Harry arrived in the Slytherin Common Room. Daphne, Tracey, and Blaise hurried up to him. They didn’t hug him because Slytherins don’t hug, but Tracey obviously wanted to.
Blaise said. “We’ve been following everything in our journals, Harry. Are you really better?”
“Yes, guys, I’m better. The headaches and the whining noise in my head have gone at last. The noise I heard was caused by a lingering infection that caused swelling that pressed on my nerves. That’s the nerves between my ears and my brain.”
Daphne was looking at the long walking stick in Harry’s left hand.
“Is that your walking stick? It looks different.”
Harry nodded. “It is different. It’s a blackthorn thumb stick. I’m going to ask you three to donate a single hair. I’ll use those hairs and some old enchantments to turn this stick into a staff.”
Blaise laughed. “That’s it! That’s it! Harry Potter the Mage while he is still a firstie.”
Harry shrugged. “This mage still needs to eat. Let’s go to lunch.”
Harry and the Escort walked into the Great Hall. Conversations were suddenly hushed, and many heads turned to look at them. Harry moved towards the Hufflepuff table. Susan stood up and shouldered her way through the crowd towards Harry. When she reached him caught him in a fierce hug. Harry froze. Susan let him go and stepped back.
“Sorry, Harry. I know you hate being hugged, but I had to do it. Come and sit with us.”
The Escort sat with Harry, Susan, and Hannah at the Hufflepuff table. Neville came in and sat opposite Harry.
“Harry! Hermione won’t be here today. Her parents have ordered her to leave. They have withdrawn her from Hogwarts.”
Harry sighed. “That’s sad, but it’s to be expected. Hermione doesn’t hide anything from her parents so they would know all about the troll and the deaths and injuries. The mundane world is much more controlled and concerned with safety. If Hogwarts was a non-magical school, it would have been permanently shut down. The headmaster and the staff who knew about Fluffy and the trolls would be arrested on criminal charges.”
“Will she go to another school?” Daphne asked.
“They will send her to Beauxbatons,” Neville said. “The transfer has already been arranged.”
Tracey leaned forward. “Three Slytherins have been withdrawn while Harry was away. They will be tutored at home. Their families are wealthy and influential enough to arrange it.”
Lunch continued with little conversation.
As they were leaving, Hannah asked a question. “What happened to your leg, Harry? Why the walking stick?”
Hannah had rarely started any conversation with Harry. She was mainly talkative and sociable but had become more reserved when Harry was present.
“Troll Fever destroyed some nerve tissue. Magic and potions can fix most things, but the magical germs living on anything trollish can do damage that can’t be fixed.”
Hannah looked unhappy. “The headmaster and the teachers thought bringing trolls into the school was an allowable test for students. I was born and raised in the magical world. Despite that, I know that this is crazy.”
-ooOOoo-
The remaining Alliance and the Escort met in the Hufflepuff training room. It was time to turn Harry’s walking stick into a staff.
“Don’t we need ritual circles, sacrifices and days dancing around a fire to do this?” Blaise semi-seriously asked.
“You’ve been reading too much fantasy. I have your donated hair and the spell. Before then, I must carve some runes into the stick. Now, this is a secret. I have another wand.”
Harry lay the walking stick on the floor and drew his Ollivander wand. Then he flicked his left hand, and his Azkaban-made pine twig wand flew to his right hand.
They all gasped. Neville spoke first. “Whoa! What is that, another wand?”
“Yes! This is my first wand. It was made for me in Azkaban by Gus Rookwood. The core is made up of braided hair from my fellow prisoners, and the body is made of intertwined pine sticks which were carried into the prison by nesting birds. It allows me to use much more power than my Ollivander wand.”
The observers stepped back. They knew that something remarkable was going to happen.
Harry looked around. “Don’t run away. It won’t hurt you.”
Harry cast a blue-coloured spell at the stick with his Ollivander wand. A clear, blue-tinted dome covered the stick.
“This is a protective shield. It will stop any local magical influences from interfering with the spell.”
Then Harry cast a yellow-coloured spell with his pine wand. The spell pierced the dome and touched the stick. Lines of tiny runes appeared around the stick from top to bottom.
