With A Little Help From A Mother and Family.
They were shopping. Rowena couldn't take him this time, she had a doctor's appointment. She had arranged for Augusta to go with him instead with Neville. Harry and Neville were friends. Augusta was smiling at their backs as they chatted and made some plans for the next year.
"We cannot let Seamus create more alcohol," Harry told Neville, who nodded at that. "We can't take another explosion." He sighed. Then he grimaced. "Oh." He looked at Augusta, who looked confused. "That's Ron," he said quietly. Sure enough they heard Ron chattering loudly about something or other. "Remind me to have tact please?"
"Is he a rotting corpse flower?" Augusta asked, looking confused.
"We don't know. Hermione told him about the muggle medicine," Harry told her with a shrug. "I... Well, we had to soak my stuff from last year for a week with vinegar."
Neville nodded. "So did I. Thankfully I outgrew most of it." He sucked in a breath and looked around to find a way to avoid Ron and his family. "I see Crabbe without his parents. No other students yet."
Harry perked up. "That means Draco's around and he always smells nicely. Maybe he has cologne on him?"
"He'd loathe us greatly if we went to ask him to spray Ron."
"Spray me," Harry told him. "Or you and me. And Hermione."
"Well..." Neville winced as he got a new sniff and heard the fart because Ron's guts were loud.
Augusta nearly flinched, looking around. "Was that a spell?"
"No, that was Ron, Gran," Neville said. "Really." He and Harry shared a look then jogged ahead. They ran into the clothier when they found Draco there. Neville went to Narcissa to get her help corralling Draco.
Harry looked at Draco. "I know we're kind of enemies because somehow you decided we were but can you please hose me and Neville down with cologne really fast? Pretty please. Before they get here?"
He grimaced. "What is that smell?"
"We ran past Ron."
"Again?" he demanded. "The train was bad enough."
Vincent cleared his throat. "That has to be a medical problem."
Harry looked at him and nodded. "Or a curse maybe. Hermione told him about the muggle meds to help with that and he refuses. Please, Draco? Pretty please?"
"Yes. I have mine on me." He got it for them to let his mother apply it carefully. "No, Mother, overdo it like they've never worn it before. Really....just..." He waved a hand as the Weasley clan started to come in, the twins first. She did douse them with it, making the twins snicker at that.
"Thank you, Auntie Narcissa," Harry said. "You're blessed!" Neville nodded. They pulled it back in and looked at the twins. "There's a muggle medicine. It's called gas-x. It comes in a little green pill, has a generic version, and Rowena said it comes in a little dissolvable strip too."
"All boys have stink at some times," Narcissa said. "Not that much," she said quietly. "But they all have some," she said at a normal range of volume.
"We noticed," Neville said with a nod. "A lot. But... we've heard rumors of other schools showing up to visit for some reason?"
Narcissa grimaced. "That will not go over well," she muttered, looking at the twins, who just shrugged and grinned at her. "Can you not teach him?"
"We have," they told her. "Twice."
"Is it maybe a curse?" Harry asked.
They shrugged. "Mum said it's normal."
"No. And I'm tired of sleeping in the common room."
"So is McGonagall," one twin told him. "We apologized."
"If we have another school visiting," Harry said, leaving it there because the other Weasleys were coming in with Augusta. He grinned at Narcissa, who was trying not to sniff anything by sneezing into her handkerchief.
"Harry!" Ron said happily, coming over to hug him.
"Hey, Ron." He got free. "Easy on me. I'm bruised. Hermione and I had a tickle fight and I rolled into the couch too many times."
"You let her win with the spell?" he asked.
"No, Ron, no spells used. Remember, we're not supposed to use magic during the summers."
"Oh, yeah, that muggle thing." He nodded, going to get the fitter to handle him.
"I heard rumors that we needed formal clothes this year," Harry told the fitter that came to work with him. "Rowena got me something from near the house. A formal robe and waistcoat with a nice pair of pants and a shirt."
"That's good but you'll need *formal* robes, Mr. Potter. You're having a ball this year."
"Oh, dear," Molly complained. "That's going to be a pain to deal with. Boys, I'll find you something later on."
"It's fine, Mum. I fit into Charlie's, he fits into Bill's stuff," George told her with a wave at his twin. He shifted away from where Ron was. He looked at Augusta, who was chatting with Molly and Narcissa. Then at Harry. "Why did you get a formal robe set?"
"Rowena said I needed to? Augusta told her I had to."
"Do not remind me," Neville complained quietly. "I look like a dork in mine."
"Neville!" his grandmother complained.
He looked at her. "I do."
Harry grinned. "Me too probably. It's our age." That got a nod and a sigh. "We're not old enough to need the adult clothes."
"Well, we're heirs," Neville said dryly. "So we need them."
Harry nodded. "I remember. The ring's complaining a lot," he muttered. "And that I need to grow my hair out." He scowled at it. "Leave my hair alone," he muttered. It quit. "Thank you." He looked at Neville again.
"Dad had short hair," he said with a grin.
"So did mine. I think. From the pictures." That got a nod of understanding. He got fitted and paid, then stepped out of the way. Draco was done and his mother had taken him and his friends with her so they were out of the way. "Any bets on the defense teacher this year?" he asked the twins.
They shrugged, looking back at him. "It's an auror. One Mum and Dad know," Fred told him.
"Bit of a grump though. Only met him once," George added.
"Mad Eye isn't that bad, boys," Molly said lightly. She smiled. "Harry, you know you're welcome to come stay with us for a bit, dear."
"I know but I like hanging out in the woods. I learn a lot foraging with Rowena."
"Where is she?"
"Doctor's appointment. She messed up her ankle the other day." He grimaced. "She wrecked her bike on her way to town. Nearly broke it."
"Oh, that poor woman. It wouldn't heal for you?"
"We're not supposed to use our wands in the summer," he reminded her.
"If you took her to a Potter property, you could do that easily and safely."
Harry nodded. "I'm still figuring out where all of them are. And I like our house and our woods. There's time for that. I offered to try but she had her friends work on it." He shrugged, not breathing too deeply. "It's not broken at least. Just really bruised."
"That's good then." She patted him on the cheek with a smile. "You could come over this afternoon."
"Sorry, I can't. I've got stuff I have to go over. Lots of paperwork type things from the bank." He grimaced. "But at least I'm learning what everything is and means."
Neville nodded. "I got that the other day. I stared at the stack for a good ten minutes before making myself handle it."
"I do a few a day," Harry told him. "I'm up to the statements."
"Oh, you're halfway done," Neville said. Then he grinned. "The ending folder is often a property review of ones that need repairs."
"Good. Maybe I'll be able to find the other ones." They shared a look. "I keep mixing two up and one's about to fall in I think. I've got to have Dobby go look for me. Take pictures. I can put a picture next to each one so I know which is which."
"That could help a lot when you need to hire someone," Hermione said as she and her parents came in together from the bookstore. "Hi, Mrs. Weasley. Boys." They all nodded. "No Ginny?"
"With Dad today talking to someone about a possible career," George told her.
"Not that she wants the Ministry either," Fred added.
Hermione nodded. "But they'd be a good resource to find an interesting area to look at then find out who would deal with it probably." She smiled at her mother and father. "Mum, Dad, this is Harry and Neville." They both waved. "I visit Harry and his stepmum every year for a weekend."
"It's nice to meet you both, boys," Hermione's mother said, smiling at them. They grinned back. "You both look like good boys."
"Sometimes," Neville said. "Others...." He shrugged. Harry smirked at him for that. "The year two below us needs to be taught a lesson about goldfish."
"At least it was the cracker kind instead of the actual ones," Harry reminded him.
"True, I still didn't want to have to change my sheets when I was exhausted during tests. The next younger group is getting it on the train." Harry patted him on the arm. He grinned at Hermione's parents. "Halfway through the week of final tests and I go to trudge into bed. I pull back the covers and find it covered in little cheesy fish crackers. There had to be thousands. We found them for the rest of the term here and there in the room. In our clothes, in our trunks."
"One of the girls tried it with us but I caught her as I was reading in bed," Hermione said dryly. "I sicced Crookshanks on her, making her squeal and run off because he pounced from on top of my bed's curtains."
Harry grinned. "We needed to do that. It'd have been more fun."
"We were going to drown the little brat," Fred offered.
"Dose him with the approved love potion we made in Potions in his year and hand him to the giant squid," George said with a slightly insane looking grin.
"But Professor McGonagall stopped us," Fred finished.
"Don't tempt me," Harry told then, cracking them up. Hermione's father cracked up at that. Hermione got fitted. "We are having a ball apparently, 'Mione."
She grimaced. "Is that a formal gown or do I need the Cinderella ballgown?" she asked the fitter. "Would any formal gown do? Does it have to be a specific color? Do we have to dress in house colors perhaps?"
"Dear, just wear a formal dress," she told her with a smile. "It should be good enough since you're not old enough to get notice from the other schools."
"Okay. That could work." She looked at her mother, who nodded at that. "We'll figure that out I guess." She let herself be measured and shifted away. "Not there. Please don't touch me there. I have a bruise. Harry accidentally kicked me while I was tickling him to make him behave."
"Are you two seeing each other?"
"No!" they said together, shaking their heads.
