Chapter 30 The Compromise

Harry's POV

Luna and Hermione argued for about twenty minutes, while the men sat back and let them. They just wanted to practice their magic. Well, a bit of payment for it wouldn't be amiss, and they wanted to keep some of the things they found, but for now they listened to the girls debate each other. Every once and awhile they would open their mouths to put in their opinion, but they were bulldozed over.

Hermione was positive that everything they found should go to the school. Her stance was that it was on school property, so it belonged Hogwarts. While Luna believed it all should be returned to the owners. The males let the females fight until they started repeating themselves.

"Look, Luna, it is here, it belongs here," Hermione said for the third time, aggravated that she was not being heard. "Think of all the things that Hogwarts needs. We should give it to the Board."

"No, it should go to the families," was the unbending rebuttal. "If I dropped money in Diagon Alley, I would hope someone returned it. This is the same thing."

"No…" was as far as Hermione got, when Harry held up his hands and let out a piercing whistle, making the girls turn to him with disgruntled faces.

"Wait, stop," he said, rubbing his forehead. "Look, both of you are right, and wrong. As to Luna's example, when I lived on the street, all the money I found I kept, so there are different morals for that. That said, Hermione, this stuff isn't really owned by anyone. This is basically a large landfill, so it's free game. Now, some of this shite used to be the school's; the furniture, the armor, the schoolbooks and stuff. But the other books and the clothes, the bits of jewelry, and all that crap can be returned to whoever lost it. So, let's find a middle ground. Here's what we'll do, we're going to attempt to use our magic to find out if it's an heirloom. Watch," Harry said as he got up and went to the nearest pile of fixed items.

"Harry, are you sure? I mean, it's on school property," the bushy-haired teen tried to reason.

"Watch," he said again. He then waved his hand and with the vision of old hands handing something to young hands, twice over, firmly in his mind, he said, "Heirlooms here," and many things pulled from his piles. Stuff like, diaries, family magic books, letters, wands, watches, swords, brooms, magical trinkets, statues, a few jewels and necklaces, and other things that he had no clue what were. All of them looked brand new. "Return to your vault," he tried, envisioning them doing just that, and half the pile disappeared. "Return to your family," thinking of a vague outline of a sofa, and more vanished.

"Wicked," the twins and Neville said as they watched him work his magic. After all this work they could do more than they ever thought they could do, but to see Harry preform magic was still a wonderous thing. He didn't even break out into a sweat, he just did what he said to do, and it was done. It was like no effort was even made. The girls were impressed as well, but they were still debating morals in their head.

"School stuff here," the dark-haired teen said, pointing to another spot; and books, brooms, cauldrons, armor, couches, chairs, desks, and other school related items formed in rows before him. He shrunk all of them and put it in one of the trunks. "There you go. Now both of you get your wish," he said with a smile as he looked between his two female friends.

"That was a good compromise," Luna said as she skipped to her things and did the same, not quite as many as Harry, but enough that she was satisfied. "We both got exactly what we wanted, and the nargles didn't interfere."

"I guess," Hermione conceded, still fretting on the school missing out on a great deal of funds with all the items returning to their family. Still, if it were her heirlooms, she would want them back as well.

"Well, I guess this stuff is mine to do with what I want," he stated, waving to the small pile left, turning to his other friends.

"Wicked. How did you do that?" the twins said, glad that the argument was over for now. They wanted to get some payment for doing the repairs. Their dreams hinged on getting startup money. They knew a few people who would buy old things. And there were items in this room that would sell for a good price. Who knows, they might go down Knockturn Alley to see if some of the shadier shops would take some of it off their hands.

"It's all about intent. Picture in your mind grandparents handing something to their child and then that child, now grown, handing it to theirs," Harry explained as he made a TARDIS bag and put his bounty in it. "You don't have to put a face on them, just envision hands passing things along. Then let magic take it to where it has been before. If has ever been at the bank, it will go there. If not, it will return home. If whoever it belonged to before is no longer around, it will stay. For the diaries, picture someone writing in it, and then if there is living family, it will go there."

"Wicked," they said again and started trying to replicate what their friend had done.

"What about the school, don't they get anything?" Hermione asked in a huff.

"Sure, all this furniture and the armor is theirs, you just saw me pack it up," our hero stated, waving to the trunk. "We'll get Sirius to sell all the antiques and put it in a scholarship fund or something. However, the rest of this stuff was just junk until I fixed it. It didn't go anywhere, so I'm claiming it as mine," he answered with a shrug. He really didn't care what happened to the school things. He was just glad that he thought of a good compromise. "Quit trying to start an argument. If you really find it morally reprehensible, then don't do it."

