Realistic Harry Potter - 106 The Real Summer Break Part Three

Bokuboy

Ron woke up in the very comfortable bed and waited for the assault from his twin brothers that he received every morning. When it didn’t come, he listened intensely for several minutes for their breathing. He didn’t hear it and opened his eyes to look over at the other beds in their small shared bedroom. He blinked his eyes when all he saw was a spacious bedroom with a dresser, shelves, and nightstands.

“Oh, right. I’m at Harry’s.” Ron said and sat up. He pushed off the blankets and rubbed at his face for a moment, then climbed off of the bed. He stretched, completely unused to not having to deal with his prankster brothers, and opened the spare bedroom door. He was hit in the face with the smell of delicious bacon and his mouth drooled.

He dashed into the huge bathroom and did his business quickly, washed his hands, and practically ran over to the kitchen. The door was open and he peeked in to see Harry diligently cooking at the stove. Ron sat down at the table and watched as Harry deftly handled several pans with seasoned scrambled eggs in one, bacon in another, hash browns in another, and pieces of ham and cheese in the last.

The toast popped and Harry quickly darted over to the four slice toaster and buttered them with only two swipes of a knife each, then he added them to the other stack of four. He darted back to the pans and stirred the eggs again, checked the ham and saw the cheese was melting nicely, then grabbed four plates. He divided up the eggs properly with two plates getting full shares, one plate getting three quarters, and one getting a half.

Harry portioned out the ham and cheese on top of the eggs on each plate, filled the rest of the plate with hash browns, dropped the bacon onto a separate plate, then served the plates in the spots they were supposed to go at the table. He added the toast in the middle of the table with the bacon and then put the jam, marmalade, and extra butter in the center, too.

“Um… Harry?” Ron asked, tentatively. “You know it’s just us, right?”

“Huh?” Harry blinked and looked up from his smaller portioned plate. “What?”

“Mate, it’s just you and me. What’s with the four plates and all the food?” Ron asked.

Harry looked down at the four plates, one in front of Ron, one on each side of the table, and one in front of Harry. He had automatically served breakfast like he always did, one to Vernon, one to Dudley, one to Petunia, and one for himself. He took a deep breath and let it out before he spoke.

“Sorry, I just did it without thinking. This is what I used to do every morning.” Harry admitted.

Ron looked at the piles of food on the other plates and then at Harry’s smaller portions and understood. “No worries, Harry.” Ron said and picked up what was Dudley’s plate and halved it to give it to Harry. “I’ll be right back.”

Harry sat there with surprise on his face as Ron left the kitchen. He looked down at the pile of food on his plate and a small smile appeared on his face. He wasn’t sure why. After a minute, there was the sound of roaring flames and then a delighted squeal. Another roar of flame later, Ron led his sister and Luna into the kitchen through the open door and Harry saw that they still wore their pyjamas.

“Hi, Harry!” Ginny said excitedly and practically hopped over to the table and sat where Dudley would be sitting if he had been there. “Thanks for inviting us over for an early breakfast!”

Luna gave him a little wave and sat where Petunia would have sat. The happy smile on her face didn’t look like it was going away anytime soon.

“Harry made a bunch of extra food by mistake and we can’t let it go to waste.” Ron said and sat down at Vernon’s place. “Doesn’t it smell great?”

“I bet it tastes even better!” Ginny said and scooped up a spoonful of eggs and cheese. “MMM!”

“Dig in!” Ron said and did just that.

Luna glanced at Harry, who nodded, and she started eating as well.

Harry looked at the three people at the kitchen table with him. It couldn’t have been more different than what he was so used to seeing while at home if he had tried. He smiled and started to eat, too.

*

Hermione woke up with an open book on her chest, which made her chuckle. She had fallen asleep while reading. Again. Her mother wouldn’t be pleased if she knew and Hermione checked the book to make sure it wasn’t damaged or had any bent pages. It was fine and she marked where she had reached and closed it.

She climbed out of bed and by reflex, went to the window. She saw a letter tucked under the edge of the window on the sill and she opened the window to grab it. Hedwig had listened and just dropped the thing off instead of trying to wake her. At least, she assumed the owl didn’t try. She had been out like a light and might not have been able to wake, no matter how much noise there was.

Hermione opened the letter and she caught her breath at the contents. “No, Harry! You can’t!” She gasped and ran to her desk, grabbed some parchment and wrote out a quick note, then realized she still had the same problem that she had the day before. “Oh, damn!”

“What was that, young lady?” Her mother asked as she opened her bedroom door.

“I’m sorry, mother.” Hermione said, her face red. “It just slipped out.”

“I guess something’s got you worked up.” Mrs. Granger said with a smile.

“Yes.” Hermione said and handed her Harry’s letter.

Mrs. Granger took several moments to read through it and was completely shocked at the contents. “Surely, he’s joking. There’s no way he would do this, is there?”

Hermione gave her a severe look and her mother sighed.

“Well, we always did want to build an addition on the house.” Mrs. Granger said.

“Mom!” Hermione gasped.

