create a means of instantaneous, long ranged, magical communication."
With that much said, Harry smiled and shrugged his shoulders. "I apologize if what I just said sounds extremely arrogant. I just want you to understand. Galleons are never going to be in short supply..."
"I... see..." Adrien slowly breathed out while trying to wrap his head around the kind of wealth that Harry was describing. "I'm glad that the two of you were wise enough to begin your company under pseudonyms. Absurd wealth just makes people a target for attack."
Harry and Appoline immediately nodded in agreement.
"'Arry said as much to me just three weeks ago, papa," Fleur pointed out with a proud smile upon her face. "My 'Arry has no desire for the accolades that his inventions would bring him, so he will never be the public face behind this, or in fact any high earning company."
Adrien nodded and you could see that this had him extremely impressed. "You've taken your own advice…"
"All I desire is a close circle of friends and a happy family," Harry assured with as much sincerity as he could muster. "I have no desire to be a Tony Stark style billionaire."
While Adrien and Appoline looked confused, both Fleur and Gabrielle giggled.
"Comic book superhero called Iron Man," Fleur belatedly explained to her parents. "He's a world famous, philanthropist, billionaire, inventor, and a hit with the ladies." Turning towards 'Arry next, Fleur rested her hands upon her hips. "You would be a cool Tony Stark, 'Arry, but I would surely kill you for all the womanizing."
Belatedly, Fleur's face flushed red, because she was finding many parallels between Harry and Tony Stark and making sexy connections in her mind. She'd fallen in love with a discrete, humble, wizard version of Tony Stark, and the thought made her want to squee in happiness.
Harry shrugged, smiled and waved his arms dismissively. "As you well know, you destroyed my ability to appreciate other women long before we reunited at Hogwarts…"
Fleur nodded happily because yes, yes indeed, she knew exactly how her husband felt. "Your welcome, 'Arry."
By this point, the banter between Harry and Fleur was being recorded by Appoline for a Pensieve memory, and Adrien was smiling at the two of them in obvious approval for perhaps the first time ever.
"I will be in touch with Goblin Silverclaw as soon as we finish the tour of this estate," Harry repeated. "I don't want to wait to begin this project…" Beckoning Gabby over, Harry knelt in front of her with a smile on his face. "When we finish making sure these houses are safe, will you help your mother make them more of a home for us?"
Gabby immediately started jumping up and down in excitement. The house in Cassis was gorgeous and had access to the ocean, and this place was huge! "Of course 'Arry! Up until now I've rarely ever been allowed to leave the manse, and now I have two gigantic areas to explore!"
Everyone smiled as Gabby vibrated with excitement.
Harry turned towards Adrien and Appoline next, adopting a thinker's pose as he glanced aside at Gabrielle. "I can most likely employ the services of another house elf and have him or her follow Gabby around. Both of these estates are large, and if Gabrielle is to enjoy the relative freedom of exploring them, I'd like a discreet pair of eyes making sure she's safe... That way Gabby can have free reign of these properties without any of us having to worry about her having an accident. I know that watching her every move is tough on you Appoline, and a little autonomy might also do her some good." Harry turned towards Gabby next, and gave her a serious look. "That is as long as she's finishing her homework."
"I will, I will," Gabby happily enthused. The level of freedom that Harry was describing was like the best gift ever, wrapped up inside a miracle!
Adrien and Appoline also looked excited at the prospect of keeping their terminally bored youngest both entertained and moving. Adrien turned towards Harry and lifted a hand to his lips. "I like the idea of having a house elf watching out for her, but how would you get one?"
POP
"I could find one or two elves for both master Adrien and Harry, if you desire to take them on," Dobby answered in an excited voice, while somehow maintaining the utmost levels of dignity. "Master Potter is a real folk hero for the house elf community, so there would be plenty of eager applicants."
Adrien smiled at the good news, but he also looked somewhat confused. "Wouldn't any existing House Elf already be bonded to a family?"
"Yes, most active house elves are already bonded to families," Dobby began, while giving everyone a look that conveyed the severity and secretive nature of what he was about to say… "What most wizards don't know about House Elves is that we have children just like any other creature on the planet…"
"House elf… children," Adrien repeated, high level surprise unconcealed in his voice.