Harry shook his head again. "Nope. I'm not even considering dating anyone until I decide about the betrothal contract stuff. Sorry. It's going to be another year before I even consider it and make a decision then."
The fitter sighed. "That makes good sense. Then you'll be of age."
"Then I'll have an idea of what I'm doing with my life and how to get there," Harry told her. "I'll be closer to my fully adult personality. I won't be changing as much as I have up until now. Rowena made sure I knew that I'd be changing in personality over the last few years. That's no way to start to build a relationship if we're going to accept it."
"That makes even more sense," Madam Malkin assured him with a smile. She patted him on the cheek. "It's a good way to think about it as well, Mr. Potter."
"I hope so. I want to be a good partner to whoever I end up with."
She smiled. "I'm sure you will be." She let Neville pay for his new clothes and they left with Augusta. The Weasley kids followed a few minutes later. She took in a deep breath as they aired out the store. "I wondered why he wanted doused in cologne."
Hermione looked back at them. "It's his gut. I've noted the medicines." She grimaced. "He thinks it's normal and fine."
"Hmm. Well, that won't be that impressive to the girls coming in for whatever's going on." Hermione grinned at that, turning back around to go through the final fittings. Then she paid and they left to a different shop.
Narcissa got home and did the cleaning spell on her and her son, looking at him. "Did you curse him with something, son?"
"No, Mother. I can honestly say I did not have a thing to do with Weasley's gut stink. Honestly, none of us did but him. His roommates threw him out a few times last year." She grimaced, walking off. "The cologne at least smells nice."
"It does," she agreed with a nod. "It was a good choice for you."
Lucius looked up and sniffed, looking disgusting. "Did you run into a rotten hippogryff?" he demanded.
"Weasley and his amazing gut stink," Draco told him. He sat down at the table. It was tea time. "Longbottom and Potter both asked me to please pour my cologne on them to help them avoid some of it."
"It did help," Narcissa said, coming out to join them for tea. "Tea," she called. It appeared on the table.
"How do his roommates stand that?" Lucius asked, looking confused.
"They threatened to make him sleep on the roof a few times," Draco said dryly. "They slept in the common room a lot. It was so bad on the train there was talk of making him walk the rest of the way home from that big, metal bridge."
"I would have hexed him nearly to death and made him heal in a locked room with just his own stink," Lucius complained.
Narcissa nodded. "Yes, we would have." She sighed. "There's a muggle medicine for gas problems but he apparently refuses to take it."
Lucius nodded. "You can send it directly into his stomach," he told Draco.
"I need to stop and get some. That's an idea to save us all. Not that I'm a hero but I don't want to have to apologize for more than my own house to the visiting schools."
"Do not remind me of this year's upcoming issues," Lucius sighed. "I have no idea why Dumbledore revived such an ancient, annoying tradition."
"It's probably whatever dug into his brain to make him wear such robes," Draco complained. His mother gave him a look but that man wore horrible clothes and he'd defend his opinion.
***
Hermione walked up to the head table once they had gotten back, immediately instead of picking out her seat. She handed over a small plastic bag from her jacket. "That is the muggle gas medicine he refuses to take," she said quietly. "My mum said one pill no more often than every eight hours. There's four bottles." She looked at the nurse. "He's not bad today but please?" She went to her seat and sat down, smiling at Neville. "How did your summer go other than the shopping trip?"
"Not bad. Gran insisted that Harry and I both have formal birthday portraits because of our age. So we had to wear the new formal clothes. We found out our birthdays are right next to each other." He grinned slightly. He ignored Harry going up there to probably do the same thing Hermione had. "Did you keep some of that in case the rest of us have that issue?" he asked quietly.
"Yes. I have two bottles with me usually as part of my self-care kit. That, some tylenol, a few ace bandages, things like that. Just ask. Though I'm sure we won't be able to tell like we can with some people."
He nodded. "My grandmother would be horrified if you could." She grinned at that.
Ginny sat down. "How's your parents?" she asked.
"Not a lot of change. Dad wakes up for a few minutes at a time. So we're not sure if he'll come out of it or not," he sighed. "We had hopes."
"There's always hope," Hermione reminded him, patting him on the hand. "Even if you're fifty and they wake up, they'll still be awake."
He smiled. "True. Gran might hate them waiting that long."
"Well, yes, but things happen in their own time."
"Point. Thanks, Hermione."
"You're welcome." She let his hand go. "Do you have a copy of the picture?"
He shook his head. "I look absolutely weird in the formal clothes. Me and Harry both."
"I saw him in the robe he was trying on when it came. It looked weird over his shorts." Neville grinned at that.
"You saw him that unclothed?" Ginny asked, looking at her oddly. And a bit jealously.
"In the summer when it's hot, many people wear these pants called shorts, which come to above your knee," Hermione told her. "I'm not talking his underthings, Ginny."
"Oh. I didn't realize that." She shrugged but sipped the water that appeared. "Mum would never let us wear that."
"All boys used to wear them until they hit puberty and earned their long pants," Hermione told her.
"That had to suck in the winters," Neville quipped.
"So do skirts," Hermione and Ginny complained.
Harry sat down. "Did your grandmother or did Narcissa send that reporter?" he asked.
"Reporter?" Neville asked. Harry nodded. "Oh, for the paper about the heirs that just took their rings this summer. You and me...." He looked around. "Malfoy. Some of the other slytherins in more minor families."
"Yup. The formal portraits are all in there too." He grimaced. "She sent me a quick note saying the article would be in the paper tomorrow." He cleared his throat. "Is Douglas Ranfire the guy who's supposed to get all things like the really creepy please knock up my daughter paperwork?"
"Yup," Neville said with a nod and a grin for him. "So he can answer them and you don't even have to hear."
"That'll be nice." He grinned. "Our neighbor's daughter caught me glaring at one and teased me that I'd set it on fire that way. Then she snatched it to read and stared at it that same way then went to tell her mother, which made Rowena come out to tell them all that some people really had the wrong idea and I hated it. I piped up to note that I rejected all such creepy things and if they saw someone skulking around the village to find me to shoo them off with a good, swift kick."
Neville giggled. "I can just see girls going Harry hunting."
"I had one this summer that decided she was going to 'tour the country' up where I am because she heard that the scenery was pretty and so were the men. A direct quote of her mother, who drove her all over the countryside. She met Rowena in the druggist and they chatted about that. Rowena told her I was an urban myth, like Bigfoot in the States, and if so I had to live up by one of the lochs. Like Nessie." Neville giggled more loudly.
"Is her daughter here?" Hermione asked.
"No. Grandlings School of Magic."
Hermione winced. "It's not a *bad* school but they're not academically focused." Harry gave her a pointed look. "Which, no girl focused on her academics would take a summer long jaunt all over the countryside to meet a single guy she had heard about. Maybe follow a band on tour but not that way." She sipped her water with a sigh.
Harry nodded. "Rowena brought me a bottle of beer from the pub and handed it over after telling me, said I could only have the one. I went up into the tree to sit and drink while sulking about such stupid things."
Hermione nodded. "At least girls like that probably can't climb trees. They'd try to float up to you instead." Harry nodded. She burst out laughing. "Oh, dear. Are you a snitch, Harry? Something that needs to be caught?"
"Hell no," he said, staring at her, then smirking. "I may be a bludger...." That got louder laughs.
The twins walked in with Ron, who they had been lecturing on the front stairs. "What prank was this?"
"Some girl in another school had her mother driving her all over the countryside trying to find Harry," Hermione told him. "I asked if he was the snitch and he said no, he's a bludger."
"Yeah, he can be, especially with his lack of tact at times," Neville said with a nod. "I'd go hide in the greenhouse with a sherry."
The twins stared at him. "There's this more manly stuff called beer," Fred told him. "Or ale."
"Or even mead or cognac or all sorts of liquors," George added.
Neville looked at the. "Gran prefers sherry so it's in the house. I'd have to leave to get anything else. Which would mean she'd find me."
"Ah," the twins agreed with a nod. "Point." They sat down with a sigh. "We'll teach you how to sneak around later this year," they told them.
"We need the lessons?" Harry quipped. "Teach Nev. He could use it." They all stared down at the new second year classes, grinning at them. They shrank down, realizing they were going to be pranked for all the goldfish they had littered around. He and Hermione shared a look. "So, Seamus, ready for us to have a ball this year?" he asked blandly.
"Like a lot of fun?" he asked.
Harry and Neville looked at him, shaking their heads. "No, sorry," they told him together.
"Aw, shite," he muttered, looking at Dean. Who was looking alarmed. "We'll figure it out."
"Dress robes," Padma told them. "They're like suits or tuxedos in the muggle world, boys." They groaned.
"We have to wear a formal dress robe," Hermione told them. "So a gown. I'm hoping that means I don't have to wear a Princess Gown like a Disney one but...." She grimaced. "I don't prefer ballgowns."
Ginny looked at her. "Ballgowns?"
"You've seen the paintings with the bigger gowns?" Ginny nodded, most of the paintings of women had them in rather large gowns. "We now wear those only for balls and such events. Sometimes weddings. Or you can find one with a slimmer skirt. Which I'd prefer. We need to find a way to get dance lessons so we don't trip our partners if we get asked to dance. And will we have dance cards?" she asked the twins. Who shrugged.
"First for us too," George told her. "And really, can we see you in the huge gown?"
