Chapter Fifty Four – A Falling Flame

Disclaimer: The Harry Potter universe belongs to JK Rowling, Scholastic, Bloomsbury, Warner Bros and some other high falutin' companies. Me, I'm just a PR professional. I don't profess to own - and would never dream of making any money off - JKR's wonderful world. However, its her sandbox and she's left the gate unlatched so we can go in and play a bit. Which, I've done.

Chapter Fifty Four – A Falling Flame

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-==(oIo)==-

\""/

After a short dinner, where they discussed a wide range of topics Daphne had engineered to take Harry's mind off what day it was, Daphne took him on a tour of the apartment. They enjoyed their meal on the bottom floor with it's wide outside deck and rooftop garden, then she led him through the lower floors showing him the large modern kitchen, the parlour, the games room, and two offices.

Next she led him upstairs where he saw two guest rooms, the room Astoria usually occupied, the one she usually occupied, and the master suite with its own small sitting room.

She led him over to the bed and had him sit on the foot of it.

"Sit back a bit, my love," she said.

Harry slid back until his knees were hard up against the footboard. She then pushed him until he was laid back. Before she kicked her slip on shoes off and hopped up onto the bed on her knees either side of his thighs. Her full circle skirt flared out.

"Ahhh - Daph?" asked Harry, unsure of what as going on.

Ignoring his question she smiled as she knee-walked up either side of his body until she could sit back on his hips.

Smiling down at him, she pulled the bottom of her blouse out of her skirt before she began to undo the buttons on her blouse. Harry's eyes opened wide, staring at her in shock.

"Ummm - Daph? W-what are you - doing?"

"Relax, Harry," she purred as she continued to undo buttons. "You've been an absolute gentleman. But we are betrothed. And, I want to give you a very happy memory to go with the bad ones for this day."

"Ummm - Daph? W-we're only - ummm - only thirteen..." he stammered. "It's nice of-of you to off-offer what y-you're offering..."

"We're not going to go all the way, silly," she said, reaching the last button. "I just thought you might like to be introduced to the girls."

Harry looked like he was hyperventilating, he was panting so much. But Daphne was very pleased to feel Harry's excitement make itself known under her bum.

Taking her blouse off and tossing it to the side on the bed, she said, "Do you recognise this bra, Harry? You helped me pick it out."

Harry nodded his head rapidly, eyes still wide open. Daphne thought that, if she wasn't sitting on him and pinning him down, he'd probably take off.

Slowly, she reached for the bra clasp in the middle of her back. She knew it also made her breasts - which had grown quite a bit over the past twelve months - stick right out on her chest.

Harry's eyes were locked on her form. He had sweat forming on his upper lip and just below his hairline, and he was breathing like a prize fighter. His hands twitched where they lay loose at his sides outside her legs.

"I figured," she softly said, "that if you had a really happy memory on this day, it might help to keep the bad ones away."

Clasp released, Daphne brought her arms back around the front and crossed them one at a time to slide the straps off her shoulders.

Harry's eyes were darting all over the place.

"I don't mind if you stare at my breasts, Harry," she purred.

With both straps now down her arms she allowed her bra to fall into her lap.

"After all, you can't be introduced to them, if you don't get to look at them," she smiled.

From where he was lying, Harry could feel his heart hammering away in his chest, his man-wand was painfully erect and pressed between his groin and her lady-cauldron, he was sweating far too much, and he was panting as if he'd just completed an hour of wand work against the target dummies.

But, he noticed almost none of it. His entire focus was fixed on the sight before him. He had no idea what size she would be; to him it did not matter. He ached to reach out and touch them, to fondle them, to squeeze them. He wanted to tweak her nipples, play with her pale areolæ, and caress the milky white flesh.

"Do you like them, Harry?" she purred, raising her own hands to cup them, to use her index fingers and thumbs to gently tweak her own nipples.

