Easter Continued

Saturday 15th April 1995, 8:10pm.

"How could you, how could you, how could you!" As soon as the door closed Hermione rounded on her father. She emphasised each word by hitting the man on the arm. "You punched a child!"

While the strikes didn't hurt, the spite in her voice cut Gerald to the core. "The boy had just said that he was engaged yet still wanted to marry you! What was I supposed to do?"

"Yell? Storm off? Sit sulking like a kid? How dare you strike him!" The Gryffindor had stopped hitting Gerald, but her fury had not abated one iota.

The man had never seen his daughter like this, and for the first time he started to understand just how much his daughter cared for their dinner guest. "Do you think he will be okay? Will he have a concussion? Are there… Magical remedies for a concussion?"

"He will take a potion or two when he gets home, I hope. You're lucky that Harry won't tell anybody about what you did, otherwise you would be in legal trouble." Hermione started to leave, deciding on an early night. It would also have the added benefit of getting her away from her father before she did something she would later regret.

With her back turned the girl didn't see the fear in her father's eyes as the full weight of his actions hit him. He slumped to the floor, realising that his life was over. Even if he avoided jail-time he would never practice dentistry again. On top of all that he had knocked out a 14 year old boy.

Gerald didn't consider himself a violent man, in fact he was mild-mannered and didn't even have a temper. Conflict had always scared him and he had spent his life shying away from it. In fact Gerald couldn't remember a single other instance of throwing a punch in anger.

He had always been more academic leaning than athletic and had spent his schooldays in libraries not out on the sportsfield, avoiding those testosterone fueled environments. Yet, somehow, a single testosterone fuelled rage had ended a lifetime of healing. And Gerald deserved whatever was going to happen to him, he wouldn't even fight the charges.

"Hermione darling, what did you mean Harry wouldn't tell anyone?" Jean asked from her position on the floor where she was seated next to her husband an arm wrapped around him.

The girl stopped in the doorway, before turning and facing her parents. "I am sure Harry grew up in an abusive home, but he doesn't talk about it. Even with me. I doubt he will tell anybody about you punching him."

Without waiting for the pair of adults to respond the teen departed. Not even stopping when she heard her father burst into tears. Soon she was curled up in her bed sobbing, worried that an unassailable gap had been created between her family and her future family that night.

In the entranceway more tears were being shed. "I assaulted a child from an abusive home, Jean, I am a terrible person. I will turn myself into the constabulary in the morning."

"Shush. Yes you did a bad thing Gerald but that does not make you a terrible person. You are a man of medicine, a healer, and a kinder man I have not met. Tomorrow we will have Hermione get in contact with Harry to see if he wants to press charges, and after we get his response then we will take action. It is a holiday weekend and it will take days for anything to happen even if you do turn yourself in. If the boy does choose to press charges, then you will go in, but if he doesn't I do not see it as a smart course of action. You have a daughter and family to care for." Jean helped her husband up and led him to bed, the cleanup could wait another day.

/

Thursday 20th April, 8:50am.

Harry was seated between Alest Ollivander and Daffodil Smith, reading off the parchment in front of him for the hundredth time. Alest had spent the last ten minutes talking to his Great-Uncle, the current Lord Ollivander, while Harry and Daffodil had been seated in their chairs going over the day's agenda.

It may have seem counterproductive for the expert on the Wizengamot to leave the younger two alone, but often it came down to networking and Alest was off doing his part. It was going to be a busy day for the trio with three separate items on Harry's agenda, and they would need every bit of help they could get for two of them.

The room fell quiet as Sirius entered the room, grinning like a madman, and crossed over to the group. Harry ignored his Godfather as the man sat next to Miss Smith and shamelessly started flirting with the woman. It was Sirius' first visit to the Wizengamot since he was found innocent which was why his presence brought the room to a standstill.

Harry had enjoyed his week on the Island, spending time with Sirius and Remus, and enjoying the change in scenery. The family and Lord's offices both were comfortable to sit in while Harry studied, finished his homework or simply talked to the men. And there was a lot of privacy for Harry to advance his training.

In fact the only times that Harry had left the Island over the week, apart from the visit with the Granger's the previous Saturday, had been to the offices of Welch and Smith. Four meetings, on three days, had prepared Harry for the coming day and left him very familiar with the Law Office of Welch and Smith.

