HPWW561-570

Chapter 561

For Thursday night he was in bed by 9.00pm and asleep

by 10.30pm, though. The delay wasn't because he was

restless, but because Fleur joined him within ten minutes

of him going to bed. He tried to make sure she was

content to drift off to sleep before doing so, himself; and,

he thought, failed.

The next morning, Friday morning, he apologised to her

for going to sleep so fast. She laughed and said she'd

expected it. Then demanded he immediately make up for

it with morning sex. A 'penance' he was happy to

accomplish.

_‗_

―==(oIo)==―

ˇ

After the final class on Friday afternoon, a single of

Transfiguration with the 'Claws, Harry, Hermione and

Neville made their way to DADA, where the other girls and

Justin were just coming out. Theirs was a combined

Hufflepuff and Slytherin class.

They also knew that CeeCee had finished her last class

for the day, Arithmancy, an hour earlier and that she'd

already be up in the Lords' Quarters. For the whole week

Fleur was disillusioning herself and waiting outside

whatever classroom CeeCee was in for the sixth period

and tailing the girl back to the Quarters.

She was also happy to tell Harry and Justin that, as well

as Natalie, CeeCee was making further friends in the third

year Gryffindor girls' cohort. They were Lucy Hurst, Anna

Mirfield and Kate Olney. However, that last one was not as

close as the first two and definitely not as close as Natalie.

Further, a boy named Michael Karume was often with

them. He was, as Fleur put it, 'sniffing' after Hurst.

It seems the other girls were all afraid of Vane and Holmes

destroying their reputations with vicious rumours. Now that

CeeCee had publicly put both girls in their place, CeeCee

was now considered somewhat of a hero among the rest.

This was all good news for the Heirs. It meant, within her

House and year cohort at least, they did not consider her

a 'dark' witch. It also helped that CeeCee was also a very

likeable young lady.

Personally, she'd only already made two enemies, Vane

and Holmes, but both were far too afraid of what Harry or

Justin, let alone Sirius, would do to them if they tried

anything. Harry was happy with that. He didn't mind others

being afraid of him and what he could do to them if it kept

his friends and bonded safe.

Until then he was completely unaware, however, that Fleur

had been up to the third year girls' dorm in the Gryffindor

tower and set a number of rune warded protections about

CeeCee's bed and trunk. His other two bonded did, but all

three decided it was something Harry need not know.

In that, Fleur had been clever. She'd taken a leaf out of

Harry's 'play-book' and only warded CeeCee's bed and

effects with wards triggered by ill-intent. She did tell Harry

she put up a 'notification' ward, but it was linked directly to

her.

When Harry was about to say something, she smiled back

and said, "I know what you are thinking, 'Arry. But, think

about it. It's in the girls' dorms."

"Ah!" he said, understanding.

If the alert ward was set to him, he'd not be able to get up

to CeeCee's dorm room, anyway. He wasn't female.

_‗_

―==(oIo)==―

ˇ

That morning, Harry rose as early as usual and joined

everyone for breakfast.

After breakfast finished he was then all set to escort his

ladies to their first class when Daphne poked a finger into

his chest and said, "Sit!"

When it looked like he was going to speak out in denial,

she cut him off and said, "Look at how many of us there

are now, Harry. There are no classes, now, where we'll be

unaccompanied at all times. We do not need you to watch

over us every waking moment."

Frowning, he eventually gave a nod as Daphne pulled her

finger away. "Then, what do you think I should do?" he

asked.

She immediately replied, "Make Friday mornings the time

you work on House of Potter business and catch up on

what you miss at the monthly Wizengamot meetings. You

spent practically all of last Friday morning going over the

Potter Gringotts accounts, yes?"

It was the Friday after the first Monday of the month, so

Harry had received the documents on the Monday, but

didn't have time to deal with them until the Friday morning

while 'his' ladies were in classes. Even Fleur was out and

about in the school - he suspected her of tailing CeeCee.

Hermione, waiting, said, "That's a good idea, actually."

Looking more direct at Harry, she said, "The reason you

chose to pull out of Muggle Studies was so you had the

time to work on House of Potter matters, right? When

better when you should have been in Muggle Studies at

that time."

With a sigh, he nodded and said, "You're right. It's a

perfect time to work on that."

So, that morning it was exactly what he did less the

working on missed classes due to Wizengamot meetings

or the like. He hadn't missed any yet. But would on the

coming Tuesday due to the trials.

After having worked on the finances of the House the

previous Monday, this day he was working on improving

his share and property portfolios.

Property-wise he had Pottermore, Potter Cottage in

Godric's Hollow and Lily's Retreat in Cokeworth, plus the

few rental properties, but wanted to also acquire a couple

more nice places for when his children came of age; or

even something nice for Daphne for if and when she

wanted to move out after she bore the Greengrass heirs

and decided to part ways with him. It would be a nice

'going away' gift.

Thinking further on it he wanted to see if the goblins of

Gringotts could organise an international property

consultant for him. He was thinking about purchasing a

'holiday' property near Delacour Manoir in France, another

near CeeCee's folks in Western Australia that could

double as an emergency retreat for them and something

in MaCUSA within New York and near what he knew of the

'garment' district there. He'd heard there was good

shopping to be had there and thought his ladies might

appreciate it. That one might need to be a penthouse,

though, if he wanted it in New York City. Then again, he'd

heard nice things about a place called 'The Hamptons',

which were not that far away on that Long Island of theirs.

That could also be 'do-able'.

Shares-wise he couldn't see any changes he'd like to

make. Everything was doing fine. So, contrary to his

'itching' desire to make improvements, he knew any

changes he made would unlikely be such. With a sigh he

left it alone.

With his instructions to Ted Tonks, rather than Gringotts, to

look for an real estate consultant for him sent off using

Hedwig, Harry made his way out of the office to go over

his assignments for the week to remind himself what was

done and what was still left to do.

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Chapter 562

As usual, it would be a morning session for court. Bones

had decided not to hold off the trials until the next week,

the normal sitting of the Wizengamot, for whatever reason

of which Harry was unaware. He suspected it was

because she wanted to get it out of the way before

Yaxley's supporters could gather him even more support.

She claimed she didn't think it would make any difference,

seeing as he eventually 'coughed' to the crime. However,

she was also not willing to take any chances.

Though Harry thought Justin might have been denied

attendance, Lady Marchbanks had put her foot down

against dissenters and stated he'd be attending.

So Harry, Justin, CeeCee and Natalie - all accompanied

by Lady Marchbanks - headed for the Wizengamot

chambers at about 9.30am on the Tuesday for the trial.