Harry, unable to form coherent sentences, to speak even a sound from his tightly constricted throat except little squeak sounds, nodded his head vigorously.

Smiling, she lowered her hands and sought out his. Grasping them she began to lift them off the bed, turning her own hands until she had his palm out in her own with his hands resting on her thighs.

Lifting them, she said, "If you're going to get to know them, Harry; you need to be able to feel them." And placed the palms of his hands firmly onto her breasts.

Harry thought he was going to faint. Hesitantly at first, he began to move his hands about. He became bolder in his movements, his touch.

For Daphne, she felt the tingles all the way down to her pit. And, when Harry finally became bold enough to tweak her nipples, she felt the flaming surge of desire course through her. It made her tummy do flip-flops. It made her flesh goosebump. It made her insides turn to water.

For Daphne, it was the highest form of pleasure she'd ever experienced. Her own hands felt nowhere near as good. She could enjoy what he was doing for hours. But they didn't have time. And she was not sure she could stop if they went any further.

With a moan of both desire and frustration, she sat back up straight. Harry's hands followed her.

Enjoying the feeling of his hands on her breasts, Daphne had her eyes closed. She moaned again.

Opening her eyes again, she looked down at the boy-man that would become her husband, her lover, her partner.

"Did you enjoy that, Harry?" she asked. "Because I did."

Harry nodded his head and finally found his voice. "Yes," he croaked. "You're beautiful, my love."

At his words, Daphne felt another surge down in her loins, her tummy again flip-flopped.

Reluctantly, she climbed off him and kneeled alongside.

Harry sighed in disappointment, but was happy his man-wand and the twins were no longer being crushed. He lay back with an absolute look of bliss on his face as he looked lovingly into the eyes of his betrothed.

Daphne reached for her bra and put it on, looking back into the very happy face of her love as she did. She watched when the look of disappointment flitted across his face for the barest of moments as the bra covered her girls again. With the clasp reconnected she donned her blouse and knee-shuffled off the foot of the bed.

Standing again, she buttoned herself back up before tucking the tails back into her skirt. The whole time, Harry lay there watching her with a smile on his face.

Popping her wand out she cast a Cleaning Charm over the front of Harry's pants before walking into the ensuite. Out of sight of her man, she lifted her skirt to do the same to her very damp panties.

When she walked back out and slipped her shoes back on, Harry was sitting on the foot of the bed and scrubbing his fingers through his hair.

"We need to go," she said.

"Yeah," he replied. "Just trying to get my heart rate to slow down."

After a few moments he stood back up and reached out a hand to hold her own.

Together they left the apartment and the Room.

Just as they stepped outside, Harry turned her into his arms and hugged her tightly to him. "Thank you, beloved," he said, fully of happy emotion.

"My absolute pleasure," she returned. "And, thank you for not pushing me beyond what I was willing to give."

"Never!" he firmly replied.

_‗_

-==(oIo)==-

\""/

The day before the match between Gryffindor and Slytherin, Ginny ran up to Harry crying.

"Hey!" he said. "What's wrong?"

"Stupid Malfoy and his stupid arm!" cried Ginny. "He's complained it isn't healed enough for him to play seeker for his team. So their team Captain, Marcus Flint, asked for a switch with another team, and got it. We're now to play Hufflepuff tomorrow."

"Yes; and?" asked Harry.

"You said I could borrow the Firebolt for our game against the Slytherins," she cried. "Now we're not going to be playing them until next April!"

Harry sighed and said, "Well, it's not your fault Malfoy's both an idiot and a wuss. If it means that much to you, you can still use it tomorrow. Either way, you've still got the Nimbus to fall back on."

"Really?" she asked, the hope in her eye almost heartbreaking. "I can still use it?"

Harry firmly nodded and said, "Yes."

With a 'Squeee' sound she jumped forward and grapple-hugged him. "Thank you, Harry!" And happily ran off again.