The boy only half paid attention through Dumbledore's opening spiel, knowing that Alest was taking notes like he always did, but instantly sat up straight when the first item was brought forward. The item was one of the reasons Harry had turned up himself.

"On behalf of the Ministry and Minister Fudge, I bring forward a proposal to be ratified by this Wizengamot. Packet MDP11462, which was provided to all of you earlier in the week, is all the relevant documentation. Are we ready to have a vote on this matter?" The sickly sweet voice of Dolores Umbridge rang out into the room.

A few of the Minister's sycophants in the 'Mot were quick to agree, but Harry was of a completely different opinion. He stood up and felt every eye in the room swivel to him. There were several flaws in the system and Harry was about to take full advantage of one.

When the Wizengamot was established they acted as both advisors to the King, Arthur, and as the Magical British court system. The ministry came later, much later, and the two had been struggling to find a weird balance every since. Generally speaking the ministry worked as the combined Executive and Legislative branches of Government while the Wizengamot was the Judiciary.

Generally speaking. In reality it was much more complicated than that. In actuality the budget was the only area in which the Ministry had complete control, everything else came through the Wizengamot.

Often the new laws were ratified straight away, with many of the members of the 'Mot not even bothering to read it, but the rest of the time they were debated. In fact it was the only way the Wizengamot could shape laws, by debating it on the floor.

"To begin with I have several questions regarding the documents given. Firstly why is this law change even required? None of the documentation provide even a half-decent reason as to why the Daily Prophet Corporation should become the official Ministerial Paper." Harry questioned the Ministry Employee who had brought the Bill before the Wizengamot.

The toad-woman cleared her throat before responding. "Minister Fudge felt that such a move was in the best interest of the country."

"And Minister Fudge might believe that chocolate frogs are worse than chocolate wands but that is irrelevant. This is not a dictatorship where the government and Wizengamot bow to his every whim. There is no benefit to the people simply because Cornelius thinks he wants something that way, I would say if anything after reading through the proposed law that this is against the best interests of the people. What Minister Fudge wants, by your own admission, is a personal propaganda machine which is illegal according to the 1822 Ministry Limitations Act that has never been repealed." Harry kept his face serious throughout, knowing that he could not act in any manner that would sway others against him.

Harry saw a flicker of fear in Dolores' eyes. She knew that if Harry kept the tone of the conversation around propaganda and the 1822 MLA the vote would go against the Bill. "Law experts were consulted inside the Ministry and they were confident that this proposal does not breach any previous laws, including the Ministry Limitations Act of 1822. Do you have any other questions Potter?"

"As a matter of fact I do, however you have not sufficiently answered my last question. If you consulted these experts why is there no written letter from them saying that there are no breaches? The only reason for you to not have included it in the documentation, which you are legally required to do, is that it said exactly what I said. This proposed Bill is illegal." Harry was not going to let her control the conversation.

"It must have accidentally been left out. How about we set the proposal to the side and go over it tomorrow after I have found and circulated the relevant document." That would give her the time to create a forgery.

Harry smiled at the woman, a fake-friendly smile that never reached his eyes. "We don't need to do that. After we realised that it was missing we approached Yerves Aline personally for a copy. Madam Bones can you please verify that this is an official Ministry Employee document that hasn't been tampered with and then circulate copies for the Members?"

After reading the copy that had been set in front of her Umbridge turned to Harry, hatred brimming in her eyes. "Obviously this is a forgery. I will provide the true letter tomorrow."

Harry burst out laughing. "Madam Bones just verified that it is an official Ministry letter, and if that is not good enough I am sure that Aline will answer if he is called before us. Scribe please send an urgent request for Yerves Aline to join us. While we wait I have another question for Undersecretary Umbridge."

"Yes Lord Potter, you may ask your question." Chief Warlock Dumbledore said, watching the boy intensly.

Alest pointed to a line on the parchment in front of Harry, and the boy nodded his thanks to the lawyer. "Another area that is far from clear is about money. Is the Ministry paying the Prophet and if so how much?"

"The third paragraph on the second page gives you the relevant information." Umbridge waived the question off.

"Except it doesn't. All it says is that the Ministry reserves the right to pay the Prophet any time that they choose to in regards to use of the paper. How much will they pay the Prophet when they use the paper? And how often will they use the paper?" Harry knew exactly why it was vaguely worded in the Bill and wanted to bring it into the open.

Delores looked unpleased, not even pretending to be happy with Potter. "That is because it is up to the discretion of the Minister when and what to pay the prophet."

