Disclaimer: The Harry Potter universe belongs to the proverbial Duchess of Magic, JK Rowling, Scholastic, Bloomsbury, Warner Bros and some other high falutin' companies. No matter how much I whine about not owning anything related to the HP universe, other than a few fanfic plots, I do not profess to own - and would never dream of making any money off - JKR's wonderful world... Damn it!
Chapter Twenty Three - Corina, or is it Charlotte?
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―==(oIo)==―
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Because of the early night in the Granger household, even Hermione was down for breakfast with her folks that Thursday morning.
"Good morning, Princess," said her father, surprised to see her there. "Have a good sleep?"
"Yes, thank you," she was quick to reply. "I slept like a log."
Harry, as had now become his norm this past week and a half and everyone was used to it, had loaded himself up a large plate full of carbohydrates and protein and was quickly 'getting it into him'. As such, he was often quiet during almost the entirety of meal times now, as he wouldn't ever consider speaking with his mouth full.
Therefore, it was a good fifteen to twenty seconds before he swallowed what was in his mouth and gave her his own greetings. "Good morning, Hermione," he said.
As she'd chosen to sit next to him, she smiled, leaned over, kissed him on the cheek and replied, "Good morning, Harry. What's the plan for today?"
Her father only gave a slight frown at her actions but didn't say a thing. She'd come up with what she thought was a workable strategy and was employing an old metaphorical anecdote on him. She was using the 'Frog in the Pot' trick; slowly increasing the amount of public affection she was showing Harry and hoping he would sometimes return, to inure her father to seeing it.
Her mother had agreed with her it was a sensible strategy, but not to push it forward too fast.
Harry gave a shrug and replied, "I want to see if anything comes from Ted regarding documents I asked him to collect for me from the goblins regarding House business. I should be receiving them today. As Lady Presumptive for the Noble and Most Ancient House of Potter, you're allowed to know the gist of them, at least."
"Another thing covered by those family secrecy charms?" she asked.
"Pardon?" asked Wendell. "Lady Presumptive? Family secrecy charms?"
"Yep," replied Harry. "Part of the nature of the Betrothal Agreement means Hermione is now my spouse presumptive. As my House is a Noble one and I'm the Lord of it, that makes her the Lady Presumptive. As my House is also a Most Ancient one, that makes her, in total, titled the Lady Presumptive of the Noble and Most Ancient House of Potter.
"Formally, she is now known in the wizarding world as, Lady Presumptive Hermione Jean Granger of the Noble and Most Ancient House of Black and the Noble and Most Ancient House of Potter - or, is that the other way 'round?"
He shrugged and added, "I'll have to ask Sirius which way 'round those are supposed to go, but I think I'm right."
"Jeez-us!" Wendell quietly but vehemently uttered.
"As for family secrecy charms, there are matters known as family secrets," continued Harry. "To protect them, there are certain magics used to keep them secret. With magic accepting the Betrothal Agreement, Hermione can now see and remain aware of some of those related to the House of Potter. That Sirius is now her magical guardian means she can also now see and remain aware of some that are related to the House of Black."
"And if the Agreement is cancelled?" asked Monica.
"Then the information she will learn that are Potter family secrets she will forget," he replied. "The same for Black family secrets if the magical guardianship is cancelled. She will remember she once knew them, but won't remember what they actually are."
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―==(oIo)==―
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When the Daily Prophets were delivered, Harry shared his with Hermione.
One of the first stories they saw and read related to Dumbledore losing his bond with Fawkes.
"Oh, my!" exclaimed Hermione. "Apparently, it happened just after breakfast, yesterday. I wonder what happened for Fawkes to finally do it."
Harry thought he knew and grinned. "I think I know."
"Well?" she asked. "Are you going to share?"
"My response to his portkey-letter attempt to kidnap me would have arrived in that morning's mail bomb," he replied.
Hermione's eyes widened in surprise and she asked, "You think he read it, did something that finally had Fawkes decide he'd had enough and Fawkes severed the bond?"
"Yep!" he happily replied.
Hermione let loose with her clear tinkling laughter. "Oh! That's just precious!" And laughed out loud again.
"Care to share?" asked Wendell, amused. "What letter?"
Hermione thought, 'Mum must not have told Daddy about it.'
"I managed to get a-hold of a copy of the letter Dumbledore sent me that was that portkey," explained Harry. "In it, the old fool wrote about how he still considered me his friend, I was being disrespectful, I was placing you folks at risk by being here, I was placing myself at risk by being here, things like that. It was a letter sent with the intention to send me on a massive guilt trip and go running back to the safety of the castle, begging forgiveness.
"What Dumbledore has forgotten is that the 'Harry' he thought he knew was that persona I'd created as a façade to fool him. The real 'Harry' doesn't fall for those shallow tricks."
Hermione took over. "So, Harry wrote Professor Dumbledore a reply. In it he used Dumbledore's same tricks; and even some of the same language, including the condescension. But, Harry took it right over the top, just to demonstrate back he knew what Dumbledore was doing and was trying.
"When Sirius came over a little while later to make sure Harry was okay after the kidnapping attempt, Harry'd only just finished the final draft. Sirius read it and, by the time he'd finished reading it, he was laughing so hard he couldn't stand up. Harry had to get Dobby to get him a Calming draught."
Harry grinned and said, "Sirius declared it perfect, not to change a thing and said he'd send it using his new owl, Sable, to deliver it; so Dumbledore wouldn't recognise Hedwig."