“It’s not like we can tell him no before he orders it, is there?” Mrs. Granger asked and Hermione held out her note and shook her head. “If we’re lucky, it’ll be done long before the actual floo connection would have been installed.”

Hermione took a deep breath and let it out. “I’m going to owe him money for the rest of my life.”

Mrs. Granger laughed and put the letter down on the desk and hugged her daughter. “He’s never asked you for anything like that, has he?”

“No, but…”

“Personally, I think it’s better that he’s buying you things because he likes you instead of picking on you or making fun of you.”

“Harry would never be mean to me like that!” Hermione gasped. “He hates bullies!”

“I seemed to have made that deduction for myself.” Mrs. Granger said and let her go. “Get dressed and come down for breakfast.” She took the refusal note from Hermione’s hand and crumpled it up, tossed it in the trash with a smile, and left.

Hermione looked at the trash can for a moment, sighed, then went to the bathroom to wash up and get dressed. She would have to wait to see Harry in person before she could give him a piece of her mind. He couldn’t keep spending all of his money on her and not expect anything in return. It just wasn’t right. She was going to have to figure out something to do about it.

*

“That was delicious!” Ginny gushed and wiped at her face with a napkin. “You’re a great cook, Harry!”

“Th-thanks.” Harry said, not used to being praised for something so simple that he did at home all the time. He waited for Ron and Luna to finish before he stood up and swiped his wand at the table. All of the dirty dishes flew over to the sink and started washing themselves. He grabbed a piece of plastic wrap and covered the uneaten toast and put it in the refrigerator.

“So, what are we doing today?” Ron asked. “Are we starting on the new books or what?”

“Do you mean the ones I bought or the school books for second years?”

“Bought, of course. We can look at the school books whenever we want.” Ron said.

“All right. Wash up and I’ll get them.”

“YES!” Ron yelled and took off out of the kitchen.

“What about us?” Ginny asked.

“Did you go through your party bags yet?” Harry asked as he, Ginny, and Luna left the kitchen and followed Ron.

“I did!” Ginny said, excitedly. “Those treats were delicious and the games were fun! George practically raided my bag to get another set to try spelling them to move.”

“Why?” Harry asked.

“He blew his up, of course.” Ron said when he came out of the bathroom. “Or Fred did. They kind of had a war with them and then kablooie.”

Harry laughed. “It’s a good thing I packed the spares after the party.” He went into the bathroom and washed his hands. When he came out, he waved at the bathroom. “We don’t have to take turns. There’s two sinks.”

Ginny gasped and ran into the bathroom, then she gasped again when she saw the size of the place. “It’s HUGE!”

Harry couldn’t help but laugh at her shock. He turned and lightly touched Luna’s lower back and waved at the bathroom with his other hand. “Help yourself.”

Luna beamed a smile at him and went inside.

Harry went into his bedroom and opened his trunk to get the new books he had bought and also grabbed four of the party bags. He had a dozen of them left. They really had prepared a bunch extra in case more people showed up than they were expecting. He went back out to the living room and handed two bags each to Ginny and Luna.

Ginny let out a squeal of delight and dove into them with abandon. Luna had a slightly open mouth and just stared at Harry.

Harry pretty much knew the emotions that she had on her face, because he had shown the exact same ones when he had received his first Christmas presents last year. He handed Ron one of the new books and the redhead leapt over the back of the couch to plop down and started reading all of the new hexes and curses.

Harry chuckled and looked back at Luna to whisper. “It’s all right. You can have them. I’ve got a dozen more in my trunk.”

“But… you already…”

“We made up a bunch of them up because we didn’t know who was going to show up.” Harry explained to her. “I’ll be going through them later to separate them out and cast preservation charms on the treats, so they won’t go bad before school starts.”

“You’re going to eat them all yourself?” Luna asked, a bit surprised. It was a lot of treats.

“Nope!” Harry said and then grinned. “I’m going to leave them for the house elves that clean the Griffindor dormitories.”

Luna’s mouth dropped open in shock and Harry couldn’t help but admire how cute she was like that.

“Have fun with them.” Harry said and lightly touched her shoulder. “You don’t have to save them all this time, okay?”

Luna closed her mouth and looked at him with wide eyes. “How did you know I did that?”

“I saved everything that was given to me during my first real Christmas with my godfather last year. The presents, the treats, the wrapping paper, the crackers, and everything else.” Harry admitted and he didn’t see Ginny’s surprised face or Ron’s slightly embarrassed one. “I’m going to remember it for the rest of my life and I just couldn’t bring myself to lose anything.”

Luna briefly closed her eyes and nodded before she opened her eyes and smiled. “Thank you, Harry.”

“You’re welcome.” Harry said and walked over to the couch, saw Ron’s slumped figure, and chuckled as he put the other books down on the coffee table and grabbed one for himself. “You’re lucky the armchairs are just as comfy as the ones in the common room or I’d be shoving you over.” He plopped down into one and let out a sigh as he opened his chosen book.

