The summer break had not been an easy time for Albus. The summer ICW meetings had been raucous and unruly. The progressives had not retreated and abandoned their reform plans from a year ago. Several old traditionalists had passed away during the year, and their replacements were not his friends. A new ICW charter had been adopted, which would then be reviewed by the member states for the following year. The vote on accepting the charter would then be final, and the Supreme Mugwump’s control over ICW politics would be reduced to almost nothing.
The headmaster’s thoughts clouded his mind as he waded through the memories of the ICW sessions and the mail that had piled up while he was in Rome.
Albus muttered to himself, “What use is the Supreme Mugwump if the Supreme Mugwump can’t control the meetings. They won’t allow me to set the agenda. They won’t allow me to overrule objections. Every question must be answered. They won’t allow me to block nominations to committees. I might as well stay at home.”
Albus was in the habit of shutting the floo in his ICW Headquarters office. There were too many annoying calls from minor ICW delegates who wanted to persuade him to support their petty causes.
Because of the shut floo, he missed calls from a dozen Wizengamot members who needed his help. These members were his most loyal supporters. Albus knew they were loyal because Albus and his influence in the Wizengamot and the Ministry saved them from prosecution and embarrassment.
The legal problems were not anything important. A traditional family may have kept some illegally charmed things to help frighten muggles. They were not illegal when made, but the laws had changed, and the family had neglected to remove the now-illegal bogeymen. Albus called the Wizengamot member involved and assured him that the DMLE report would be buried in the files with no action taken.
Sometimes, DMLE officers raided certain entertainment establishments in Knockturn Alley. The names of some Wizengamot members found there were put in reports of the raid. Then Albus called the embarrassed Wizengamot members and assured them their names would never be released.
The lists of minor indiscretions accumulated. People were careless about some things. Albus ensured that the Wizengamot members involved knew they owed him their reputations and, in some cases, their liberty. The only thing that Albus asked for in return was their vote in the Wizengamot when he wanted it.
While Albus was away in Rome, the carefully arranged web of petty blackmail was torn down. Nearly all his loyal blackmailed supporters had resigned from the Wizengamot and left their seats to their heirs. The disaster was that Albus had neglected to capture the heirs in his petty blackmail web. As Chief Warlock, Albus asked the DMLE for a report on the prosecutions. The DMLE reported that all the buried files had been opened, and legal actions were being pursued. Albus could do nothing to stop them, as the prosecutions were now public knowledge.
Albus complained to Fawkes, “Amelia Bones! Where did she get that information? All those cases were long before her time. Who is feeding her these little secrets? If this carries on, I’ll be voted out as Chief Warlock!”
-ooOOoo-
The offices of the DMLE were busy. Twenty-seven historical prosecutions had been initiated in one day. That day happened to be one day after Dumbledore left for the ICW sessions in Rome. Convictions were certain in each case. The evidence was all there in the files.
The Director smiled a satisfied smile. Soon, most of Albus Dumbledore’s supporters outside the Light party will be forced out of the Wizengamot. The Light party will not have the votes to control the Wizengamot, and the replacement members owe Albus Dumbledore nothing. They were either Traditionalists or Grey supporters. They might even vote to remove Dumbledore as the ICW delegate and Chief Warlock. The troll disaster at Hogwarts was still a burning issue behind the scenes.
Amelia wanted to establish an alliance with Cyrus Greengrass. However, the Potter-Longbottom-Bones Alliance was too Light aligned for Cyrus. A small token of friendship would be appropriate for the help he had privately given to uncover those hidden and misfiled reports on old prosecutions. Amelia visited the Bones vault at Gringotts and retrieved a sheathed dagger. The dagger was ancient, and its history was blood-soaked. Amelia’s ancestors had always kept the dagger on them, and more than once, it proved to be a lifesaver. Friends who had decided to betray an ancient Bones clan chief received an awful shock as the blade terminated the betrayer’s life.
-ooOOoo-
The school was assembled for the Sorting and the Commencement Feast. The new firsties were paraded in. Harry smiled when he remembered how tense he had been. Tom had been in full panic for the previous hour. The only thing that Harry could do was yell at him in his mind to go and hide in his deepest cellar. It worked. None of the legilimens in the castle had found Tom’s mindscape, let alone discovered that Tom Marvolo Riddle, the last soul shard Lord Voldemort made, was alive and living in Harry Potter’s head.