"That letter would have arrived yesterday morning."
"Keep a copy of it?" asked a grinning Wendell.
"No, but if I know Sirius," replied Harry. "He's definitely kept a copy of it. Ask him for a copy of it when next you see him."
"Oh, I'll definitely be doing that," chuckled Wendell.
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―==(oIo)==―
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As he expected, Harry received correspondence from Ted, alright. However, it was a great deal more than just a simple letter.
It was a letter that arrived as a covering letter for a shrunken package. The aurors had unshrunk the package in their work of ensuring there were no harmful hexes, charms, potion-lacing or anything like that going on. And brought him the whole lot.
The auror carrying it placed the stack on the end of the table away from where they were sitting and quietly said, "A package arrived from you, Lord Potter. It is believed to be from Law-wizard Tonks." Then quietly left again.
Wendell gave a low whistle at the size of the stack, turned to look at Harry and said, "I don't envy you."
Harry shrugged and said, "Almost the entirety of that, I suspect, is going to be just archived House business material I need to be aware of. It's when all the financial portfolio stuff arrives that I know I'm going to quickly develop quill cramp and a headache.
"The accounts have been in stasis for far too long. So there's going to be a lot of work to bring the financials back up to something I'd be comfortable with. However, the goblins are taking care of most of that and I'll just need to sign off on it for it to be done."
Aren't you going to look at it?" asked Hermione.
"It can stay there until after breakfast," he replied with a shrug.
Another letter, handed up by one of the aurors who'd first checked it out, was from one of the Gryffindor students who'd remained at the castle. It was from young Colin Creevey.
In it, Creevey confirmed Fawkes had severed the bond with Dumbledore and that Dumbledore was laid up in the Infirmary.
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―==(oIo)==―
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Dumbledore was finally released by Robinson just before the start of breakfast.
"I'm giving you an 'early mark' because you've behaved yourself," the man had said. "You should have enough time to go and bathe and change first. You still smell of burnt hair and scorched clothes."
Dumbledore gave a grunt and muttered, "Thank you." Before quickly rising and hurrying out.
The reason for the early mark was because Robinson wanted to join his fellow staff members for breakfast, instead of watching the old man continually glaring at him. And the house elves could strip the bed and clear the air while the wing was empty.
The enforced 'convalescence' had given Dumbledore time to mentally go over plans of what to do next, though. And he'd made good use of the time.
Straight after breakfast he'd be contacting that pompous twit, Barnabus Cuffe. He was sure the man would want to know that Harry Potter had refused to attend the traditional Tri-Wizard Tournament Yule Ball at Hogwarts.
Young Harry's assassination of his character was almost complete - but, not quite. And Harry was not the only one who could use the media and its power to his advantage.
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―==(oIo)==―
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After Wendell and Monica left for the day, the two teens returned to the dinette. However, before Harry could sit down, Hermione grabbed him, spun him to face her and landed a powerful kiss on his lips while she quickly relocated her hands. One, she wrapped around his lower back; the other, she used to hold his head in place by the back of his skull.
As sheer pleasure flowed through Harry, following on the heels of the shock he experienced when she first suddenly grabbed him, he found himself holding her in a similar fashion and kissing just as hard back.
When she opened her mouth a little and licked his lips it shocked him enough he almost broke the kiss. But, upon opening his own mouth, he understood what she was trying to do. And the pair stood like that for what felt both like a bare fraction of time and an eternity.
When they finally separated, he whispered, "Wow."
"Yeah," she whispered back.
"What brought that on?" he asked.
"Well, seeing as you're now my betrothed... or, I'm yours... I wanted to properly kiss you to see if it was something I could come to like doing."
"And, was it?" he asked.
She grinned and replied, "Definitely."
He grinned back.
They needed to get to work, so he leaned in and gave her another quick kiss before he pulled back and said, "I think parchmentwork awaits. Shall we get to it?"
She smiled and released him, then sat down as he slid the pile of documents across the tabletop to be between them and away enough they could both reach it and pull documents forward off the top to go through it all a piece at a time.
First up was a summary of what was contained.
"Alright," he sighed. "Ted's put the property documents on top. It's what I asked him to focus upon."
As Harry pulled each down and went through them, Hermione quickly rose and raced upstairs to collect her parchment, inks and quill from her room.
By the time she returned he had a mental list of the first five properties and had the thin stacks of each laid sideways on top of the one before.
When she plonked back down next to him he indicated the modified stack and said, "Well, looks like I won't need to buy a home for myself."
As Hermione wrote and Harry read, even out loud at times, he discovered that Potter manor, 'Pottermore', still stood. Dumbledore had intimated it had been destroyed the one time he asked if he owned a 'big home' like other Ancient Houses.
Thinking back over that conversation he realised the old man had not actually said the manor had been destroyed, only that it had been attacked. Then said the Death Eaters tended to burn such properties to the ground to deny it to the descendants.
He also made no mention that Harry owned quite a few other residential properties, either. Probably because Harry asked if he owned a big home and not other residences.
'Bastard,' he thought. 'A clear example of how to tell a lie while telling the truth.'
Once they'd gone through the stack of records relating to properties, the two stopped.
Harry actually owned quite a few with nearly all of them currently rented out.
Of the one's not rented and specifically marked never to be leased or rented out, there were three.
They were Pottermore in Merlin's Bridge, Pembrokeshire, Wales; Lily's Retreat in a town called Cokeworth, Warwickshire, England; and the Potter Cottage in Godric's Hollow.