*

Amelia stared at the latest report from Agilbert Fontaine and she couldn’t believe what it said. She read it again and again, shaking her head the entire time. “How by Merlin’s beard did you figure this out?!?”

Agilbert chuckled at her surprised face. “I spent half my ‘night’ going over what I could possibly do with the thing.”

Amelia leaned closer and was a bit too eager for him to enlighten her.

Agilbert smirked at her and Amelia noticed what she was doing, then she laughed softly and sat back in her chair.

“All right, I won’t pry too much. Your thought processes are your own, after all.” Amelia said.

“That’s why you called me in, my wonderful brain is quite intriguing.” Agilbert joked and they shared a short laugh. “It’s a journal, so I had the brilliant idea to write in the thing.”

“Not personally, surely.” Amelia said.

“Writing by hand onto a Class Five object? Are you insane?” Agilbert asked and laughed. “I didn’t want to touch it, let alone pour my thoughts into it.”

“Then how did you discover the secret?” Amelia asked.

“A quick-quotes quill took the hit for me.” Agilbert said and Amelia gasped.

“Sweet Merlin.” Amelia said and looked back at the report. “How long did it last?”

“About three minutes, then it pretty much exploded when the dark energy of the thing tried to transfer over to it.” Agilbert said, all joking forgotten. “I ran tests during the experiment and on the remains of the quill. Page five has the results.”

Amelia flipped to the page and read what was written there. “I glanced at this before and I don’t understand what you mean.”

“It’s quite simple, really.” Agilbert said and pointed to the last sentence on the page. “The reason it’s coming up as a Class Five object without any outward signs or markers is because it’s a soul container.”

“No, I get the words your wrote. I just don’t understand what you mean. How can a book be a soul container?”

“Didn’t you speak to any of your Unspeakables?” Agilbert asked. “I added the request to the beginning of the report so you could get the proper background before we spoke.”

“I did and the head of the department can’t explain it, either.” Amelia admitted.

Agilbert sighed. “Your ministry is going a bit too far in outlawing certain magics to the point that they are forgotten by those in charge.”

“What?” Amelia blinked her eyes for several seconds. “What magics?”

Agilbert waved his wand at the room and a silencing charm flowed over everything. “I’ll humor your ministry’s shortsighted internal secrecy policy just this once.” He said and leaned forward. “That journal is a horcrux.”

Amelia took in a sharp breath. “No! You can’t be serious!”

“Ah, so you’ve heard the term before. That’s a relief.” Agilbert sat back. “I was worried I would have to teach you about them from scratch.”

“I’ve heard about them. They really are the darkest of magics.”

“I assume that you also know that there’s only one way to create one?” Agilbert asked and she nodded.

“Murder.” Amelia said with a sigh.

“Correct.” Agilbert said with a crooked smile. “Depending on the version of the spell used, there could be a ritual involved or just the intent is enough.”

“How did a simple journal become a soul container?” Amelia asked.

“Most believe that in order to contain a piece of one’s soul, what you need is something with strong metal barriers or an expensive item to work.” Agilbert explained. “However, all that’s really needed is a personal connection with the item and a deep desire to have it work.”

Amelia couldn’t help but stare at the man across the desk from her. “You can’t mean…”

“Oh, yes. It could be anything. Anything at all.” Agilbert said, to her dismay. “As long as it’s important to the individual casting the spell and they believe it’s a fit container for storing a piece of their soul.”

Amelia put the report down and wasn’t sure what to say.

“Do you want me to continue testing it to see if I can figure out who is actually inside the thing?” Agilbert asked. “We may need to have a few of your people cast some spells and protections on the quill to stop it from exploding right away, though.”

Amelia gave him a skeptical look. “Would an unbreakable charm work?”

Agilbert chuckled. “The one I used had an unbreakable charm on it.”

“Wh-what?” Amelia asked, shocked. “How? How did it explode?”

“The soul fragment used up every bit of magic inside the quill, including the charms cast on it.”

Amelia sat there and thought about it for a few minutes. “You’re thinking about layering as many spells and charms on it as possible, aren’t you?”

Agilbert gave her a pleased smile and nodded. “The more magic cast on it, the longer it should last.”

“All right.” Amelia said and went to her door to tell her secretary to gather the Aurors in the department that weren’t out on cases and to contact the Unspeakables department to send up several representatives and the head of the department. They were going to need to witness the experiment this time.

“I’m glad you’ve listened to me.” Agilbert said and stood to join her in waiting for the others to come.

“I wouldn’t dismiss the expert I’ve asked for help. That’s just asking for trouble.” Amelia said. “Although I want to dismiss your results. I really, really do.”

Agilbert chuckled. “Don’t worry, Madam Bones. We’ll get to the bottom of this by the end of my shift today or I’ll hang up my wand.”

Amelia gave him a concerned look, then she nodded. “If you can be that confident to stake your field career over this, then I won’t argue about how stupid it is to bet something you care about so much.”

Agilbert laughed. “I’ve grown to love teaching for the rest of the year. Relaxing during the summer months won’t be too big of a stretch for me. I hope.”

