The lizards were sent out on special missions. First, the room with the Cerberus residing in it was found. Next, the spaces around it, below and above it, were investigated. The lizards returned with disturbing news.
The space below the Cerberus was filled with moving green tentacles.
“That must be Devil’s Snare! That can kill the unwary!” Harry decided to advance the program and contact Nicholas Flamel.
A series of rooms were connected below that. One of them held a mountain troll. Another was locked in another room nearby.
-ooOOoo-
The letter to Nicholas Flamel was being composed. Tom had tracked down Nicholas many years ago and tried to trick his secrets out of him. But, happily, Tom had been unable to learn anything from the ancient alchemist. Apparently, Nicholas had been amused by Tom’s efforts. So, he removed Tom’s memories of where he lived. Then, Nicholas gave Tom a set of phrases to put in a letter if he wished to speak to Nicholas again. Tom had not threatened Nicholas, and Nicholas was confident that the Dark Lord was not powerful enough to harm him.
Harry’s letter to Nicholas was straightforward. Harry made no effort to hide his intentions.
From: Harry J. Potter,
Slytherin House,
Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry
Sunday, September 15, 1991
To: Nicholas Flamel, Alchemist
Dear Sir,
I am writing to inform you of a situation which has caused me some concern.
I have been given a series of recognition phrases to give to you to give you some assurance that I am someone to take notice of.
The phrases are ‘Lux et umbra’, ‘Vox et silentium’, ‘Terram et metallum’, ‘Aer et aqua’, ‘Venti et fulguris’, ‘Vita et ignis’.
Please pardon my schoolboy Latin translations. I believe these phrases mean light and shadow, voice and silence, earth and metal, air and water, wind and lightning, and life and fire. I understand that these words are significant in elemental magic and alchemy.
The situation I am concerned about is that the headmaster of Hogwarts seems to have a copy of The Philosopher’s Stone in his possession.
I know that this object is not the original Philosopher’s Stone. I observed the collection of this object from a vault at Gringotts. The person collecting the object obviously thought it was a significant magical object. But I sensed no magic in the thing at all.
This object has the appearance of The Philosopher’s Stone. I compared my memory with an illustration published in The Alchemy Master’s Journal.
I am concerned that Headmaster Dumbledore is setting up a challenge to test the more foolhardy and adventurous students. I do not wish to be involved with any such test. Also, I do not want to see brave children harmed and possibly marked for life by the rash nature of what Headmaster Dumbledore thinks are harmless tests.
I ask your opinion of what I have been observing and sensing through my magic. Other thoughts I have collected are that the headmaster is too detached from reality, and these tests are typical of what he thinks is harmless fun. They could be lethal. I am talking about getting past a Cerberus, a room full of Devil’s Snare, and a full-grown mountain troll.
I hope you can help me with this.
Sincerely
Harry J. Potter
-ooOOoo-
The Alliance met late Sunday morning at their tree next to the Black Lake. Harry’s Slytherin escort did not let him slip away.
“You will have to introduce us to your Alliance, Harry. It will get awkward if we all stare at each other while you have your conference.” Zabini was, for a change, straight-faced in his delivery.
“Very well, Blaise. Let’s get it over with.”
Harry led his Slytherins to the meeting tree.
Neville smiled and waved to them. “Hi, Harry, Daphne, Tracey, Blaise.”
“Hi, guys! Now, most of you know my escort. But, for those who don’t, let me introduce them. The tall, dashing smoothie is Blaise Zabini; he is connected to Lord Greengrass through his mother’s business activity. This is Tracey Davis; her family is formally allied with Lord Greengrass. This is Daphne Greengrass. If you are being very formal, her proper title is Lady Daphne, which she hates. Remember that if you want to get her annoyed.”
Harry turned to his escort.
“Now, guys, you know most people in my formal alliance. For formalities, this is Neville Longbottom, heir to House Longbottom, Susan Bones, heiress to House Bones, Hannah Abbot, and Hermione Granger. House Potter, House Longbottom, and House Bones are formally allied. House Abbott is in a family alliance with House Bones, and Hermione is under the protection of House Potter.”
