Tuesday, November 2, 1994 - Evening
Supper seemed to take forever. Pansy Parkinson confronted Daphne and Tracey as they started to move towards the hall doors.
“Where did you get to this afternoon? I was looking for you. You just disappeared.”
“Can’t we go for a walk without you, Pansy?” Daphne had her Ice Queen face on.
“Draco doesn’t like the way you ignore him. You turn your back and don’t agree with anything he says.” Pansy snarled.
“I’m sorry about that Pansy. Shall I ask my parents to arrange for a brain transplant to make me behave in a correct manner towards you and Draco?” Daphne smirked.
Pansy growled at them.
“Astoria! Come on! We are leaving.” Daphne took Astoria by the arm and rushed her out of the hall.
Harry and Luna followed. Harry nodded to Daphne and Tracey as he set off for the Merlin Tower. Pansy watched them from the hall doors and then followed at a distance.
“We have a tail.” Tracey murmured to Harry as they paced quickly along a corridor.
“Can’t help that. They will find out about us sooner or later.” Harry turned into the Merlin Tower entrance.
“Catch-the-snitch.” Harry whispered to Angus.
The portrait opened, the girls quickly walked in while Harry stood and glared at Pansy who watched from a distance. Harry stepped in and Angus closed the entrance.
Pansy scurried back to the Slytherin common room.
“Polly!” Harry called as soon as he entered.
Polly popped into the common room in front of Harry.
“Polly is here Master Harry.”
“Are the girl’s things here?”
“Oh yes, Master Harry. The Hogwarts elves have everything safely stored here.”
“Great! Thank you, Polly.”
“Welcome to Merlin House. I want us to use Merlin House rather than Potter School of Magic, it is much easier and doesn’t have ‘Potter’ in it.”
“Polly! The ladies will select their rooms and they can settle in.”
“Ladies, this is Polly, she is the head elf for Merlin House. She will assign a personal elf for each of you. You may also call your own family house elves if you want to. Polly will co-ordinate everything between your elves, the Potter elves and the Hogwarts elves.”
Polly smiled at Harry and the slightly stunned ladies.
“Please come with me, I will show you the girl’s rooms and you can pick where you want to stay. I will then send your personal elf to look after you.” Polly walked to the girl’s rooms stairway and beckoned the girls to follow.
Much later, the three girls entered the common room and sat themselves down on a settee opposite Harry who was occupying an armchair beside the fireplace.
“If this is vassalage, I don’t know what our problem with it was.” Tracey smirked at the others.
“I must admit, I wasn’t expecting Merlin Tower to be like this.” Harry waved his hand at the room in general.
“Polly has told me that Hogwarts itself made the rooms into individual accommodation. Originally the dormitories had six beds as in the other houses. It looks like we have some allies already.” Harry waited for comments from his team.
“Well! I think this is vastly better than the snake pit. I had to fight to keep the others out of my stuff every day.” Astoria, bounced on her seat. “The furnishings are so much nicer too!”
“Do you know what this is about, Astoria?” Harry asked.
“This is about you and that stinking tournament, and a lot more. Mummy wrote to me that it will not end with the tournament. Death Eaters are getting active, and they will target Greengrass assets everywhere. Mummy said that the intelligence division is definite that Voldemort is planning to revive himself and start a new war.” Astoria looked at Harry. It was Harry’s turn to stare open mouthed.
“Wow! You know more about what is happening than I do. The Gods sure know how to pick a team.” The other girls did not seem surprised that the second year knew so much about the wizarding world.
Daphne spoke up. “Our parents are training us to take their place, Harry. Our lessons from home are just as important as anything we get at Hogwarts. You have been isolated here, Harry. Your education is sadly lacking. You know nothing about your family, about how much power, wealth, and influence you have. Malfoy targets you because he is frightened of you. If you started wielding your Lord’s ring, he would have to run for cover. Malfoy’s hope is that Voldemort will return and back up his empty boasts with killing curses.” Harry thought for second.
I’m missing something here. How does she know about my Lord’s ring?
Daphne smiled and spoke again. “I can see your ring, Harry. You can see mine as well. I have the Greengrass Heir’s ring. You should have had the Potter Heir’s ring since you were eleven.”
Daphne showed her right hand. On the ring finger was a slim gold band with an oval emerald mounted on it.
“My father wears the Greengrass Lord’s ring. When he passes, it will come to me. I have to be ready to use its’ power. That’s Greengrass family magic, primogeniture applies to the first born, male or female.” Daphne closed her hand. Harry now noticed that Daphne never showed off her ring, and somehow concealed it.
“Harry! There are going to be more girl’s joining us, aren’t there.” Tracey smiled slyly at Harry.
“Yes Tracey, the Gods picked out eight initially. I have no idea how many will obey the summons. I hope they will. I don’t want them to suffer any penalty for ignoring the Gods commands.” Harry looked at his shoes again.
“It’s not your fault Harry! You didn’t ask for this! What I would like to see is a bit more male company in the common room. You are going to be outnumbered eight to one. Can you ask to have some levelling up?” Harry quickly glanced at the girl’s faces. They were all smirking at him. Luna included.
Luna eventually spoke. “You can invite some guys in, Harry. You have to be happy about the team first though. They mustn’t upset or distract the team members. They have to support you completely. Perhaps they can be invited to visit first, for some socialising in the common room.”
“There is only one guy I can think of from my year in Gryffindor who isn’t a petty prat. How does Neville Longbottom strike you?” Harry looked at the girls.
“Heir Longbottom, of the Ancient and Noble House of Longbottom; one of the most steadfast allies of House Potter, and he is also not repulsive.” Tracey smiled at Harry. “We are distant cousins, but you can say that about most witches and wizards.”
“Can you girls draw up a short list of guys to invite for a small social evening, a housewarming. We will wait to see if some more girls turn up first. Athena, Apollo, and Hecate still have some visiting to do, I think.” Harry looked thoughtful. The girls shuddered; Luna smiled.
Harry fell into his favourite meditation. He stared at his shoes and brooded about how his life was sliding into more and more unwelcome complexity.
They have nice rooms to sleep in, that they don’t have to share. They have plenty of food. No one tried to kill them today. What do I hear? Complaints about how dull the common room is.
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