Fred nodded. "You'd probably look good, Hermione, but you'd need jewelry to go with it."
She sighed. "Point. I only have a few pieces at home." She considered it. "My diamond pendant would do for anything. It's the only *good* necklace I have and I do have matching earrings." She played with her hair. "I need to find a way to do what I'd do at home with it. Like I did for the dental practice's receptionist's wedding. My hair was cute." She considered it. "I'll figure it out."
"You were in a wedding party?" one of the younger girls asked.
Hermione nodded. "I was their flower girl. No little kids or cousins in the families so I got drafted." She grinned. "I was adorable. My hair had been tamed by a hairdresser. I had on the cutest little dress and shoes. I'd show you a picture but I don't have a copy. I'll see if Mum can find a copy for me. It'd be nice to look back at how adorable I used to be." She looked at Harry. "How do you get your hair to do that today?"
He looked up then at her. "Apparently a relative created a leave-in conditioner thingy. Augusta told me about it. It's a bit heavy for mine but it works okay to tame it slightly."
She nodded. "I can see that. Would that work for curls?"
"I have no idea."
"Hm. I need to look into that instead of the ten thousands strokes with a heated brush." She grimaced. "Maybe I'll find a way to make my irons work up here."
"We can iron your hair," Padma noted. "Lavender did last year for you."
"We're all going to be in a tizzy right before the thing, we probably won't have time," she said.
"Good point. It'll take you all day with the heated brush you found." Hermione nodded. They both looked at Lavender.
"Sleekeasy is something we can try," Lavender said. Harry looked at her oddly. "What?"
"That's the thing the family member created."
"Really? Huh." He nodded. "Thank your relative, Harry." She grinned. He grinned back. "And you're right, that's too heavy for your hair. We'll figure it out."
"Gran told both of us to look nice today when we went to the train station," Neville told her. "Just in case."
"Ah." The girls all nodded. They understood that. They did look okay today.
***
Snape grimaced at the paper the next morning. "Of course he put himself in with that." He sneered at the article, putting it aside.
Neville walked past his seat at the table to get to McGonagall. "Gran did it to us both," he told him. "Harry tried to avoid it." He looked at McGonagall. She smirked at him. "Thank you for dosing him last night. We actually got to sleep in our own rooms. Which is why half of us jumped when a first year had screaming nightmares all night."
"Did anyone help the boy?"
"I have no idea. The prefect locked us in our room. We can't get out. I climbed down from the window with the guys floating me so I didn't fall. Harry or Ron would've used their brooms but they wouldn't summon for some reason."
She sighed, going up to undo that, check on that poor child, and nag her head prefect in the house.
Neville looked at him. "Some kids have no sense. A lot of them seem to become prefects." He sat down, sighing and getting some tea. He needed the extra go juice this morning.
"I wondered if all of Gryffindor was sleeping in today," Snape admitted.
The twins walked in together, shaking their heads. "No, we blew up the door trying the unlocking hex. He boobytrapped it," George told him.
"He put an incendio if opened on the knob," Fred added. "Sorry." They looked at the headmaster, who had paused in drinking his morning tea.
"Who?" Flitwick asked dryly.
"Pautrie," they said together.
"Oh, dear. Well, I'm sure Minerva will have a long talk with him today."
"She needs to get the first year boy help first," Fred told him.
"Absolute screaming nightmares and no one could help him."
Flitwick nodded. "I'll make sure Poppy hears so she can find him to talk to him. Did you get any sleep?"
"Ten minutes at a time," George complained.
The headmaster nodded. "Why did you two set that off?"
"If it was going to explode you'd expect it to be us anyway," George said dryly.
"Best play up to stereotypes so no one else gets upset or blamed after we said we didn't," Fred agreed.
"Point. We would have thought it was you first." He shook his head. "Minerva will have a charming first day of this school year." He smiled.
The twins snorted. "That's not how you use that word in a sentence," Fred said, going to their seat. Then down to their new one by counting down to where they should be. George sent Neville back up to help that kid. He was the nice one of their house and could be supportive like one of the girls but not girlish about things.
Flitwick went to see if she needed help. She did, the incendio was woven too tightly around the knob. He did what cursebreakers did to deaden the spells on the doors and then open them. The kids came out dressed and upset, going to the first year boys' dorm to check on them. Most of the boys were going to escape but one kid was pouting at them. The upper years and Neville helped the poor kid by talking to him on the way down the stairs. They'd make sure he got the help they needed.
"The doors being locked that way was why it echoed," McGonagall told them. "It's a safety feature." The upper year boys all nodded at that. They looked at the last door, the door for the top prefect on the girls' side. It wasn't going to open no matter what so Flitwick set off the incendio with a shield behind it. "Well, we can fix two doors I suppose," she decided. "Lacey."
"Professor, my ex-boyfriend is a moron."
"Yes, I've realized that." She smiled at her. "He and I are going to have a talk today."
"Thank you! Let me go to breakfast." She headed down once she had her bag and sweater. Everyone had left a wide margin around that one boy so whatever got sent at him wouldn't hit anyone else. It was nice of the other kids, showed sense that wasn't that common in Gryffindors.
Thankfully the only thing that got him was McGonagall grabbing him by the arm to haul him off for that necessary discussion.
Around the hall, students were getting the newspapers with the yearly story about any new heirs who were coming into the right ages. Draco looked uptight and stiff but his picture carried that little smirk of his with his chin tilted up slightly like it was a challenge to best him. It was a good picture. The black outfit looked nice on him with the silver shirt.
Neville's picture made a few people stare at it then look at him then back at the picture. He looked...adult. He looked well put together. He looked *nice*. A few looked back at Neville, making him stare at them. They quit looking at him. He looked pleased but amused at something. Blue outfit that fit him well and looked nice on him.
Justin, the other notable heir, was looked at oddly. They hadn't known he was an heir of a noble muggle family. He caught a few looking and shrugged but smirked. He wasn't open to dating any of them and he ignored all the girlish idiocy about cute boys who girls crushed on when it related to him. His official portrait was an Official Portrait. The others had been pictures. Justin's was meant to be his announcement into society. Which was nice for him. He still wouldn't date a girl.
Most of the others were more minor heirs and they knew about all of them. The last one profiled was Harry, which was probably to make people read more of the paper this morning instead of just skimming. It told a bit of his life, talked about his 'stepmother' being a good woman who had raised him well.
The picture of him was him leaning on a staircase railing with one arm on it and the other hand gripping the braced wrist. He looked nice. Wizarding robe, waistcoat, pants, shirt. No tie, slightly open collar. The outfit fit him well and he looked good in the tan/golden embroidery on dark blue outfit.
His expression was just staring at the camera, though now and then he looked off to the left then back at the camera. He looked serious but not *bad* by any means. His little quoted article wasn't much. The reporter hadn't asked him much beyond his intentions toward dating someone in the school.
Which Harry had blown off as not important to him at this point in his life. It asked his future career goals, letting him answer he had thought about being an auror but wasn't completely sure yet. He'd have to see how his OWLs looked. It made him look reasonable, kind, serious, and not very Harry like. Most of the readers looked at Harry then back to the picture then back at the kid. Harry ignored it all but Neville scowled at a few so they left Harry alone again.
The teachers reading that article were also amused. Only Draco would try to take advantage of his new status. Harry and Neville were just their usual Harry and Neville selves. Justin was phlegmatic and mostly calm and would remain that way probably. He'd grown up with that life.
Everyone would be watching how they handled things coming up soon with the rumors of other schools coming to visit. That could be important to them and their families.
***
The twins came in the next morning dusting themselves off, staring at their head of house. "The repair charm put back on the lock and incendio." They went to their seats.
"I'll have someone repair those two doors differently, boys. Thank you. Did you let out Lacey?"
"We know not to go up on her side," they quipped.
Hermione walked in with a sigh. "Professor, the sixth years claimed they could not undo the door so I just set it off. I'm sorry I destroyed school property."
She held up a hand to stop her from getting too upset about destroying property. "The repairing charm put the incendio back, Miss Granger."
"I didn't use the incendio. There was one on there? I used the difema hex." She looked confused. "Am I supposed to use the incendio?"
"No, the difema is a lot more subtle," she said with a nod. "Though above your year."
Hermione shrugged. "It works to blow up something to stop something charging at you in the woods."
"Oh. All right. That makes sense. Thank you." She nodded, going to sit down.
George looked at her oddly. "Difema?"
"Difema. It's safer. It's a small blast. I put it against the knob to get the lock."
"Did no one teach you to dissolve the metal, Hermione?" Fred asked.
"Well, yes, but then I'd have to repair it some other way or pay for it and my mother would kill me for it." They just nodded. So would their mother but she'd understand probably. "Thank you for dosing Ron."
"It saves us all," they said dryly.
"Or him sleeping outside," Lee complained as he sat down.
"They were going to put him on the roof but he might've rolled off, and Neville decided he didn't want to face our mother if Ronniekins died," George told him.
Fred shook his head. "Not sure how bad that would be but probably not a good thing."
"I doubt your mother would have a good reaction to losing a child," Hermione agreed. She blinked at the thing that faded into and then out of view. "Huh."
"We've heard," Fred told her, looking at her. "No one has any idea why. Mum had that same thing happen after eating her muffins."