"Can we get any indication on what you believe Minister Fudge would provide, and how often?" Sirius asked that question to give his godson a break.

"That is up to the Minister so I feel it is not my place to give you an answer on that." Her eyes had not left Harry, despite the different questioner.

Sirius laughed at that, loud enough for the whole auditorium to hear him. "You are the representative of the Ministry who brought this Bill, not Cornelius, which means it falls to you to answer any questions raised in this chamber. Are you not the Senior Undersecretary to the Minister?" The emphasis on her title was evident to all. "You are meant to be one of Cornelius' senior advisors, surely he mentioned at some point his vision in regards to this law? Give us a ball-park figure, 1 galleon? 100? 1000? More?"

Umbridge cleared her throat once more before answering. "No set number was discussed, it would depend on the situation."

"How could we possibly sign off on a Bill that you haven't even discussed the potential cost of? Just how incompetent is the Ministry these days?" Lord Ollivander interjected, the scorn flowing through his words.

"1,000 galleons." Umbridge spewed out, hoping to end this line of questioning and the implications of incompetency. "I would guess that it would be 1,000 galleons."

Sirius looked at Harry, silently questioning who should continue. The boy differed to his dogfather. "And how many times would the Minister use this option in a year? In your opinion Undersecretary."

Dolores was much happier answering that question. "It is impossible to give you an estimate on that. It would depend on the year and what events occurred during the year. Some years it would be required very rarely and on other years more frequently. It is impossible to give you an accurate assessment on the frequency that it would be employed."

"On a standard, quiet year then? 5 times? 20 times?" Sirius continued.

"As I just said it would be impossible to estimate, but I would say that it would fall somewhere in that range." Cornelius had told her he planned on using it every week, but there was no need to let them know that.

Harry stood back up and indicated that Padfoot should let him take over once more. "So this proposal will cost the Ministry at least 5,000 galleons a year, but quite possibly more than 20,000 galleons?"

"And as I said earlier Minister Fudge feels that this is in the best interest of the country and therefore the costs can be worked into the budget. Are there any more questions or shall we vote now?" Umbridge was really trying to speed proceedings along now.

Sirius burst out laughing once more, but the youngest Wizengamot member waved him down. "Miss Umbridge you are a guest here in this chamber and are unable to call for a vote please remember your place. And I am far from finished with you! So the costs for an illegal law can be found in the budget whereas over the last 2 years Minister Fudge has cut the D.M.L.E budget by 6,000 galleons, for a total of 25,000 galleons cut over the last 8 years? How is cutting the D.M.L.E budget in the best interest of the country?"

Harry waited for her response, but when it wasn't forthcoming he took over once more. "Perhaps he simply wants a weakened D.M.L.E so that there is no one to arrest him for his attempt to pass an illegal Bill, but I cannot speak for the man. What I will say is that if Cornelius can find 20,000 galleons to give the Prophet he most certainly can find the 25,000 galleons that he has shortchanged the D.M.L.E over the last few years. Ah Mr. Aline welcome, please come in."

Lord Potter's attention had been captured by the new arrival and he smiled at the middle-aged man who entered the chamber. Yerves Aline was a Athena graduate who studied law after his N.E.W.T.s and had worked for the Ministry for almost 30 years, having been the senior legal advisor to the Ministry for the last 4 years, and loved coming to the Wizengamot.

Even as the senior legal advisor to the ministry he would rarely be required to present himself before the 'Mot more than once a month, and he relished these chances to impress its members. If he showed his knowledge of the law and his cleverness it was only a matter of time before he was offered a spot on the Wizengamot. At 64 years old he still had 16 years to achieve his target of being a member before his 80th birthday.

"Mr. Aline you are the Senior Legal Advisor to the Ministry are you not?" Albus was responsible for verifying Harry's earlier claim.

"Yes Chief Warlock, that is correct." Yerves stood in the middle of the floor, arms clasped behind his back.

At Dumbledore's command Amelia Bones handed Aline the letter that Harry had produced earlier, before he continued his questioning. "Did you write this Ministry letter?"

Yerves read through the letter before he responded. "Yes this is a letter written by me."

"In regards to Ministry proposal MDP11462?" The Chief Warlock continued.

The law-wizard nodded his agreement. "That is correct. This letter is in response to the Ministry Journalism Law that the Minister proposed."