“Formal protection?” Blaise blurted.
“Yes! Proper formal protection! That crest on her robe’s right sleeve is the House Potter protectee insignia. Hermione is muggle-born, so there is no protection for her other than the goodwill of her Hogwarts house. I mainly see by sensing magic, and Hermione’s magic stands out like a brilliant flame. Her future, as far as her own magic is concerned, is unlimited. So, it is very much to House Potter’s advantage to have Hermione Granger brought into House Potter.”
Harry paused and looked at his Slytherins. “Any hostile actions against Hermione will get the same reaction as if it was aimed at my Alliance partners.”
Hermione frowned at Harry. “I still don’t see why that is necessary.”
Harry nodded. “Malfoy has been off balance since his first night but will soon recover.”
Hermione folded her arms and scowled.
Harry continued. “When he does, he will seek out my allies and attack them. He will see you as an easy target.”
Daphne huffed. “Malfoy is a weak coward. He will sneak up and curse you when no one is looking. His goons and Pansy Parkinson will act as lookouts for him, so he won’t get caught. If you don't get protection, you will spend more time in the hospital than in class. The Junior Death Eaters see it as their duty to drive muggle-borns out of the castle.”
Susan reached out to Hermione and touched her arm. “Hermione, if you were in Hufflepuff or Ravenclaw, you would be safer, but you are in Gryffindor. That means there will be trouble for you from the Junior Death Eaters. They will also try to cut you down because you earn so many points for Gryffindor.”
There was a short silence. Harry started talking again. “I want to put something to you. This is news for the Slytherins. The Alliance members have linked journals. I want to ask my Alliance if you are comfortable giving linked journals to my Slytherin escort.”
Hermione frowned again. “Why do you call them your Slytherin escort?”
Tracey laughed. “Because that is what we are. Lord Greengrass has asked Daphne to make sure that nothing unfortunate happens to Harry. Any request from the Marquis of Crécy is an order for us. We will try to be Harry’s shadows.”
“Then you had better have journals,” Neville replied.
“No objections?” Harry asked.
The Alliance partners did not object.
“I’ll get journals for you today.”
Harry looked at Susan. “Do we have any progress with Professor Sprout?”
Susan smiled. “Yes, we do, she was surprised that a firstie wanted to book a practice room, but she agreed. I asked about inviting friends from other houses who didn’t have access to practice rooms, and she hummed and harred, but she finally said yes. Hannah and I have permission to unlock the doors, so one of us has to be there to start each session.”
“That’s excellent work, Susan and Hannah. Do you want to take us down there to look at the rooms before lunch?”
“Sure, Harry! Let’s go.”
-ooOOoo-
The practice room was surprising. It was large, and light flooded into the room from high windows. Boxes around the room contained practice items, mainly balls and sticks.
There was no dust. To Hermione’s delight, there was a complete absence of spider webs. “I was expecting to have to clean up the dust before we could start. This is very clean.”
Susan laughed. “I think Professor Sprout ordered the house elves to clean it up after she gave us permission to use it.”
Hermione frowned. Before she could say more, Harry went to her and asked her to have a private conversation.
The gang spread out around the room and found collections of objects made for them to practice the charms and spells they had been taught in their first weeks.
There were also piles of cushions and padded walls. Daphne explained. “Later on, we will be taught how to move things around. The pillows and padded walls will limit any damage from overpowered spells. We have a room like this at Greengrass Manor.”
As the practice started, Harry went to Hermione.
“Hermione, I need to explain some things to you. You don’t know about house elves, do you?”
“No, I don’t. What are house elves? I’m guessing they are servants, but I have never seen one.”
Harry nodded and turned to walk around the room with Hermione. “They are servants, but they are not human. They are intelligent magical creatures who live to serve wizards.”