“Those are the runes needed for a staff. Now I will attach your donated hair.”
Harry’s pine wand twitched, and the stick stood up and floated just above the floor.
“Please hold out your hands holding your gifts.”
The yellow spell was still connected to the stick, which started to spin inside the blue dome. Blaise, Daphne, and Tracey held out the single strands of hair which they had previously cut. The stick started to spin, and the hairs were drawn to the stick and wrapped around it.
Harry said the incantation. “Ligare Quattuor In Unum”, as the stick spun around. The runes and the hair sank into the stick and disappeared.
The yellow spell stopped. The stick fell to the floor, and Harry flicked the wand in his left hand to make the dome disappear. The stick appeared to be an ordinary walking stick with a “Y” shaped top which Harry’s thumb could grip. The stick had a silver ferrule to which a lanyard was attached. When Harry carried the stick, he wore the lanyard around his neck. If he dropped the stick, it would be held up by the lanyard, and he wouldn’t have to pick it up off the floor.
Harry flicked both his wands back to their hidden holsters. He held out his left hand, and the stick flew to it.
“This is now a wizard’s staff. Watch this.”
Harry tapped the staff on the floor once. Harry rose up in the air. He pushed the staff up and floated back down to the floor. Harry tapped the staff again and leaned to the right. Harry moved to the right while hovering above the floor. Harry moved to the left and forward and back. He made circuits of the room at more than a running pace.
“With some practice, I can walk and run with you without limiting you guys to the shuffling pace you must do for me now.”
Neville broke the silence. “First the troll, now this! People are going to ask why you are here at Hogwarts. You are a first-class wizard and mage. What will you say to them?”
Harry waited for a second, then answered. “I’m here to make friends, Neville. I’m here to revive our Alliance and possibly make new ones.”
-ooOOoo-
The weekend passed quietly. Harry’s Escort was now treated with respect in the Slytherin Common Room. Malfoy and Parkinson kept to themselves and glared at Harry whenever he appeared.
Professor Snape had been missing for three days after the troll attack. He was in St Mungo’s Medical Ward, where his leg was put back together after Fluffy nearly tore it off.
Harry’s teams had guessed what Professor Snape was doing in that room with Fluffy and Professor Quirrell. Harry said that Quirrell was probably after the Philosopher’s Stone. He also said that Professor Snape was probably attempting to detain Quirrell and that it was almost certain that Quirrell had released the troll to create a diversion.
Harry didn’t mention that what he said was speculation was, in fact, the truth.
A new seventh-year prefect had been appointed to replace Adrian Selwyn. The new and slightly awed prefect approached Harry to inform him that Professor Snape wanted to see him in his private office. This office was not the one attached to the Potions classroom. The private office had an entrance from the Slytherin Common Room.
“Potter, be seated.” Professor Snape gestured to a comfortable chair. The professor then sat in an armchair facing Harry.
“How is your leg, Professor?”
“Mending. We may have something in common.”
“Sir?”
“A limp for life.” The professor almost smiled.
“Potter, has anyone formally thanked you for your actions during the troll attack?”
“Most of the Slytherins have formally thanked me. It has been embarrassing.”
“They at least have some manners. I presume that the headmaster and staff have said nothing?”
“I get the usual hostile glare from the headmaster and Professor McGonagall. That is all.” Harry shrugged.
“I don’t know what it will take to convince them. They are waiting for you to grow the devil’s horns and raise an army of the undead to sweep civilization into the sea.”
Harry nodded. “It seems like it. Professor McGonagall might be persuaded that I’m not evil, but that hasn’t happened yet.”
“Potter, allow me to formally thank you for your actions during the troll incident. You have my gratitude and respect. You should have run away with the others, but you didn’t. Your actions demonstrated a high level of magical power and bravery of the highest order.
I have written to the Minister for Magic asking him to give awards for bravery to Adrian Selwyn and Sophia Burke. I have also asked him to give awards for bravery to Elizabeth Tuttle and Barnaby Lee. They also tried to stun the troll and, as a result, were injured and suffered Troll Fever infections. I have also asked for an award for you. I did ask that it not be publicized due to the hostile attitude of the headmaster and your own desire for privacy.