The accompanying note from Ted informed him the man was already making plans to find out just what the hell the Ministry thought it was doing by claiming Potter Cottage as a national wizarding monument.
"Cokeworth ring any bells with you, Hermione?" he asked. "I thought that'd be a purely muggle town, considering it's a heavy industrial area in that part of England."
"Not Cokeworth, no," she replied. "But Warwickshire also includes the town of Stratford-upon-Avon... and that's the birthplace of William Shakespeare."
"Hmmm..." he muttered. "There's something about the name of that town that's jigging my memory a bit, but not enough for it to come to the surface."
"Perhaps it has something to do with your mother," she suggested. "After all, the name of the property is 'Lily's Retreat'."
"Could be..." he muttered. Then gave a shrug and said, "No matter. It's not important for now. I'll let the matter percolate through my subconscious and see if it takes a bite."
"On to what next?" she asked.
"The rentals and leases," he replied. "I want to go through them and see what's there. I want that stuff all listed out because I want to compare the properties to the incomes for the Potter accounts. "
As Harry put the information on Pottermore separate, the two teens moved onto the rental properties.
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―==(oIo)==―
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After yet another long shower, Dumbledore had to then resort to trimming what was left of his long hair on his head right back to a very short cut. The house elf he'd called had brought him another, who had professed - confessed, really - knowledge of cutting hair.
However, he was definitely not willing to lose his beard and was thankful the flash of extreme heat had not damaged it in anyway, though it did frizzle a few stray hairs out wide and near his left ear; which was also singed a little.
Properly trimmed he was able to attend the Great Hall for the latter half of breakfast. And, yes, he heard the sniggers coming from some of the students towards his new haircut. At least he was able to cover most of it with one of his large hats.
The robe he was wearing when it happened, however, was yet another victim to what had befallen him of late. That now made four sets destroyed - intolerable.
'I'll have to go see Mister Twillfit as soon as I can,' he thought. 'I need to think about replacing some of my wardrobe.'
'Actually, that would be sufficient reason for me to need to leave the school for a time,' he smirked. 'Griselda cannot deny me the opportunity to replenish clothing I have recently lost.'
Following breakfast he returned to his office and transferred his thoughts regarding using the Daily Prophet onto parchment. Once done, he looked upon his handiwork and smiled.
'This should do it,' he thought. 'Now to contact young Barnabus."
With his sheet of parchment in hand he turned to the floo. He might not be able to leave the school, as it was during school hours, but that didn't stop him from making floo-calls. He made his floo call to the offices of the Daily Prophet. 'And with school not even running it's clear Griselda is just using it to keep me contained. Who does she think she is dealing with? A little Firstie?' he thought.
It took him about twenty minutes, but he was finally put through to Cuffe. However, Skeeter was also there and she was waiting with her Quik-quotes quill at the ready. The expression on her face of eagerness was a little off-putting.
Clearly, he'd been given the run-around for a few minutes until Cuffe could have his prize journalist on hand to 'take notes'.
"Good morning, Barnabus," he pleasantly greeted the man. Not even waiting for a greeting in return he said, "Miss Terri Teaske, please wait outside. And no listening charms or, should I say, bugs. That would be rude."
Giving a jump in surprise Skeeter's - Teaske's - hungry grin instantly changed to shock. She'd forgotten Dumbledore would know her true identity. The fact he'd greeted her by it, when he'd not done that in almost two decades, sent a message of warning she well understood. Then the mention of listening 'bugs' was also a warning that did not pass notice either.
Not even looking at her boss, Skeeter/Teaske snatched her Quik-quotes quill out of the air, stuffed it in her overly large handbag and hurried from the room. Cuffe was on his own, after all.
"Dumbledore!" snarled Cuffe. "How dare you!"
"How dare I what, Barnabus?" he pleasantly asked back. "I merely wished you a good morning and asked Miss Teaske to wait outside while we conversed. Of course, as a journalist of Miss Teaske's... ability, I did not want to impugn her journalistic integrity by having her forced to keep silent about what confidential matters I wish to discuss with you. Her waiting outside while we spoke saves her that conflict."
Grumbling under his breath Cuffe demanded, "Well? What do you want?"
"I wanted to pass on some rather disappointing information regarding matters of importance to our society," replied Dumbledore. "All in confidence, of course."
"Yes, yes," snarked Cuffe. "Get on with it, then."
"Well, being only referred to now as a mere professor of a school, not necessarily any particular school as it really doesn't matter, does it?" he asked. "But, as a professor, I find myself quite disappointed our illustrious school, the crowning jewel of wizarding Britain's education system, will not be putting in a good showing when the Yule Ball is held here... there, that is... on the night of Christmas.
"When even Harry Potter has decided he won't be attending, what sort of message does that say to our visitors from overseas? Very few of the students―"
"Wait... what?" asked Cuffe. "Potter's not attending the Yule Ball?"
"Well, his not attending is just one example, of course," he replied. "With the School Board having already sent most of the students home, there will be a great many who won't be attending, won't there?
"No; I fear―"
"Are you sure about Potter not attending?" demanded Cuffe, again cutting in.
"Well, as sure as I need to be," he replied. "Now, as I was saying―"
"No, no!" interrupted Cuffe, suddenly standing up. "I'm afraid something very urgent has come up. Sorry, Albus... if that is who you really are... but, I must be going."