Hermione frowned. “That sounds bad. What do you mean by ‘live to serve’?”
Harry waved his hands while he carefully put together an explanation.
“They are like imps. You know about imps in traditional mythology. They are attracted to humans. They like to play tricks and are generally annoying. The castle poltergeist Peeves is like that. House elves are like imps as far as being attracted to humans is concerned; only house elves are drawn to magicals.
House elves bond with magical people. They need to draw magical power from their witches and wizards; otherwise, they will fade away and die. House elves are paid with the only currency that matters to them: magic. They can be cast out by their magical masters by giving them clothes. Giving clothes implies that the house elf must now survive without a magical family, which is a death sentence. Giving a house elf money is just one step short of giving them clothes.
A house elf who is bonded to a family can use everything that belongs to that family, including money. This is because the house elf views everything through the lens of serving the family.”
Hermione looked at Harry. “OK, but I still don’t like the thought.”
“You have to deal with it somehow, Hermione. All the food served in the Great Hall is prepared by house elves. Your washing is done by house elves. Your dormitory, the Common Rooms, and the rest of the castle are tidied and kept clean by house elves. Hogwarts is a magical living presence with house elves bonded to it.”
Hermione glared at Harry. “Then we must accept them serving us, and they can’t be set free.”
Harry nodded. “They can’t be set free and survive. But their bond can be transferred to another witch or wizard. Witches and wizards can have house elves assigned to them by their families.”
Hermione folded her arms. “They are intelligent magical beings, but wizards own and control them.”
“Correct! This is where bad things can happen. Wizarding law is different in each country, but usually, there is no protection for house elves. At the moment, a wizard with a house elf bonded to them can punish and abuse that elf as much as they like with no hope for the house elf.”
Hermione was now angry. “This can’t be allowed to go on!”
Harry nodded. “I agree. The question is, how is it going to be changed? Part of the answer is in the project I asked to work on. How is that going?”
“Badly! I have not found a single muggle-born who was ever a teacher at Hogwarts. It’s the same for Ministers of Magic. There is not one muggle-born or a half-blood. They are all purebloods, every one of them.”
“Which is why nothing has changed in magical government for a long time.” Harry looked down. “Let’s talk about this again soon! I write to Aunt Amelia every second day now. She writes back as much as she can. I asked her about how these things could be changed. She has some ideas that will take a long time to develop. So let’s keep learning about magic and work on the answer to life, the universe, and everything in our spare time.”
“Ha! Ha! Ha! I love Douglas Adams too. Yes! Let’s do that in our spare time.”
When Harry returned to his room, he decided to open another line of influence in Hogwarts. Susan, Hannah, and Luna made Harry celebrate his own birthday. It was a strange day. He didn’t see what was special, but he knew Hermione would appreciate something for her birthday. So, Harry conjured a simple birthday card which he signed, and then he called his house elf from The Ossuary.
“Jules!”
After nearly a minute, the typical pop sound was heard as Jules arrived in Harry’s room.
“Master Harry, It’s good to see you again.”
“I’m happy to see you again, Jules. The Hogwarts house elves didn’t object to you entering the castle.”
“I am welcome here. I have taken things to Miss Susan before.”
“Great! I would like you to get a large flower arrangement and take this birthday card to Miss Hermione Granger in Gryffindor House. Her birthday is on the nineteenth. Leave them on her bed before she awakes in the morning.”
Harry waited a few seconds. “Jules, I need you to take a message to my parent's old home. Can you do that?”
“Certainly, Master Harry, I have access to Potter Hall.”
“Good! Do you know the name of the senior elf at the manor?”
“Her name is Ardent, Master Harry.”
“Please wait here. I will try to call her to me.”
“Very well, Master Harry.”
Harry softly said. “Ardent!”
Nothing happened for ten seconds, and an older elf popped into the room.
The new elf held out her hand to Harry. “Master Harry! Please give me your hand.”
Harry took hold of the elf’s hand. She then lifted Harry’s fingers until they touched her forehead.