The headmaster did not support my requests, and I don’t expect anything to come of them.”
The professor stared at Harry.
Harry finally responded. “Thank you, professor. I will also ask Aunt Amelia to present requests for bravery awards for those four. I will ask her not to mention my name.”
Professor Snape stood up. “I won’t detain you any longer, Potter.”
-ooOOoo-
The letter asking Amelia to support Professor Snape was sent. An elf-delivered letter came back. Amelia had demanded that Fudge make those bravery awards. Fudge did not respond.
Amelia also reported that she had finally persuaded Fudge to have Peter Pettigrew tried by the Wizengamot. Fudge had tried every sneaky manoeuvre he knew to put her off. Amelia and Harry knew why. When Pettigrew was tried, and the details of his crimes came out, Sirius Black would have to be released.
The second news item was that Amelia had managed to transfer Sirius to St Mungo’s Secure Ward. Fudge did not object. He wanted Sirius to be cleaned up in case the news got out that he was innocent.
Fudge was scared now. The Gringotts goblins recognized that Sirius was the head of the House of Black. They had always maintained that recognition. Sirius had never been tried and convicted, so his position remained. When Sirius’ name was cleared, he would be The Black of Black, the most powerful member of the Wizengamot.
Amelia interviewed Sirius as he recovered his physical health. The situation was not good. The streak of madness that ran in the Black family had come out in Sirius. He might have been considered a powerful but weird eccentric if he had been protected instead of abused. The treatment that he got pushed Sirius into a dark place. Sirius spent a lot of time living in his thirteen-year-old mind.
During all their years at Azkaban, he was convinced that Harry was Harry’s father, James. He resolutely claimed they were being detained by Filch and would soon be released to return to the Gryffindor Tower. Then, they could start staging humiliating pranks on the Slytherins. At the same time, Sirius was aware that, as adults, he and James had fought desperate battles against Death Eaters. Sirius was also aware that Dumbledore had betrayed him. In the next breath, he would relapse into the safe refuge of his schoolboy mind.
Sirius could not be let out on his own. He had to be kept in a safe place until he grew up.
Harry was aware of the problem. He didn’t tell anyone. He knew that he had to let adults take care of Sirius.
-ooOOoo-
Monday morning dawned, and Harry sadly began his day knowing that Hermione would not be seen in Hogwarts again. Susan and Hannah were not at the Hufflepuff table for breakfast. Harry sat at the Slytherin table with the Escort.
Daphne looked across the hall and turned to Harry.
“Look at the Gryffindor table!” Daphne whispered.
Harry looked up and noticed Susan and Hannah seated with the Gryffindors. Then he saw Neville opposite them with his back to Harry. Then he saw Hermione’s unmistakable brown bushy hair. She was seated next to Neville.
Hannah glanced up at Harry. She quickly drew one finger across her throat in the well-known throat-cutting gesture and turned her gaze back to Hermione. Susan and Hannah focused on whatever Hermione was saying. They did not look happy.
Tracey spoke. “That doesn’t look good. Dumbledore is here this morning. He looks quite pleased with himself.”
Harry looked away and said. “Let Neville, Susan, or Hannah report this in the journals. Don’t make a big thing of it. Go to our classes as though everything is cool. Don’t be provoked into anything.”
The Escort and Harry left for classes as quickly as they could. They avoided any contact with the Alliance. Neville went to the Hufflepuff table at lunch and sat with Susan and Hannah. The Gryffindor table was in party mode. Ronald Weasley and Seamus Finnigan were bellowing with laughter at some story they were hearing. The storyteller was Hermione.
Classes finished, and Harry headed back to his room. Daphne and Tracey were held up, and only Blaise was with Harry when they were accosted by Ronald Weasley before they reached the dungeon stairs.
“Potter! We’ve heard everything about you from Hermione. She’s telling everyone about you. She knows that you are a slimy snake and can’t be trusted. She was moving to Beauxbatons to get away from you. The headmaster caught up with her parents and told them the real story. You are a coward and a bully. You won’t last long now. We know all about you.”