"Oh, dear," he replied. "Well, needs must, I suppose. I shall leave you to it."
Withdrawing his head from the flames, Dumbledore climbed back to his feet with a smirk fixed on his face. Satisfied with a job well done, he returned to his desk to continue with his developing plans to regain all that he had lost - and more.
_‗_
―==(oIo)==―
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While Dumbledore was busy in his office with his manipulative shenanigans, another meeting was taking place in the Headmistress's office. She had called Professors Sprout, Babbling, Sinistra and Vector to her presence by the simple expedience of sending a house elf with a note to each.
As they each arrived, she greeted them, gestured to a chair before her desk and asked them to wait until the last one arrived. The last to arrive, Sprout, was just asked to take a seat.
As soon as Sprout sat she saw who else was present and knew her new 'boss' had made her decision regarding Headships of the Houses.
"Thank you for joining me, Professors," said Marchbanks. "If you do not know why I have asked you four to join me then you are undeserving of the positions you are being offered.
"Straight up I'm informing you all, with the exception of Pomona, that your application for the acting positions as Heads of your respective Hogwarts Houses is accepted. I am going to announce those appointments at dinner, even if it is to a nearly vacant Great Hall. Your appointments will become effective as of that announcement.
"Of course, they will be Professor Babbling as Acting Head of Gryffindor, Professor Sinistra as Acting Head of Ravenclaw and Professor Vector as Acting Head of Slytherin. If either of you three... or even you, Pomona... want to withdraw, let me know now; otherwise I'll be going ahead with those announcements, this evening."
When no one seemed anything but pleased it was a moment before Babbling asked, "Headmistress... about the Deputy Head slot?"
"Still being discussed, dear," replied Marchbanks. "That's one post I will not fill without discussing the matter with the Board. After all, I could drop dead at any moment." And smiled back.
Babbling couldn't help but smile along with her. She nodded and replied, "Thank you."
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―==(oIo)==―
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After going through records relating to share holdings in the wizarding world, with Hermione and he switching out with taking extensive notes, they decided to call a long break. It was nearly lunch time and Harry was yet again hungry.
Rising from the chair and taking a few long stretches, he said, "Well, I feel like making lunch. How about I prepare something that'll―"
"Uh-hmm," he heard a little verbalised throat clear from the end of the kitchen counter.
Turning it was to see Dobby standing there, arms crossed, one foot tapping and scowling back.
Hermione gave a snort of amusement.
"Dobby?" asked Harry.
"Master Harry be workings hard on wizard things, he does," snipped Dobby. "Master Harry be doings Lordy works. Now Master Harry be wantings to be takings house elveses, Dobby's, works again. Master Harry not be takings Dobby's work. It be being unfair!"
Raising one hand to push his glasses higher up his face and massage the bridge of his nose with his thumb and fingertips, Harry developed a pained look.
"Master Harry and Miss-tress Herm'nee be tellings Dobby what theys wants and Dobby be gettings it for them," declared the little elf.
When Harry turned a hopeful look on Hermione she laughed and said, "Oh, no! He's your elf. You have to tell him if you're going to deny him the chance to work."
"Hermione―" he whined.
"Nope!"
With a sigh, he turned back to Dobby and sulked, "Fiiiine!"
Dobby's scowl instantly turned to a satisfied smile as his arms dropped away and he shifted to stand evenly on both feet.
"We need some brain food, Dobby. That is, something that won't sit heavy in the stomach. Fish... salad... I know!"
Turning to look at Hermione he asked, "How does a fish burger sound?"
"No, but a salad roll with a couple of kippers on the side sounds good," she replied.
"Sounds good to me , too," he smiled.
Turning back to the house elf he said, "Dobby..."
With a look of glee on its face, the little elf chirped, "Right away, Master Harry, Miss-tress Herm'nee." And ducked back into the kitchen.
She missed it the first time, but she caught it that time.
"Mistress Herm'nee?" she asked, confused.
"Oh, yeah," he replied. "I forgot about that. Since you're now my betrothed, the elves will treat you as the Lady Presumptive of my House. That means, to Dobby and all other house elves, you're now also part of the House of Potter. To Dobby, you're no longer Miss Granger, but Mistress Hermione."
"Are there any more little surprises, like that, included in what being your betrothed means?" she asked.
"Probably," he replied. "If I knew or remembered what they were I'd have already told you, though."
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―==(oIo)==―
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After eating lunch and taking a short walk out and about the backyard talking about friends and acquaintances, what they might be up to, the weather, and other things, the two teens returned inside and to the parchment work. So far, they'd not even gotten about a third of the way through it. It was back to it, they headed.
The afternoon was quiet, with the two working steadily through the documents of the House Ted seemed to think Harry needed to know about.
With a sigh, Harry finally sat back and asked, "If this is what Ted thought was important enough to send now; what is the rest of it going to look like?"
Hermione chuckled and asked back, "You're asking me?"
He took a look at the clock on the wall above the dinette and said, "Dang it! We've been at this all day. I say it's time to give it up for the day and come back to it at another time."
"Me, too," sighed Hermione. "It's all very interesting, but... Well, there's just so much of something you can learn or study about in one hit before it switches from being interesting to becoming annoying or boring."
"Right," he decided. "Time to pack it up."
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―==(oIo)==―
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Dobby suddenly popped by Harry's side holding Harry's communication mirror. It was buzzing.
Reaching for it, Harry said, "Thank you, Dobby."
The elf gave a nod and popped away again.