Amelia had to smile at his nonchalance. The Aurors showed up quickly and then a minute later three heavily cloaked men appeared from the elevator and Amelia greeted them. With them assembled and after a quick explanation about what was going to happen, they went over to Agilbert’s assigned testing area. They spent the next twenty minutes casting as many different charms and spells onto the quick-quotes quill that they could come up with.

They all had to be careful with what ones they used, because they didn’t want to interfere with the quill’s normal enchantments. That would defeat the point of doing all of this. When they were done, the quill was vibrating with all of the magic that it had been charged up with.

“This is going to feel really weird, I just know it.” Agilbert said as he picked up the quill and he stuck out his tongue to lick the tip to activate it. “WHHHALLLL!” He yelled as the quill vibrated violently and then shot out of his hand and through the open door to the closed off area.

One of the Aurors shut the door and they all watched as the quill went right to the open journal and started to write. The book was tilted up and they all saw what Agilbert thought to the quill and it wrote out onto the blank page.

“Day two. This journal is great! I wrote in it yesterday and it wrote back! What an amazing piece of magic!”

The words faded away and half of the Aurors in the room were shocked when words appeared again.

“I’m glad you like it. It’s one of the very first bits of magic I created.” The journal wrote and then the words faded.

“Merlin’s beard.” The Head of the Department of Mysteries whispered.

“You created it? That’s brilliant!” The quill wrote. “What else did you make? No wait! Who are you? I want to look you up as soon as possible and see what other things you’ve done!”

Amelia chuckled as the words faded into the journal. “Nice ego stroking there, Agilbert.”

“Thank you.” Agilbert said with a grin. “Let’s hope whoever it is takes the bait.”

Thankfully, they were not disappointed.

“I’m glad you’re as eager as I am to find out what other great things I’ve done since I made this journal.” The journal wrote and the words faded. “My name is Tom. Tom Marvolo Riddle.”

“I’m on it!” One of the Aurors nearly yelled and took off running.

“Agilbert, try to find out when it was made and how old he is.” Amelia said.

“I can’t just ask outright.” Agilbert warned. “That’s too suspicious.”

“I trust you to do your best.” Amelia said, confidently.

“We’re past the three minute mark.” Kingsley Shacklebolt said.

Agilbert concentrated on the quill and had it write. “You don’t know how relieved I am that you’re a boy like me. I think I’d be too embarrassed to keep writing if you had been a girl.”

“Ha ha. I’m glad as well. If you had been a girl, this would be really awkward.” The journal responded and then the quill shivered and glowed red for a second.

“Sweet Merlin! Did you see that?” One of the Unspeakables asked. “That burned away nearly half of the protective spells we cast on it!”

“Amelia.” Agilbert said and she nodded to the Unspeakables to start their diagnostic spells.

“I wouldn’t mind having a girlfriend, though. Some of them are really pretty.” The quill wrote.

“How old are you?” The journal wrote back.

“Excellent idea to go for a younger age, Agilbert.” Amelia said in appreciation.

Agilbert nodded. “I’m only sixteen. I mean, I’m sixteen and I’ll be seventeen in two months. How old are you?”

One of the Aurors chuckled at the awkward writing.

“You shouldn’t really mind my age.” The journal wrote and the quill glowed again and started to smoke.

“It’s almost out of magic.” One of the Unspeakables warned.

“Are you sure? You’re not some old guy, are you?” The quill wrote and several of the Aurors laughed.

“I’m seventeen.” The journal wrote back. “I finished this the same year I graduated from Hogwarts.”

“End it for now, Agilbert. We’ll come back as soon as we find out something else.”

“Darn it! My mom’s calling me for supper. I gotta go, Tom! Bye!”

“Goodbye.” The journal wrote and Agilbert mentally pulled the quill away from the journal just as it was being covered in another red glow. It was an inch away from the page when it lit of fire and exploded spectacularly.

“Don’t tell me that you were in the room the first time that happened.” Amelia said as she looked at all the little flaming bits that pretty much covered the entire room.

“Okay, I won’t tell you.” Agilbert said with a sheepish look on his face. Nearly everyone laughed and even one of the Unspeakables joined in, which was something the others didn’t expect.

“Okay, people. We have some information to check out, so let’s get to work.” Amelia said. “Coordinate with my office and let me know what you find. I’ll keep you all informed when someone else discovers something.”

“Yes, ma’am.” They all said, even the Unspeakables. They all left the room, except for Amelia, the Unspeakable that was the Head of the Department of Mysteries, and Agilbert.

“It must be destroyed.” The Unspeakable said.

“No doubt.” Agilbert said. “It’s a nasty piece of work.”

“I can only imagine what would be happening to anyone using that thing as an actual journal.” Amelia said and hid her shiver at remembering the red glow that had tried to take over the quill three times.

“There are few spells that can destroy a Class Five object.” The Unspeakable said. “I doubt even the unforgivable curses would do much.”

“It’s difficult to kill an object, even with the killing curse.” Amelia said and looked at Agilbert. “What do you suggest?”

“It’s paper, so I’d say Fiendfyre would be the most efficient.” Agilbert said.