"I did have a bite of Ginny's muffin last night." She got up to go see the nurse. "If I had a bite of Ginny's muffin made by her mum and it created an overview of one of the twins dying is that a poisoning or something that just woke up in me?"
"What?" she demanded.
Fred came up to her, behind Hermione. "Mum made some muffins earlier this week that made her start to see a death head over me. No one's sure why but she sent the rest with Ginny and Hermione just got it too."
She looked back at him. "I'd expect on you both. How would George survive without you?"
"I... don't want to think about that." He stared at her.
"I'm sorry, Fred." She patted him on the arm. She looked at the nurse.
"There had to be some herbs or something involved. Have her bring me the muffin if she still has it," Poppy ordered. Fred sent a message up to her, having Ginny bring in the other half of the muffin. She saw him, paused, then rushed up there to look at him. Hermione caught the muffin to hand over.
"I'm fine. Mum had the same thing and so did Hermione." He stared down at her. "I'm fine. It's not now."
"No, your hair was longer and you looked older," Hermione agreed, considering it. "Not too much older but older and your hair was neat and straightened like you mum had attacked you with her damp fingers again. But it was longer." Ginny sighed in relief.
"So, probably at something that Mum would want us to be pretty during," Fred said with a nod. "Bit older, longer hair...." He looked at his twin.
Ginny frowned. "I heard Bill laughing for a second too."
"That's good, so Bill's there," Fred said with a nod. "We can figure that out." She sighed in relief. "Go sit." He looked at the nurse.
"Agreed, Miss Granger. Go sit. I'll let you both know what is in that muffin." She nodded, going back to her seat. She ran a quick scan of Fred then frowned. "Did you eat any?" He nodded. "You've got mushroom...oh. That's got to be that one mushroom. Severus?" He looked up then came up. "Test for that one mushroom that creates visions."
He did and sighed then nodded. "It is."
"Mum was using mushroom powder to bake with. She ran out of flour," Fred offered.
"It appears she needs to check her source."
"It's a local one but I'm not sure." He went to sit down and tell the other three that. They all nodded at that. Hermione sent a letter to Bill for them, which the twins didn't know so they sent their own.
Harry came in. "Mr. Potter, you've foraged mushrooms," Snape said.
He walked up there. "Yes, every summer since I was five. Rowena and half the village's coven do. Why? I always have her double check mine."
"The cap's head."
"The one that's able to be eaten but it tastes really bitter? Or the wizarding version of it that's a normal muggle mushroom? We don't have any in our woods that I know of. One of the ladies who taught me about them said they eradicated them because they gave horrible problems."
"Yes, they do. Visions. Particularly death visions."
"Ah." He nodded once. "Good thing I avoided it then. Is everyone okay? I can ask Rowena if there's a cure."
"It tends to fade within a few days and usually only works on people you know well." He looked at the Gryffindor table. Granger had heard and was looking around, looking a bit pale. "Interesting. Miss Granger!" She snapped out of it and trudged up there. "What did you see?"
"Nineteen," she said quietly. "But the first years looked to be third or fourth. Probably third because I'm not going to be here for eight years. And yours. The headmaster." She swallowed. "Madam Pomfrey. Hagrid's." She ran to get sick.
"Ginny, go help Hermione," Harry called. She nodded, going to do that. He looked at him. "So, I'm thinking that's a problem?"
"It apparently is," he said with a frown. "A bad one apparently. Hmm. If you should find more let me know."
"Of course. Even foraging here I'd have someone double check them on me. You can never be too careful with mushroom identification." He went to sit down, staring at the twins. "I know of that mushroom. It got wiped out near the village."
"Okay," they decided. "Why is Hermione sick?"
"She looked around," Harry said, staring at them. They winced. "Can it be detoxed?" he asked, looking up that way.
"Yes," Snape said. "I can do that. Poppy?" She nodded, bringing some cold water to them to take them to the infirmary. "Did you boys not eat it?"
"No. They tasted funny. Only Ron did," George admitted, looking at Fred.
"Percy had a few. Does it only do that to girls?"
"No," Snape admitted with a grimace.
"We need to talk to Percy," the twins said, looking at each other. They wrote him a letter too. Harry let them use his owl. It'd be faster. They used Ron's to tell their mother what she had done so she could check that mushroom powder. It was something that wouldn't hurt muggles but with them it was a problem.
***
Arthur got found by his son that afternoon, taking the letter from his hand. "That stupid mushroom powder," he realized. Percy nodded. "She added it to a few things to bulk up things. Are you all right?"
"No." He shook his head. "Not in the least." He took the letter back, going down to the aurors. He stared at the auror who was on door duty. "I got exposed to cap's head mushroom powder."
"That's sad," he said but looked confused.
"I've seen death's visions of twenty-seven people. All about the same age." The auror still looked confused. He looked at the auror coming over. "Mum got some cap's head mushrooms in her mushroom powder. I keep seeing death's visions. I've seen twenty-nine and the only one I haven't seen dead was my father. Including you both and Tonks in there. Though for some reason I hear Bill laughing overtop of hers." He looked at him. "Mum sent me muffins."
"Cap's head give you death visions," Amelia said as she came over.
He swallowed and nodded. "I don't see one on you. You and my father are the only two I haven't seen one on. Though Tonks had a touch of gray hair starting. So did Artin in Field Regulations."
She blinked. "He's...twenty-nine."
"Thirty-one," Percy corrected. "I went to his birthday last year." He swallowed again, looking around. "There's a third I haven't seen one over." He pointed at her. "Her."
Amelia looked then at him. "Who have you seen, Percy? Let us know so we can figure out what may have caused that."
He nodded, noting where he had been and the ones he knew by name. She looked it over. "They're all in one area. Do we maybe have a section of the building falling in?"
"I cannot tell. They don't look harmed. I'm not seeing blood. I'm seeing just dead. Wearing work clothes. Tonks was wearing something nicer. I heard Bill laughing at hers. And only hers." He stared at her.
"So some happy event where your brother Bill was," she said. "And probably a different one here. Could be a building issue. Could be... could be an attack," she admitted then sucked in a breath. "But I doubt that."
Percy shook his head, looking around again. "Outside my father and yourself, most of the ones I haven't seen in the last few minutes weren't always good people," he said quietly.
She stiffened, looking around. She pointed. "Do you see one on him?"
He looked and nodded. "Yes. Younger than the others though."
"See what on me?" Sirius Black asked. "I'm in for my review."
"I know," Amelia Bones said. "He got hit by cap's head mushroom powder."
Sirius looked at him. "So death visions. Yeah, great. How soon?"
"Not soon. You had more mustache."
"I'm shaving and trimming that today," he said. He sucked in a breath. "Do me a favor, go walk past Lucius Malfoy?" He nodded doing that. He came back looking upset but shaking his head. "Something Harry said at one of the hearings. I went over all the trial transcripts." He looked at Amelia. "Have you?"
"No. Why would I?"
"Do it," he said simply. "And make Kingsley do it as well." Kingsley looked out at him then went to find them to go over. He came back frowning, pointing at a section. "Yeah, that one. What happened to your sister?" he asked Percy.
"Nothing," he said immediately. He looked at him.
"By who, Percy?" Sirius asked.
He blinked. "I was not told that. Just that it was a journal with a spirit stuffed inside it."
"A horcrux, not the painting type," Sirius told him. "Which...." He looked at Amelia. "I turned in a dark artifact Kreacher was guarding."
"You did." She went to find the notes on that. "It's in the bank. They have it to destroy." She frowned. "I'm going to look into that. What brought that thought up?"
"The one with the first time Harry faced off with Dumbles." Sirius grimaced. Kingsley found that one to go over, frowning as he skimmed it then paused and went back over it. Sirius looked then pointed. He read it, blinking hard. "I had a moment of 'oh fuck' realization between that and the whiny, flying thing as he called him."
"His memories were saved and verified," Amelia noted. "Get them to me," she told Kingsley. "A true copy. I want to know if he recorded the ones with that whiny, flying thing." He nodded going to floo that group to see if they still had them and if they had those particular ones. She looked at Sirius. "Have you written to him?"
"I go up to a Black family property nearer to him and we have tea every few weeks." He grinned. "It's pretty good. We're getting back to family and Rowena's already scared me from harming the boy. Or Remus. Remus is truly scared of her." He smiled. "So am I."
"Good!" She stared at him. "Your review?" He handed over the paperwork the healer had given him. "Hmm. She said you're functionally normal but still a bit weird."
"I am a Black," he said dryly. "I feel like myself."
"We'll see." She took him to do that while waiting on Kingsley to get back to her. Barty Crouch Senior was looking confused so she stopped in his office. "Percy Weasley got hit with some cap's head mushroom powder thanks to his mother. He's reporting. We've had a huge amount of deaths here apparently." She walked off with Sirius.
"I want that list."
"We're working on it."
"Fine. Thank you." He considered it. He walked out there to find him. "Do you see one on me?"
He stared then nodded. "Yes. No blood either. Like most of the others. Anger but no blood."
He blinked. "I looked angry?" Percy nodded. "Interesting. So probably trying to arrest someone." He frowned toward Sirius' room then at him again.
"You were dressed in formal uniform. I can see your medal."
"My medal. My Order of Merlin one?" Percy nodded. "Hm. Interesting." He went to note that for himself to think over late at night when he'd probably be able to figure out what sort of event was going to end him that way. Without any blood it was probably a curse or a hex.