As soon as they stepped out of the floo they were met by

Sirius and Narcissa. And the now seven, with Lady

Marchbanks again on Harry's arm, headed up to the

DMLE offices. Again, a small posse of aurors surrounded

them as they stepped out of the floo.

Then, as soon as they arrived and it was assured the

others were all with Bones, Harry and Marchbanks left and

headed down to the chambers. Harry was eager to get a

feel for the mood of the other Members as they arrived. He

also wanted a word with the other Alliance members.

Sirius, though he had a Seat, had already and rightfully

recused himself, so would 'escort' CeeCee and Natalie as

co-magical guardian.

As soon as Harry and Marchbanks were gone, Bones

looked to who remained in the office with her and said,

"Alright. This is how trials in wizarding Britain work and

how this one will go down..."

_‗_

―==(oIo)==―

ˇ

After accomplishing what he wanted to do well within the

remaining time, when the Members were called to enter

Harry had to duck back out onto the main floor. He was a

witness and, therefore, had to give testimony. As he'd

temporarily given his proxy to Frank Longbottom, he only

needed to make sure the documentation for that was in

the hands of the Court Scribe before he could head for the

visitors' gallery and meet back up with Narcissa.

The first trial was the recovered Adrien Pucey. Clearly

'broken' he'd pleaded Guilty, right from the start. Then he

went into what happened, when and why. He offered no

excuses other than his father was being blackmailed by

Corban Yaxley into forcing him, Adrien, to attempt to kill

CeeCee; or, as he put it, 'the muggleborn bitch who stole

the Malfoy fortune'.

Both CeeCee and Natalie were called up first to give

testimony of what they were doing leading up to the

attack. Then Natalie spoke of what happened immediately

afterwards.

"You saw who cast the charm?" pressed Bones.

"Yes," said a confident Natalie. She then pointed a finger

at Pucey and said, "He did."

Medi-wizard Robinson gave testimony that the 'charm'

used by Pucey, if it wasn't for a house elf popping her

directly into his presence together with his quickly

determining what curse she'd been hit with, would have

killed her.

"So," said Bones, handling the questioning, "The

hardening charm, Duro, would have been fatal if not for

both the little elf and your ability to quickly determine what

had happened?"

"Yes," he replied. "Even then, it was a close thing.

Seconds later and I doubt I'd have been able to save her."

Harry was then called and gave his account of what had

happened from his own point of view. He even spoke of

how Pucey first tried to make it seem as if it was he who

was attacked, rather than being the attacker, until Harry

confronted him in the presence of the two professors.

However, Harry was not required to speak about what had

happened a short while later in Marchbanks's office. The

defence law-wizard tried to argue that Harry had

misheard, or might have been lying. However, as soon as

Harry said, "If you doubt my word or recollection I'm more

than willing to submit a memory for the pensieve."

That had the law-wizard immediately back-pedal and claim

it wasn't necessary.

Harry then said, "So, you accept my recollection is

accurate after all, do you?"

He didn't answer. Instead, he turned to the Chief

Adjudicator and firmly said, "I have no further questions for

this witness."

Pucey the younger was sentenced to ten years in

Azkaban medium security. However, he was held back to

provide evidence in the cases against both his father and

Yaxley.

_‗_

―==(oIo)==―

ˇ

Harry thought they'd trial Pucey senior next. However,

they brought in Yaxley first.

'Ah!' he thought. 'This way, they can use the evidence

already accepted in both Pucey junior and Yaxley's cases

to try Pucey senior. Clever.'

Yaxley was found guilty of blackmail, accessory before the

fact and conspiracy to commit murder. He was sentenced

to fifteen years medium security for the conspiracy to

murder charge. However, he received an added five years

for the attempted blackmail; the second sentence to be

served consecutively to the first. That meant he wouldn't

be out for twenty years. They returned a verdict of 'no

finding' for the accessory before the fact charge as the

conspiracy charge made it moot.

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Chapter 563

Harry thought it was irrelevant as he did not believe the

older man would survive anywhere near half that long.

Very few did; Sirius not withstanding.

When Ambrose Pucey was brought in and pleaded 'Not

guilty', Bones immediately hit him with the evidence

already submitted and accepted from the first two trials

and said, "Perhaps you would like to change your plea? It

will not be held against you if you do so now. However, if

you do not accept this offer, then it will be held against you

when you will be found guilty of your crimes."

Knowing he was definitely sunk, Pucey changed his plea.

It was also laid out Yaxley was blackmailing him for being

involved, back when Riddle was running around, with

kidnapping and shipping young muggleborns off overseas

in a slave market. The gold raised went to Riddle's war

effort.

He was sentenced to Azkaban for life in the maximum

security section. If he gave up, under Veritaserum, all he

knew of the details surrounding the young muggleborn

girls and what happened to them, he'd be serving it in the

medium security section. He took the offer.

Unknown to Harry, that information was collected, collated

and the details sent to the ICW's International auror and

hit wizard force. Over thirty wizards, especially in the

middle east and far east, were captured in raids over the

next six months. Out of the fifty-plus girls that were taken,

less than a handful were found still alive. All the wizards

involved, less Pucey, were tried at the ICW. However,

Pucey was a major witness in their trials. All of them were

quietly executed. The remaining muggleborns were in no

physical or mental fit state to return to their original lives -

for all of them, their families had been killed when they

were taken - and assistance was given to them to try and

build new lives away from magical Britain and the

countries to which they'd been 'sold'.

Though Ambrose Pucey was sent to the medium security

wing of Azkaban, he still died five years later a very much

broken man. His death was considered suspicious, but no

evidence was found of foul play or who could have done it.

That evening of the trial, Harry sent Dobby to Diagon Alley

to purchase a large and a medium tub of strawberry

flavoured ice-cream. Then had the elf deliver the first to

Natalie in her dorm, together with a half dozen spoons, for

her and her dorm mates; and had the second delivered to

CeeCee in the Finch-Fletchley apartment. He also

included notes for both Natalie and CeeCee informing

them they'd done real good that day in court.

The next morning he received big hugs from both girls.

And Tracey added her own a little later. She'd 'shared'

CeeCee's tub at the younger girl's invitation. A little later

he'd found out Natalie had, as he suspected she would,

shared hers with the other girls in the Third Year Gryffindor

girls' dorm; and they sat around it in their pyjamas

polishing it off and chatting.

_‗_

―==(oIo)==―

ˇ

Over the next couple of days, as they'd been for the past

couple of weeks, notes were flying back and forth between

the leading and involved members of the Alliance, plus

two, plus Ted Tonks and the Longbottom Law-wizard of

Record who was responsible for drafting the new Alliance

documents. A new Charter needed to written and agreed

upon.