Both Amelia and the Unspeakable stared at him in shock.

“A well controlled short burst would do it. There’s no need to make fully fleshed out creatures to do the job.” Agilbert said with a shrug.

“Are you crazy?” Amelia asked. “You’re talking about Fiendfyre! The last time someone unleashed something like that, it burned down half of London before the ministry could contain it and let it burn itself out!”

Agilbert looked just as shocked as they did. “What? Why?” He asked and then remembered his statement about the ministry restricting magic to the point of practically forgetting about it. “Well, it seems you aren’t teaching proper magic control to your citizens or having them practice meditation and Occlumency.”

“Why would we teach…” The Unspeakable stopped himself from confirming the population’s ignorance of the obscure branch of magic.

Agilbert sighed. “If you did bother to teach them to strengthen their minds and didn’t try to hide important life-saving magic, none of them would be worried about runaway Fiendfyre. It’s easily contained, assuming the caster isn’t stupid enough to not have a set goal when it was cast and then properly ending the spell when the task was done.”

Amelia wasn’t sure what to say to that, considering that Fiendfyre was as dark of a spell as anyone could cast. It was right up there with the unforgivable curses, as far as she was concerned.

Agilbert saw the concern on her face and didn’t sigh again. “I can tell that our general philosophies and our country’s teaching methods are very different. We teach to enlighten and prepare our students for anything that could happen, making sure that they can handle themselves and won’t panic too much when they are surprised.”

“Do you teach them how to cast Fiendfyre?” The Unspeakable asked, his face a blank mask.

Agilbert chuckled; but, it was without mirth. He knew what the man was really asking. “No, we don’t teach them the spell and we aren’t a dark wizard factory.”

Amelia winced and the Unspeakable’s blank face had a bit of a frown.

“Any student can learn the spell after graduation if they have already proven that they have the mental fortitude to handle casting the spell. However, we teach everyone to control it if its ever cast around them. They can all defend themselves from it, block it, and contain it.”

Amelia was surprised by that and she couldn’t keep it off of her face.

“As with everything, accidents can happen. I’ve personally seen a classroom gutted by a returning student that wasn’t happy with their graduating marks.” Agilbert said and laughed at their shocked faces. “She had a tumultuous relationship with the teacher, who had given her average marks for the entire year. The final mark barely let her pass and she took it personally.”

“Personally!” Amelia gasped.

“Yes. After the fire was contained and extinguished, the faculty conducted an investigation. The teacher in question had propositioned her and she firmly rejected him. He didn’t take it well and made sure that her marks reflected his opinion of her.”

“Merlin’s beard.” The Unspeakable said.

“What happened?” Amelia asked.

“She was fined the cost of replacing the classroom and everything inside that was destroyed. She was also charged for threatening a teacher with death if he didn’t fix her grades.” Agilbert said. “She served six months in prison for her crimes and the teacher was fired and stripped of his credentials before he was ostracized. Her work for the year was independently graded and she was awarded the highest marks in the class.”

“That didn’t help her much if she was in prison.” Amelia said, sadly.

Agilbert laughed. “Are you kidding? She unveiled a very subtle corruption that had been in the school for about ten years and even though she had complained to the administration, there was no real proof that he had been doing anything wrong until after her attack and we investigated everything thoroughly. We found out that the teacher had been using his position to manipulate several young women into having relationships with him.”

Amelia closed her eyes and let out a sigh. “How many?”

“We don’t know and none of the other previous students we’ve approached have said anything.” Agilbert said. “I’m sure that if we did the same thing to them by having their work examined independently, the jobs they have now might not be theirs anymore.”

“You can’t investigate unless there’s a charge?” The Unspeakable asked. “How did you establish there was more than one if no one else officially complained?”

“Rumors, of course.” Agilbert admitted. “Girls gossip about everything, even when sworn to secrecy, apparently.”

“How would they…”

“No names were mentioned and that kept the secrecy intact. Everyone knew who they were talking about and it didn’t matter, because no one ever admitted that it was going on.”

“That’s a lot more than I ever wanted to learn about a teacher abusing their position.” Amelia said, her face grim.

“I can tell you something else that will make you feel better about the whole thing.” Agilbert teased with a smile.

“All right, let’s hear it.” Amelia said.

“She’s now a teacher at the school and everyone loves her.” Agilbert said and laughed at their shocked faces. “No, we don’t hold people’s criminal records against them if they served their time and felt remorse for their crimes.”

“But… but she…” Amelia mumbled.

“She paid the school back in record time by doing extra work and assignments, tutoring, and even did several favors for the school.” Agilbert admitted. “She’s quite remarkable.”

“Are you saying that prison changed her?” The Unspeakable asked.

Agilbert laughed. “No, she was always remarkable. She came out just the same as she did when she went in. She was just too wrapped up in her revenge to think clearly before that point.”

“You admire her.” Amelia said in understanding.

“Of course I do. She’s my wife.” Agilbert said and then laughed again at their shocked faces. “She’s going to love seeing this memory! Ha ha ha!”