"Boss," Shacklebolt said as he walked back in with the report. "Amelia, you too." She and he went to meet him in the middle of the room. He held up the reports. Then pointed at one. It was what happened to Ginny Weasley. He looked at Percy. "Did she get seen?"
"No one told our mother. We promised the healers not to," Percy told him.
"Good!"
"Bill was there."
"Even better!" Crouch took it to look at, gasping. Amelia took it carefully to read over, frowning.
"Oh hell no," she said quietly. "I need to go to the bank. Black, you're released but if you ever screw up I'm going to put you back myself." She stared at him. "Understood?"
He nodded. "I'm going to be a good godfather. Protect the pup."
She grimaced but hurried to the bank to talk to them about that artifact. They had to hand them over so they could be destroyed if they weren't already. They also had to track them to see how many more there were.
***
Bill looked at the letters he was handed. One was from the twins, which he expected. The other was from a friend of his youngest siblings. Why had she written him? He had gotten one from a friend of Percy's that wanted to know about how you became a cursebreaker but he didn't think Granger was going to do that sort of work.
She was book smart, not something that helped a lot in the field. He opened hers first. That way if it was weird he could clear it with happy family news. Though, it wasn't happy news. He ripped into the twins' letter to read it. He blinked. "What the hell?" he muttered. "Huh. That's bad. Mum would go spare."
She had included details the twins hadn't, including that Ginny had seen it too and had heard him laughing, so it was at a happy event. What sort of happy event had him and the twins at the same place? Was one of the kids getting married maybe? Or a family reunion maybe? His mother had wanted to hold one for all the cousins again. He reread them both, letting his team read them.
"You were laughing so a happy event," his partner said, considering it. "You have a brother in the Ministry up there."
"I do. So maybe his marriage?"
"Maybe. Could be."
"I need to avoid them all with him in there. Which'll suck for Fred and George. It'll get 'em ostracized in the family. Or me. One of the two."
"Brush up on defense spells then," she said, handing the letters back. "How did your mum make such a mistake?"
"If she had to buy muggle, then they don't react to it. Call 'em button mushrooms."
"Huh." She nodded. "That's interesting." She went back to her spot.
Bill considered it then wrote the twins back about what was possibly the cause. Percy's wedding would make the most sense. They'd arrange it so they weren't in the same place at the same time at any family event just to be careful. Without getting them shunned by the family for it. The next day he got one from Percy and sent a copy to the twins because that spoke of a bigger attack than a family wedding would be. That could've been the same event. A happy event for the community or the Ministry maybe.
***
Ginny had to go see her head of house. She knocked on her door at curfew one night. "Professor, can I have a few?" She nodded so walked in and shut the door then warded it like Bill taught her. "You remember what happened my first year?"
"Unfortunately." She put down her quill. "Why?"
"For some reason since about halfway through that year Professor Snape has made me feel weird. I'm not sure why or how. But now Professor Moody is. I'm very confused about why he would be making me feel weird the same way Professor Snape does."
"I have no idea either," she admitted, considering it. "Does anyone else do that?"
"A few people Percy works with that I met bringing him something for Mum one day. He had forgotten his lunch."
"Interesting. Well, we know Professor Snape hasn't ever been a Ministry employee so that's out."
"It wasn't all of them. It was a few of them. Minister Fudge didn't, though I wanted to hex his bum for being a dick to Percy. Joked that Percy had needed to be taken care of so I noted it was nice of our mother to give him good food so he could work all the extra hours his bosses demanded without paying him properly for them. He looked purple at it. Did his face always turn that color?"
"Unfortunately, yes. So not a general Ministry employee. That's good." She nodded. "I will look into that."
"Thank you, Professor."
"Weird how?"
"It feels... Warm maybe? Not tingly warm but like ...you know when you haven't seen a friend in a while and your magic goes 'oh I know you'?"
She nodded. "Yes. I have a few of those."
"It's not quite that level but it feels...almost familiar. Almost twitchy though, like it's nervous maybe? Or at least confused?"
"Hmm. No, I have no idea about that but I will consider why and look into it with Professor Snape's help."
"Thank you."
"Did Scabbers make you feel that way?"
"I only saw him in rat form. Apparently I never spotted him changed. Bill didn't find any spells on me. Though, it felt like I was fond of him. He was a family pet though. So I thought I should be fond of him. Even though I hate rats."
"Interesting. I'll look into that."
"Please. Thank you." She got up and left, Filch seeing her leave and glaring as she walked up the stairs to go to the house.
McGonagall considered it then went to talk to Severus, who was in his office sipping something in a crystal goblet. "I have a student who has a feeling around you."
He snorted, looking amused. "I'm sure whatever crush they have will be ended with exposure," he said dryly.
"Not that way."
He frowned. "Then in what manner?"
"She said your magic feels familiar to her. And Moody's now. It almost feels friendly but a bit twitchy? Have you noticed anything about Moody?"
"No, I have not," he admitted. "I hardly ever see him however. Only at certain meals." He considered it. "Weasley?" She nodded. He looked at his clothes. "Could it be something similar we've gotten into? Perhaps our wand cores or similar woods or something? Some potion we've both taken?"
"That could be but why would the feeling be familiar and yet twitchy? She described it as a friendly 'oh I know you feeling' but less in her magic. Like when you meet a good friend again but lesser."
"That is rather odd," he agreed, considering that while he sipped. "Hmm. I'll try to figure something out. See if we can figure out a cause. When did she start getting it from me?"
"The middle of her first year." He frowned. "Do you not know what happened her first year?"
"She was possessed."
"By a journal that had a bad spirit in it. It was using her to take over so he could return to full life."
He sat up, staring at her, one hand covering his forearm. "Journal?" She nodded. Then she stared at where his hand was covering. Then back at his face. "Oh. But why would Moody read of that?"
"Did he perhaps do something to try to infiltrate or figure that out?"
"I have no idea. Though if she's reading my dark mark.... Anyone else?"
"She said some people she ran into at the Ministry when she had to bring Percy his lunch one day. Not Fudge but others."
"I think she may be feeling the dark mark. Was that possession...."
"Tom Marvello Riddle," she said dryly. "He had it written in lights in the air, going back and forth to the anagram he made of it."
"She's reading the dark mark. Moody should not have one."
"We need to figure that out."
He nodded. "We definitely do. If he did something to infiltrate I could see that. Though he probably would've ended it."
She sighed. "I have no idea. I'm going to start paying more attention to him."
"I shall as well." He nodded slowly. "The wards would pick up another dark mark. Albus had to make an exception for mine."
She grimaced. "Are you sure we still have that ward after the first year Potter was here?"
"Point. That was a full wraith of him." He nodded slowly. "I'll listen around as well."
"Please and do let me know. The girl's worried for a good reason."
"She should be. Thank you." She nodded, leaving him to think while she did the same thing. Snape considered it, doing a search for dark magic in the basement areas around his office. He found some but it turned out to be an illegal potions setup. He smirked.
"I wonder which Gryffindor I get to turn in for that setup." He looked at the cauldron. It had to have their name on it. It didn't so it wasn't sold to a student. Or they had bought one for outside school use. Somehow. "Granger's?" he guessed. "I would love to stop that girl. Or the dratted twins?" The potion being made was polyjuice. Many students wanted to play with it so it was probably one of theirs. But it had to be a Gryffindor.
***
Draco was still in magical shock after being changed into a ferret. No Malfoy elf would come at his call so he tried his elf of last resort. "Dobby," he said quietly, frowning when he showed up. "I need a dose of Mother's neutralizing potion. If she finds you, tell her I'm in magical shock. Please." Dobby nodded, going to find it for him. The boy truly looked horrible, like he needed the infirmary more than a neutralizing potion.
Lucius found him instead of Narcissa, making Dobby worry. "Draco Son need neutralizer dose, has magic shocks he says," Dobby told him.
"You haven't been a Malfoy elf since Potter stole you," he said bluntly. "How are you doing that?"
"Dobby answers for Master Draco Son. He in school, Dobby up there. Other elvsies not answer students. He in bad shape. Has shakes."
"What happened to him?"
"Dobby not know. Just need neutralizing potion. He said dose please. Said to get mother's."
"It's here," he said, handing over the bottle. "Take the whole thing in case he underestimated. Tell him I want a letter tomorrow, Dobby."
"Dobby will. Dobby sorry?"
"No, I wish my heir to be safe." He watched him disappear. Lucius went to tell Narcissa that. "Draco called on Dobby to get a dose of neutralizing solution, he said he's in magic shock. I gave him the bottle just in case."
She nodded. "Dobby is Potter's elf, though he's officially freed." She looked at him.
"How is he still getting in?"
"The marriage contract."
"That's how he freed him!" he realized. Narcissa smiled and nodded. Lucius huffed. "I hate that thing. They will be ending it, Narcissa."
"So far it has protected Draco from a lot of plots." She stared at him. "You never did see the tactical reasons for it." She smirked at him. "Didn't think through that chess game at all, Lucius." She went back to watching her magical knitting.