Harry felt a rush of magic.
Ardent sighed. “Thank you, Master Harry. Our bond is renewed. The Potter elves will now have their magic refreshed because of you. How may I serve you?”
“I want you to keep Potter Hall and the estate in order. I will also need elves to help my alliance partners in the castle. Are there any Potter elves who can help?”
“Yes, Master Harry. Twelve elves can serve you here and at Potter Hall. I need to keep six elves to work permanently at the Hall.”
“Excellent! I will call you when I need help.”
-ooOOoo-
The days slowly passed.
Hermione’s birthday arrived. Harry went to breakfast with his Slytherin gang. Hermione came in with Neville and sat at her usual place. She was glaring at Harry.
Harry left for his classes. He was met at the Great Hall doors by Hermione.
“You didn’t have to do that, Harry. That was embarrassing. How did you get into my dorm?”
Harry spoke quietly. “A Bones family house elf made the delivery for me. It wasn’t embarrassing, Hermione. Everyone should have their birthdays marked by something special. Susan, Luna, and Hannah gave me a party. I can’t give you a party here, so flowers must do.”
-ooOOoo-
The Alliance and the Escort regularly trained in the Hufflepuff training room in the afternoons before the evening meal. Harry wrote a charm the firsties could use to protect their things from thieves. It was difficult to accept, but the misuse of other people's private property was common at Hogwarts. Tom gave Harry the charm Dumbledore used to impress Tom when he was interviewed at the orphanage where Tom lived. The result of the charm was that whatever was being stolen would give off magical heatless flames. The flames were bright and unmistakable and continued until whatever was stolen was returned to the owner.
Official Hogwarts life caught up with Harry. All students had to report to the school healer to be given their annual check-ups. Six Slytherin first-year boys waited in the infirmary. Madam Pompfrey called them, one by one, into a screened corner of the infirmary and examined them.
The last boy to be examined was Harry. Madam Pompfrey asked Harry to undress, and the diagnostic scans were performed. Then, Madam Pomfrey performed special spells on each of the scars on Harry’s head and body. The results were written on parchment scrolls by a magical quill; each boy had a few lines on one scroll. Harry had five complete scrolls of detail by the end of the examination. Harry was told to dress and return to the Slytherin Common Room.
Madam Pompfrey asked for a meeting with the headmaster. “Poppy! What can I do for you today?”
“Headmaster, I have just completed the first physical examination of Mister Harry Potter. Mister Potter informed me that he was examined and treated for his problems by St Mungo’s Rehabilitation Service healers. Is there any reason I did not receive any reports from St Mungos concerning Mister Potter?”
“How Mister Potter has been dealt with by the Director of the DMLE was completely wrong. The way in which she had Mister Potter admitted to St Mungo’s was wrong. I was not consulted. I do not have any confidence in anything I have heard from the Director or anyone else concerning Mister Potter.”
Dumbledore smiled at the healer.
“Have you found anything that I should be concerned with?”
“You admit that you prevented reports from St Mungos getting to me about a student, is that right?”
“As I said, Poppy. Those reports are not to be relied on and are probably full of falsehoods. I trust you have found that Mister Potter is well and ready to complete his first year.”
“Headmaster, Mister Potter, has been starved and deprived of the basic necessities of life for the last ten years. His body is covered with scars. He has many injuries which have never been treated properly. Only the power of his own magic has kept him alive. His eyesight has never developed, probably due to a magical injury when he was very young.”
Dumbledore glared at Madam Pomfrey. Dumbledore was usually able to influence the healer with a mild compulsion charm. The silent, wandless casting of the spell did not divert Madam Pomfrey this time.
“Headmaster, I have always tried to take notice of your opinions concerning how students should be dealt with. On this occasion, ignoring Mister Potter’s condition would result in me breaking my healer’s oath. I will consult with Mister Potter’s healers at St Mungo’s Rehab, and we shall develop a treatment regime for him while he is here at Hogwarts.”