"No, you're right, it's just something I'll have to come to terms with. I do understand… just… oh, never mind. I'll just go to my pile sort the school stuff," she said thoroughly chastised as she went to her work area. Sometimes she really couldn't help herself, especially when she lost in a debate. Compromises didn't always sit well with her, it meant she had to bend her ethics and she wasn't comfortable with that. This new Harry was making her do it more and more, whereas the old Harry just caved. Rules were rules and you were supposed to obey them. On the other hand, they weren't breaking any rules. Her internal dilemma was not anyone's fault and it was something she was going to have to work out for herself.

"I know the school could use some new brooms," Neville said as he made his way to his pile of repaired items. He waved his new wand and tried to do what Harry had done, but only few things came to him. He figured he was going to need a lot more practice. He tried picturing the scene clearer and more things came to him, making him break out with a huge smile. Oh, yeah, he was going to get his parents back.

"Well, we'll just have to make sure they get some. Good job, Neville, that wand is working great for you," Harry said to his friend. "Sirius can buy some, if we don't find many in here," he added turning to his godfather.

"I don't know how I got volunteered to do this, but yeah, I'll make sure they get some. If we take any and all spells off the furniture there is a huge market for them in non-magical London, and even some of the vintage clothing," Sirius grumbled as he tried his hand a wandlessly fixing stuff. The pile he picked creaked and groaned as things repaired, and then Harry reminded him to cleanse it of Dark magic.

They worked for hours just fixing and then vanishing things. It was an enormous room so there was a good possibility they would not be done anytime soon. Harry figured they could to it until it became a chore, and then they could just leave the rest to the next person who found the room. He was positive they were not the first, nor would they be the last to stumble upon this trove.

Gringotts POV

The alarms flared, and the goblins quickly checked all the humans and then hustled them out of the bank. Not finding a thief, they were confused as to what set off the wards.

"What is causing it?" Snarlfist yelled over the noise. The wards were flashing off the walls, and it was getting on his nerves. The whole room would light up, dim, light up, dim, and he wasn't the only one with a headache. That and, he was disappointed at not finding any thieves among the people they just booted out to the building. He wanted to take whoever was doing this and have them under his knife.

Gringotts was now tightly shut to the public. All doors were locked, and all carts were empty. It was the second time in this decade that it happened. The goblins weren't happy.

"We don't know," an unnamed goblin shouted back. "We're going to have to search every vault."

"Can we at least turn off the blasted alarm?" he asked with his hands over his ears.

Just then the alarm stopped, and they all sighed with relief, until it sounded again. This confused the goblins more, since there was no one in the bank except them. A team was quickly put together and they descended the tunnels. They were at the forth vault, when items appeared.

"Someone is adding to the vaults," one goblin said in awe. Everyone glared at him for his needless commentary.

"We can see that," Snarlfist snapped as he watched the ward breakers try to figure out how to stop this magic from coming through. "I think I will have to talk to Black about this. If it is not his doing then he knows who it is," the tiny being stated, pulling out his knife and cleaning his long black nails.

"There are no rules about something like this, so technically you can't torture him for it. You can only ask," Steelblade said to the disappointment of many.

"Oh, but what fun I'll have… asking."

During their search, they found that many vaults washed in the foreign magic. A separate alarm for all the vaults were set up, so the doors would flash if the magic washed over that vault. It made it much easier than going from vault to vault. They had to record it all for the letters that needed to be sent out. They never knew what was in the vaults to being with, just that the magic was in there. All day was spent going from the flashing doors and noting it down for the letters. It was a grumpy bunch of goblins that ended their shift that day, making sure to tell the next shift what had been happening. The ones coming on would send out the missives.

Sirius' POV

Sirius stood still as a shiver went down his spine. "Harry? How are you getting this stuff in the vaults?" he asked warily. He really didn't want to talk to the goblins; he had no clue as to how they would react to this. Not that they would get anything from him, given his 'vow', but the last one he talked to wasn't a nice fellow.

"Ummm, magic?" was the curious answer. He thought it was pretty obvious.

"What I meant was, are you passing them straight through the wards?" the dogman asked, not sure if he wanted to know.

Harry thought about it for a minute and then shrugged, "I guess that's what's happening. Why?"

"I just had a bad feeling, like someone walking over my grave. I think I'll stay away from Gringotts for a while," his godfather said with a full-body shudder, visions of rubber hoses flooded his mind.

The Weasley's POV

When people came home that day, from whatever it was they did, there were small, or large, piles of lost things in their living rooms. While many rejoiced at finding these treasures, they all wanted to know how they got there. Something was causing the wards to flare, but the only thing that anyone could find was the lost items. There were small dances of joy as trinkets, letters, books, diaries, jewels, and many other things were looked at. It was like an early Yule. It was the diaries and the family magic books that were coveted the most.