He grimaced, going to think about the tactical benefits of leaving Draco in it for so long. He was protected from being in any other one, so against all plots. It did benefit Draco and the Black family as Narcissa had made him the Black Heir in it. If it had benefitted the Malfoys he might not have minded leaving it until the boy was of age to undo it but it didn't. It made it harder on him to benefit the Malfoy family by arranging alignments.
Draco took the bottle with a nod. "Thank you."
"Father's caught Dobby. Said wants letter tomorrow."
"That's fine." He nodded at it. "That's it there. I was going to send it once I quit shaking." He took a sip, which wasn't a full dose but he could take a tiny sip to make up enough of one. It did stop him from shaking and made the muscle cramps stop. He sighed, laying down once the bottle was sealed, putting it into his trunk for now.
Dobby took the letter to hand to Narcissa since it was addressed to her. Then he went to hide again. Draco laid there, letting the neutralizer work its way through his system to stop all the magical shock he was having. "Now I know why we use the preparation spells on the animals in transfiguration."
The other boys in the room were ignoring him but that was fine. For now. He'd pay them back for it later.
***
Narcissa took the letter. "Thank you, Dobby." He nodded and disappeared. She read it over, grimacing. "What in Merlin's name," she muttered. "Lucius?" He came back in to take the letter. "He had the shakes. I can see why."
He read it, grimacing. "No, that is not allowed. And the magic shock, yes, if he wasn't hit with the proper spells first, it would warp his magic." He looked up. "He said no elves answered him. Maisy!" She appeared, bowing to him, but keeping him in view. "Why did you not answer Draco's call?"
"Elvsies not answer students in school. Not allowed. Headmaster say so. Put up things to make stop it."
"No. If my son calls I want him helped," he ordered.
"Elvsies cannot, Father Lucius. Headmaster put up things."
He winced. "That'll go down," he assured her. Narcissa got up to get something to hand to her, letting her take it to Draco subtly then disappear again. He looked at his wife, who smirked at him. "Do talk to that idiot."
"Dumbledore or the other idiot?"
"Dumbledore. If I talk to him I'll hex him. He could have rendered Draco magicless."
"If you wish." She went to get that ready for the morning. She would curse Moody on the way in. Which made him spasm and scream. His fake leg fell off. She stared at him. "As you tortured my son and nearly made him magicless, so shall you suffer the same way," she said simply as she walked past him. "Do have fun with the magic shock."
She breezed into the office a minute later, staring at him. Then put the letter on the desk. "Do not let him torture my son again, Albus Dumbledore. That was dangerous and could have robbed him of his magic. Which means you would've been responsible with him for line theft and ending a noble family." She stared at him. "And the Malfoys of course."
"I had no idea about that."
"Hmm. Really?" She stared at him until someone rushed in. "Neville!" she snapped. "So rude!"
"Professor Moody's not him. He just changed into someone else and ran off. We couldn't capture him."
"What?" he demanded, standing up.
"That curse, it ended something on him, the glamor or something, and he got up and ran off. He's younger, taller, skinny guy. Dark hair. Pale skin. Bad teeth."
"Not that definitive," she said. Neville concentrated and put up a picture. She frowned. "Isn't that...Crouch?" she demanded.
Dumbledore blinked. "He died."
"Well, apparently not!" She looked at him. "What have you let into this school and let torture my son?" She looked at Neville. "Thank you, Neville." He nodded and left. "Will the board like this?" She left to tell Lucius immediately. She even deigned to floo and usually she wouldn't have.
She walked out into the Ministry and breezed past the check-in desk. They just nodded at her. They knew who she was. Which was probably a horrible security flaw but it benefitted her this time. She ran into another board member, nodding. "Come with me. Something just happened at the school."
"What did he do now?" he complained. "Is it that important?"
"Yes." She stared at him. He sighed but followed her to Lucius' office. "Husband. Out!" The others in there fled.
"That was an important meeting."
"I cursed Moody with a mirror charm to what Draco went through. Five minutes later Neville Longbottom ran into the office to interrupt us sneering at Dumbledore for his faulty ways to tell us Moody had changed and put up a picture that looked a lot like Barty Crouch Jr. They hadn't managed to catch him when it changed him back."
"The mirror charm would ....the neutralizer," he realized.
"Wait, what?" the other board member asked.
"Yesterday the being pretending to be Mad Eye Moody, who is teaching defense," she sneered. "Turned my son into a ferret without warning or any of the spells they get taught to use in transfiguration. Last night, he had to summon a non Malfoy elf to get him some neutralizing solution due to the magic shock he had."
He stared. "The mirror charm was a bit strong, Narcissa. But yes, it can work that way....so we have... Crouch died in the jail." He looked at the door then at Lucius.
"Apparently not somehow." They shared a look. "This is very important for the board to take up however. Perhaps we can have someone fix the defense position?"
"It might be a good idea." He frowned. "Crap. I have to meet with Crouch later."
"Well, don't let on that you know," Narcissa told him. "Or that his son did manage to escape."
He nodded. "How would he have hidden him for so long?"
"How would I do it?" she asked. "I would've used a specific house elf who had very specific orders." Lucius groaned at that. "Not something you could've done?" she guessed, smirking at her husband. "Well, I am the better tactical thinker it appears." She looked at the other board member. "Do have some fun."
"Oh, I doubt it. Not with that meeting and things." He left, going to send out some quick messages with his own house elf to call a board meeting about the defense teacher assaulting a student.
She looked at Lucius. Who was waving a hand in the air while the other was rubbing his closed eyes. "First a basilisk with Lockhart and now a death eater in disguise? Is the school really needed right now?" She left him to moan in pain and have a headache.
Lucius looked up. "We need to remove Dumbledore. It has to be his fault. He picks the teachers." He answered the message call to go to a board meeting immediately. His assistant could hold off the other meeting for a few hours. He did summon Draco to give a report and got him seen by a healer as he showed up looking like hell. "Did you get hit again?"
"Pansy. She named me in that form for the five minutes I was in it." The healer came over to him to check him over. She got one thing ended, making Draco sigh in pleasure at the headache stopping. "Thank you."
"The neutralizing solution?"
"I had to take it last night. I got turned into a ferret unexpectedly by a teacher."
She blinked then tested something else. "Well, whatever potions you've done, they're all neutralized as well," she admitted. "And ...your core is fine, though bruised." He nodded, staring at her. "You're very lucky, Mr. Malfoy."
"I hope I continue to be lucky. It'd be a tragedy if I was robbed of my magic."
She nodded. "It would be." She looked at Lucius, who had her on retainer. "Anything else today, Mr. Malfoy?"
"No. Thank you." She nodded and left.
"Who turned you into a ferret?" one of the older men demanded.
"Professor Moody. Though it's apparently the polyjuice version of Professor Moody." He frowned. "Did I make polyjuice?" He considered it. His father checked then groaned. "Do I have a recent obliviate?"
"Yes," he said then nodded a bit with a sigh at the end. "You do, Draco. For about three hours."
"Oh. Well I hope I didn't do anything else. I'd hate that." He was scowling. "Hold on, the polyjuice you had me doing this summer, Father, to test how well I could."
"Ah. That obliviate...."
"Not sure. Was it a younger source or someone older?"
"I have no idea."
"I'll have my godfather go into my mind to see if he can tell," he muttered. "To make sure I didn't do something uncouth." He sighed. Just like his father, stress gave him a headache. "Anyway, my mother had a discussion with Professor Moody in front of Magical Creatures." He swallowed. "From the stories told to my year, she cursed him with something then strolled inside."
"A mirroring charm," Lucius said. "Draco had to call for some neutralizing solution for the magical shock last night."
The others on the board shared a look. "Tell us in timeline order, boy." Draco nodded, making his report more coherent. They got a few others to hear about the incident with Moody and they took a memory copy from one younger slytherin to see if they could identify them. The ones who could were a bit worried. Barty Crouch Junior was a virulent death eater with a fanatic's drive for the work they had been pushed towards.
No one wanted to tell the aurors, because his father would cover it up.
Draco cleared his throat. "There's ones that won't stand for a cover up. Even among their own. They're more friendly with Moody than Crouch," he noted. "I've seen them in the halls while shadowing Father at work. And one is a Black but disowned." He looked at his father.
"There is?" he asked, looking confused.
"Mother's sister Andromeda has a daughter named Nymphadora. It's on the family tapestry, Father. She is an auror. Have Mother tell her."
"Hmm. Junior auror probably without a family to help her move up," Lucius said. "That could work. That way someone's aware and if Crouch gets pissy with being caught he does it with her instead of the students."
"Agreed," they said. "Boy, go tell your cousin." He looked smugly at Draco.
"Fine. Let me floo her." He moved to do that. "Nymphadora Tonks." She appeared, giving him a confused look. "Cousin, I must report something to you seriously," he said quietly. "And in private. Do step through." He got out of the way. "It involves something at the school."
She stepped through. "How bad? Some girl attacked, Malfoy?"
"No. I got attacked by a teacher who changed me for no reason into a ferret. I went into magic shock last night. But today Mother cast a mirroring charm on him. I had the luck to get some neutralizing potion so it worked on Professor Moody as well. Changing who he was."
"Hold on. Moody might've attacked you, he's go ta blind spot against your father for being dark."
"Yes, but this wasn't that. Today, when Mother hit him with the mirror charm, the neutralizing solution still in me worked on him and canceled out his polyjuice. It wasn't Moody. I know of that grumpy arsehole who thinks I'm a fairy princess and set to take it up the arse from the dark lord as he told me once. Told me it was all I was good for. I should've figured it wasn't him earlier as he never told me that this year."