All that work culminated in the meeting on the next

Saturday of the Alliance. As 'special guests', also included

were Sirius Black, Narcissa Malfoy and CeeCee. To make

it so no one would speak against attendance of any of the

three if the meeting was to be held at their residence,

Harry had earlier offered Pottermore as the meeting place.

Frank was grateful, but had also been prepared to offer

Longbottom Hall if needed.

The meeting was scheduled for an hour after the lunch

period at Hogwarts.

However, Harry and his three flooed to Pottermore directly

from the end of lunch. They had work to do to get

Pottermore ready for the meeting.

One of the things he needed to do was stretch out the

formal dining table a little. As well as the twenty, until then,

Houses in the Alliance, there would also be attending the

Houses of Black and Malfoy, Law-wizards of Record Ted

Tonks for Potter and Black and Thaddeus Wynch of

Wynch and Associates for Longbottom. They would all

have a seat at the table. Heir Primaries, of course, would

be seated behind; as well as an associate of each of the

law-wizards, who were there for record-keeping purposes.

That brought the number up to twenty-four who would be

sitting at the table. The Pottermore formal dining table was

standard configured to sit eighteen, so it was no

inconvenience to slot an extra in at both of the sides to sit

the twenty. However, twenty-four was too many to

accommodate without adjusting the table to allow them all

to comfortably sit. Fleur handled that.

Harry was surprised to figure out he was actually nervous;

or, at least, more nervous than for something like speaking

before the 'Mot.

As members began to arrive, Harry's three ladies did the

escorting to the right areas; even though there was no one

who would be attending, other than Wynch and his

associate, who had not already been there before.

Last to arrive, as planned, were Sirius and Narcissa.

CeeCee had arrived with Justin as one of the first 'families'

of the noble Houses, as was proper. But, she begged to

hang back to wait for 'Mum Narcissa' and Harry had no

problem with it.

He only said, "Just stay back out of the receiving line,

keep quiet and try to pretend to be a piece of furniture for

the moment. You're a guest here and take no part in the

receiving line."

She blushed, thanked him and moved to stand off to the

side near the doors leading to the formal dining room.

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Chapter 564

As soon as Narcissa... Dowager Malfoy... stepped out of

the floo, CeeCee gave a soft squeal and dashed forward

to give the woman a hug before she was more than two

steps out of the floo. After Narcissa 'walked the receiving

line' she turned to CeeCee and softly admonished her for

acting without proper decorum.

_‗_

―==(oIo)==―

ˇ

Once all the relevant witches and wizards were in their

seats, Harry opened the meeting by standing and stating,

"Thank you, all, for attending what I would have to say is

the second most auspicious meeting of our Alliance. I

would say, without evidence supporting it, the first meeting

of the Alliance would have been the most auspicious.

"Today marks the day when our alliance sheds the

moniker 'The Potter-Longbottom Alliance' and takes as its

standard 'The Grand Alliance'."

Harry was surprised when there was a short, but heartfelt,

sudden round of applause.

"Thank you," he said. "While I might have been the one

who first openly tabled the concept, I am aware this has

also been a dream of House Longbottom since the early

days of the Alliance. Plus, as I have been far too busy

dealing with being a student at Hogwarts in their OWL

year, the development of the new Charter has been

championed by Lord Longbottom of House Longbottom.

"With your indulgence, I now hand the Chair of the

meeting to he." And followed that up by sliding the gavel

across to Frank, who accepted it with a smile.

It also generated another soft round of applause as Harry

walked to sit at the other end of the table, where Frank

should have sat.

With the gavel in his hand and beginning to twirl it through

his fingers, a sign Harry already knew signalled he was

nervous, Frank outlaid what had been done and then

called on Mister Wynch to give the legal arguments for

what needed to happen.

Less than an hour later, the Potter-Longbottom Alliance

was no more and the Grand Alliance had been formed. As

it was the commencement of a new Alliance, there was no

need to 'invite' the Houses of Black or Malfoy to join. They

became founding members of the new Alliance, along with

the 'pre-existing' membership of the old Potter-Longbottom

Alliance.

Their Alliance now had twenty-two member Houses, of

which nine held seats on the Wizengamot in their own

right. That was a significant number of votes that could not

be scoffed at. That three of those members were of the

Seven would also allow the Alliance to carry a fair bit more

political weight than they had as the Potter-Longbottom

Alliance.

It was also hoped it would bring in even further members,

who would see the size of the voting bloc and want to

become part of it. It was a good start.

The only ones grumbling about it were, again, old

MacMillan plus, surprisingly, a couple of the Elder Houses.

While Sirius had been proven to be a wizard of the light,

they had too many years of thinking him to be 'the right

hand man' of Voldemort and a member of one of the

darkest Houses of wizarding Britain to just let go of their

prejudices so quickly or easily.

Harry was hopeful that Sirius's fun-living and pleasant

side, once he allowed the second more freedom, would

aid in that.

There was also now far more welcoming of CeeCee

occurring, since she was clearly the companion of a

phoenix. Narcissa, however, was still looked upon with

wariness. It wasn't just that she was the Dowager Malfoy,

either; but that she, too, was a member of the House of

Black.

Narcissa sat at the table with Sirius, acting as Regent for

House Malfoy, with CeeCee sitting behind her. And Andi,

as Heiress Primary, sat behind Sirius and alongside

CeeCee.

What Harry did not know, though, was that a lot of the

wives of members no longer saw Narcissa in that light. He

didn't notice until they were all leaving that many of the

wives now also wore the little metal lapel badge that

showed them to be members of the Tapestry Circle.

The men folk were not yet aware, but the wives and other

dowagers would ensure Narcissa was given a 'fair shake'

by the rest of the Alliance, whether the menfolk liked it or

not.

Harry thought, 'Just how bloody large has this club of

theirs gotten, anyway?'

_‗_

―==(oIo)==―

ˇ

After the meeting Frank, Alice, Neville and his, plus Justin

and his, all hung back with Harry and his to discuss more

informally their views of the meeting.

"It went even better than I thought," said Frank, smiling.

He turned to Alice and asked, "How did things go in your

meeting?"

"You'd be surprised," smiled Alice. "There was no rancour

to Narcissa being present at all. Many of us know her

quite well and do not doubt her allegiance and intent."

That surprised Harry, just as it seemed to do for Frank,

Neville and Justin, but it was also obvious none of the girls

were surprised. Harry thought it was because they'd spent

time with her recently. He was still unaware of the true

reason for the Tapestry Circle and the womenfolk were

keeping it that way. Law-wizard Dewey was still the only

male aware of its true purpose.

"I fear we're going to lose MacMillan, after all," scowled

Harry. "I think his son is going to force it. Old Augustus

knows he doesn't have long before he's going to have to

hand off the Lordship of his House to his Heir Primary.