Harry stood with his staff planted on the flagstones. He slowly turned to face Ronald. The temperature in the hall fell, and the light dimmed. A cold breeze blew in from an open door. Students in the hall who had stopped to see the show started to feel the air freeze. Snow fell from the ceiling. The wind from the doorway increased, and the snow became a snowstorm. The wind swirled around the redhead and his companions, and snow covered their shoes.
Ronald, Seamus, and others with them backed away. The snow followed and piled up around their knees. They slipped and struggled to escape. The snow piled up to their shoulders and then covered them entirely.
Harry turned and moved to the stairway. Blaise noticed that Harry was floating just above the stairs as they descended. In the hall, bystanders dug Ronald and Seamus out. The snowstorm had stopped when Harry left.
Daphne and Tracey arrived as the snow was melting. Tracey smiled at the Gryffindors. “Have you been upsetting Harry again, silly boys!”
-ooOOoo-
The journals were opened. There were long entries from Susan, Hannah, and Neville.
Neville summarised what they saw.
To: Harry, Susan, Hannah, Daphne, Tracey, Blaise, Luna
From: Neville Longbottom
Date: Monday, November 18, 1991
Time: 3:30 pm
Message: What’s happened to Hermione?
We came down to breakfast this morning, not expecting Hermione to be there. Professor McGonagall escorted her to the Gryffindor table. Susan, Hannah, and I got up from the Hufflepuff table and went to sit with her.
My first impression was that she was not really awake. I tried to ask her about what had happened. She sat and stared at me before she seemed to wake up.
Here is exactly what she said.
‘Longbottom, I don’t want to talk to you. The Puffs can go away too.’
Susan asked, ‘Hermione, what’s wrong?’
Hermione stared at nothing and started talking as though she was reciting something she had learned.
‘Dark Lord Potter is evil. I was fooled by him when he offered me protection. He is evil. If Longbottom, Bones and Abbott keep talking to him, they are being controlled by his dark power. He is a Slytherin. He and his Slytherin servants are not to be trusted.’
Hannah asked, ‘What is this, Hermione. Harry hasn’t done anything evil. He saved a lot of lives. He nearly died himself doing it. He stopped that troll.’
Then Hermione said, ‘Dark Lord Potter let the troll in. He set it up. It was all controlled by him.’
I shook my head at Susan and Hannah. They looked unhappy.
We went to classes, and Hermione stayed away from us.
Later, Lavender Brown approached me and asked what was wrong with Hermione.
I asked her what she knew.
She said, ‘Hermione said that she wanted to make friends with Ron Weasley. Hermione said that he was a proper wizard.’
I told Lavender that I didn’t know what had happened, and I really didn’t.
At lunch, Hermione sat with Ron and repeated what she had said to us. Ron was delighted.
Neville
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Harry considered the situation.
-ooOOoo-
“You know what has happened. A wizard skilled in the Mind Arts has intervened. She has almost certainly been Obliviated about the troll disaster. The mechanical talking and fixed answers are a giveaway. I know, I have done this myself, remember. A powerful compulsion charm has been placed on her. She is blacking out and answering questions with sentences planted in her memory.
The goblins can help. Get them to give the Grangers Gringotts rings. Hermione’s parents will need them as well as her.
You know who has done this.”
Harry sighed. “Yes, Tom. It was Albus Dumbledore!”
-ooOOoo-
The weeks passed. Hermione became more hostile. Her anger was not restrained. Neville had to avoid her in the Common Room, the Great Hall, and in classes. She was argumentative and snappy. Ron didn’t have a happy time. Hermione tried to join in with everything with him, but she quickly became angry and agitated. His lackadaisical attitude grated on her.
Harry shared his plans with Amelia, who approved. Gringotts rings were not handed out to every bank customer. The most important function was to act as a type of credit card. Any merchant connected to Gringotts could present a bill to a customer. The customer then pressed the ring to a Gringotts symbol on the bill, and the money was transferred from the customer’s vault to the merchant’s vault. The ring also helped transfer mundane money to and from their Gringotts vault at a better exchange rate.
Harry wrote to Sharpclaw asking for his help. Harry’s involvement was not to be revealed.
He asked Sharpclaw to write to Hermione with an offer to assign her a Gringotts vault. The rings, the bill paying, and the money transfer advantages were carefully explained.