She blinked. "So...Mad Eye was under Polyjuice."
He touched her hand to show her that memory. "I barely studied occulmencary. That's who he turned into."
She blinked. "That's the boss's son. Then where's Moody?"
"Isn't that something for you to find out instead of me? I'm just reporting that the supposed auror wasn't him."
She nodded. "Yeah, I need to find that out. What the hell is going on?"
He shrugged. "I don't know. I know he's not Moody. I know he's a dead man if I get my hands on him."
She stared at him. "You won't last in prison, Malfoy. Don't even try. Crouch could beat you in a duel."
"Who said I'd play fair?"
"Neither does he."
"No but I can do things he can't." He smirked. "I have to deal with three little darlings who're as dark as any dark lord in the making."
"Pansy and who?" Lucius asked.
He pointed at one parent with a grimace. "His two and Borth."
Lucius grimaced. "I had hoped he'd be a Ravenclaw."
"No. He's not. He tried to cast a crucio on the head boy for telling him it was curfew. Took him four times. Pansy told him why it took him four times. The other two sat him down to find out how he had done it so they could." He looked at that parent. "Thank you very much for making my school years even worse than Potter has."
Tonks cleared her throat. "We didn't hear a thing about a dark curse up there."
He looked confused. "You mean the wards were expected to actually work for a change?" he asked dryly. "That's amusing! Shocking but amusing."
She nodded. "Yeah, we can look into that. And who was Moody and where he is. Any other students get hurt and are you filing charges?"
"Bloody hell yes." He smiled. "I want to rend that moron to potions ingredients. I'm sure I could. If not, I'm owed a favor by Pansy."
She nodded. "Wait on us finding him first. Okay?" She looked over. "Are you making it official?" They all nodded. "I can do that and not tell the boss that his son's running around somehow. The others will be upset for Moody." She left, going to find her partner and a few others.
She hauled them into a room. "Moody wasn't Moody, the one pretending to be him was exposed as using polyjuice thanks to Narcissa Malfoy using a mirroring charm to get back at him for torturing her son. He had changed Draco's form so he had neutralizing solution in him."
"Missing auror, the polyjuiced one tortured a student, we've got a huge problem," Bones said. "Okay. Let's get on that, people. Someone find Moody's health charm. You all have one in the safe room. He hid his so no one could track him."
She put a hand on Bones' arm with a grin. "It was noted that a first year slytherin cast a crucio in the school when a head boy told him to go to bed. Took him four tries but he managed it. And the report was put in anonymously."
She considered it. "Borth?" She nodded. "Figures. We knew he was mentally broken and were looking for him to go over."
"Hmm. The others in the house who're that broken sat down to learn from 'im and one of them told him why it had taken him four tries."
"The wards didn't send a shout out," Kingsley said, looking confused.
"Hmm. That one thought it was amusing it didn't work. Said it was pretty typical."
He sighed. "So a third problem." Tonks grinned with a nod.
"Sure," Bones agreed. "Kingsley, get Moody's health charm. Tonks, go ...I'll go to the bank. You go to Hogsmeade, see if you can find that one that ran away so we can prove who it was. We will not tell anyone else outside us because right now it is speculation."
They nodded, moving to work on that and find Moody. They would not let one of theirs be lost. Even the grumpy, paranoid one. She went to the bank, staring at them. "I need to speak to a cursebreaker again please," she said patiently and politely. "About a different matter."
"Which matter?"
"The wards at Hogwarts didn't tell us that someone had cast an unforgiveable."
"That's bad," the receptionist agreed, calling one for her. They went to his office so they could go over that incident. They could check the wards, see why it was blocked. They were paid to upkeep them yearly. Though the yearly check hadn't been requested for years.
She noted that they had found an illegal animagus hiding there, a dark curse had been let off without an alert, and that dark artifacts had been in the school without an alert. That made that cursebreaker very angry. They had been used. And it seemed to lead back to the other time they had been used.
The ledger account against Albus Dumbledore was expanding. Some day they'd have to settle that account.
***
Ginny was out for detention with Hagrid, as assigned to her by Snape. So she was in the barn cleaning up and feeding the animals. She heard a voice and turned, finding a man there. "Who're you?" she demanded.
"I felt his magic," he said, staring at her. "How are you doing that?"
She stared at him. "No you didn't."
"Yes I have. I know his magic, girly! I know his magic very well, Miss Weasley!" He stepped into the light. "How do you feel like HIS magic?"
"None of your business. Now, you should probably run off before I call for help."
"That won't help you. I will take HIS magic from you, girl!" He pulled up a wand. She had hers in hand for cleaning up spilled straw and cast a shield charm as she let the unicorn out. It didn't like her a lot but it hated that guy. It ran at him to stab him. He screamed, firing on it.
That let Ginny have an opening to cast something. And she was mean because she was scared. "Incendio whiparus," she cast coldly, making him scream as it burned him with a fire whip. The unicorn danced away. "I'd run. I can save the animals and not you." He fled but she cast at him again, getting one of his feet.
Not a tracking charm and she hated that she hadn't thought of it. She put out the fire as Hagrid came running. "Hagrid, that guy that was the defense teacher tried to hurt me," she called. "I got him with Charlie's spell for the dragons to slow them down! It hit his right foot!" He nodded, going to tell someone to tell the headmaster that. "Wish I had used a tracker," she muttered.
Harry came in and rehosed the smoking areas for her, looking at her. "You good?"
"I'm fine, Harry." She sucked in a breath. "I think."
"Ron's outside. We were at practice. Go sit with him." She ran while he checked the animals with Hagrid. He calmed the unicorn down, making it dance. "I know I'm not a girl. Sorry!" Hermione and a few others came in to help. "Here, get him to his paddock." She nodded, taking him to do that. The others checked all the stalls. Harry came out, staring at Ginny. "Fire whip?"
"It was all I thought of. He said I felt like *his* magic. Kept stressing *his*."
"So, yeah," he said with a nod. "Probably what you think. Nice job. You didn't burn down the barn."
She nodded, letting Ron guard her for now. The twins came running and took her to look over. "I'm fine. He kept saying I felt like *his* magic," she said, looking at them. "Stressed *his*." She looked at McGonagall. "I could only think up the fire whip. I'm sorry about the almost fire. I didn't think of a tracking charm either. I used the one Charlie uses on his dragons. It hit his right foot."
"I'll send out that notice," she said. "Did anyone else get hurt?"
"No, I was cleaning the barn for detention. I did let the unicorn out; she nearly stabbed whoever that was." She put a hand on her arm. "He kept saying I felt like *his* magic, stressed *his*."
Her face went hard and nodded. "That tells me a lot, and probably why you felt weird about him earlier. Let me get to work tracking him. Weasleys, take her to the infirmary to be checked over." They nodded, taking her inside as a group. "Hagrid, is everyone all right?"
"Yeah, they're fine. She was real careful and I'm glad she's not 'urt either!" He stared at her. "Who was it?"
"I have an idea but can't confirm it. He'd be as old as Severus however." She nodded. "Dark hair, pale skin." She spun and stomped off. "Severus!" He looked at her, meeting her in the middle. "He said she felt of *his* magic," she said quietly. "Stressed *his*."
"So it is Crouch or a death eater," he said quietly. "She used a fire whip?"
"She said it's all she thought of and couldn't think of a tracker either, so she used what her brother used on dragons on his right foot."
"That's probably a slowing spell." He considered it then cast around for anything dragon related. Hagrid's hut he ignored because there was no telling what he had in there. "Did he have a wand?"
"Yes. I think so."
"Then he could be anywhere."
"Did you sense anything?"
"Hagrid's hut."
She went to check that. "Hagrid, let's make sure he didn't go into your hut." He nodded, going with her and his dog. Fang sniffed out the idiot for them and bayed. They watched the English mastiff take off running, him following. It led them to the centaurs, who were gearing up for a war. McGongall joined him a minute later when she caught up. "We had a male person of unknown name attack a student. Did he run past here and harm you as well?" she demanded.
"Aye," one agreed with a nod. "He attacked a young filly on patrol, Deputy Headmistress."
"Does she need Poppy's help? I can summon her."
"No. She'll be fine," another said, looking at her. "Why was that one attacking a student?"
"Earlier he was pretending to be the defense teacher and wasn't who he said he was. He got found out."
They shared a look, taking Hagrid to a spot out there that had a hidden cache they didn't know anything about. It had a running away trunk. Clothes for a disguise, a spare wand, some spare papers and some money. They took it with them with a nod and sent Poppy out anyway to help that filly. The aurors took the suitcase from them.
"Buried in the woods."
The auror nodded. "We can check. See who it belongs to." He looked at it, then tested it. "It seems to belong to Moody but I can't be sure."
"Well, that one was pretending to be Moody so it's possible," she said dryly.
The auror stiffened, staring at her. "Moody's missing?"
"The one who was supposedly him changed via the polyjuice being worn out or something. I'm not sure how. But he changed on the lawn and ran off before anyone could catch him. They tried but didn't manage it. Then he accosted Miss Weasley in the barn. Thankfully she could control her fire whip."