'What is it with young girls and their jumping at you to hug you?' he thought. 'And, one moment they're bawling their eyes out; and the next they're squealing in excitement. Girls are weird.'

_‗_

-==(oIo)==-

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The next day dawned miserably. It was a sullen day with low clouds, threatening rain, and strong wind.

The others didn't want to go and watch the match, but Harry wanted to watch his Firebolt in action in a game. Something he couldn't do if he was riding it himself. Daphne decided to come with him to watch. However, her reasoning was that the cold would give her an excuse to snuggle up to him.

Harry took his Nimbus down to the front steps of the castle and flew them both directly into the tribunes. Once there, Daphne drew a shrunken blanket out of her pocket and unshrunk it before throwing it over both their laps.

They'd also brought with them hot cocoas in sealed insulated mugs with warming charms on them. Of course, both were also wearing their heavy winter cloaks. The ones, of course, with permanent Water Repelling Charms.

Just after the game commenced a light rain began to fall. Harry cast over them a Water Repelling shield and they continued to watch. He, of course, was mostly focussed on young Ginny sitting upon his broom.

So far, the girl hadn't done any spectacular moves to show the broom off. For which Harry was grateful. And Lee Jordan, from where he was announcing the game, hadn't mentioned she was riding a Firebolt. All he'd done was allude to how Harry had loaned her his Nimbus 2000, "Because, Harry Potter is, after all, a true sportsman and gentleman. And damn him for rejoining the Ravenclaw Quidditch team!"

"Mister Jordan!" came Professor McGonagall's voice.

"Sorry, Professor!"

The game was going well with the scores seeming to stay relatively equal until Gryffindor managed to gain the upper hand and surge ahead. Gryffindor had the better beaters in Fred and George, while the 'Puffs seemed to have their beaters better co-ordinated with their chasers.

Suddenly, Ginny dove - fast. Diggory, again team Captain and seeker for the 'Puffs this year - dove after her. While looking for the snitch, himself, Harry kept an eye on Ginny. He couldn't see what she seemed to see, and the broom seemed to be sluggish.

Just as it looked like Diggory was about to pass her, Ginny Wronski feinted almost perfectly. With a tighter turning circle than Diggory. With his heftier weight, and a broom not as quick on turns, he almost pulled up in time.

After he managed to get the handle of the broom up, his twigs hit the grass, causing him to bounce. The buck caused him to be thrown off his broom to go sliding along the wet and slippery grass for about thirty feet.

When he stood up - clearly unhurt - His yellow and black robes were dark brown right down his front.

Harry couldn't help himself; he laughed.

Lee Jordan announced, "Well, it looks like badger seeker Diggory decided to go looking for his burrow and couldn't find it. Bad luck there. As Gryffindor's little fire rocket, seeker Ginny Weasley, pulls off a well executed Wronski feint."

Diggory remounted his broom, still covered in mud, and now thoroughly soaked in muddy water. He climbed back up to overwatch to be up near Ginny, but Ginny flew even higher.

The clouds suddenly opened up and the wind became worse. Soon the rain was freezing cold and it felt like ice on the skin.

"We've lost sight of Ginny. Those clouds are coming over really low," called Lee.

Harry frowned and tried to find her in among the clouds. Diggory suddenly dived but Harry was watching the clouds. He saw a movement of black that didn't look right; then more.

Suddenly he realised what that black was. "Dementors!" he cried, jumping to his feet.

Snapping his wand out he immediately cast. "Prongs!" he shouted as his very bright, almost solid patronus shot forward and heavenward. "Dementors!" he shouted again, just as he saw a clearly unbroomed Ginny fall from the clouds. She wasn't moving and looked unconscious. His patronus charged up into the sky.

Thinking fast, he grabbed his Nimbus, mounted it, and took off straight off the front row of tribune seats. About a dozen other patronuses also took off into the sky after the foul beasts, as he urged the broom forward faster and faster.

He saw the twins work in tandem and also charge towards the area directly underneath Ginny as she fell.