"Exactly so," Dobby asserted with a severe little nod of his head. "The child rearing process is quite different for us, as it is much more magical than biological in nature. Case in point, we don't have a gestation period where the baby develops. The baby is brought into being all at once in an extremely magical event. For that reason, Humans don't usually even recognize that they're looking at very young house elves, because with the exception of myself and Winky, we're all born acting and looking exactly as we always will. Most times, our newly born offspring are just Incorporated into our host family's already existing elf staff, but if the household is unkind, many parents decide to send their offspring to kinder families. I can let it be known that Master Harry is taking on a few elves, and within a week at most, we will have a few extremely eager applicants."
"I had no idea," Adrien whispered, shock plain to see upon his face.
"Very few wizards know what I just told you, because we elves keep that information a closely kept secret," Dobby replied, once again conveying the extreme gravity of the secret he was sharing. "If all wizards knew that their elves were procreating, they would demand that they keep all of their children in staff, and the elves would be forced by the nature of their service to obey. The inevitable outcome would be that we would lose our one reliable outlet for our children to be free of unkind masters. Kind wizarding families generally find their elven staff are growing in number over time, and because of an aspect of our magic, they just seem to take that fact for granted. Truly, if you desire to judge a wizarding family's true character, all you need to do is count how many generations of happy house elves they have.
"I understand now," Adrien slowly mused. "Thank you for sharing such precious information. We all promise to keep it to ourselves."
Everyone nodded in unison and Harry smiled at his house elf friend.
"Thank you all," Dobby seriously replied. "I'm empathically connected to at least three of you, and I trust you. I already know you won't spread such sensitive information around."
With that much said, Dobby bowed and then popped away to start spreading the word.
Fleur adopted an aha face and took off the bracelet that connected her to Dobby. "I am now empathically connected to Dobby as a happy byproduct of being bonded with 'Arry," she hedged carefully, as she didn't want to reveal to her parents that in the eyes of magic she was already Mrs. Potter/Peverel. "Mama, would you like to take this bracelet off of my hands? Dobby is beyond amazing and you'll never regret having access to him."
In the moments after Appoline slid the bracelet onto her wrist, the bracelet resized and altered in form until she was cooing in pleasure at it. "Dobby, you sure know how to make a woman happy," Appoline murmured directly towards the bracelet, at which point she began laughing, and Harry assumed that Dobby had empathically said something both dignified and witty.
"Harry... The women of my family are being spoiled rotten because of you," Adrien said with a laugh and a shake of his head. "I will need to scour the entire world for my wife's Christmas present because of you."
Both men laughed.
The Potter estate was large. It was larger than large. The Potter estate was massive, and the property it entailed went on for scores of Kilometers beyond the mansion itself. There were rolling hills of artfully spaced trees, rivers, grass and heather, in every direction, but even cooler in Harry's mind was the fact that the land was an intensely magical environment, which meant it contained many forms of benign magical creatures.
The presence of these magical creatures initially caused Harry to check the Wards, at which point he learned that they were designed to keep out dangerous creatures, while allowing in only the most gentle varieties, and a satisfied smile grew across his face.
To the side of the massive mansion, Harry could see an enormous stable, and he decided immediately that it would be filled with skill appropriate brooms and horses for everyone's enjoyment. Then, as he stared off into the distance, he also decided that he'd build a Quidditch pitch beyond the nearby hill near the roadside boundary.
The sheer scope of the land forced Harry to quadruple the number of Ward stones that he'd need to procure, but he kept that thought to himself, because Adrien was sensitive to such things, and Harry wasn't going to show any restraint whatsoever… By the time he was finished upgrading these Wards, this whole plot of land would be unmappable, unplottable, Invisible, avoidance charmed, notice-me-not charmed, and dammit he was going to figure out how to incorporate a Patronus charm into a ward just because Dementors suck.
A few of the above-mentioned charms were already in place, such as the unmappable and unplottable charms, but Harry intended to increase their strength until the Potter estate was more akin to Atlantis than anywhere in England. He also realized that to create escape tunnels out of the estate's boundary he'd actually need to tunnel down extremely deep into the earth. Still… Considering the nature of his contract workforce (the Goblins) it shouldn't be any problem at all to get an impressive pair of tunnels dug down below the Wards.