As expected, Luna went to Ravenclaw. Then came the unexpected. Ginevra Weasley was called up to sit on the stool and have the hat placed on her head. There was a long delay. The students became restless. Shuffling feet and whispers were heard around the hall. Finally, Alistair was ready. He opened his mouth and called out.
“RAVENCLAW!”
A voice rang out from the Gryffindor table. “NO! THAT’S NOT RIGHT! THE HAT IS CRAZY! GINNY BELONGS IN GRYFFINDOR! ALL WEASLEYS GO TO GRYFFINDOR!”
Professor McGonagall took the hat from Ginny and motioned for her to go to the Ravenclaw table. Ginny’s robes changed to the bronze and blue Ravenclaw colours as the Ravenclaws cheered and clapped.
Fred, George and Percy were beyond surprised and stared at Ginny with their mouths hanging open. Ginny smiled and waved to them as she sat beside Luna at the Ravenclaw table.
“MISTER RONALD WEASLEY, DETENTION WITH MISTER FILCH THIS SATURDAY. YOU WILL NOT DISRESPECT THE MAGIC OF HOGWARTS!” Professor McGonagall glared at Ronald, who turned an even deeper shade of red but managed to shut his mouth.
-ooOOoo-
The sorting was finished, and Albus had to rouse himself from sulking over the destruction of his Wizengamot power base. He gave his usual daffy welcome speech and introduced the new Defence Against Dark Arts teacher, Gilderoy Lockhart. Lockhart stood and waved to the students. He seemed to do his best to dazzle them all with his gleaming white teeth, prize-winning smile, and glamorous aquamarine robes.
Albus gave no hint of his thoughts. “I hope the buffoon doesn’t make too big a fool of himself. The teaching staff knew that he was the only applicant. Potential candidates ran away if they were approached about the job. They all knew the rumours must be true. Voldemort did hex the position so that no teacher lasts a full year. I have searched for how he did it, and there is no trace of a curse.”
Albus caught sight of Harry sitting at the Slytherin table. His escort was still grouped around him. Albus would never try legilimency on Harry again. The aura of power around him had grown and was now nearly visible. However, Albus did see that Harry was focused on the Ravenclaw benches. The line of Harry’s sight indicated that two new Ravenclaws, Miss Lovegood and Miss Weasley, were persons of interest.
This was not good news. The gang around Harry was increasing to an alarming extent.
-ooOOoo-
The feast was over, and Harry moved towards the doors. His escape path was blocked by a sudden vision of aquamarine.
Lockhart must have run from the teacher’s table to catch Harry. “Harry! Harry! Harry! Don’t rush off! I missed you at Flourish and Blotts. Most of your fellow students managed to get my autograph at the book signing there. I would like to catch up with you privately and share some secrets about handling publicity.”
Harry looked up at the smiling face. “Excuse me, Professor. Is this anything to do with our Hogwarts lessons?”
“No! No! No! Harry! This is about getting to know you and building professional connections. Celebrity-to-celebrity friendships are precious, Harry.”
Harry frowned, “I’m not a celebrity, Professor. I’m a student. I’ll be going to the Slytherin Common Room now.”
Harry gently moved his staff, slipped around Lockhart, and flew away to the stairs down to the dungeons. His feet were not touching the floor as he fled.
Once the safety of the Common Room had been gained, Harry let his escort catch up to him.
“What was that, Harry? What did Lockhart want?”
Harry shrugged. “Who knows! He was talking about getting publicity and being a celebrity. The last thing I need is publicity. Being that close to him made me feel unclean. I’m going to shower and read in my room.”
Harry went to his room.
Daphne and Tracey moved to the second-year girl’s Common Room.
Daphne slumped down in an armchair. She was not happy.
Tracey sat next to her. “What’s wrong? You’ve been subdued since we arrived, even for you.”
Daphne frowned. “I’ve been silly.”
Tracey smiled, “NO! The cool, sophisticated, pureblood princess admits she’s been silly!”
“Yes! There is no need to smirk like that.”
Tracey recoiled with a fake ‘I’m insulted’ gesture. “Smirk! I don’t smirk. Unless there is something to smirk at. Finish the story now! I want to hear you say exactly what you have been silly about.”
Daphne glared at Tracey. “You know what it is. I’ve been having daydreams about Harry and me.”
“Hah! That was so obvious. So! Something changed; what was it?”