“You can’t show her…” The Unspeakable started to say.

“It will only be this private conversation and none of the experiments. I never share any extracurricular work with her, unless she’s brought in as a consultant as well.” Agilbert said. “I was tempted to call her and consult on the detector, though.”

Amelia wasn’t sure she heard that right. “Excuse me? What did you say?”

“I want to alter a dark detector to find more of them.” Agilbert said and waved at the journal. “With the way your ministry has hidden and forbidden so much knowledge, I’m sure there’s more than one of the damn things around here.”

Amelia couldn’t really refute the accusation about the ministry. She knew the Wizengamot restricted more things every year by passing laws to either ban or remove certain magics and books. She would have to go back and look up who had set the restrictions on horcruxes, because she would be derelict in her duty if she didn’t properly educate her Aurors about the threats they might be facing.

“I doubt a sneak-o-scope would be strong enough to hold a fraction of that energy, though. You wouldn’t happen to have a foe glass I could borrow, would you?” Agilbert asked.

Amelia blinked her eyes for several seconds. “A foe glass? How would that even work?”

“You change the visual of enemies and their reflections where you see the whites of their eyes. You know as they get closer to you, the image becomes clearer and then fully forms when they are practically on top of you.”

Amelia and the Unspeakable nodded in affirmation.

“The foe glass physically detects the distance that enemies are away from you. You just have to change it to a map instead of a reflection and it will show you how far away they are.”

Amelia was stunned by that revelation and the Unspeakable stood there like a statue.

Agilbert gave both people searching looks and then smiled. “Do you want me to call my wife?”

*

Luna was having a great time. She and Ginny were playing with the games and toys in the gift bags and had eaten several of the delicious treats. The little cauldron cakes decorated the same as Harry’s birthday cake were the best and the little boxes of Bertie Bott’s Every Flavor Beans were a close second.

Ginny gagged as she tried one and Luna held in her laugh, then Luna plucked a cherry flavored one and pretended that it was really sour. She didn’t want Ginny to think that she was intentionally giving her the worst flavored ones. She was; but, she didn’t want her to know that.

“Can I have one?” Harry suddenly asked and Luna turned her head to look at him. “I hope it’s nothing too disgusting. I had a liver flavored one the last time I tried. It wasn’t even cooked.”

Ginny and Ron laughed and Luna giggled.

“I’ll try and get you a good one.” Luna said and dug her hand into the box and made a show of rolling them around and making noise, then pulled out a pitch black one.

“I bet that’s tripe!” Ron exclaimed.

“No, it has to be truffle.” Ginny said. “Oh! Maybe it’s dark chocolate!”

Harry took it from Luna without even a bit of trepidation and popped it into his mouth. He chewed on it for a second and winced a little.

“What is it?!?” Ron and Ginny asked at the same time.

“Is it disgusting?” Luna asked, her voice unsure.

“It kind of tastes like burnt licorice.” Harry said. “It’s a good thing I like it, because it’s really strong.”

Luna beamed a smile at him and he sat down beside her.

“Do you guys want to order out for lunch or are you okay with what I’ve brought home?” Harry asked and pointed at one of the games. “Wanna play?”

“YES!” Luna gasped and then blushed. “I mean, yes. I’d like to.”

Harry chuckled and he quickly set up the little board game and Luna passed him the dice.

“Let’s do four player.” Ron said and he and Ginny sat on the floor across from them. They used the two pieces from the second game and Harry changed their colors to be different from Luna’s and his pieces, then they started playing.

“I’m good with food you already have.” Ron said a minute later when it was his turn. “Assuming you’ve got enough for the four of us here.”

Harry almost laughed. “I could have the three of you over for the rest of the month and I might run out of prepared food. Maybe. That’s not counting everything I’ve stocked up in the cupboards and fridge.”

Ron laughed. “You really went all out, huh?”

“I planned to have enough food for the whole summer, then spent two weeks travelling with Amelia and Susan and spent three weeks with Sirius, Ela, and Remus afterwards.” Harry said. “I doubt I could eat all of the snacks I bought, too.”

“I have to see that!” Ginny exclaimed and shot to her feet.

“Second cupboard on the right from the stove.” Harry said and she took off. “Above the counter!”

“Okay!” Ginny said and disappeared into the kitchen. “OH, MY GOD!”

Luna giggled and Harry smirked at her, then Ginny came back into the living room and her arms were full of prepackaged cookies, pastries, tarts, candy, and chocolate frogs.

“LOOK AT THIS!” Ginny yelled and dropped them on top of the game. “I can’t believe it! There’s more here than on the train’s trolly cart!”

“Most of it’s muggle stuff.” Harry said and picked up a miniature jelly roll. It was strawberry with icing and red coconut on it. “I like these ones the best.” He said and opened it, broke it in half, and gave it to Luna. “Try it.”

“Th-thank you.” Luna said and took a bite. Her eyes lit up at the sweet flavor and the soft consistency.

“I told you.” Harry said and shoved the half he kept into his mouth, which made Ron laugh.