"Padfoot."
When the image faded in to Sirius's face, Harry was about to say something when Sirius spoke first. "I've just received an owl from Moony."
"He finally decided to contact you, did he?" he asked.
"Uh-huh," replied Sirius. "He's sent it from Italy, of all places. He's letting me know he's on his way back."
"He's in Italy?" he frowned.
"That's where he says he was," shrugged his godfather. "Obviously, he found work there."
"Does he also explain why he's not bothered to contact one of us before now?" he asked.
"He was in the muggle world," replied Sirius. "He only re-entered the wizarding world there for the night of the full moon.
"Recovering from that he managed to pick up a copy of L'Annunciatore, magical Italy's wizarding newspaper. That's when he found out about all the happenings going on over here since that day.
"He sent an owl that same afternoon and it's taken two days to get here. In it he states he was immediately making his best time to get back to wizarding Britain."
"Uh-huh," he muttered.
Sirius frowned and said, "You don't seem too happy to hear that, pup."
Harry shrugged and replied, "When he finally turns up and you go to meet him, ask him why he never told me anything about my place in the world or anything more than things like... 'You have your father's sense of humour', 'Your mother was pretty good at potions', 'You have your mother's eyes', things like that. He never once said things like, 'You are the Heir Apparent of the Noble and Most Ancient House of Potter', 'You don't need to live with the Dursleys because you own quite a few of your own homes', or how about, 'You don't need to accept the way Professor Snape treats you because the man owes you a frigging life debt'. You know, those sort of things."
"He never told you anything?" asked a very shocked godfather.
"Nothing of importance, no," he replied. "That's why I haven't cared the man hasn't contacted either one of us before now. It was clear to me, almost right from the start once I figured out who he was sometime within the first couple of months of third year, Dumbledore told him to keep me in the dark about my heritage and that's exactly what he did.
"I have no problem with you renewing a relationship with him, Sirius. Just don't expect me to. He's your friend; he's definitely not mine."
"Yeah," mused Sirius. "I can see that. I guess him and I have a lot of talking to do. If he doesn't have an excuse beyond 'Dumbledore told me not to', then we're through, too."
_‗_
―==(oIo)==―
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After the two had managed to get everything packed up and Harry asked Dobby to move the lot up to sit on the floor next to his desk, Harry cleaned the dinette table of teacup rings and other manifestations showing the surface had recently seen some hard use. He felt he should do it because Dobby had already made them lunch when he wanted to do it. As far as he was concerned, if the elf didn't want him cleaning, then the elf should let him cook when he wanted to.
Once cleaned he placed the cleaner and cloth on the counter and decided to take another walk in the garden before making a start on dinner. Unknown to him, Dobby went ahead and cleaned the dinette table top clean again, anyway; and polished it.
Harry'd already thought about what to cook for dinner and decided on cooking a pork-based Chinese dish for that night and probably a traditional fish dish the next, Friday.
While Hogwarts had plenty of good and nutritious food with plenty of choices when one sat down to a meal, with the exception of the sort of dishes that had been added because of the two visiting schools, the selections were entirely 'English' in nature. They didn't even include traditional Scottish or Irish dishes.
Though he'd not cooked Chinese before, he'd read plenty of books on it. He once tried to prepare a French dish for the Dursleys and received a beating for it.
"We don't eat Froggy food!" he was told. "You wasted all that good food turning it into muck!"
So he restricted himself to preparing food that had all the appearance of plain English fare, but he'd greatly improved on the standards by the use of cooking techniques, herbs and subtle spices.
Here, though, he knew he could cook what he wanted so long as he was very sparing on the sugar. And never used processed sugar. 'Sweeteners' weren't allowed either. "Harry, saccharin has been found to produce cancer in rats. If you're going to use a sweetener, use raw sugar or sweet fruits."
Looking through the cookbooks Monica had on a high shelf above the microwave 'nook', he found what he was looking for.
A quick shopping list jotted down on a handy notepad with string-attached pen and he went in search of the aurors. He needed to take a trip to the shops.
Besides, it gave him the excuse to restock the Grangers' pantry, fridge and freezer. He felt, he'd been eating enough for almost three since he started on his potions; and that didn't include all the guests, such as Sirius and the Tonkses, that had been dropping by for dinner or other meals over the past near-week. As a result, he believed it was his job and responsibility to replace all the food.
Grabbing his muggle wallet, as opposed to his wizarding purse - it was easier to keep the two currencies separated that way - he found one of the aurors down on the lower ground floor and let him know his plans.
"It's just a short walk," he told the auror. "It should take thirty minutes, there and back, tops. And most of that is going to be actual shopping."
Not waiting for the auror to respond, he then went looking for Hermione. He met her coming down the stairs as he was going up.
"Shopping trip!" he declared.
"Pardon?" she asked.
"Shopping trip!" he replied. "Wanna come with? I have to pick up groceries. With the amount of food I'm eating... plus, all the guests... we're getting a little low."
"Oh, grocery shopping," she smiled. "Harry; when talking to a female, you need to be more explicit."
He just waved it off as a nothing and asked, "Coming?"
"Alright," she replied. "Let me get my purse."
"No need. I'm got plenty!" he declared.
"Then let me at least get my coat," she said. "You should probably put one on, too. It's getting quite chilly out there."
"Okay," he chirped, before dashing the rest of the way up the stairs they were standing on to go to his room.