Daphne growled. “My mother noticed. She talked to me before we left the manor. She told me to back off and leave Harry alone until he was a bit older. Harry has had a rough time and is not ready for a girlfriend in many ways. He is magically powerful and seems to be an adult in some ways, but he isn’t. That was bad enough until it got worse.”
Tracey stopped grinning, “Worse! What happened?”
Daphne shrugged. “On the train, Susan Bones got Hermione Granger and me together and confessed that her Aunt had given her the same talk. Hermione then told us that her mother had said something similar. We have all been told to cool it.”
“Oh!” Tracey seemed to be genuinely surprised. “So what are you going to do?”
Daphne frowned. “We agreed to focus on helping Harry. My father is still very concerned. I don’t remember him being this involved with anyone who is not family or a business partner.”
Tracey sighed. “How disappointing! There will be no catfights over Harry this year. I’ll be watching, though.”
-ooOOoo-
The Ravenclaw first years were given their tour of the Ravenclaw Tower and Common Room.
Luna and Ginny found their beds in the dormitory room that they shared.
The dormitory arrangements were different in each house. The Gryffindor dormitories had five beds in each room and shared one bathroom. The Hufflepuffs had up to eight in each dormitory with multiple facilities in the bathroom. The Ravenclaws all shared a room with another student and a small bathroom. The Slytherins were the only ones with entirely private accommodations and a private bathroom for each student.
Ginny surveyed her dormitory. “This is lovely. I liked having my own room at home, but it never felt like mine because Mum and the boys were in and out of it all the time. There is no such thing as privacy at The Burrow.”
Luna looked out of the window. “I think the view from here will be spectacular during the day. It looks dreamy at night. I can only see a few other windows around the castle. We must overlook the lake because it looks so black at night.”
Ginny sat at her desk and took out her diary.
Luna paused and studied Ginny. “Ginny, where did you get that diary?”
“Oh! I found it in my second-hand books Mum bought for me. Nothing was written in it, so I decided to make a diary for myself.”
Luna stared at the book and then took out her own linked journal.
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To: Harry Potter
From: Luna Lovegood
Date: Monday, September 1, 1992
Time: 9:33 pm
Message: I have seen something that has made me unhappy.
Ginny Weasley is writing in a book she found in the second-hand books her mother bought for her in Diagon Alley. She was writing in it on the train. The fae were disturbed and pointed it out to me.
When it is not open, the book does not have an aura. When Ginny is writing in it, it has a grey aura. I think that this book is an extremely dark object.
The magic in it can hide itself until it is stirred into action. That is sinister.
I want to see a powerful wizard cast Fiendfyre at it, but we must get it away from Ginny first.
I will talk to Ginny to see if I can persuade her to give it up.
Luna
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Minutes later, Luna’s journal pinged her magic. She hurried to the journal and opened it.
To: Luna Lovegood
From: Harry Potter
Date: Monday, September 1, 1992
Time: 9:47 pm
Message: Luna, you are right.
The diary is exceptionally evil. It is an artefact that Lord Greengrass and I have been searching for.
I suspect that Lucius Malfoy planted it on Ginny during that incident in Diagon Alley when Arthur Weasley and Lucius had a physical encounter.
Please talk to Ginny about it.
If anyone tries to take the diary from her, there may be a bad reaction. The diary will have a sinister influence on anyone who writes in it. If the influence has built up in Ginny, she will resist any attempt to take it off her.
Ginny may be damaged if the diary is confiscated.
Reporting it to the school authorities will certainly result in confiscation. That must be the last resort.
You are in the best position to persuade her to give it up. She will have to release it herself. She must give it up by her own free will.
This is very secret. When trying to control Ginny, the diary will create a blank page and write back to her. This will be dangerous.
Please write to me about this situation as often as you can.
Harry
-ooOOoo-
The morning walks around the castle and the lake resumed. Neville and Harry discussed their holiday experiences.
“Did anything interesting happen over the summer, Neville?”
“Yes! Sure! Well, it was interesting to me. I rebuilt the two old greenhouses and set up a breeding house for some new flesh-eating plants that Lord Greengrass sent me. They are from Central America. I’m pretty sure they come from an area that is off-limits for wizards because of the hostility from the tribal witch doctors. Somehow, Lord Greengrass negotiated a deal with them to get these breeding plants from them.”
Harry nodded, “Lord Greengrass told you to not ask questions about how he got them, is that right?”