"Do you stand by the claim here that is is a breach of the 1822 Ministry Limitations Act?" Albus had to insure that it was clear to all where Yerves stood on the matter.

"Yes, sir. My entire team are in agreement that it is a clear breach of the '22 MLA and therefore is illegal. We told Minister Fudge and his Undersecretary Umbridge as much and that even bringing it to the Wizengamot could face prosecution." Yerves met Dolores' eyes as he said that. He hated the woman and wasn't afraid to mention her by name.

Albus looked at the woman in question and shook his head in disappointment. "So Undersecretary Umbridge knew that this proposal was in breach of the law when she brought it before us?"

"Yes, sir. She was with Minister Fudge when we informed him that it was an illegal proposal and the recommendation of the legal team was for the Bill to either be scrapped or completely reworked. No rewritten proposal has been brought to either me or my team." The Ministry employee answered honestly.

"Thank you Mr. Aline, that will be all. Undersecretary Umbridge you can go as well. The Ministry will be informed of the decision reached after we have reached one." Albus stated to the room and waited while the two Ministry workers left, one happy the other fuming.

When the two had departed Dumbledore turned his attention back to the Wizengamot. "I assume that we are ready to vote and toss out the proposed Bill?"

"Chief Warlock, if I may?" Harry was standing once more, indicating that he had more to add.

Albus sat down and indicated for the young Gryffindor to go ahead. "Ladies and Gentlemen of the Wizengamot. After reading the Bill and realising just how flawed it was, let alone illegal, we went ahead and wrote some proposed changes."

Harry sat while a copy of the proposed changes was circulated to the entire room, quietly talking with Sirius while he waited for it to be read. The shock was obvious as understanding hit those reading. He watched as they quickly flip through the pages to confirm their suspicions.

Lord Nott was the first to stand, and spoke without waiting for Dumbledore to acknowledge him. "This isn't some changes, this is completely rewrite! Except for keeping it titled the same nothing's the same as the Ministry proposal."

Harry waited while several more people voiced the same opinions, even if some seemed happy with the complete reworking. When he felt that enough people had expressed themselves, without any actually saying anything of worth, he stood up again. It took more than a minute for the volume to reach a level that Harry was happy with.

"I am well aware that it is a complete rewrite, but it didn't start out that way. We started paragraph by paragraph going through proposed changes that I needed to be willing to vote for this Bill, and by the end the entire Bill had been rewritten. I am happy to answer any questions you have regarding the changes." Harry sat back down once his piece was said.

This was the flaw that Harry was exploiting, that the Wizengamot could rewrite any part of the proposed law that they wanted to. The 'Mot could rewrite a part of the Bill and then pass it before the Ministry had a say on the changes and the team were planning on taking that to the extreme. They rewrote not a part of the Bill but rather every part of the Bill.

Harry knew it would be hard to persuade many of the members to vote to accept the changes, but he only needed a total of 21 votes on top of his and Sirius' to pass the proposal. Before anyone could ask him any questions both Lord Black and Lord Ollivander stood and declared that they would be voting alongside Harry for this vote. Doing the math Harry figured that the support of those two would guarantee him half of the needed votes without having to persuade anybody.

Harry spent the next 30 minutes rebuking, cajoling, and persuading the members of the Wizengamot to his cause. Most were experienced statesmen and didn't let their views known so the boy struggled to guess whether or not he would have enough votes to pass it.

Harry breathed a sigh of relief when Albus read out the result, a 29 to 17 victory, and sat back in his seat. He had managed his first major piece of legislation reform, and it was one of the biggest ones on his agenda. The Daily Prophet would now be held to a level of integrity that they hadn't shown during his entire time in the wizarding world.

After a short break while a copy of the new law was sent to the Ministry and all the relevant newspapers around the country, Albus stood up to address the Wizengamot once more. "Lord Potter you requested to bring something before us today, I assume it is not the Journalism Law?"

"No Chief Warlock. It is a simple matter of requiring this illustrious body to confirm a marriage contract for myself, as tradition dictates." While the Wizengamot's permission wasn't required for a marriage contract, tradition was that if the contract involved a member of the Wizengamot or a future one (a person in direct line to the hereditary seats) it was confirmed by the council.

Harry understood and even agreed with the reason for doing so. It brought a level of openness to the alliances that the families have often solidified through marriage.

"Lord Potter, the contract between the Black and Greengrass families was confirmed when it was written in 1958 and therefore you do not need our confirmation of it now." Dumbledore told Harry, his patronising tone agitated Harry.