Once he does, Cyril will be waiting for the excuse to

withdraw his House."

"My thoughts, too," said Frank. "I also think that's why

Augustus is both being so obstructionist about these

changes and not having already handed the Headship

over."

"And we're not helping by bringing in even more changes,"

sighed Harry.

"No," replied Frank. "However, I will not be party to the halt

of bringing in these changes just to keep the support of

only one House. The Alliance is bigger than that. It needs

to be."

Harry nodded and quietly, but vehemently, said, "And I

agree."

_‗_

―==(oIo)==―

ˇ

On return to the school, Harry corralled Neville and Justin

into a 'blokes' talk' session in his office with the door

closed. The idea of it amused the girls.

With butterbeers shared between them, Harry asked, "The

girls seem to be up to something regarding this Tapestry

Circle of theirs. Any ideas?"

"None," scowled Neville, folding his arms and almost

seeming to pout. "I was hoping you would. You seem to be

pretty good at sussing out what's really going on at times."

"Nope," he replied before turning to Justin. "Any ideas?"

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Chapter 565

Justin gave a sigh and ran the fingers of his wand hand

through his hair. "I hadn't even noticed anything until

today. It's like... they've all got this big secret and they're

not willing to share it with us mere males.

"Did you notice it seems to also include pretty much all the

wives? Hell, even old Molly Fanwater seems to be

involved and she was in the meeting with us all afternoon."

Harry said, "I also noticed Lady Marchbanks seems to

know what's going on. But she, just as obviously, won't

share."

"Dad knows something's going on," said Neville. "But he's

more amused by it than anything else."

"Well," said Harry, "Unless it proves harmful for our

Houses or the Alliance, I suggest we don't push them too

hard over it.

"I fear they might just tell us and we'll learn it's something

we really didn't want to know about."

Both other boys winced with Justin adding, "I hear ya."

_‗_

―==(oIo)==―

ˇ

At the Wizengamot meeting on the following Tuesday,

when the first call for 'New Business' was made, Frank

confidently stood.

"The Chair recognises the House of Longbottom," said

Ogden. "Lord Longbottom?"

"Thank you, Chief Warlock Ogden," said Frank. "I stand to

make an announcement of great import. Together with the

House of Potter I formally announce that the PotterLongbottom Alliance is no more."

When there arose loud but short exclamations of shock.

Frank held up his hand in both a stop and shushing

motion.

Then, as the sounds of shock quickly faded away, he said,

"In its place I happily announce the formation of a new,

wider, alliance. I announce the formation of what is called

the Grand Alliance.

"As well as continuing to claim the entire membership of

the then existing Potter-Longbottom Alliance, the Grand

Alliance also includes in its membership the Noble and

Most Ancient House of Black and the Magical House of

Malfoy. In total, the current membership of the Grand

Alliance sits at twenty Houses; of which nine are voting

members of the Wizengamot and sit amongst you, three of

which are of the Seven.

"Wizengamot member Houses are: Longbottom, Potter,

Black, Bones, Marchbanks, Ogden, Greengrass,

MacMillan and Finch-Fletchley. Another Noble House, The

Venerable House of Delacour, is a voting member of the

French version of our illustrious body.

"Secondly, I announce the Grand Alliance has not and will

not, at this time, close its rolls to further membership

applications. Please approach one of our aforementioned

member Houses for further information, if joining us

interests you.

"Chief Warlock, I have no further business at this time and

thank you for the opportunity to present this auspicious

news." And sat down again.

Harry was surprised there wasn't a bigger ruckus about

the announcement. When he sat forward in his seat and

looked about, he could see that many of those outside of

the Alliance were clearly either in shock or were already

deep in thought of what it would mean for them or how

they could benefit from or lose to it. Obviously, the

members of the 'Mot were capable of rational thought,

after all. He was interested in seeing how this played out

outside of the Alliance.

"Thank you, Lord Longbottom," said Ogden. "Next?"

That was it for the 'big' notices; or, so Harry thought.

Parkinson then tried yet another play upon CeeCee.

On being recognised by Ogden he stood and said, "The

House of Parkinson is concerned that the supposed Heir

of the House of Malfoy is being unduly―"

"Objection!" cried Sirius, with Lady Marchbanks and

Bones both voicing their own points of order almost

simultaneously and before Sirius was able to complete the

three syllables.

"Lord Black voices an objection, a point of order," Ogden

near-snarled. "However, I believe I already know what it

will be. Lord Black."

Sirius, already on his feet, firmly said, "Chief Warlock

Ogden; it appears, yet again, that Lord Parkinson is

attempting to interfere in the practices of another House.

This time he casts aspersions upon the Heir Apparent of

the Magical House of Malfoy, Miss Charlotte Wilkins... as

he knew and she is proven to be by the inheritance rites of

the Goblin Nation. As Miss Wilkins's joint magical

guardian, I take great offence at his remarks and demand

he retract them immediately.

"More and more it is becoming clear Lord Parkinson seeks

to annoy me to the point where I must take... other...

action against he and his House. Lord Parkinson will

cease these clear hostilities against the House of Malfoy

and my magical ward or find himself... dealt with."

Even before Ogden could turn his attention from Sirius

back to Parkinson, Parkson snapped back, "I retract. You

cannot protect her forever, Black."

"I don't need to, Parkinson," Sirisu snapped back. "Only

until you and your cohorts are dealt with."

"GENT-LE-MEN!" roared Ogden. "Enough!"

When both men shut up, he firmly said, "Lord Parkinson,

this is the third time you have made attempts to use this

body to discover, or otherwise interfere with, the practices

of the House of Malfoy. It will also be the last time.

"Should you attempt such in the future, I will call for the

immediate vote the House of Parkinson be evicted from

this body until such time your Heir stands to take the Seat.

Have I made myself clear?"

"You dare?" roared Parkinson, surging back to his feet.

"I don't dare, Lord Parkinson," said Ogden. "It is the law. It

has been the law for centuries. I would be a poor Chief

Warlock if I did not adhere to those laws today.

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------

---------------

Chapter 566

"The House of Parkinson has been formally warned, Lord

Parkinson. Don't test my mettle."

While Parkinson continued to stand there, almost

quivering in rage, Ogden continued, "I also put that same

warning to every other Member. If you attempt to use this

body to unwantedly, by the Houses concerned, interfere in

the lawful practices of other Houses, you will receive the

same treatment.

"This will be the last of it. I will have no more without

immediately issuing my aforementioned sanctions."

After giving that a long few moments to settle in the minds

of all, he said, "Now; next item of new business, please."

