The piles of messages slowly began to diminish. Most didn’t need an answer. Some went straight into the fire. The rest could wait a week before going into the fire. Finally, a letter Harry wanted to receive. Olivia Greengrass had received an owl from Malfoy Manor. Lucius had written out the charm spell needed to remove the ancient Malfoy curse on the Weasley family. He had performed the spell. The charm had created a rune which was sent to Olivia as proof that the curse had been lifted. The lease agreement with the favoured wizard farmer had been signed. The Greengrass Potions supply contracts were now in place.
It was now up to Harry to approach Arthur Weasley to find out about the Weasley side of the issue. Dragons were easier.
Harry visited Leo. He was slowly recovering. Leo began to reveal what he had gone through while imprisoned. He knew that the privation and the attacks by Legilimens would have broken him quickly before being trained in Occlumency. Once again, he owed Daphne his life.
The fireplace in the Grimauld Place kitchen flared. Harry flooed in from Purbeck Square. Kreacher called out; “Master, Master, The Molly and Master Weasley are waiting for you in the parlour.”
No time to prepare; no idea of how to even start; Harry made his way to the parlour.
“Harry! “
Molly rushed Harry and enveloped him in her best hug. Arthur took Harry’s hand and pumped his arm.
“We were so worried about you. You just disappeared. We didn’t know where you had gone. The aurors didn’t know. What were you doing?”
“I can’t tell you too much right now. The short story is that Pimlico Security took me to the USA with a team to rescue Leo. He is back at Purbeck Square now. He will need a while to recover but he will be OK.”
“Kingsley and the aurors thought that we would never see him again. There were no ransom demands, nothing. Couldn’t you tell us something?” Molly had an accusing note in her voice.
“That’s a problem. What happened is absolutely top secret, only Kingsley knows anything about it right now. It will come out eventually, one way or another. How are you?”
Arthur sat down and motioned Harry to sit. “Harry, I’ve had some bad news. We’ve just come from St Mungos. I’ve been seeing the healers for a week. They told me that I’m dying.”
This was not supposed to happen. Wizards regularly lived past one hundred and twenty. Arthur was barely half that age now.
“What is it? What is going on?” Harry was genuinely stunned.
“My father, his father, going back for ages, they all died young. Younger than they should. The healer said something that I can’t really accept.” Arthur was pale.
“Do you want to tell me?”
“He said that the healers have seen this happen in other families. The head of the household dies young of things that shouldn’t happen. They say that it could be caused by an old curse or vow made by an ancestor, and it is still active today. The vow still works but the consequences are that the head of the family just wears out before they should.”
Harry waited, looking for the right words to say. “Arthur, that does happen. You expect it in muggle families, but it also hurts wizard families as well. Why don’t you search through the family journal, go right back to the earliest times, look for anything. It might be something that you would never say yourself. Ancient Briton, Celtic, Roman, Saxon, those times are just as important as today, for things like this. If you find something, you will have to renounce it.”
“All right Harry, I’ll do that. This is so different from our other news. You know, this is so strange, we aren’t poor anymore. I mean, we aren’t Viscount Pimlico rich but Gringotts have been sending us owls. Usually they want us to attend to the lack of galleons in our vault, but now it’s the reverse. Debts owed to my father, and grandfathers going back generations are all being paid, with interest. There are even business agreements going back generations, which I didn’t know about, that will pay us twice my salary every year.”
“Ah! I don’t know for sure, but could it be that someone, an old enemy perhaps, has lifted a curse on your family. A curse that condemned you to poverty.”
“What old enemy, Harry? Who do you mean?” Molly was getting angry.
“You know that better than me. Weasleys have been bailiffs, and Ministry officials for generations. You and your ancestors have upset a lot of people who don’t think anything of putting a curse on you.” Arthur looked as though that he understood.
“When you go home, I’ll come with you to collect Ginny. I think it is safe for us to get back to normal now, whatever that is.” The Weasleys both looked down.
“Oh Harry! It’s been difficult. Ron, George, the other boys have been so angry with you. They’ve been so cruel. Ginny defended you but she was confused herself. She didn’t know what to think. I know you sent her to stay with us while you were away to keep her safe. You haven’t done that before.” Molly was crying now.
Harry didn’t want to say anymore, but he had to. “I also wanted Ginny to protect you. I can’t tell you how close the whole wizarding world has come to disaster. It has just been averted. The kidnapping, and the secret mission were all connected to a most serious threat. I didn’t get any help from the ministry at all. Don’t tell anyone, I might still have to go away. I will take Ginny, but she and you might not like it. Please carry on and search for that curse, or vow or whatever.”
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