“Poppy, I do not want you giving any special treatment to Mister Potter.”
“It’s too late, headmaster. My position allows me to take whatever action is needed to protect the students under my care. You do not have the authority to stop me. I have already started on my plans for Mister Potter.”
The healer turned and left the headmaster’s office.
-ooOOoo-
At a chateau hidden in the mountains near the Swiss border, Nicholas Flamel despatched an owl to his best contact in the magical French government. The letter he had sent to Harry Potter had not been delivered, and his owl had returned without the letter. If the owl had not been able to find Harry, the letter would have been returned.
Nicholas always put his own charms on his mail owls. These charms indicated that the mail owl had found the person the letter was addressed to. The charms also showed that the recipient had taken the letter from the owl. The charms on this owl showed that Harry had not been found and had not received the letter. This could only mean that the mail owl had been intercepted and the letter confiscated without being delivered to Harry.
The one organization in Britain that could have done that was the British Ministry of Magic. So Nicholas asked his friend in the magical French government to ask some unofficial questions about Harry Potter’s mail being intercepted.
-ooOOoo-
Wizard's mail was an ancient and complex thing. Owls were bred and trained to magically deliver letters and parcels to wizards and their families. Muggles trained carrier pigeons to carry messages from wherever they were released to their home roost. Owls were more advanced. But, magical governments imposed rules on what owls could be used for.
Rich and famous wizards attracted some hostile attention. Harmful stuff could be sent in letters and parcels delivered by owls. The Ministry of Magic allows owl mail to be intercepted and checked for curses and potion contamination. Wizards can pay for a mail interception service provided by Gringotts, or the Ministry has a department to do this for senior Ministry officials and Wizengamot members. All interception services must be registered with the Ministry.
-ooOOoo-
A new unofficial rule was in force in the Department of Magical Law Enforcement. Any mention of Harry Potter in official business had to be sent to the Director. The query about Harry Potter’s mail being intercepted was sent to Amelia Bones. All of the suspicions about Harry’s mail being intercepted were almost proven.
The official channels of communication between Ministry of Magic departments were strictly managed by the Minister for Magic. Since the news about Harry Potter being kept in Azkaban had come to his attention, Cornelius Fudge had imposed new rules. Any mention of Harry Potter was banned. Fudge had used threats and bribes to keep the news out of The Daily Prophet. The report from the Head Unspeakable about Harry was hidden in Fudge’s office and never mentioned. Amelia Bones was never given a copy. Dumbledore had been given a copy because Fudge knew that Dumbledore had a lot of reasons to keep it secret. It was also a significant threat that could be used against Dumbledore when needed.
Amelia had ways around official bans. She ordered a security check of the Owl Post Office Interception Service. Security checks of sensitive areas, such as owl mail interception, were the DMLE's responsibility. The security check was conducted. The Owl Post Office did not keep intercepted mail; it was either forwarded to the proper person or destroyed. The DMLE officers entered the Interception Service offices and checked every room. It all seemed normal until a pile of sacks and boxes was found near a rear door.
Auror Robards asked a mail clerk. “What are you doing with this?”
“That is going to the archive.”
“You’re not supposed to keep anything. So why are you keeping this?”
“This is all mail being sent to person HP.”
Auror Robards frowned. “Person HP? Who is that?”
The mail clerk did not answer. So Auror Robards picked up a box. It was addressed to Harry Potter. Next, Auror Robards checked other boxes; they were all addressed to Harry. A sack was opened; it was full of letters addressed to Harry Potter.
“Where is the archive?”
“It’s in Birmingham. There is a muggle warehouse there which we use.”
Auror Robards returned to the Ministry and reported to Amelia Bones. Amelia and Robards travelled to the archive building. There was no name on the building. Amelia ordered the accompanying mail clerk to let them in.
There were three-metre-high racks with four levels of shelves. The aisles between the racks were thirty metres long. There were eight aisles. Two-thirds of the shelf space was full of bags of letters and boxes of parcels.