Like a paired precision flying team the twins turned directly under her, heading straight down, preparing to catch her as she fell past them. Harry, higher than they were, dived over top and accelerated. The twins both managed to snag her by her robes, slowing her down.

But, she'd have still hit the ground too fast for safety if Harry hadn't come down between them and behind her. He pulled the handle of his broom up between her legs, using the braking charms of the broom to slow all four of them down.

It was just in time, too. With only as much force as jumping off a table, all four hit the ground and sprawled across the grass.

Harry immediately took off back up into the sky to both find the Firebolt and make sure the dementors were banished.

Up high, he saw patronuses chase the last of the foul beasts off and saw the broom as the wind was pushing it towards the Forbidden Forest. Haring off after it, he managed to snag it before it ended up entangled in the branches of the whomping willow. And returned with it to the pitch.

On the way back he switched from his Nimbus to the Firebolt to keep up the illusion Ginny was riding the Nimbus.

Coming in to land he saw that Ginny was sitting up on the grass and was being almost forced to eat chocolate by Remus - Professor Lupin. Professor McGonagall was off to one side with Dumbledore berating him about the beasts.

"How is she?" asked Harry, once he landed in the middle of the pitch.

"She's suffering from over exposure to the dementors, but she's going to be fine," said Remus.

"Thanks for the assist, by the way," said one of the twins.

"That makes the second time you've assisted in saving our sister's life," said the other.

"You're making a habit of it," said the first.

Harry shrugged and said, "I caught just a couple of glimpses of black cloaks and knew what it had to be."

"The bastards used the cloud cover to come in close," said Alicia, who had walked closer. "Thank Merlin you acted when you did."

"It was the precision flying of the twins that caught her," said Harry. "I was only able to slow their decent to a point where the landing wouldn't have seen people in hospital, or worse."

During Ginny's over-exposure and subsequent fall, Diggory had managed to see and snag the snitch before the twins and Harry even got Ginny back on terra firma. So, the 'Puffs won. However, it was only by ninety points as the Gryff's were in front by sixty points at the time of the catch.

Oliver Wood was pleading with Madam Hooch to call the game a bust due to the dementors but she said, "Mister Diggory caught the snitch before the game could be called. As such, his catch was valid and ended the game at that point. The Hufflepuff win will stand."

"But, Madam Hooch! Our seeker was already out by then, and it was a life and death situation!" the boy pleaded.

"It stands, Mister Wood," said the woman, firmly.

Taking the twins aside, Harry quietly said, "I don't think anyone has realised Ginny was riding the Firebolt today. She hid it's capabilities quite well. So, it looks like the plan for her to ambush the Slytherins with it will now be in the last game of the school year. She can borrow it again to train as that game approaches."

Both twins grinned and said, "Thanks Harrikins."

"We'll let her know," said one.

_‗_

-==(oIo)==-

\""/

Even though the dementors entered the grounds of Hogwarts, when they were supposed to remain outside of the boundaries, the Minister still would not pull them away and send them back to Azkaban. He argued that they must have had some idea Pettigrew had entered the grounds and were only doing their job by going in after him.

Harry, for one, had had enough. He decided to write his own article and contacted Monty Wordsworth to 'polish' it before publishing it in the Prophet under Monty's by-line.

* # *

DEMENTORS ATTACK YOUNG HOGWARTS STUDENT

By Monty Wordsworth

Yesterday, during a nail-biting, edge-of-your-seat Quidditch game between Gryffindor and Hufflepuff, Gryffindor's young rising-star seeker, Miss Ginevra 'Ginny' Weasley (12), was attacked in the skies over the pitch by what reports say was well over two dozen of the Ministry's dementors. The young pre-teen was quite high and was gently moving through the sky on a borrowed broom from Harry Potter (The-Boy-Who-Lived) when the dementors, using the low cloud cover to hide their presence, attacked Miss Weasley.