Sharpclaw didn’t say that the rings also served to remove and prevent compulsion and other confusion-inducing charms. They also helped to protect the wearer from Legilimency attacks.
-ooOOoo-
As Christmas approached, Harry was summoned to the headmaster’s office.
“Harry, my boy! Please be seated. Have a lemon drop.”
“No, thank you, headmaster. I can’t eat sweets.”
Harry perched on the edge of a seat.
“Harry, I have a problem. I have not been able to find your aunt and uncle. You were placed with them to give you additional magical protection. However, they seem to have disappeared.”
Dumbledore paused. He seemed to be waiting for Harry to reply. Harry said nothing. The headmaster's ramblings were deeply disturbing. He didn’t seem to understand that the Department of Magical Accidents and Catastrophes had reported his relation's death ten years ago.
Dumbledore started again. “Under these circumstances, I want you to remain here at Hogwarts for the Christmas break. In the future, a suitable wizarding family may be found for you to stay with during your holidays.”
Harry sighed. “Headmaster, I understand that the Director of the Department of Magical Law Enforcement still has me under protective custody. I am compelled to stay at a safe house she has arranged for me.”
Dumbledore’s mood went from mild to raging angry. “Amelia Bones has no authority to do that. I am your Magical Guardian, and you will do as I say!”
Harry shrugged. “The Director expects me to be on the Hogwarts Express for the Christmas break. If I am not on the train, she will send aurors to collect me.”
Dumbledore fumed and huffed. “Very well! You are dismissed!”
Harry escaped.
-ooOOoo-
“Powerful and profoundly weird; what a dangerous combination.”
“Thank you, Tom! That’s all I needed.”
-ooOOoo-
The journey on the Hogwarts Express was subdued. Ron Weasley and Seamus Finnegan had given Neville an increasingly torrid time. The other boy in his dormitory, Dean Thomas, did not join in with the bullying but made himself scarce when Ron escalated his persecution campaign.
Hermione made it worse. She loudly denounced Harry in the Gryffindor Common Room. She sneered at Neville for being a weak puppet of the new Slytherin Dark Lord in training. Professor McGonagall heard the taunts and sneering and made no effort to moderate the vicious attacks. Neville was never physically attacked, but the verbal pummelling hurt him badly.
Other Gryffindors became uneasy with the intensity of Hermione’s shrill attacks. This was not the Gryffindor way. Neville was the Longbottom heir. His family made great sacrifices to oppose Voldemort and the Death Eaters. Hermione and Ron had no evidence to support their accusations. There was solid evidence that Harry had saved many lives by stopping the troll.
The girls in her dormitory stopped talking to her. In the past, Hermione had helped them with their essays and practice. Now, they were uneasy with her single-minded bad-mouthing of Harry. Hermione also stopped giving any help with their schoolwork. This behaviour was seriously out-of-character for Hermione.
Susan and Hannah tried to raise Neville's mood. Harry had not faced the same opposition that Neville had. Harry didn’t know what to say to Neville. This kind of personal attack was beyond his experience. Harry endured the Lestranges’ and Gus Rookwood’s poisonous talk during his years in the cells, but this was worse. Neville was a true Gryffindor, and the Gryffindors stood aside and let Ron and Hermione tear him to shreds.
Daphne invited the Alliance and the Escort to Greengrass Manor for the three days after Boxing Day. Neville, Susan, and Hannah had to get permission and promised to push for a visit as much as possible. Harry was sure that Aunty Amelia would agree.
“Harry, you have a house elf guarding Hermione, right?” Susan asked.
“Yes, Hermione was being singled out by Malfoy. I had Righteous shadow her whenever she left the Gryffindor Tower, not when she was inside the tower. That was only when we were at Hogwarts. I asked Righteous. She didn’t see anything unusual happen while we were at Hogwarts. I have no idea what happened when Hermione was withdrawn by her parents.”
“She started acting all weird when she came back and didn’t go to Beauxbatons,” Tracey said.
Harry shrugged and nodded.
Hannah reached out and touched Neville’s knee. “Neville, did Hermione ever say who told her about Harry?”
“At first, she said that the headmaster told her, but that was only once.”