“Whose mail is archived here?” Amelia asked.
“It all belongs to person HP.”
“Why can’t you say his name?” Amelia demanded.
“We were ordered not to say it.”
“What is in the boxes?”
“It’s mainly cakes, biscuits and such. It is all under a stasis charm, so it will still be good. The letters have all been opened. They are nearly all fan mail, birthday cards and such.”
Amelia turned to the mail clerk. “Do you have any written orders about this mail interception?”
“No, there were never any written orders. It was all done by verbal instructions.”
Amelia looked at Robards. “Let’s go.”
Amelia went to the Owl Mail Interception Service Office. “I want to speak to the Service Manager.”
“She has gone home. She wasn’t feeling well.”
Amelia stopped for a second. “Robards, go back to that warehouse and confiscate the last bag of mail deposited there.”
Amelia went to the door where the bags of mail and boxes had been found. The collection of intercepted mail was gone. This was bad. Amelia hurried to the office and found the acting manager.
“The intercepted mail for person HP has been moved. Where has it gone.”
“It was port keyed to the archive.”
Amelia had to return to her office for a meeting with some Wizengamot members.
After the meeting, Robards came to her office. “The archive building is empty. There is no sign that anything was ever there.”
Amelia nodded. “That was what I expected. They are going to do extraordinary things to cover their tracks. Send an investigation team to the home of the Interception Service Manager. Ask her about ‘person HP’. I don’t expect her to admit to knowing anything about it. I expect that Fudge will have this dealt with by his friends in the Obliviators. Fudge might even have it classified as a magical accident so he can hide it away by having the people involved obliviated. Fudge rose to power from the Department of Magical Accidents and Catastrophes. He has used those old connections of his to conceal his mistakes in the past.”
Robards left. Amelia thought for a few minutes. Then she replied to the magical French government official who had asked about vanishing mail from Nicholas Flamel. She asked for a request to be sent to Nicholas Flamel to send his letter again. She did not mention any details of what she had discovered. She was not ready to open such a broad attack on her political masters.
Another visit to Gringotts was needed.
-ooOOoo-
“Madam Director, as always, it is a pleasure to see you,” Sharpclaw murmured.
“Thank you, Account Manager Sharpclaw. There is a matter of some urgency to be dealt with. There has been a mail interception set up on Harry’s owl mail. I think that Harry’s letters from Gringotts have been intercepted. The service does not cover mail to and from Hogwarts. His official Hogwarts mail is being delivered. His personal mail is getting through from Hogwarts, but nothing is getting to him.”
Sharpclaw growled. “Such a thing can only be put in place by the highest authorities in the Ministry. But, of course, Gringotts can’t prevent the Ministry from doing this. Still, it is one of the major issues we have with Fudge. He uses mail interception far too much.”
Amelia nodded. “Can you send Harry’s Gringotts mail to him again? My investigations seem to have prompted Fudge to cover the mail interception up, and his mail may get through again. I also want to have a Gringotts mail interception established for Harry. He is getting significant amounts of fan mail and gifts, which must be checked before it gets to him. We found a warehouse full of mail and parcels intended for Harry. The Ministry has vanished it all and is now in the process of obliviating the people they had working on it.”
Sharpclaw wrote on a form on his desk. “How long has this interception been in place?”
Amelia replied. “The earliest bag of mail was ten years old. There were birthday cards and fan mail in it for Harry’s second birthday.”
Sharpclaw looked up. “Was there any money? People often send Gringotts bank drafts as gifts.”
“I didn’t see any.”
Sharpclaw hummed. “I shall order a search; well-wishers may have gifted Harry money. If the drafts were made out to Harry personally, I could have those amounts deposited in his vault. If the ministry wants to make this disappear, any cash and open drafts will also disappear.”
Amelia shook her head. “Dumbledore must have known about this. He probably ordered it done when he put Harry with the Dursleys.”
Sharpclaw nodded. “That is almost certain. Of course, he will never admit to it.”
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