The young female auror, who had turned up at the base of the stairs while they were talking, said, "He is as excited about shopping for groceries as you or I would be about clothes."
Hermione just smirked back and wryly said, "I noticed."
With her having further to travel, Harry was waiting in the entrance foyer with the auror when Hermione came back down from her room. It appeared he was arguing with her.
"What's going on?" she asked.
"Auror Cassidy, here," he replied, "Is of the opinion she needs to accompany us."
"Then let her," shrugged Hermione.
"Aren't you getting a little sick of the constant over-watch the aurors are putting on us?" he asked.
"No, not really," she replied. "It's nice to have someone around my age - even if the aurors are at least four years older than us - to talk 'girl talk' with."
He sighed and said, "Fiiiine."
While he was helping Hermione to don her coat, she'd carried it down with her rather than donning it upstairs, Cassidy changed into mugglewear by the simple expedience of pulling her auror robes off over her head. Underneath, she was wearing a hood-less well-worn windcheater, jeans and trainers.
Plucking a 'scrunchie' that matched the windcheater out of the fob pocket of her jeans, she used it to tie her shoulder-blade length hair back into a ponytail. Then she transfigured her auror robes into a plain brown calf-length duster coat and donned it without buttoning it up. It was cold out, but not that cold.
After helping Hermione don her coat, a similar style to the auror's transfigured one, he asked the auror, "Do all the aurors wear casual muggle clothes under their robes?"
"Nope," she replied. "Just most of us on this detail. Most wear wizarding casuals."
"Hunh!" he softly exclaimed. "And your bosses don't get upset?"
"On this detail it's encouraged," she replied.
Now ready, the three made their way out and to the shops, with Hermione immediately taking Harry's hand. Auror Cassidy held right back to give them privacy. But remained close enough to be 'there' if something unexpected happened.
_‗_
―==(oIo)==―
ˇ
After a floo-call from Ted, Sirius flooed to his office.
"What've you discovered?" he immediately asked.
"The goblins got back to me with the information on the suspected Malfoy child," Ted immediately replied. "They've hit a dead end."
Sirius immediately frowned and asked, "The child's dead?"
"No, no," Ted was quick to correct. "I meant... they reached a point where they couldn't find any more leads - the trail died."
"What do they have, then?" he asked.
With the investigation file open before him on his desk, Ted quickly checked his overview notes and replied, "There was certainly a child born. Her name is, or was, Corina Cephei Malfoy; born the tenth of August 1982; at home at Malfoy Manor. The midwife and her assistant have been Obliviated of all knowledge of it. All official records have been 'disappeared'; including all records of the child from Saint Mungo's archives."
"10th of August 1982?" asked Sirius, grinning. "It sounds like old Lucy was celebrating being free of Voldemonkey by bonking his wife and it got her pregnant."
"Yes, there were quite a few births around that time," smirked Ted. "It may very well be the reason the Malfoys chose a home birth.
"Anyways, continuing," he said, "The goblins, however, have their own records regarding the births and deaths of the Heirs of the Houses. Their records show she disappeared at about two months of age. This is confirmed by Lucius Malfoy informing the Gringotts Account Manager of the Magical House of Malfoy that they were to destroy the life-stone for the girl. The account manager informed him it would be done, as he didn't want to lose the account. However, as you probably know, they never do such a thing.
"The goblins, having not destroyed the stone, have informed us she is still alive - it still glows. It is for that reason they accepted the challenge and efforts to find her.
"They know she should be of age to have received an invitation to attend Hogwarts in 1993, yet one was never sent. Therefore, it stands to reason she is no longer within the Hogwarts catchment area.
"They sent their requests for assistance out to the other Gringotts offices across the world, yet have not received any hint she may have been picked up by her coming in for an inheritance test or the like."
"Damn," snarled Sirius.
Ted then leaned forward with a wide grin on his face. "Now, this is where what I've done since comes in. I took the information the goblins gave me and started my own search. This time, in the muggle world off the back of their search in the magical world. I contracted a muggle organisation that specialises in finding 'missing persons'. They focussed on countries where English is the dominant language, first. They also focussed on going to a country as far away from England as they could get. They started in New Zealand and worked west.
"A girl of her approximate age and what she might look like currently attends a school in Perth, Australia."
Sirius suddenly sat forward in anticipation. "I take it she's a close resemblance?"
Ted handed him a candid photograph taken from some distance away. It was a head and shoulders shot.
The young girl looked approximately twelve years old, had the black hair of the Blacks and a mix of the facial features of the Malfoys and Blacks combined. He couldn't quite pick up her eye colour but it appeared to be the pale blue that often arose in the Malfoys, with the cheek structure of the Blacks. She appeared to be smiling at someone.
"She looks happy," mused Sirius.
"From all reports, she is," replied Ted. "Her current name is Charlotte Claire Wilkins. Her first two names are as a result of the initials found on the baby blanket in which she was wrapped. She was raised with the nickname 'Charlie', but prefers 'CeeCee' because of the initials. Her adoptive parents... yes, her record shows she was adopted by a muggle couple... have kept both the clothes she was wearing when found and the blanket and apparently have shown her the initials, which were embroidered into the blanket.
"Her parents adopted her through the Department for Child Protection - DCP - of the Western Australian muggle state government. Their reports have the child being found abandoned just inside the main doors of the... Cathedral of the Immaculate Conception of the Blessed Virgin Mary, also known as Saint Mary's Cathedral, in the city of Perth.