_‗_

―==(oIo)==―

ˇ

For the past few weeks, life back at Hogwarts had settled

down. Harry, Daphne and Hermione became used to the

new workload for their OWL year; as, apparently, did the

other Heirs. CeeCee was happy and was spending more

time with new friends doing her own study for third year.

She also had friends occasionally visit her in the Finch-

Fletchley apartment, but spent more time in the library and

the Gryffindor tower with them than in the apartment at

those times.

None of the others had a problem with that. However,

besides Raggy and Dobby following those who walked

alone, at times, when Harry mentioned the problem to

Sirius, Narcissa immediately dispatched a female house

elf named Tizzy to 'bolster' the elves in keeping an eye on

things. Tizzy would be entirely responsible for keeping an

eye on CeeCee at all times while she was out of the

apartment; and would also act as 'Ladies' Elf' to both

CeeCee and Tracey while in the apartment. The elf had no

other work to do once Narcissa had put Malfoy Manor into

stasis.

Tizzy was Narcissa's 'other' Ladies' Elf. She had two. The

first, she had with her at the Black Townhouse. Two other

elves were left at Malfoy Manor to keep things neat and

tidy; one for inside and one for the grounds.

Now that Fleur had started her new job at Gringotts - she

had to go in for the one day of work on the Friday, the day

before, as that was the 'first day of October' as stated by

the contract - she would not be able to tail CeeCee about

the school. Hence why the increase of their elf

'surveillance' at the school. She was even in on this day,

the Saturday, as she claimed she wanted to get a better

wandgrip on how to get about inside that area of Gringotts

that was 'Gringotts personnel only' before she returned on

the Monday morning.

"It is my responsibility not to get lost, mon cher," she'd

said. "But I will be back in plenty of time for one of your

dinners, yes?"

"You can do as you need or desire, Love," said Harry. "You

know that."

She'd returned as Harry was making a start on dinner for

that night.

_‗_

―==(oIo)==―

ˇ

In the afternoon, Harry was happily working in the kitchen

of the Potter Apartment while the girls were sitting at the

dining table and watching him through the doorway

between the two rooms. Today, he had Giggles in with him

as he showed her some of his cooking 'secrets'.

The girls had recently taken to doing assignments and

chatting at the dining table on Saturdays while Harry

worked. And were also often joined with one or more of

the girls from one of the other apartments; more often than

not 'plural', rather than 'single'.

What Harry was completely unaware of, this day, was that

they were quietly talking about matters that had nothing to

do with their school work. They were talking about matters

relating to the Tapestry Circle.

Occasionally, one of the girls would come in and watch for

a short time. But that was to assure themselves that Harry

wasn't paying any attention to what they were talking

about, more than watching him work.

Daphne quietly said, "The Aldermaston matriarch has put

her foot down with her son, Lord Aldermaston, and firmly

told him he's to find a way to terminate the current

betrothal agreement with House Monkleigh. Both are

pureblood houses from a long line of purebloods."

Susan, one of those present, winced and said, "I bet that

went down well."

"Unknown," said Daphne. "But, I doubt very much Lord

Aldermaston was happy."

"So, it's begun," said Hermione. "I'm surprised it was a

Grey family that started it, though."

Susan said, "I'm not surprised. The Aldermaston matriarch

is well known for being a real battle-axe. Plus, Lord

Aldermaston is a... as you would say... a bit of a 'woss'?"

"Wuss, yes," nodded Hermione. "I take it he fears her."

Daphne gave a slight snort and wryly said, "It is well

known in 'polite circles' Lord Aldermaston wouldn't go to

the toilet if his mother told him he wasn't allowed to."

"Any others?" asked Hermione.

Daphne nodded and replied, "Pressure is now starting to

be brought to bear right across the Houses of the Circle of

those who have children under relationship agreements

that have not yet been activated. Many are waiting to see

if Dowager Aldermaston is successful before they more

overtly act."

Hannah, also there, said, "Then it won't be too long before

the real reason for the Tapestry Circle becomes known

outside the Circle."

Hermione, thinking, quietly said, "With Dowager

Aldermaston making the first overt move we need to tell

Cissy it's time we start secretly informing some of our boys

the real reason for the Circle."

"Already?" asked Susan.

"Best we tell them in our own way," said Daphne, "Than

them find out from some Lord who used family magics to

force one of our members into releasing the information."

"How quickly will we need to move?" asked Hermione.

Daphne shrugged and replied, "Personally, I'd have rather

waited until Yule, at least. However, with Dowager

Aldermaston acting as quickly as she has, I don't think we

have the time. I don't think the Circle has the time."

Hannah said, "Something must have happened between

Houses Aldermaston and Monkleigh for her to jump the

duelling flag like this."

Daphne nodded and said, "Agnes Monkleigh started third

year in Slytherin this year. Something must have

happened there for her to jump."

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------

---------------

Chapter 567

Hermione suddenly asked, "On an aside, do we have any

idea who Miss Monkleigh is betrothed to?"

"It'll be Dennis Aldermaston in sixth year," said Tracey.

"He's in Ravenclaw and Heir Secondary, I think, of the

House. His older brother Samuel, who graduated two

years ago, is Heir Primary."

"Let's write to Cissy and ask her what she thinks we

should do," said Hermione.

Fleur chose that moment to walk in from the kitchen. "'Arry

is doing something with pork skin I 'ave no idea why."

"What is he doing?" asked Hermione.

"'E's stripped it of fat, dried it, salted it and is layering it on

a rack in a baking tray to go into the oven."

Hermione thought about it and slowly grinned. "He's

making pork crackle. It sounds like we're having roast pork

for dinner."

"Yes," said Fleur. "He told me that is what we're having.

Plus, 'e's making a 'erb-infused tomato soup for starters

and a custard infused cake for afters."

Susan groaned a little and moaned, "There goes my

waistline again."

Hannah said, "You'll burn it off tomorrow in the Room of

Requirement."

The Heirs, on returning to the castle at the beginning of

the school year, also returned to training. They liked how it

made them fitter and more toned. And wanted to recover

what they'd lost while they were on break. Now they were

joined by CeeCee, who also preferred to stay fit. And she

now brought Natalie with her.

_‗_

―==(oIo)==―

ˇ

As the Heirs sat around the dining table that evening

enjoying Harry's delicious Pork dinner, Fleur was telling

them all about what it appeared it was going to be like

learning to be a cursebreaker under Gringotts' employ.

She'd covered most of what she was talking about on the

Friday night with the rest of the Potter 'apartmenthold'.

However, she'd learned even more about it while she was

at Gringotts that morning and early afternoon.

"There is a young man there," she said. "He has been

there for more than five years and is now considered one

of Gringotts rising stars in the field of cursebreaking. He

will be my main trainer.