The attack rendered Miss Weasley unconscious causing her to fall from her broom hundreds of feet in the air. If not for the alarm raised by a spectator in the stands around the pitch, who caught glimpses of the dementors within the clouds and caused all eyes to turn to the heavens, the falling body of Miss Weasley may have been discovered too late. The fall would surely have killed the young pureblood girl, only daughter of Arthur and Molly Weasley.

In a dramatic and incredible feat of superb formation flying, Gryffindor's twin beaters, and older twin brothers to Miss Weasley, Fred and George Weasley (15), were able to manoeuvre themselves under the plummeting body of their young seeker and sister and catch her. A third broom rider, a member of the audience who had brought his broom with him into the stands, assisted in safely returning the young girl safely to the ground.

Questions must be asked of the Minister, who admitted in his own words only a few short weeks ago he was personally responsible for sending the dementors to Hogwarts, why the foul beasts were able to get into a position well inside the grounds to attack the young Miss Weasley. How can they be there to protect the students from an unconfirmed threat, when they have now become a threat themselves?

Will it take the dementors killing a pureblood scion, of which there are many at Hogwarts today, for the Minister to realise the so-called protection he has personally sent to Hogwarts are a bigger threat than the original possible threat they were sent to protect against?

If the unthinkable does happen, will the Minister be charged with murder; his weapon of choice being a dementor?

* # *

"Hey, Potter!" said Malfoy, from where he was wearing a very poorly applied bandage and sling on his arm. "How does it feel not to have your heroics published, for once?"

"Well, considering I wrote the article with Mister Wordsworth," he replied, "and had to make him promise to keep my name out of it other than that I loaned Miss Weasley the broom, pretty bloody good, actually."

The blonde boy looked back in surprise before he just scowled in response.

"I'm glad to see the twins receive the recognition they deserved for their incredible flying in catching their sister," he continued.

The dementors were pulled from the school by lunch of the day the article was printed. The staff and students of Hogwarts, and the residents of Hogsmeade, breathed a collective sigh of relief.

_‗_

-==(oIo)==-

\""/

Near the English town of Folkestone, a short, balding, buck-toothed, pudgy man wearing an old twill weave brown suit with a stolen heavy coat on over the top was looking down from his vantage point at the English end of the soon-to-be-opened Channel Tunnel - or, 'Chunnel', as the local muggles had been calling it. Pettigrew was looking for a way across.

He had recently been in Folkestone town centre, looking for a way to board a muggle vessel to take him across to the continent, where his dark mark was urging him onwards towards the direction of his Master. It had already taken him many, many weeks just to reach that point.

In Folkestone he saw a huge display concerning a tunnel the muggles were building under the English Channel. Apparently the two tunnel ends had been connected since December 1990 and work switched from tunnelling to building the twin rail lines and services to support the tunnel.

That meant he might have found a way to slip out of Britain across to the Continent and hoped it slipped under the magical detection net that was over the two major islands of Magical Britain. The cut-away diorama the muggles used in their display of the works showed that the tunnel dropped as low as 250 feet below sea level. He just hoped it was deep enough at the ward line to allow him passage under it. And, therefore, pass unnoticed.

While the tunnel was not open yet, it was due to open in about six months. And he definitely wanted to be well clear before those muggle trains went roaring through it at what the diorama indicated were incredible speeds.

He was also banking on the tunnel being so new that Britain's DMLE and France's DPM (Département de la Police Magiques) were either unaware of it, or thought it insignificant in their respective coastwatch programmes; where they watched for illegal international portkeys, illegal international apparitions, those attempting the crossing on brooms or magic carpets, and scanned sea-going vessels. As his magical signature was now on 'file' with the Ministry and they would be monitoring for it, he knew that if he attempted any of those, he would be caught by the net, for sure.

Carefully, he made his way down to the construction site. The tunnel represented his only chance to cross without being caught and he was prepared to take his time to research his course of action and plan to get through.