“After seeing that, I don’t know why everyone complains that I eat like a maniac.” Ron said and picked up something called a wagon wheel. “I’m not even going to ask why it doesn’t look like the name.” He said and opened it. It was a marshmallow pancake between two large cookie wafers. The whole thing was covered in a thin layer of milk chocolate and he bit into it. “Oh, that’s good.”

Ginny picked up something that looked like a big chocolate chip cookie and opened the package, then discovered it wasn’t hard and crumbly like a normal cookie. “It’s soft and chewy!” She said happily and started eating it.

Luna laughed as Ginny tried to hold the cookie to bite it and it kind of squished between her fingers. “You’re getting chocolate all over!”

“My moh.” Ginny mumbled and then laughed. She had to cover her mouth to stop from spitting any out and kept chewing.

“The butter tarts are good, too.” Harry said and picked a pack up. There were two in it and he glanced at Luna, who gave him another smile. He opened the pack and he took one and she took the other.

“Mmm.” Luna said as she bit into it. “Muggles make good treats.”

“Hey! Luna just discovered the best reason to keep muggles around!” Ron said loudly and that made everyone laugh.

The four of them played the little board game several times and picked at the various treats for quite some time. They enjoyed hanging out and chatting so much that they had completely forgotten about getting something for lunch.

*

Albus Dumbledore was in low spirits and his hope of getting out of the trial had drifted away. He sat in the outer chamber of the Wizengamot and waited to be called for his turn to give evidence in his own case. He personally thought it was an injustice for them to make him wait outside while others spoke and gave evidence against him and he wasn’t allowed to hear it or even counter it.

He held in his sigh at the thought of going in there blind and not knowing what was in store for him. He knew it was going to be bad, especially since after calling in as many favors as he could in both the Wizengamot and in the International Confederation of Wizards, all he had managed to do was delay the proceedings until the summertime. He tried to get the case dismissed for lack of hard physical evidence and he was almost laughed out of the meeting of the review board.

“Mr. Dumbledore.” A young woman said as she stepped out of the door to the courtroom.

Albus opened his mouth to correct her with adding his job titles, then realized what her calling him ‘mister’ actually meant. He sighed as he stood and followed her into the room.

“Please take the stand.” She said and waved at the chair in the middle of the room, then she sat in the small seat below the Chief Warlock’s seat. It was the assistant’s seat that he had never filled, because he didn’t need to keep explaining himself or his actions to a subordinate.

Albus sat on the uncomfortable chair and his gaze roamed around the completely packed room. Not a single face showed any emotions whatsoever. He glanced at the Minister for Magic and Cornelius Fudge pointedly looked away, which meant he was already distancing himself, despite them corresponding at least once a week on matters that concerned the wizarding world.

“Please state your full name for the collective Wizengamut and the representatives from the International Confederation of Wizards.” The temporary replacement for Chief Warlock stated as he looked at Albus.

“My name is Albus Percival Wulfric Brian Dumbledore.” Albus said, quite superfluously. Everyone knew his name, because he had made sure of that. There wasn’t one single person in the room that didn’t know it or of him.

“You have been duly informed of the charges that have been levied against you on this day.” The man said, his voice a bit stern.

“Yes, I have been informed and I would like to dispute…”

“Just yes or no is sufficient.” The Chief Warlock interrupted. “How do you plead on the charges?”

“Innocent.” Albus said and there were a lot of hisses and mumbles of disbelief.

The Chief Warlock leaned forward and frowned as he squinted his eyes at him. “Did you just claim to be innocent?”

“Yes.” Albus said. “Is that so shocking?”

“Frankly, yes.” The Chief Warlock said and sat back. “You have some gall to claim that you didn’t send an innocent man to prison without a trial, despite all of the witnessed statements and court documents that confirm it.”

“There were extenuating circumstances.” Albus said. “At the time, I was under pressure to…”

“No pressure could have made anyone sign off on that. You didn’t even make the alleged accused give an official statement.”

“He was quite mad at the time. He was ranting and raving that he did it and laughed hysterically.” Albus said as the start to defend himself and his actions.

“Records show otherwise.” The Chief Warlock said and held a hand down to his assistant. She quickly handed him the relevant document and he read it. “According to written documents at the time, both Minister Bagnold and Auror Fudge, the man named Sirius Black swore that he wished he had done it, because he deserved to go to prison for letting his friends be killed.”

Albus was surprised at that. He didn’t remember there being any documentation for that.

“I see you look confused.” The Chief Warlock said with a smile. “Unlucky for you and your attempt to cover it up, memories of nearly a dozen people have been viewed and copies of the documents were found in the archive backups.”

Albus wasn’t sure how to counter that, so he remained silent.

“I even had Mr. Black brought in for a mental probing, under the direct supervision of his dedicated healer, of course.” The Chief Warlock said. “We eventually found out that he had several obliviated memories and he couldn’t remember anything after being arrested or even his trip to prison. He just assumed he had a trial and just forgot about it, because of the conditions at the prison. Isn’t that interesting, considering you were the primary interviewer at the time, and no one else had access to him between his arrest and his illegal sentencing?”