“So she didn’t have any facts, just what she heard the headmaster say,” Susan murmured. Susan looked at Harry. Harry slowly shook his head.
The teams broke up when they got off the train. It was too cold to linger on the platform.
Aunty Amelia collected Susan and Harry and conducted them through the floo to The Ossuary.
Amelia had been kept up to date with the problems in the Alliance, particularly the problem with the Potter protectee.
The Ossuary was a welcome refuge. As soon as he went into his bedroom, he knew that he was in a safe place. He could let his guard down. Slytherin House had been much better after the troll. He was also sad about Hermione. The sadness didn’t go away, but the pain was less.
Amelia called Harry and Susan to the family sitting room after they had changed into comfortable clothes.
“How are you both? Harry? Tell me?”
“I’m happy to be here. I felt a weight come off me when I walked in the door. I suppose that’s what they call being stressed out. Hogwarts is better. The Slytherins keep their distance apart from Daphne, Tracey, and Blaise. Susan and Hannah have been great. The thing with Hermione is painful. I wish I could do something for Neville. He is suffering.”
Susan huffed. “It’s something that the headmaster has done. Harry didn’t want me to push it on the train. Hermione has been influenced by the headmaster. She can’t think of anything but what he has told her.”
Amelia sighed. “Dumbledore is famous for his skill with Legilimency. He is not above using it to control even students. If Hermione was a pureblood, he wouldn’t dare do it. She is a muggle-born, so if he is caught, he can claim that she was going to endanger the International Statute of Secrecy.”
Amelia presided over the welcome home dinner. The conversation was light and relaxing. Amelia started a new line of discussion.
“Sharpclaw has informed me that the side project you requested is nearing completion.”
Harry brightened up. He nearly smiled.
“What did he say? Did they accept the offer?”
Susan frowned. “I’m used to being left out of things, but this is getting annoying. What side project is this?”
Harry glanced at her. “Sorry, but I must keep some things under wraps when we are at Hogwarts. I suggested to Sharpclaw that he invite the Grangers to apply for a vault at Gringotts. I also suggested that he offer to give them Gringotts rings.”
Susan’s eyes widened. “Only the richest clients get Gringotts rings! Surely, they don’t have millions of galleons?”
Amelia chuckled. “No, but Mister Potter does.”
“After what she has done, you are helping them with Gringotts! Why?” Susan demanded.
“This isn’t going to help them, Susan. It’s a dastardly plot to get them Gringotts rings, which they will willingly wear, Hermione included,” Harry replied.
Susan shook her head.
Amelia smiled at Susan’s confusion. “The rings have some not well-publicized properties. They will block most mind magics and help the wearer to resist Legilimency from even the most powerful wizards, such as the headmaster.”
Harry nodded. “As long as I am not mentioned, they might accept the offer. If Dumbledore finds out, he will try to block the offer and prevent the Grangers from getting Gringotts rings.”
“Which is why it was top secret when we were at Hogwarts.” Susan sighed. “I’ll accept that.”
Harry reached over to shake Susan’s hand. “Thank you.”
“I don’t know if that will be enough to free Hermione from the headmaster’s control. We will have to wait and see. I’m not in a position to challenge Dumbledore yet. I’m still a firstie.”
Christmas Day dawned dark and rainy. The British tradition is to open presents early on Christmas morning. Harry received dragon hide boots from Amelia and a rare book on alchemy from Susan. Amelia and Susan opened their small presents from Harry.
“What is this? It says Garrads on the box. Who is that?” Susan asked.
Harry shrugged. “Open it and see.”
The box contained a pair of white gold bracelets with blue sapphires, aquamarine, topaz, tanzanite, and turquoise gemstones.
Amelia screamed.
“THEY COST A FORTUNE! WHERE DID YOU GET THAT!”
Harry mildly replied. “It’s from the Potter Hall strongroom. Ardent picked it out for me. Open yours, Auntie.”
Amelia’s present was another Garrads box. It held a white gold necklace with blue sapphires, aquamarine, and turquoise gemstones. There were matching earrings. Harry didn’t reveal that he had sent Ardent to the Garrads Wizarding branch for valuations. The bracelets would cost five thousand galleons to replace, and the necklace and earrings would cost twelve thousand galleons to replace.
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