An hour later, Harry and the Delacours were all back in the Entry Hall of Potter Estate, and it was time for the Delacours to head back home. Harry told Appoline that he'd hopefully be sending Dobby her way soon with four newly developed communication earrings. That way Appoline could use the extra pair to begin reverse engineering them for mass production.
Harry also assured Adrien that he'd make a clip-on version for his use, as Adrien had no desire to pierce a hole within his earlobe.
Personally, Harry had every intention of piercing his ears, so he wasn't concerned about that in the slightest… aaaand just as soon as he finished that thought, he felt Fleur heating up in the bond.
Truth be told, Harry really was surprised by his wife's intense reaction to the idea, as the woman prided herself on being a very genteel and classy young Lady, but then he picked up on the fact that she loved the idea of being married to the sophisticated and brilliant bad boy type….
With that much figured out, Harry conveyed back through the bond that at some point very soon he would be both pierced and tattooed for her enjoyment… causing Fleur's face to begin turning red in physical reality…
Oh wow… Today was going to be a very long day…
"I'll see you soon little sis," Harry whispered into Gabrielle's ear, when the time came for her to enter the Floo, and she latched herself onto his body.
"Please visit again soon, 'Arry. I promise I'll study," Gabby called out in a voice that was both plaintive and determined, as she hated goodbyes more than anything and always took them extra hard.
Crouching down, Fleur pulled her sister into a tight embrace from behind because she was just sooooo cute sometimes. "We will visit soon, Gabby, we promise. Soon, you will have a communication device in the form of an earring, and you can talk to us all the time. I am laying down a ground rule however that you cannot call us fifty-seven times a day. We are busy training for the tournament and cannot spend all our time chatting with you. Do you understand?"
When Gabby nodded happily at the thought of magical earrings, both Fleur and Harry could see that the young Veela had completely missed the point.
While stepping up to pull her youngest to her feet, Appoline made use of her stellar nonverbal communication skills to convey that she would control Gabby's enthusiasm, causing Harry and Fleur to smile in gratitude. "Have a good afternoon you two," Appoline enthused, as she hugged both of them at exactly the same time. "I can't wait to hear from you both on those earrings."
"We will be present for the first full-sized Task on the twenty-fourth," Adrien added, while shaking Harry's hand. "I don't need to tell you two that being over-prepared is the ideal right now."
"I understand, and 'Arry is all about over-preparing." Fleur assured while kissing her father's cheek.
"Yes... I've noticed that the boy seems incapable of restraint in anything at all," Adrien answered with a knowing smile. "Quidditch, dueling, self defense, warding, learning, training, all of it. 'Arry does everything to an extreme that I've never even seen before..."
"His charcoal drawings are good but not earth shattering," Gabrielle helpfully pointed out.
After a few very long moments of perfect, vacuum sealed silence, it was Harry who started it by barking out a laugh, but immediately after, they were all peeling out in loud, honest to Gods joyful laughter, because, yes, Harry's charcoal drawings were completely mediocre!
"Oh! He's terrible at Flooing," Fleur belatedly pointed out.
"Yes, but extremely so," Appoline pointed out in return. "We are looking for things he's average at, not intensely good or bad at."
"I'm okay but not talented at playing keeper in football (soccer)," Harry explained in a serious voice. "Fleur was making me run around like a headless chicken the whole time we played in the RoR."
"Next time you two visit I want to see a Pensieve memory of that," Adrien demanded, as if he didn't believe him.
They all laughed again.
Over the next few minutes, Adrien, Appoline and Gabrielle, exited the Potter estate through the Floo, allowing Harry and Fleur to melt into each other, enjoying the first moment of real privacy that they'd had since they left her room that morning.
After a while and with a groan of effort, Harry tore his body away from his wife and stepped away to look down at his watch. "I hate to say it, wife, but we have to keep on moving. I'll Apparate us outside and then we'll both Apparate our way back to Hogsmeade for lunch. I want us to be able to return here by Apparating, which means we need to be able to find it physically first."
"It's also a skill that you're only average at, so you want to improve it as quickly as possible," Fleur pointed out with a grin.
"Yes and yes," Harry admitted, while filling Fleur's core to swelling with an overabundance of magic. "Let's get to it."
To Be Continued
Author's Note:
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