"The date ties in with what we know of the disappearance of the Malfoy girl-child.
"Her foundling name was 'Mary', named after the cathedral in which she was found, and months of frantic searching for the baby's parents were undertaken by the muggle authorities. It was a very public media story of the time, which helps to explain how the organisation I contracted to find her apparently did so as quick as they did. She still has a case number with the Western Australian Police - muggle aurors - as such cases are never closed unless the birth mother, at least, is found or her whereabouts are known.
"The Wilkins came by her as they were listed with the DCP as emergency foster parents for infants with special needs. They are: Stephen Anthony Wilkins, a senior office worker within their Department of Transport; and Dorothy Anna Wilkins née Grimes, a housewife who was also once a paediatric nurse. Both muggles, of course.
"After two years of her being in their care, they applied for and were granted permanent foster care of her. After five years, they applied for and were granted adoption.
"The Wilkins already had two other children at the time. A boy, Patrick Harold, now nineteen and studying engineering at the University of Western Australia; and another girl, now seventeen and in her final weeks of muggle high school. She has plans on attending university, like her older brother, but studying nursing, like her mother."
"Wait... wait..." said Sirius. "If she's healthy, has magic and obviously appears to be of both Malfoy and Black blood... why, in Merlin's name, did Malfoy dump her halfway around the world?"
"That's what confused us and made us think she wasn't the one... until we saw the muggle medical records," replied Tonks. "She was found to have been born with cataracts in both eyes, rendering her almost completely blind, and was also discovered to be almost completely deaf. Both were genetic defects, so wizarding healers couldn't do anything for her.
"However, the muggles could. As a result of the muggle public campaign to find her parents they also let it be known she had cataracts that rendered her blind and that she had a hearing defect in both ears. From that a massive... outpouring... of sympathy was directed towards the infant girl from the local muggle community; even across the country. A lot of people sent in financial donations towards her care.
"At that time, muggle Australia had just re-entered into a universal health care scheme called Medicare. That meant all muggle Australians were now eligible for free basic health care.
"However, that would not have been enough. So, in stepped a... consortium, if you like... of highly qualified specialist healers. An eye-specialist, who was one of the country's leading experts on corrective eye surgery, travelled over from the other side of the country to lend his expertise. He quickly determined the problem and, within hours, she was operated upon at their Royal Perth Hospital. The operation was successful in that the cataracts were removed. She's apparently never had a problem with her sight since, except for the need to wear prescription sunglasses in bright light.
"As for her hearing, another birth defect and yet another surgical procedure rectified that. It was something to do with her ear drums being underdeveloped; as in, they hadn't formed properly while she was still a foetus. She underwent a... Tym-pano-plasty... to repair both ear drums. Something about a graft being used to repair them. Later tests have shown she has about ninety-five percent of her hearing back."
"Damn!" said Sirius. "The muggles have gotten that good?"
"That was over ten years ago, Sirius," replied Ted. "They've gotten even better since."
Sirius distractedly nodded. "If she was born blind and somewhat deaf, and our Healers couldn't fix it, then it's no wonder Malfoy would want to get rid of her."
"Plus, it adds to the likelihood this young girl is the missing Malfoy Heir Secondary," added Ted. "Now, we just have to prove it."
"And we have to decide what to do with this information, once it's confirmed," said Sirius. "I really don't want Malfoy finding out about it. There's no telling what he'd do."
"An almost as big problem is what to tell Andi," said Ted. "This girl, if we're right, is her biological niece. If she finds out about her, there's a strong likelihood she'll immediately head down there to get her."
"You're not permitted to tell her," Sirius immediately stated. "Only you and I are to know anything about this until I deem it right for her to be made known to anyone else."
"Thank you," said a relieved Ted. "The client confidentiality clauses will now protect me from her finding out from me. But, I certainly hope you're not even going to think about doing that until at least one of us talks to the girl and her parents, first."
"No," said Sirius. He thought for a few moments longer and asked, "You firmly believe she's happy where she is?"
"Yes," Ted instantly replied. "However, I still wish to go ahead with confirming her true identity. All we need is a drop of her blood."
"And, how are you going to get that?" asked Sirius.
"That I'm leaving up to the experts," he replied.
"So long as these experts don't also learn who she is, I've got no problem with that," said Sirius.
_‗_
―==(oIo)==―
ˇ
With shopping complete - and Hermione stunned with the amount of food Harry bought - the two teens were walking back from the shop while talking between them.
Cassidy had even used the opportunity to purchase some items for herself.
"Harry, I want to speak with you about how much you're spending on groceries," said Hermione.
"Your parents are providing house-room for me and this... coterie of aurors, who're apparently determined to keep an eye on me," he said. "While I'd probably shrug it off if it was just me, it's unfair for your parents to pay for the food.
"If your parents say anything about it, I'll tell them the same thing. So, don't worry about it, alright?"
"Alright, Harry," she said. "And, I can understand your argument. I just thought... since I invited you to come and stay―"
"To come and stay," he emphasised. "Not eat you and your parents out of house and home."
"Alright," she sighed. "I won't argue. But you're not eating us out of house and home, as you put it. The Grangers might not be in the same leagues as the Potters or the Blacks; but, we're well-off enough."
"Thank you," he gratefully replied.
_‗_
―==(oIo)==―
ˇ
Scimitar had just received the daily briefing from the watchers. Looking to the team he said, "Nothing unusual from the young knight's watchers. The knight and the Bookworm went out grocery shopping."