Neville nodded. “I might have said too much already.”
Harry laughed. “Don’t worry. I am still learning what to talk about as well. That’s what you get when you work with families like Greengrass and Zabini.”
They moved on to a new subject of conversation. “The Gryffindor Common Room hasn’t improved much. Ron is permanently grumpy, but at least it isn’t all about you anymore. Half the time, he is complaining about Ginny being sorted into Ravenclaw. Fred and George do more to shut him up, which is good. When will he learn that not everything works the way he wants?”
Harry smiled. “Don’t hold your breath. Some people never give up trying to force things to fit their plans when they should know better. How is Hermione doing? I ask her myself, and she says everything is fine. I’m afraid that she conceals hostility to herself by ignoring it.”
Neville glanced at Harry but did not answer.
“Neville?”
“Hermione keeps reading and rereading all those Lockhart books. She is trying to work out some problems in them. I asked her what she was doing, and she pointed out dates in each book that didn’t fit the dates in the other books. She thinks that Lockhart spent a year in Tibet when he was also in Ireland and at the same time visited Bulgaria. I said that people make mistakes and put down the wrong dates in their memoirs, but she isn’t happy with mistakes in books that should be our textbooks.”
“Has she asked Professor Lockhart about these problems?”
Neville shook his head. “No, but she will.”
Harry looked around. Hermione and Susan were talking together and not taking any notice of him. Tracey and Daphne were talking together. Luna and Ginny were at the back of the group and engaged in a lively conversation.
-ooOOoo-
“I don’t like the influence that Lockhart is having. You read the books to me, and I can tell Hermione is right. There are too many mistakes.”
“The boys react poorly to him. Most of the girls seem to be dazzled by his personality when they meet him. He gives me the creeps.”
“Trust your own reaction to him. Look for evidence you can take to court. Your instincts are right, but that’s not enough to get rid of him.”
“Thanks, Tom.”
-ooOOoo-
Professor McGonagall arrived at the headmaster’s office. The occasion was the regular weekly meeting between the headmaster and his deputy.
“Good morning, Minerva. I hope that your summer break was relaxing.”
“Good morning to you, Albus. My family business took up almost all of my time, and I can’t say I have had a holiday. That is my problem, I know. If I handed over the Head of House duties for the Ross family to my successor, then I wouldn’t have a problem.”
“Ah! Yes! I am head of my own house but don’t have many responsibilities. There is only my brother Aberforth, and he has refused to speak to me for many years, so my burden is light.”
Minerva kept her thoughts to herself. She had tried to get Albus to explain why Aberforth Dumbledore maintained such a bitter feud with his brother. The years changed nothing. Albus stayed serene and almost unconcerned. Aberforth never concealed his contempt for Albus. Aberforth ran the shabbiest pub in Hogsmeade, ‘The Hog’s Head’. It was shabby but had a long history in Wizarding World politics. It might have been the human headquarters of the Goblin Rebellion of 1612. Somehow, the little pub survived that and is still in business today.
Albus smiled, “To business! Have all our students arrived safely?”
“Yes, Albus. The first years are all present and sorted, although one sorting was not expected.”
“Ah, yes. Miss Weasley, some of her brothers could have done well in Ravenclaw. William and Percy come to mind. Filius will be happy if she shows the same aptitude as those two.”
“I’m more concerned about the trouble she might get from her youngest brother. He never reconciled with Mister Potter being sorted into Slytherin.”
“Mister Potter has come into Hogwarts with a plan of his own. I don’t like it. He reminds me far too much of other students who were too certain of themselves from the beginning.”
Minerva decided to try again to discover Dumbledore’s problem with Harry Potter. This time, there would be no subtle hints.
“Albus! What is your problem with Harry Potter? Obviously, he is not who we expected, and it was a concern when he was sorted into Slytherin. Since then, he has done outstanding magic and is a fine leader in his age group. He is everything that I hoped he would be. He is not a disruptive mischief-maker like his father was at his age. I don’t see what the problem is.”
Dumbledore glared at Professor McGonagall. “The problem is the friends that he has made. It is also how he disregards any direction I attempt to give him. He is far too independent. He has somehow even influenced Severus. That on its own is enough to suspect whatever he is doing.”
Professor McGonagall held her tongue. She didn’t have enough allies to challenge the headmaster. She had to wait until Dumbledore committed another blunder. The remaining items of business were quickly dealt with.
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