Chapter 5: Pansy Parkinson

It didn't take long for them to pack up Pansy's things. She didn't have much, and the furniture was part of the room. Even if the old pig is a rapist, they wouldn't steal some old, worn-out furniture from him. This would simply cause more trouble for them, as it gave the old pig the opportunity to label them as thieves and send the aurors after them. So, such a small revenge wasn't worth it; he was already lying knocked out on the dirty ground of Knockturn Alley.

They packed the few belongings of Pansy into her Hogwarts trunk. There wasn't much beyond aA few old clothes and Hogwarts uniforms, her school books and other school things, and some potion ingredients.

"That's all?" Harry asked as she closed her trunk.

"Yes," Pansy answered with a slight embarrassment on her face.

Harry waved his hand, and the trunk shrank down to palm size, perfectly fitting into a pocket. Pansy watched in awe before she picked up the trunk and put it away.

"How are you doing that?" she unconsciously asked.

"Wandless magic? It isn't so hard if you understand the universe enough. It's just a matter of using your mind in the right way," Harry answered nonchalantly. Which was technically true; both knowledge and having access to over 90% of his brain's potential allowed him to cast simple spells with ease and without a wand. Some more complex feats would require a bit of practice first.

Wizards already had more access to their brain's potential than non-magical humans; this allowed them to cast magic, among other things. Downloading the full knowledge of the ancient race into his mind pushed his already enhanced brain activity to a completely different level.

"Could I learn that too, Potter?" Pansy asked hopefully.

"Maybe, if you work hard, And call me Harry," he replied, unsure of what he should actually do with Pansy. Sure, he would let her stay, but his newfound knowledge gave him access to many things. It was impossible for him to do everything alone, and having Pansy assist him would already be a great help. But still, this was Pansy Parkinson; based on his past experiences with her, he wasn't sure if he could trust her.

She nodded. "Okay, Po... Harry." The word felt unfamiliar to her: "So where are we going?" asking as they walked through the Leaky Cauldron towards the entrance to the Muggle world.

"There are some things I have to buy in Muggle London for a project of mine." He explained calmly before looking at her clothes, "This won't do. Can I?"

Unsure what he meant, she just nodded.

Harry pulled out his wand this time, since transfiguration was a bit hard for him, and changed the Hogwarts uniform she was wearing into a set of non-magical clothes so she wouldn't stick out in London.

"Now you won't stick out."

"Thank you," Pansy replied, looking at her changed clothes that felt now more comfortable than her worn-out Hogwarts uniform, although quite unfamiliar to her. But if she was bothered by the Muggle clothing, she didn't say anything as they stepped out of the door.

"So what happened to you? Why were you living in Knockturn Alley and not in a nice mansion with your family?" Harry asked interestedly, "Don't worry, no one will hear us talk." Harry added as he saw her looking at some passing Muggles uneasily.

"Well, my parents, although supporters of the Dark Lord and his ideas, never directly joined the ranks of Death Eaters. They chose, in true Slytherin manner, not to put all their cards in one basket and made it relatively unscattered through the war," she explained with hesitation.

"Smart move of them. But that doesn't explain why you are living in poverty. It doesn't sound like your parents lost much during the war," he concluded.

"Yes, and they continue to live the pure-blood way even today. A big part of pure-blood life is to strengthen the power of the family through politics, business, and marriage. As a female Parkinson, I am not fit to inherit the headship of the family; this honor falls to my cousin. No, my job is to secure a beneficial marriage for the family. We female pure-bloods have time for this during Hogwarts. And I chose Malfoy for that." Pansy continued to explain; the tone in which she said Malfoy was quite interesting.

"Malfoy, left you? Even after being his girlfriend for so long?" Harry asked as he realized where this was going, as he had heard that the Malfoy's were negotiating with the Greengrass family for a marriage.

Pansy nodded. "He just left me as if I were nothing. And with no marriage, my family chose a match for me. Of course, after the war, there weren't many pure-bloods left for a beneficial relationship. Many died during the final battle. But they found someone for me, someone with a suitable standing who was in dire need of a new wife since most of his family had died during the war, including his heirs."

"That sounds good, doesn't it? Won't you be able to live comfortably as a rich wife?" Harry asked before he realized, "Wait, heirs?"

"Yes, they chose the old Lord Lestrange, who is over five times my age. If he doesn't find a wife who can bear him some heirs, the Lestrange family will die out. Of course, the younger, the better. His dowry is quite generous," Pansy said dryly. "So my parents decided to sell me out like cattle. I always knew that would be my fate. But I thought it would be at least someone around my age or only a bit older."

"Oh… I am sorry that you had to live through that," Harry said awkwardly. He knew Pure Bloods had a strange view of the world, but this sounded really shitty.

"It's not your fault. I always envied you and Granger for being able to live so freely, not bound to your family. Well, my family put a choice in front of me; if I didn't marry Lord Lestrange, they would push me out without any money and let me fend for myself. Now here I am." She finished downcast.

Harry nodded, now understanding how she came to be in such a situation. He was actually a bit impressed that she chose this path and did not comply with her family. Sure, he still remembered how she treated him over the years, but he couldn't bring himself to truly dislike her. After all, she was just the result of the circumstances in which she was raised. Maybe Harry and Hermione had a bit of influence on her, pushing her out of her narrow thinking pattern.

"Don't worry. Your family did something shitty to you. I will do my best to help you stand on your own two feet. I am actually planning to start a business of my own and could use an assistant. But we can negotiate the details later if you are interested. We are here," Harry said as they arrived in front of a business called London Metals Ltd.

"You need metals or something?" Pansy asked as she read the sign on the building.

"Exactly. This is one of the better suppliers in London," Harry said, who had researched today where he could acquire some necessary minerals and metals for his projects.

This company normally regularly supplies different companies with metals and doesn't sell to regular private persons, but when they realized that the one-time order Harry had for them was quite big and he had the necessary funds, they agreed to fulfill his request and supply him with the resources he needed.

Delivery was another small problem, although he had taken down the Fidelius around Grimmauld Place since too many people already knew the secret, but this townhouse in the middle of London wasn't equipped to receive a large delivery of raw resources.

Well, with magic, it was easy to do, but these were Muggles, so he had to be careful. Harry put a small confundus charm on the spokesperson of the company, making them agree to deliver it to Grimmauld Place.

He would need to do something similar with the people delivering the goods; he didn't need any problems with the Ministry right now for exposing magic to the Muggle world. Some people there were already unhappy with him for disposing of the Dark Lord, and others saw him as an upcoming Dark Lord himself; these people would do a lot to dispose of him somehow.

Stepping outside the building, followed by Pansy, Harry turned towards her and said, "That is all I have to do today. Now I have to wait until they deliver the goods in a few days. How about we return home so we can prepare a room for you?"

Pansy nodded with a smile. "Yes, thank you; that sounds good to me, Harry."

"Let's apparate," he said, pointing towards an empty alley across the street. Heading there and making sure there were no Muggles around, Harry took Pansy's hand and Apparated side along with her to Grimmauld Place number 12.

"Welcome to Grimmauld Place. The ancestral home of the Black Family," he welcomed her as they appeared on the doorstep of the old house.

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