Harry rolled his eyes at the old man. "Thank you for that Chief Warlock, but that is not the contract I was referring to. This is a new contract between myself and Hermione Jean Granger."

A single copy circulated the room and the boy waited for it to be returned to him. His eyes followed the copy around the room making sure nobody tried to copy it. Just because they were allowed to have a quick look didn't mean they were entitled to a copy of it.

"Lord Potter you are already pledged to Miss Greengrass, you are aware of this are you not?" The Chief Warlock asked.

Harry nodded. "Yes I am, and you are aware of the fact that I am entitled to having a wife per line are you not?"

Augusta Longbottom was the one who stood and responded to him. "Yes there is precedent for that Lord Potter but it has been some time since it has occurred. Are you sure this is something that you want to pursue?"

"We have discussed the benefits and disadvantages for such a move and have decided that it is what we are going to do. The only way it affects the Wizengamot is that it means that my son will not be Lord Potter-Peverell-Black, which I think we all agree is a good thing." Harry answered his friends grandmother.

"What is this 2 million pounds that you are going to give the parents of Miss Granger? 2 million pounds of what?" One of the women members asked, Mrs. Zalliote according to Alest.

Harry fought his urge to laugh at that, here was a member of the highest court in magical Britain who didn't even know what the national non-magical currency was. "Pound Sterling, usually called pounds, is the national currency in Britain. Well non-magical Britain. ￡2,000,000 is the equivalent of 200,000 galleons."

That set everybody off. It was more than double the previous highest bride price in history, which was 75,000 galleons, and shocked everybody in attendance. It was quite some time before order was established once more.

Augusta was the one who questioned Harry once more. "Lord Potter you are aware that 200,000 galleons almost triples the previous largest known amount involved in a marriage contract?"

"Yes, I am aware of that and yet it is 1% of what I was willing to pay for her, if that." Harry told the 'Mot.

After a few more questions the 'Mot confirmed the contract with only a few members voting against it before the session broke for lunch. "Madam Longbottom a minute of your time."

Acknowledging Harry she made her way over to the young Lord. "Lord Potter how can I help you?"

The boy gave her a polite smile. "I will not be here for the afternoon session but there is something that I need to discuss with you. Perhaps if I return at the end of the day we can commandeer a room to talk in?"

"Of course, Lord Potter. I will see you then." The lady accepted his invitation and then left the room to have her lunch.

After Sirius and Harry had collected the relevant documents the pair left the Ministry and returned to the Island.

/

The Ministry had 5 rooms set aside for the exclusive use of Wizengamot members, outside of their meeting room and the courtrooms. Anybody caught attempted to eavesdrop on the occupants of the room faced an instant 5 year stint in Azkaban, whether they were a janitor or the Minister of Magic himself. It was the reason that people were willing to use them.

In was in the second of these 5, one of the two smaller rooms, where Augusta discovered the waiting Hogwarts student. She closed the door and waited for Harry to do a cursory sweep for listeners before speaking. "Lord Potter, what have you requested my presence for?"

"How dare you handicap your grandson and ward!" The vitriol hit her like a slap.

Augusta literally took a step back in shock. "Wh… What… What are you talking about?" She managed to stutter out.

"You have forced your son's wand on your grandson! Any half-wit can tell you that a wand doesn't just pass down from parent to child but needs to be carefully selected for the individual. The wand chooses the wizard and all that." Harry hadn't calmed down, needing his anger to fuel him getting it all out.

"Do not question how I choose to raise my grandson! You overstep your bounds Potter!" The old woman bit back at him.

Harry burst out laughing at that, surprising Augusta once more. "Neville is my friend and I will do everything in my power to help him, even if that means going over your head. You do realise that you are endangering his life with your stupidity woman, don't you?"

The older of the pair was too stubborn to give up that easily. "If the wand was good enough for his father, it is good enough for Neville!"

"You stubborn-headed fool! It's not a matter of the wand being good enough, it's just the simple fact that Neville is NOT his father. That doesn't mean he is less of a wizard than his father, just that he is a unique individual just as his father was." Harry wanted to shake the woman until she saw reason.

"I have raised Neville as I have seen fit since before he was 2-years-old and will continue to do so despite the interference of some uppity child!" She turned to leave.