_‗_

-==(oIo)==-

\""/

Three weeks after the Gryffindor Hufflepuff match and it was Ravenclaw's shot at the 'Puffs. Poor Hufflepuff had to play two of their three games with only three weeks separating them due to Malfoy's stupidity. However, Diggory seemed quite enthused by it after their win against the Gryff's.

The weather was again miserable, but this time it was more drizzly rain than horrid wind and low scudding clouds. It was the sort of rain that managed to get underneath your wet weather gear and soak you through in a matter of moments

Simon Martin gave his speech to the team and every one was hyped up waiting to get out there and execute their strategy.

Harry, said, "If you're going to execute the plan, do it early and do it fast. I don't want to be out in this weather any longer than I have to. As soon as I see even a glint of gold, that snitch is in my hand. It the score at the end is 150 to zero in our favour, so be it."

That revved the team up even further.

When they were called out by Lee Jordan, again acting as announcer, Harry was like a bull out of a gate. He pulled a quick loop and landed in the centre of the pitch.

He was surprised to see Professor Snape refereeing the game.

Not one to mince words, Snape was quick to release the bludgers and the snitch. Harry took a running start, leapt onto his broom and surged into the sky.

Jordan's voice rang out, "And look at the Raven climb, ladies and gentlemen! For those unaware, Harry Potter rides one of the new Firebolts! His own is serial number seven the player number of the seeker and reportedly the best number magically.

"The broom is reported to reach speeds in excess of one hundred and fifty miles per hour and the tightest turning circle of any broom on the market. Let's see what he makes of it, today."

Harry scanned the skies and kept a close watch on the goings on below. Diggory was off a little ways doing the same.

Dropping down closer to the play, Harry spotted the Hufflepuff chasers gain control of the quaffle and make a drive towards the Ravenclaw goals.

'Spoiling time,' thought Harry. He put on a boost of acceleration to get above the tight formation of Hufflepuff chasers and dove straight down and through them before pulling a high g-force swoop bring the broom around one eighty degrees and driving straight back up through them.

The 'Puff chasers were completely thrown off their game and Ravenclaw regained control of the red leather ball.

From his drive back up Harry kept the climb going before looping over to hang upside down and executing a half barrel roll to regain his upright seat. He was instantly scanning the skies again.

Diggory came over and said, "Be careful, Potter! You nearly de-seated one of my chasers."

"I didn't connect with them, Mister Diggory," retorted Harry, still scanning the skies. "I just frightened them enough to scatter their formation."

As soon as he finished speaking, he put on his face an expression of surprise and glee to make it look like he'd spotted the snitch. Then he dove straight towards one of the tribunes behind Diggory. As he aimed to do, Diggory took off in hot pursuit. At the wall of the tribune, Harry executed a corkscrew turn that had him gripping the broom with everything he had before he was flying parallel to the wall. The tightness of the turn saw Diggory strike the wall firmly enough to nearly unseat himself as he fought to bring his own broom around.

Harry suddenly jerked the handle to aim his broom for low in the middle of the pitch before coming up through the middle of the Hufflepuff formation again. Once more, he sent them scattering.

The beaters tried to target him but Harry simply outflew the bludgers. Sometimes he would fly slow enough to keep the iron balls following him until he'd accelerate at the last moment and fly back through the Hufflepuff chasers. This would cause the bludgers to attack the chasers as the closest players nearby.

Reefing the broom around he headed back for the side of the pitch before racing along its edge at goal height. Lining up on the Hufflepuff keeper he forced the boy out of position just as Ravenclaw was lining up its shot from Chang Cho.

But Harry wanted to see how fast the broom could go within the confines of the pitch, so he kept pouring the power on. After two quick circuits of the pitch he aimed the broom straight for the sky and decelerated back down to a more manageable speed to search for the snitch.