"His name is Bill Weasley and he is the oldest boy of the

Weasley family you seem to know so well."

As Harry cocked an eyebrow in surprise, Hermione said, "I

thought he was supposed to be in Egypt."

Fleur snickered and said, "'E is often in Egypt, yes.

'Owever, most of the time 'e is 'ere in Britain. 'E begged

me to ask you not to tell his mother, or any other member

of his family really, that 'e does not spend most of his time

overseas."

"Why?" asked Daphne.

Before Fleur could answer, Harry did. "Because, if his

mother learned he was in wizarding Britain, she would

demand he live at The Burrow instead of... wherever he

does."

"Just so," said Fleur. "'E loves his mother but, according to

'im, she is a very difficult woman to live with."

"Molly Weasley wants and tries to believe that all her

'babies' are still small children," explained Harry. "That Bill,

for instance, is now well into his twenties is irrelevant to

her. He is still one of her babies and she's damned well

going to treat him as one."

_‗_

―==(oIo)==―

ˇ

After 'Confidential Tapestry Circle Correspondence'

between the female Heirs, Narcissa and Dorothy over the

next school fortnight, the females of the Heirs group were

finally 'permitted' to tell 'their boys' just what was the true

purpose of the Circle.

Narcissa believed it was only a matter of days before the

secret broke. Her law-wizard had already prepared press

statements that would go out as soon as he knew the

Daily Prophet had the story. No one, but he and his

informant though, knew he had an informant within the

type-set section of the Daily Prophet, who would

immediately let him know when 'anything of interest' was

about to be printed in the paper. He might only have about

twelve hours notice of the story breaking, but it was better

than none at all.

The girls then called the meeting of the Heirs for a

meeting in the Potter Apartment, as it was the largest of

the three. They also made sure that Ernie was invited; and

the boy was quick to accept and attend.

The meeting was held on the Friday evening, after dinner,

the day before the October meeting of the Grand Alliance.

Ernie was the last to arrive.

As he walked in, Harry said, "Excellent. We're all here."

Closing the door, he turned back to 'his' girls and asked

Hermione. "Alright, Hermione. You've got us all here. Now,

what's this about?"

Hermione gave a nod back, seemed to mentally fortify

herself and looked in general to the other Heirs. "Us ladies

have been given permission to tell you boys what the true

purpose of the Tapestry Circle is. That's because Narcissa

and a few others believe the story will break within the

next couple of days."

Frowning in annoyed confusion, Harry looked to the others

and noticed it was only himself, Neville, Justin and Ernie

who didn't seem to understand what was going on.

He said, "I've already figured out, I think, it has something

to do with the bloodlines. Am I right?"

When the other girls all looked back at him with surprised

shock, it was Daphne who recovered first and replied,

"That is correct. And, we should not be surprised you

figured at least that much out."

"Really?" asked Neville.

"Truly," replied Daphne.

Hermione sighed and said, "I guess us ladies should not

be surprised you figured that much out, Harry. Not

considering how much you've shown us all your powers of

deductive reasoning in the past."

Harry just lightly smirked.

She continued, "And that brings us to telling you boys

what the Tapestry Circle has been up to for these past few

months."

That led to the girls informing the boys what they knew

already and what was being done about it.

"So, what led you to telling us about this, now?" asked

Justin.

"Because certain members have started to overtly act in

stopping purebloods marrying purebloods," replied

Daphne. "That is, stopping purebloods being forced to

marry purebloods whose bloodlines are too closely linked

to their own."

"They do that?" asked Justin. "No wonder they're giving

birth to children with birth defects."

"And yet another example of a muggle-raised displaying

ready knowledge of the problem where a magical-raised

hasn't seen it," sighed Daphne.

--------------------------------------------

Chapter 568

"Yes," nodded Hermione, almost as if she was feeling yet

again vindicated.

She then went on to state how certain of the Dowagers and

younger mothers were no longer prepared to wait until they

were assured they'd not get obstruction to rectifying the

situation.

"They'd never get it," said Harry. "Even one hundred years

from now, there'll still be those who'll state the ladies of the

Tapestry Circle were stomping all over traditions."

"That was Mildred's... Dowager Aldermaston's... argument,"

said Susan. "And she was not prepared to let her grandson

marry a pureblood less than the now recommended minimal

five steps removed, which would mean the risk of birth

defects within any children they have being far too high."

Harry gave a snort of amusement and shook his head. "Five

steps still might not be enough. "

"It's the largest separation we could all agree on," said

Hermione. "Dorothy, Sarah and a few others said it might not

be enough, but too many members weren't prepared to go

any further. They believe there is no way for their children to

marry any further apart than that without marrying a

muggleborn or only a few available half-bloods."

"They could always choose spouses from overseas," he

shrugged.

"Even then, there's still the problem," she returned. "Many

headed overseas during Riddle's pogrom and Grindelwald the

time before him. So, there is still a significant number

overseas who do not meet the 'five removed' requirement."

He could see that in his mind and nodded. "Indeed," he

quietly said, still thinking.

When it appeared there was a gap in the conversation, Neville

asked, "Why did this start? What triggered it?"

"CeeCee being born with defects and then that talk..." that's

when Hermione, who was answering, realised Neville and a

couple others weren't at the discussion or hadn't necessarily

been told about it that started this. "Sorry; it was a discussion

at Black Townhouse between the Wilkinses, Narcissa Malfoy

and a few others.

"Dorothy used to be a pædiatric nurse... a medi-witch with a

focus on children's health. And Sarah is currently studying

Nursing at University with a view to also become a nurse like

her mother used to be.

"Part of the studies in medicine... muggle healing... deals with

what is known as genetics. That is, the traits that are in your

very cells that are passed down from fathers and mothers to

their children, then their children onto their children's

children and so on. It's why, for instance, Harry has his

mother's eyes and the Potter's unruly messy black hair.

"The problem is, new blood needs to constantly be introduced

to the bloodlines from bloodlines that haven't... or, in this

case, at least haven't for a while... been in the bloodline. It's

when that doesn't happen, you get birth defects; including

squibbing."

Harry piped up and said, "That's why Dumbledore, Riddle and,

to some extent, me have all been quite powerful. All three of

us are half-bloods who were born of a long bloodline of what

were, until then, purebloods and a muggleborn; or, in Riddle's

case, a muggle.

"The introduction of new blood, completely untainted with

genetic markers of the other bloodlines that had already been

blended into the pureblood bloodline at some point, went a

great deal into explaining why the three of us have all had

quite so much power. And, yes, Neville; that includes you

somewhat, too."

"My grandmother on my mother's side," sighed Neville. "And

that's why Mum was... is... quite powerful."