Harry only had one final thing to say. "Neville will be visiting Ollivanders at some point during the coming weeks and there is nothing you can do to stop me, but I am sure that Neville would appreciate your support on this. It is what Frank and Alice would expect of you so don't let them down."

Without waiting for her to respond, Harry swept out of the room giving her his best Snape impression. He was at the Island only minutes later and simply shook his head at the waiting pair. Neither of the Marauders were happy at the news but led the boy to the dining room with its waiting meal.

/

Saturday 22nd April, 11:00am.

Harry was waiting in the Leaky Cauldron when Neville flooed in as Harry had suggested by letter the night before. He hadn't told his dorm-mate the reason for this trip to Diagon Alley and was looking forward to revealing the upcoming surprise.

"Hey Harry, what's going on?" The slightly older boy asked as he walked up.

"It's a surprise, walk with me." Harry led the other boy to the wall separating the Alley from muggle London and tapped the required brick.

The pair shared small talk as they walked through the Alley before Harry came to a stop outside Ollivanders. "Our destination."

The others boys read the sign before his eyes darted back to Harry. "No! My Gran will kill me!"

"And using your fathers wand will kill you one day! Just come in and listen to Mr. Ollivander about why you need a wand that suits you better." Not waiting for the other student to back out, he took him by the arm and dragged him into the shop.

The old wandmaker appeared and sized up the pair. "Mr. Potter I wasn't expecting so see you again so soon, who is your friend?"

"Neville Longbottom." Harry pushed the boy forward.

Garrick squinted at him. "Your mother had a 11" Cherry and Kneazle whisker wand, while your father's was 10 and a half inches Ash with Griffin talon. I was expecting you years ago. Did you go to Landford's?"

"No sir. I have been using my father's wand." Neville answered him.

Ollivander had been turning away and did a literal double take. "You are using your father's wand? His Ash wand?"

Neville nodded before answering. "Yes, why?"

"The wand chooses the wizard, Mr. Longbottom, not the other way around. While any witch or wizard can pick up and use almost any wand, that does not make it a good wand for the individual. Ash in particular is notorious for being unwilling to work for anybody other than it's true master. Do you struggle in many of your classes? Unable to cast spells easily?" His piercing gaze was fixed on Neville.

The Longbottom heir felt uncomfortable under the steel gaze of the old man. "Well yes, but that's just because I'm not magically strong."

"Dumbledore, or Harry here, would struggle to use an ash wand that wasn't there own. I can tell just from observing you that ash is not right for you. In fact if I was to hazard a guess I would say you would be more suited to a wand like cherry which your mother had. Now stand there." He waved his wand around like a composer as a measuring tape swirled around the student in front of him.

"Mr. Ollivander we can skip the testing of all the different wands. I'm paying for a custom wand." Harry interjected as the old man read the readout from the measuring.

"Are you sure? Usually I don't offer custom wands until the individual is an adult given how poor children are at maintaining wands." The wandmaker responded while he pulled a blindfold out of a pocket.

Harry accepted the blindfold that was held out to him. "Yes I'm sure."

Ollivander disappeared while Harry was tying the material around Neville. "Don't worry Neville, this is just so that you listen to your magic rather than looking for any preferred materials."

A minute later Garrick reappeared and led the pair into his workshop and a bench with a range of wand woods laid out. "Longbottom hold your hand out and tell me if you feel a pull towards any of the wood."

Neville reached his hand out and instantly picked up a block of wood. "Good, good. Now follow me."

He had the pair wait another moment while he set out a collection of wand cores before having Neville follow the earlier process. This time Neville's hand hovered over one but didn't pick it up. Instead of looking disappointed Ollivander looked giddy.

He swept up all the cores before bringing out some new ones. This time one was selected before Garrick removed the blindfold. "Sweet Cherry wood with a Unicorn horn core. 12 and a quarter inches. When do you want this to be ready?"

Harry thought about that for a moment before answering. "Would it be ready for me to pick up before the Hogwarts Express departs tomorrow morning?"

"Can be. Same overnight fee as last time." Ollivander responded without looking up from the wand materials in his hand.

Harry reached into his pocket to pull out the money when a voice behind him stopped him. "I will pay for it Lord Potter, and we can pick it up in the morning."

Both boys spun to see Augusta Longbottom standing in the doorway. "Gran. Harry made me."

The woman observed the pair of Gryffindor's. "I know Neville and it is fine. And Lord Potter… Thank you."

A/N: The completion of last chapter. Hope you all appreciate it. Please review.