He nodded. "We hadn't heard Mad Eye was missing at all. How long?"
"I have no idea. I truly don't. At least the school year probably."
"I've got to report this. An auror missing that way is a bad thing. I'll get the rest in a moment." He rushed to a fire to call in. He got Crouch. "Mad Eye isn't up here, sir. He's missing. There was a polyjuiced person pretending to be him."
"Excuse me?" he demanded. "Where is he then?"
"No idea."
"Why wasn't this reported?"
"No idea, yet."
"I'll be right up."
"Bring Amelia," McGonagall said as she joined him. "And we did report it, slightly. I'm told the Board reported it earlier. Mostly because of who we believe that one is." She stared at him. "I did recognize him from the studies when a memory copy was taken." His eyes narrowed. "Yes, that's who I'm speaking of. I remember his deplorable grade in my class sixth year, Mr. Crouch, and yours." She walked off again.
"Be right up with Bones." He hung up and let out a string of swears. He found Amelia. She was waiting outside the office staring at his fit. "Where's Mad Eye?"
"His health tracker said unconscious and injured but well enough. We can't use it to track him, it's the old style and he won't allow anyone to update it. I've got two aurors going around Hogsmeade to see if it registers as being nearby."
"They told you."
"Yes and at this point I'm not going to ask the questions I will be in a few hours. It's more important to verify the identity first." She stared at him. "If so... I'm not giving you a head start. I'm not going to let us be tarnished." He nodded, stepping back.
"Ready to go? Portkey's waiting with a few extra. Handa is excitable. If I had known I would've sent him with a senior one." They stomped off together, the last time they'd work together, but for different reasons. She was sad about that but he had put his desires above the law. She couldn't allow that even if she understood.
***
Hermione looked at the map of the magical areas. She grimaced. She had an idea. It was goofy and weird but may just work. She looked at Neville, who was looking confused. "We know we can summon people."
"We do," he agreed. "You proved that last year."
Amelia Bones looked at them. "It's got a limited distance you can do that with."
"How limited? Fifty miles? Twenty?"
"Twenty's probably a bit too far." She looked at the map. "You're suggesting we move them around the areas to try to summon him?"
"At the least it'll give you a feeling of pulling in his direction, wouldn't it?"
"It would but he could move when he feels it."
"Can you track that?"
"Track an apparation? That office can."
"Can we do that?"
"If we know what wand he's using. There's some options there. Including his own, Moody's wand, one he stole."
"Get the head girl," she called. She leaned in a minute later. "Can you make sure no one's had a stolen wand?"
"Yeah, I can do that. That's sensible with a mad person running around. We're locking people in houses in about a half-hour, Granger."
She nodded. "That's fine." She went to send that to her prefects, who all stared then did that with their houses. Everyone seemed to have their wand or know where it was. One didn't answer right away but she was half asleep on the stairs and hers was obviously in her hair. They sent the ones to find theirs if they didn't have it in hand. The teachers were watching and wondering but one kid didn't find his.
Flitwick summoned it, handing it over to him. With the pair of panties that it had been wrapped in. With the reaction the boy had he had to talk to the young woman the panties belonged to so he could see if she was stalking him. She was but she'd stop it before they reported her tonight instead of tomorrow to her parents.
He looked at the aurors. "Moody's wand?"
"No idea," they agreed. "Could be."
"Try to summon Moody himself," Ron said as he joined them. "'Mione proved last year you could summon someone from inside the school. Said you had to be outside the proper wards. So outside the school itself."
McGonagall nodded, going to do that. "I remember. It's quite the thrill ride being summoned but it did stop the wholesale murder of the one who had summoned Mr. Potter from the school." She got outside the wards and gathered some magic, concentrating. "Accio Alastair Moody," she summoned. Nothing. "Accio Mad Eye Moody." She felt something and pointed. "He's that way. It's too heavy."
"The name thing?"
"You summon by the proper title or name," Flitwick sighed. "He's apparently decided that's his proper, true name."
"Ah," the aurors watching said with a nod. That figured with Moody.
She tried with Crouch silently. Nothing. "Not near here," she reported. "No pull at all."
"So not in the town," Bones said as she came out. "We can spread out with a few in each magical area." She assigned them to do that and report back if they found any traces. One did and they went that way. He tried to apparate off to leave the country but just barely missed a ferry. He didn't have a portkey, even Mad Eye's portkey for emergencies that took him to a blank field in Ireland.
They found him again within an hour and chased after him. He was going in circles. She added in more people to the search. Ones she could trust. A few might've been hidden death eaters but they weren't going to show their hands openly at this time, not for Crouch. They finally managed to trap him in an area with muggles about two in the morning.
Of course he'd go after the muggles. They couldn't allow that. Or let the muggles know. They set up a diversion to clear the town and told the local officers to do that. That helped somewhat. He tried to join them to sneak off again but didn't make it that far. Though, Petttigrew rescued him. They saw him doing it as they closed in on him. That made Bones livid.
"Black gets to kill that rat," she said with a nod. "I'll look the other way." She summoned Pettigrew, nothing close by. They had no idea where he was. They went back to report that. The minister was still awake and livid about all that mess. She stared at him. "We have two former death eaters who were hiding at the school," she told him simply. "One hiding as an auror of ours. Who also tried to attack students! No, we are not going to quit searching for them!"
"I can fire you!" Fudge shouted back.
"You go right ahead!" she snapped. "I'll find 'em anyway!" She stared at him. "You go right ahead and do that, Fudge." She made him back down and splutter.
"It does not look good on us!"
"Because we've been working all night to find a fleeing felon? It looks great on us to find them. The fact another former one rescued him to hide him is a different problem. Which I'll be announcing."
"No, I forbid it!"
"I don't care. I'm not going to risk them taking out a family to hide in their house." She stomped off. "People," she said, heading outside. "I am Auror Amelia Bones, second in command of the auror corps."
"If you say a word I will have your badge and your pension!"
"I've got money, Fudge. Unlike you." She looked at the reporters. "Earlier today a former death eater, a known one, was reported breaching Hogwart's wards. The student he accosted managed to get away and we were notified. We have spent most of tonight trying to capture him.
"He managed to get away at the very last second with the help of another known death eater. They are presently hiding somewhere in the country. If anyone should see Peter Pettigrew I am to be told *immediately*. The other one will be listed as unnamed at this time due to finding out how he managed to escape."
"Like Black escaped the jail?" one reporter demanded.
"Yes. Only earlier than Black did. We had assumed he had died. I found out how Black did and closed that loophole already." She looked around. "We know they have wands. We know they can apparate. They led us on a merry chase around the country and we'll be continuing to chase them until we find the felons.
"Most people are not in danger but if you have outbuildings at your house you may want to have them checked or raise any wards you have to show you if someone breaches your property. I want them found within a day especially as they may have injured one of ours. We have an auror that has not reported in yet from the chase.
"We are worried about him but we'll figure that out a bit more quietly." The reporters nodded, heading off to put that out. She looked at Fudge, who was livid but walked away from him. If he fired her, she could do other things. A whole lot of other things. She had skills, unlike Fudge. She went to the school, finding Potter up and on the stairs. Out of his house blatantly. "Potter, can you feel the Potter wards?"
"Yes and he's not there. I have him banned from them all, did that during Sirius' trial." He stood up. "Mad Eye's... we tried to do the summoning together as a group. He's within fifty miles. It's locked down. Feels like maybe he's in a trunk in something. He's not nearby and people are tracking that feeling."
"Good work." She nodded. "Thank you."
"If Pettigrew comes back here, I'm not going to stop. The Potter family magic is screaming he got away. Even with Sirius ordering me to let him have him."
"He's probably sneering at me too for putting him in jail."
"Are there any other known death eaters who're out and about?" Hermione asked as she joined them by coming out from under the invisibility cloak.
"Where did you get that?" Harry waved a hand. "Oh. Yes, there are. Too many to check."
"Any in remote areas or related definitely to Tom?" Harry asked.
"Not many. I've got wards on them. I'll check them in a few minutes. Mad Eye?"
Hermione pointed. "That way. Locked inside something inside a room we think. That's all we could tell. The thing he's in is heavy and it's stopped from moving by being inside something."
"Okay."
"He'd have to be able to get to it for hairs for polyjuice, right? They have to be semi fresh."
"There's ways to preserve hair," she told her. "But good thought. Go to bed, you two." She left, letting them sneak off again. McGonagall was watching, she spotted her cat form, getting a nod for making them give up for the night.
Hermione ran down to tug on her arm, staring at her. "Does Riddle have a home?"
"What?"
"You-Know-Who as everyone calls him, his name's Tom Riddle."
She frowned. "The former head boy?" She nodded. "I have no idea. I remember he was an orphan....but..."
McGonagall changed back. "He was a Gaunt if I remember right."
"I'll have someone check to see if their family home has them. It's a good idea at least. Thank you, Granger. Go to bed." She nodded, heading back up there. She smiled at McGonagall. "I like that girl." She left to send someone to check there. There were signs Pettigrew had been there. And something else.
Which made her frown but realize what it was. That wraith, or as Potter called it the flying, whiny thing, had been there. So they had their lord and two death eaters. This...this was looking bad. And now she realized why so many Ministry people had apparently shown up on a death omen. That sucked greatly. She had to prevent that.
***
Story notes:
Straight HP