Chapter 39: The looming threat

Disclaimer: 

Harry Potter and all of its characters belong to J.K Rowling.

I own nothing but the original characters I make.

"Dialogue"

'Thoughts'

$Parseltongue$

Chapter 39: The looming threat

After ten long minutes of back and forth, Harry managed to get a deal for fifty thousand gallons.

"Here." He passed Burke a small piece of paper.

"This is?" the old man picked up the paper and read it.

"a list of…things." 

There are several types of items listed in the paper. A variety of precious metals and stones, a new set of runic inscription tools, dragon hide, and small arkstones.

"Small arkstones?, how small are we talking? For the warding of a property, the smallest one recommended is four inches." Asked the old man.

"Around half an inch in diameter." Explained Harry.

"One that small would be considered scraps, no one uses them. What would you want something that small for?" Asked Burkes.

" It doesn't matter what I want then for. Can you get them for me?"

"I may know a provider, but it won't be cheap."

"You just said they were just scraps!" Harry reminded him.

The old man chuckled.

"Yes, but you need to know an arkstone craftsman to acquire them. Now, let's talk about the price for this list of yours…"

They then discussed for almost an hour until an agreement was reached.

Harry will get all the items on his list plus ten thousand galleons in exchange for the antiques.

This meant that he would not have enough for the alchemic ingredients he was planning on buying later on, but there was still a lot of time to get those so he didn't complain. 

"Come back in two weeks and I will have everything ready." Told Burkes to Harry before he left the shop.

It was almost midday when he stepped outside but he felt more tired than after training for hours.

'Let's get back to Hogwarts and take a nap…'

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"There you are!" 

Harry was on his way to the kitchens when someone called for him.

"Where have you been all day?, I have been looking for you." Daphne told him while she kept turning her head back like she was making sure no one was behind them.

"I was busy with some things…and I thought we weren't supposed to interact much in public. " Said Harry.

"We are not, but there is something important…" Daphne kept looking around.

"Fine…" Harry took out his invisibility cloak, got close to Daphne, and wrapped them both underneath.

"What are you…is this an invisibility cloak?" Her anger at his sudden physical closeness faded quickly.

"Stay quiet, the cloak doesn't block sound," Harry whispered.

She looked displeased but chose to comply and remained quiet all the way to the room that seemed to have become their private meeting location.

"Maybe we should give this room a name after all. We keep coming back here." Harry removed the cloak after the door was closed.

"Meeting room? that should do it." Suggested Daphne.

"So imaginative…sure, meeting room. What was that important thing that could not wait until tomorrow?" Harry sat down on one of the couches.

"I had a long day."

"Stop talking like an old man...this could not wait any longer, is too big!"

Daphne said with a rare show of emotion.

"Okay… I'm listening."

"Professor Nayar is an assassin." She said with no hesitation.

"What?!, but he is one of the best teachers that…hold on…"

Harry took a pause to think about it for a bit.

'When did Hogwarts have a good teacher who didn't try to kill a student by the end of the year?'

He looked at Daphne.

"Fine, he is an assassin. Anything else?"

"You have accepted this surprisingly quickly." Daphne looked a bit taken aback.

"Yes well, some things just…make sense I guess. Who is the target?"

"Take a guess." She said with her arms crossed.

"Mmm…it must be the Weasley twins then. They must have pranked the wrong person this time, and then-"

"Is Longbottom!" Cried Daphne.

"Of course he is…" Harry rolled his eyes.

"You asked! But the Weasley twins was not a bad guess, I have heard about some of the pranks they have pulled on my housemates, and let me tell you, they are not happy…"

"How did your father find out about this?" Asked Harry.

"He didn't tell me all the details, just that Malfoy is not as secretive as he thinks." 

"Anything else? like when is the attack going to happen, where or how?"

"Before the end of the year, that's all I know. You are going to inform your father about this, correct?."

Harry remained silent for a minute, considering the information he had received.

"No, there is no need to involve my father in this, yet."

"How come? isn't he an auror? Surely there is something he could do!" Daphne could not understand his motives.

"As you said, he is an auror. They need solid evidence to take action in cases like this. The only thing we have is some rumors, isn't it?" Harry remained impassive.

"But…then, are you going to ignore it?." Daphne asked with disbelief.

"Of course not. Give me some time to think about this. Maybe there is a way to gain some evidence, then we can call my father." Offered Harry.

"What if he attacks before that?" She asked.

"Unlikely…killing the 'Boy who lived' while in Hogwarts would definitely attract the attention of every auror in England. The Ministry will not rest until an arrest has been made because the public will pressure him to do that. If Professor Nayar commits the crime now, he will be forced to leave the country immediately, revealing his involvement in the matter. It would be better to wait until the end of the year, maybe even the last day. If he does it correctly and hides the evidence, by the time the Aurors find the body all the teachers and students would have already left the school, making it incredibly difficult for the Aurors to even perform an investigation."

"Ah…" Daphne did not know what to say to that.

"You really thought about this…a lot…were you planning on k-"

"Don't be silly. Daphne." Harry interrupted her. "Now let us go back to our respective rooms, I'm very tired."

"Tired from doing what?, is Saturday." She inquired.

Harry merely gave her a cryptic smile in answer, much to the girl frustration.

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