He had just started scanning the area again when a clear patch of sky moved over the pitch and allowed the sun to shine down. He instantly saw the gold glint down near the bottom of the Ravenclaw goals and had it in his hand less than a minute later, holding it aloft while he gently flew back to the centre of the pitch and Professor Snape.

In the end, the score was 190 to 20 for a stunning Ravenclaw victory.

Harry was very happy when he flew up into the tribune where he knew his love would be sitting. He took her out of her seat and had her ride sidesaddle in front of him as he had his arms past her to grip the broom and steer it. He flew slowly back to the castle and landed just short of the steps.

He had once flown his broom during one of his solo flights directly back to the Ravenclaw tower where he left the window in his dorm slightly ajar. However, he found himself berated by a Prefect who told him, in no uncertain terms, it was forbidden and that he could find himself in detention if he did it again.

He didn't need to be told twice.

_‗_

-==(oIo)==-

\""/

After the game they were in the home stretch for Christmas. A quick check of the calendar for most, though not Harry, and they could see that the Express would leave on Sunday, the 19th December, with Christmas being the following Saturday. That meant five full days to shop for gifts. The Eight were excited to soon be heading home.

What Harry thought very odd was that they had a visit to Hogsmeade scheduled the day before they left on the Express. Passing strange. However, they weren't going to look a gift hippogriff in the mouth and decided to do some of their Christmas shopping there instead of in Diagon Alley.

"Maybe that's why we got the visit scheduled, Daphne," mused Harry. "The townsfolk may have requested it for the opportunity to sell some items destined to become Christmas presents."

Daphne shrugged and said, "It's possible."

Accepting the opportunity, the original Seven went into Hogsmeade for the day. Harry and Daphne headed for Dervish and Banges, first - a shop that sold magical instruments and other items - before swinging by Zonko's Joke Shop. Harry made sure to give Gladrags a wide berth. But, Daphne noticed and laughed.

Another stop was at Honeydukes Sweetshop where Harry bought bags for various friends. He'd already been told not to keep buying friends expensive gifts and why, so was determined to limit his purchases.

A fourth stop at Scrivenshaft's for some expensive quills for Cygnus, Isabel and Sirius. Stopping for a moment he thought of the perfect gift for Wendell and Monica, and bought him a magnificent quill set. Muggles might not use quills in practical terms, but they sure made an excellent display piece.

He smiled and also picked up a couple of more practical sets of quills, ink and parchment for the Granger home. He thought that the Granger adults might like to learn how to use quill and parchment for when they had to write within or to the wizarding world. Fountain pen and paper immediately identified them as muggles when they had to contact the wizarding world. Parchment and quill did not. He knew Hermione would be happy to teach them.

He also noticed some example parchment with various headers similar to official muggle business documents and formal letters.

Approaching the older proprietor, he asked, "Mister Scrivenshaft, Sir?

"Yes, young man?" the old man asked before taking a better look at Harry. "You're Harry Potter, aren't you?"

"Yes, Sir," said Harry. "I've noticed the parchment with the family and business letter-headings. I've not seen this before in the magical world. Is it something new?"

"It is, Mister Potter," replied the old man, happily. "I have a clerk who is muggleborn. He showed me examples of what the muggles do and suggested it might form a new line of products."

"I, for one, think it's a wonderful idea, Sir,"

He ordered some parchment to be delivered to him by owl mail during the next couple of days with the Potter Crest as a header embossed on parchment. He also ordered some for Greengrass, Black and Dagworth-Granger.

He knew Wendell would take to it easily, but hoped Cygnus and Sirius could also see the benefit. He thought their four families could be 'trendsetters'.

He also asked for envelopes with his family crest embossed in the centre of the flap. While he had the ring to press on the wax seal, having the crest embossed on the flap meant it would identify the sender was a member of the House, if not the Head.

When he explained what he wanted, the proprietor thought it was wonderful idea and added it to his order with the promise he would organise it first thing on the Monday morning.

_‗_

-==(oIo)==-

\""/