"Yep," said Harry. "And it blended over to you."

_‗_

―==(oIo)==―

ˇ

The meeting of the Alliance the next day had quite a few

unhappy males and somewhat smug witches.

The whole thing just amused Harry.

"Can you believe this?" Phineas Puvingson asked Frederick

(not Fred) Bardhall. Clearly, the man was not a little disgusted.

They'd been talking about the 'bombshell' dropped on them

by their spouses and, in Bardhall's case, his adult daughter.

Harry just listened in, amused.

When Bardhall didn't seem to be all that bothered about it,

Puvingson turned his attention on Harry. "What about you,

Harrison? You head a noble House. Doesn't this bother you?"

"The only thing that bothers me, Phineas, is that wizarding

Britain, since they're so high and mighty about the bloodlines,

didn't know this centuries ago," he replied. "Merlin; ask any

farmer who raises creatures, especially mammals, and they

would tell you that failing to introduce new blood by way of

sourcing studs for your flocks or herds from far away is a

recipe for disaster."

Looking the other man more fully in the eye he asked,

"Haven't you ever wondered why the number of squibs and

stillbirths born to purebloods have been steadily rising for so

long?"

Puvingson just threw his hand in the air and said, "Bah! You're

one of them! Why fix what ain't broke?"

"Because it is broke," Harry immediately shot back. "That's

why it's so urgent to fix!"

During the meeting, Narcissa laid out the parchmentwork she

had collected that proved the danger of having sons and

daughters of long-time established British pureblood Houses

marry the daughters and sons of other long-time established

British pureblood Houses. Many of the Heads were

immediately somewhat up in arms about their 'rights' as

Heads of Houses being taken from them, until she was at least

halfway through her presentation.

By the end of it, though, almost all of them were horrified.

Puvingson ended up being the only holdout until the other

wives - he was a widower - rounded on him and practically

accused him of being a 'baby-killer'. He pulled his head back in

pretty quickly after that.

_‗_

―==(oIo)==―

ˇ

Of course, the shocks, outrage and denials that came from the

members of the Alliance were nothing compared to the

response of the Members of the Wizengamot.

The story broke in the Weekend Daily Prophet on the Sunday.

And Harry was one who believed it had to be someone in the

Alliance who leaked it; maybe Puvingson, but he doubted it -

too obvious.

He'd contacted Frank almost immediately after reading the

article, only to find that Frank had the same belief and was

already trying to ferret out the 'squealer', as he put it.

"It had to be Phineas Puvingson," he declared. "He was the

only one who voiced his disagreement by the end of the

session."

"Maybe," said Harry. "However, my money's on Cyril

MacMillan. Puvingson is the too obvious culprit. Besides, he's

loyal to the Alliance; whereas Cyril MacMillan... not so much."

Frank gave a grunt of annoyance and said, "Yeah. I can see

that."

Then he sighed and said, "I'll put it to the next meeting of the

Alliance and see if someone will own up to it."

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------

---------------

Chapter 569

Harry shrugged and said, "And if someone does? It's

pointless asking for the culprit to out themselves if

you aren't willing to issue sanctions against them."

Frank thought about it for a few moments before he

grumbled, "Damn it. You're right."

"Say that you believe it was a member House of the

Alliance that leaked it, whether directly or indirectly, to

the Daily Prophet and you're not happy about it."

"Yeah," said Frank. "Then tell them all you and I feel

it's a betrayal of the secrecy of the Alliance to have

released the information."

"And Sirius," added Harry. "Hell, talk to the other

senior Houses and see if they agree."

Frank nodded and said, "I can do that. Good idea."

_‗_

―==(oIo)==―

ˇ

However, the Wizengamot were all still up in their

wands about the information brought to light by

Dowager Malfoy and 'her' Tapestry Circle. Some even

wanted the information placed under a High Secret

embargo. Of course, almost all of them were of dark

families.

The Wizengamot session had the second largest

number of non-Members attend the session as

visitors in the visitors' gallery Harry had seen since

Dumbledore's trial. And almost all of them were

witches.

Finally, Harry rose, got the call and said, "Thank you,

Chief Warlock, for allowing the House of Potter to air

their views on this matter."

Looking about, he firmly said, "You cannot put the

boggart back in the cupboard. The information is now

out and widely disseminated. It was in the Daily

Prophet, for Merlin's sake!

"Personally, I have no problem with those of you

willing to go against your ladies and maintain your

current practices. However, I'm informing you now, do

not attempt to approach the House of Potter for a

Betrothal or Concubine Bond agreement in the future.

You will be automatically turned away.

"I will not willingly place at risk my children,

grandchildren and further to the emotional and

psychological pain that comes from losing a child or

children to the horrors of birth defects or stillbirths,

when it is so easy for me to greatly reduce that

chance. The evidence presented by Dowager Malfoy

cannot be logically refuted.

"For those of you who will illogically stick to your

broken wands, I will simply sit back and watch as your

Houses die out, then join others in picking the

carcasses of your Houses clean of all assets. For

dying out due to excessive inbreeding will clearly be

the fate of them.

"Anyone remember the House of Gaunt? What about

Peverell? Those two are only two of many who bred

themselves into extinction. Many other Houses

represented here today are already teetering on the

edge. All I and others have to do is sit back and watch

you kill your own Houses off.

"You sit there and make claims of 'It's tradition!' and

'It's our right!' and I can only agree with you. However,

the House of Potter will not join you in your attempts

to commit mass multi-generational suicide.

"I can see no laws will yet be passed as a result of

this, though I firmly believe they should be. Far too

many of you remain too ignorant and stupid to make it

come to pass. In my opinion no one, but a complete

daft moron, could do other than recognise the great

risk they take by bonding their long-time British

pureblood children with the long-time British

pureblood children of other Houses and immediately

engage in moves to ensure it does not happen to

theirs.

"The Tapestry Circle has done one thing that no one

has been able to do for a great many centuries. It has

the almost unanimous support of members from right

across the Dark and Light, Traditional and Non,

Pureblood and Muggleborn, Noble and Not and

generational unmarked lines. Your mothers,

grandmothers, aunts, sisters, wives, daughters and

granddaughters are united in this!

"Look around you! Even here in the Wizengamot I

cannot see one witch who is against this. Look around

you! Even now, many of them wear the 'TC' lapel pin

that shows they are active members of the Tapestry

Circle. They would not be members of the Circle if

they did not agree that this is a long-term disaster

made clear. Look around you! And see the hate of

mothers who have birthed children with birth defects,

squibs and stillborns directed at you for your contrary

stance. Look opposite into the visitors' gallery! And

see the sheer number of witches who have come to

see if the Wizengamot is willing to act as it should.