"That, in itself, makes it unusual," smirked one of the cursebreakers.
"Hardy-har-har," said Scimitar. "However, we have news from elsewhere."
That had the team listening.
"The Black Healer, Tonks, tried to get into Grimmauld," he said.
"Any idea why?"
"None," he replied. "However, she is not considered a threat. It may simply be because it's the home in which she grew up."
"She's also the Healer-of-Record, at the moment, for the dog, the knight and the Bookworm," added another. "She's watched, because of that."
_‗_
―==(oIo)==―
ˇ
Harry's 'make-do' Chinese that night was well-received by those who ate it. It might not have contained nothing but traditional meats and vegetables, but it definitely had a Chinese flair to it. He eventually decided to call it 'Chinglish Fusion'.
Sitting for dinner that night were the Grangers, Harry and two aurors. It was earlier he found out the aurors played a wizarding version of rock/paper/scissors to see who would miss out. The loser missed out. So, Harry quietly had Dobby set aside a serving of both the dinner and the dessert put under stasis for the unlucky auror who missed the 'Harry Potter Dining Experience'. But, Dobby was already doing just that. As it made his master happy to think he came up with the idea, he didn't say a thing.
Well, at least with word getting out that 'Lord Potter' wasn't as much into proving everyone to be a 'daft moron' at the moment, those in the auror department who had once begged off watching over him were now begging to get back in again. So said Auror Cassidy, while they were in the supermarket and purchasing groceries.
For dessert he went 'Australian' and made an Australian multi-layered tropical fruit 'trifle'. However he left out the alcohol and, instead, just used rum essence. So the adults wouldn't be concerned, he made sure to tell them in advance the background rum flavouring was just that, flavouring brought on by the essence - no alcoholic content.
"How'd you get the jelly to do that?" asked Monica.
"I baked the sponge and made the jelly yesterday," he said. "Today, I pulled the jelly out and crumbled it - that's the secret - then stirred in the strained tinned fruit. With the cake I trimmed the edges off where it was in the pan - one of those little 'cheffy' things - sliced it, soaked it in the juice from the tins together with the essence and just layered as I went - cake, jelly, custard, cake, jelly, custard, cake and unsweetened cream topping mixed with block chocolate crumbled to an almost powder. Then just garnished it with sliced fresh fruit and sprinkled some of the powdered chocolate over it. Simple."
"Simple, for you," she smiled.
When she saw Harry blush a little she didn't comment again.
"However you did it, it was simply divine," said Hermione.
_‗_
―==(oIo)==―
ˇ
When Marchbanks stood to make her announcements regarding filling the vacant Heads of House roles, the only one who wasn't happy for them was Dumbledore. While on the outside he was showing he was pleased for them, inside he was scowling in hate at Marchbanks as she invited the three new Heads of House to stand.
Her announcement proved he was now even further away from recovering the position of headmaster of 'his' school. If she was successful in appointing a Deputy Head that wasn't he, there'd be four people between he and his beloved Headmaster's office - Professor, to Head of House, to Deputy Head, to Head. Intolerable!
_‗_
―==(oIo)==―
ˇ
That evening, while Andi was back on shift at Saint Mungo's, Sirius went to the Black Townhouse on Grimmauld Place. She'd let him know she couldn't get in, which Sirius knew she couldn't as he'd locked it back down again after he and the Unspeakables had been through the place. That was his plan.
Walking in, he remembered yet again he was going to purchase at least one new house elf to get the place cleaned again. When he'd had to kill Kreacher that meant that what little work was being done was no longer being done. Or, maybe he'd ask his godson if Dobby might want to do it in his spare time as a 'reward'.
Setting his thoughts aside he moved through to the library to begin his research.
"Mind magics... curses of the mind..." he muttered.
He might not like the place, but this was for his godson and his godson's friend.
Two hours later, after nearly magically exhausting himself getting past various magical booby traps, curses, protections and the like. He thought he might've finally found the book he needed. This would be the fourth time he'd had the thought, though.
After checking it for even more traps, he stood back and magically pulled it from the shelf using a simple Accio. The book yanked out off the shelf and flew towards him. A quick sidestep to avoid it and the book bounced off the wall behind him before falling to the floor, where the cover flipped open.
'No curses or the like,' he thought. 'We're good, so far.'
More scans showed no other magics on the book other than a simple preservation charm and a Book-plate charm that would have the book return to the shelf if left out of it for more than twenty four hours. As the Rightful Lord of the House he was able to strip that second one away. He saw no harm in the first one remaining.
Picking it up with his off hand, just in case, he flipped through it. He already had a very good idea what he was looking for. Now all he had to do was find it.
Ten minutes later he was reading through the definition of a particular curse, his smile slowly widening as he read.
'Counter-curse?' he thought. A quick check, 'Yes!'
He'd do a jig if he didn't think there just might be a curse waiting to go off for 'dancing in the library'.
Snapping the book shut with his off hand, he dropped it into a left hand pocket of his robes - one he'd already layered in protections - and made his way to the floo.
Just before he left he checked to make sure the floo pot wasn't charmed - it was - stripped the hex away and dashed some powder into the fireplace.
"Tonks House," he firmly called.
When the flames turned green from a successful connection he checked to make sure it, too, wasn't cursed - it wasn't - then put the residence into lock-down again, with the lock-down timed to activate five seconds after the floo shut off. And stepped into the flames.
_‗_
―==(oIo)==―
ˇ