Albus’ face drained of color when he heard those words.

“Once we told him all of that, Mr. Black had a lot of very interesting things to say to us and then voluntarily shared a lot of memories he had of you. In fact, he was downright eager to tell us everything he had ever done.”

Albus couldn’t say anything, since he hadn’t heard anything of what was said and couldn’t counter it.

“Also, it appears that he was an unregistered animagus since he was a teenager and was encouraged, by you, to remain that way to become an even better infiltrator and collaborator in the fight against he-who-must-not-be-named.” The Chief Warlock said and had a satisfied look on his face. “Needless to say, he was sentenced to five years in Azkaban for his blatant criminal behavior. Thankfully, he had already served ten years and I happily commuted his sentence to time served.”

Albus looked like a deer caught in the headlights, with wide eyes and unable to move with the lorry truck racing towards him at high speed.

“We’ve thoroughly investigated everything Mr. Black told us and we’ve compiled everything together. It’s been quite the adventure for you, hasn’t it? Manipulating everything to suit your needs for the last twenty years. You’ve been playing with people’s lives and letting people be killed that you could have easily protected… and all because of your belief in the greater good.”

Albus let out a sigh before he could stop himself, not really realizing that was exactly what the Chief Warlock was waiting for.

“I’ll give you one more chance to save some dignity, Mr. Dumbledore. Do you wish to change your plea?” The Chief Warlock asked.

Albus straightened his shoulders and looked at the man right in the eye. “I plead innocent with cause.”

The entire room broke out in chatter, shouts, and a general uproar. Dumbledore’s supporters stood right up and started shouting down the detractors and defended the previous savior of the wizarding world.

The Chief Warlock look at the man that sat on the chair in the middle of the room and he didn’t know what to make of him. He was either completely delusional or he had so much influence and dirt on a majority of the people that would be voting that he was confident in getting off with almost no punishment.

The Chief Warlock picked up the gavel and slammed it down once, then again. Complete silence fell in the room and everyone returned to their seats. “It seems your adamant denial of guilt has sparked quite the debate in the Wizengamut.”

Albus did his best to stop the smile from appearing on his face.

“It is unfortunate for you that I am adding two additional charges to your extensive list of crimes.”

“I object!” A man said as he shot to his feet. “All defendants are to be given prior notice of any charges!”

“I am the Chief Warlock, Special Advisor Doge.” The Chief Warlock said with a frown. “I know all about the proper procedure.”

“Then you know you can’t do this.” Doge said with a satisfied grin.

“You seem to have forgotten that I can easily schedule the rest of the trial until tomorrow, which gives more than ample time for the defendant to be informed of the additional charges.”

Doge looked stricken and wavered on his feet a little, then sat down. He knew he was beaten and his objection meant less than nothing.

“Now.” The Chief Warlock looked at Albus Dumbledore. “The first charge I am adding is aiding and abetting multiple illegal animagi for over a decade.”

“Multiple?” Someone shouted.

The Chief Warlock nodded. “It seems that he had access to three of them and used them extensively. Mr. Sirius Black, who is now officially registered and documented, a recently deceased Peter Pettegrew, who was actually a Death Eater with the dark mark, and also… the most shocking of all… Mr. James Potter, Harry Potter’s father.”

Shock and awe went all around the room and Albus knew he was going to have a very difficult time fighting that charge.

“As for the second charge, I am adding a combined charge of child abandonment, endangerment, and misappropriation of said child’s inheritance.” The Chief Warlock said with a glare at Albus. “I declare a recess of these proceedings until tomorrow morning, to give the defendant enough time to prepare whatever lies and feeble defense for himself that he can.” He looked at the side of the room. “Take him to the holding cells. We can’t have him fleeing from justice.”

“I object! He hasn’t been found guilty of anything!” Someone besides Doge said.

“Mr. Diggle, if you wish to assume responsibility for him, be my guest.” The Chief Warlock said and the man didn’t respond. “No? Will anyone assume the task to keep him in line until tomorrow?”

No one responded right away and looked to be weighing the odds. Albus couldn’t really blame them. He had thought he had more reliable defenders than this, however.

“I’ll do it.” A drawling voice cut across the room and surprised everyone as the man stood up.

“Very well.” The Chief Warlock looked at the regal looking blonde haired man. “Mr. Malfoy, you are charged with the responsibility of bringing Mr. Dumbledore back to these proceedings in the morning.”

“I will do my best to ensure your trust in my abilities, Chief Warlock.” Lucius Malfoy said and he couldn’t stop a smile from briefly appearing on his face. He stepped down from his seat and strode across the room to the chair in the middle. “Dumbledore.” He said and waved his cane towards the door. “This way, please.”

Dumbledore looked both affronted and upset for a moment, as if in disbelief, then he schooled his face and proceeded Lucius Malfoy to the door. When both left, the room exploded again and the Chief Warlock didn’t bother trying to get them back under control. He nodded to his assistant and they both left the room, with only a pair of guards remaining to watch the ensuing chaos.