"It was made clear to me by a close friend that, while I

rule the House, it is my ladies who rule the home. I am

not a daft moron. I have no idea whether or not the

couch in my home office is comfortable or not to

sleep upon. I have no intention of finding out by being

forced to sleep upon it by a spouse or bonded who is

upset with me. I also know that if my wife deems I am

to sleep on the couch, my concubine bonded will not

welcome me into their beds either.

"I already know to never get between a mother and

her eggs, her cubs, her kittens, her offspring. The

same applies to their health. There is a reason they

chose nesting mother dragons for the First Task of the

Tri-wizard Tournament. Getting between a mother and

her children would have to rank right up there with

being the most dangerous place in existence!

"If you choose to go against taking steps to reduce

the number of children lost to magical Britain through

excessive inbreeding, I will not stop you. I'll be much

too busy laughing at your very-soon-to-be misfortune

when the ladies of your House get you in private,

before I begin making plans what I intend to do with

the remains of your House.

"There's an old muggle saying: 'You made your beds,

now you have to sleep on them.' Or, in this case, not

sleep in them.

"Chief Warlock Ogden, the House of Potter thanks you

for the opportunity to present its views on this

matter."

He sat down and was shocked by what happened

next.

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------

---------------

Chapter 570

About three seconds after Harry sat down from his

impassioned 'speech', before Ogden even had a

chance to bang his gavel to call on the next speaker,

almost every witch in the visitors' gallery, together

with many in the tiers of the Members, surged to their

feet in loud and raucous applause and cheering

approbation. It was not too much longer before many

of the menfolk in the tiers also rose in applause,

though some were obviously reluctant to do so.

With Harry shocked in surprise Ogden let it go on for

almost a full minute before he began to bang his gavel

to recover control. It took another two minutes before

he got it. Even the witches on the 'Mot took at least a

further minute before they sat.

Once he had relative silence again, he gave his throat

a little clear and said, "Yes... well... Any further

speakers?"

Harry could see there were quite a few unhappy

members of the Dark... all male... who really wanted to

speak in support of the emergency resolution.

However, there were none who were both Dark and

stupid enough to stand to speak 'for'.

"In that case," said Ogden. "With no further speakers

for, we'll move to the vote.

"All those in support of the emergency resolution to

have the information pertaining to the rise of birth

defects and similar in pureblood infants suppressed,

vote now."

Only five wands were raised. And one of those

immediately withdrew when he heard a snarl come

from one of the witches nearby.

"All those against, vote now."

Almost every other wand rose.

That led to cheering coming from the visitors' gallery.

It took another two minutes of trying to get control of

the meeting again before Ogden was able to call, "The

emergency resolution has lost by more than a three

quarter majority."

More cheering, but it didn't last as long.

Finally, Ogden was able to sigh and say, "Next item of

business, please."

As someone rose to speak on the issue of being

slandered in the Daily Prophet, Sirius leaned over to

Harry and quietly said, "You do realise, do you not,

that you've now given someone the opportunity to

actually draft legislation to make it illegal to marry or

concubine someone who has up to and including the

same 'three times' great grandparent, don't you?"

"Yes," Harry just as quietly replied with a smirk.

"However, it cannot be me. I just spoke about how

House Potter is quite prepared to sit back and watch

those against the idea drive themselves to extinction."

Sirius grinned and said, "No. I believe the House of

Black will be putting forth its first piece of legislation

in over a decade and a half. After your speech, I think

it's an easy pass."

Harry just nodded back. "And that way you show the

Alliance you're definitely of the Light."

Sirius looked a little surprised before he smirked

back. "I hadn't thought of that, but you're right."

_‗_

―==(oIo)==―

ˇ

When Harry flooed back to school halfway through the

double of Transfiguration, he just quietly returned to

the Potter apartment, changed and made his way to

his class. Professor Biffingwater knew and

understood that on the third Tuesday of the month,

Harry had to attend 'parliament' and would attend

when he could.

It wasn't until lunch when a completely impatient

Hermione, almost bouncing in her seat on the bench

at the Gryffindor table, glared at him with gritted teeth

and quietly demanded, "Tell me."

Harry sighed, gave her a disappointed look and said,

"There's not much to tell. Mulciber tried to pass an

emergency resolution to have the information listed

as a High Secret and illegal to speak about. It lost.

"As for what else happened and why, that can wait

until after classes."

Hermione sat back in clear relief and nodded. "Thank

you."

Daphne quietly asked, "By how much?"

He grinned and replied, "By more than three

quarters."

She grinned in happiness and said, "With that big a

margin, the matter cannot be raised again for more

than a year."

Harry smirked back and nodded.

The 'Dark' had really screwed up bringing the matter

to the Wizengamot as an emergency resolution. That it

had lost by such a wide margin meant that they

couldn't even raise it again, even as a Bill, for twelve

months. However, a Bill in the opposite direction

could be raised as soon as the next session in four

weeks, on the sixteenth of November. It could then

become a Statute at the December session, five weeks

later, and a few days before Christmas.

"Now, wouldn't that be a nice Christmas present to the

witches of magical Britain from the House of Black,"

he softly murmured.

"Pardon?" asked Hermione.

Harry hadn't even realised that he said out loud what

he'd been thinking.

"Sorry," he replied. "Just voicing my thoughts out

loud. I'll explain more, once we're back in the

apartment."

_‗_

―==(oIo)==―

ˇ

Ron Weasley had been working hard on getting better

and better at the charms and curses in his small

collection of Dark Arts books 'gifted' him by

Caracticus Nott. However, his plan to deal with Potter

just after the completion of the first month had to be

quickly tossed out the window. He hadn't taken into

consideration the sheer amount of assignments, or

the extra class period each day, when he arrived back

at Hogwarts.

Now he was looking to take his nemesis out around

Hallowe'en. That's when he smiled and thought, 'Why

not Hallowe'en itself? Potter was always getting into

trouble on that day, often dragging others into danger.

Besides, that day was a Sunday, this year. A day when

people weren't concentrating as much, were more

relaxed.'

"Now that he believes all his enemies have been

defeated," he muttered. "He won't be expecting an

attack."

Decision reached and with a smile on his face,

Weasley set to with increasing both his speed of

casting and being as silent as possible. Of course,

he'd also have a disillusionment charm on himself at

the time. Now he just had to find the place where he'd

have both the greatest chance of taking Potter out and

best chance of escaping capture and punishment for

his actions from the idiots who didn't realise, or

wouldn't accept, that he was in the right.

He knew just who to set up to take the fall, too - either

the Malfoy or Greengrass bitches. The Davis bitch

wouldn't be a bad choice, either. She was, after all, yet

another slimy snake Slytherin.