The Weasley's were one of the families that cried and danced. There on the sofa was a pile of lost artifacts. Some of them were so old that they would have no problems with money, if they decided to sell them. There was a golden statue of a dragon with ruby eyes, which had been in the family for over 800 years. It had been lost 400 years ago, when one of their ancestors took it to Hogwarts to show it off to his friends. They would never sell that, however there was a document of a sealed vault that was still active at Gringotts. It had been sealed when one of their ancestors had married a Dark wizard, who tried to take all their money, over 500 years ago. The document had been carried by a family friend, who had died from the DADA curse. The man was going to give to the Weasleys at the end of that school year, since the Dark wizard had passed away. All of his belongings disappeared when he was declared dead, since he had no family. Now, it was right where it belonged.

Molly and Arthur were besides their selves with joy. They would never have to send their children to school in secondhand clothes again.

Harry's POV

"Oh, by the way, Harry, are you sure you're not going to compete?" Sirius asked as he sat in one of the chairs. He was so tired. He had used up a lot of magic, but he was proud of what he accomplished. He looked around the room at the other teens, who were still fixing, examining and vanishing things. There was a hint of pride on his face. Harry had taught them this. His godson was a powerful wizard, and he was proud of him. Sure, the kid was a bit of an arse, but he was helping his friends, so he couldn't be all that bad.

"Yeah, why?" Harry asked as he joined his godfather. He wasn't tired, he just wanted his friends to practice, and he had a good stash of new books and things to scan and play with.

"Well, the other day I was taking a run as Padfoot, and came across some dragons in the forest," the dogman said mysteriously. Leaning forward and resting his elbows on his knees, letting his hands hang loosely in between his legs.

"And you didn't think to tell me sooner?" the dark-haired wizard snapped, making his godfather glare.

"I'm in the middle of trying to clear my name," Sirius snapped back, sitting back in his seat. "Winky has been busy ferrying letters back and forth between me and Waters. I felt getting a trial was a bit more important, since you said you weren't going to compete."

"Right, sorry. I wonder if the real contestants know," Harry said, rubbing his forehead in thought. He had stayed away from them, not wanting anyone to think that he was trying to get in good with them. They might think that he was going to play their stupid games.

"I don't know, probably. I don't see their school Heads not telling them. I don't trust Karkaroff as far as I can banish him. But I can tell you this, I'm sure that the Hogwarts' campion doesn't know, unless one of the others told him," the young-looking man stated, looking at his godson, showing he was serious.

"You don't think Dumbledore would tell him?" he asked, not believing that for a minute.

"No, there are many things you can say about the man, but he doesn't cheat."

"Don't worry, Harry, we'll tell Cedric," Fred said as he too took a break.

"Yeah, we like him, even if he is the only Seeker to beat you," said George as he sat next to his brother.

"Now, did we hear you call yourself Padfoot?" Fred asked, turning his head toward Sirius.

"Yeah, that's the name of my Animagus form," was the answer.

The twins all but bounced in their seats, "As in one of the Marauders?" they asked.

"Yeah," came the cautious reply.

"We've spent our entire school career emulating you guys," George said and told him the story about finding the map, and the things they had heard and tried to match.

"Hmmm, well I'm glad we've met. We'll have to keep in touch, but don't tell your mum," Sirius stated, looking at the two lookalikes. "I'll tell you some stories, but there are some things that have been pointed out to me that were just plain bullying. I just got on Harry's good side, so I'm not relaying those."

"Good call," Harry stated firmly.

So, the twins and Sirius spent some time talking about pranks and the difference between going too far and just plain having fun. Harry sat back and listened, making sure to keep an eye on his other friends. When they got tired, he called them over and handed out sandwiches. When it was time of curfew, he showed Sirius the invisibility charm and sent him home, telling him to come back tomorrow and they would do it all again.

The week went by with much the same happening. Luna found her dad's diary, but sadly not her mum's. She called for it, but nothing came. She wasn't to put out; she would just have to keep looking. Hermione was finally okay with what they were doing. There were loads of valuable things that would make a nice fund for the school. She wasn't sure about Sirius being in charge of that, but since he was the only adult, it did make sense. She was the one assigned to putting the books in the library. Neville was just glad to practice his magic more. The more he used the new wand the better he felt about himself. He was determined to get as good as Harry. The twins had quite a nest egg, and they were just content that they could now afford their shop. They were also in charge of sneaking any repaired broom to Madam Hooch's office. Sirius was just glad to be with his godson, if he never got proficient in wandless magic that was okay with him. Still it was fun to be here and doing things he never thought he could do.

Harry and the twins pranked 'Moody' by clouding his magical eye. Everywhere the man looked would be like looking through dirty glass. He became obsessed with washing the thing. They made his wooden leg sing children's songs, and his foe glass would see things that weren't there. The man would stomp around the castle, yelling 'Constant Vigilance'. They really hoped to drive the imposter a into jumping at shadows.

Harry had Dobby go and make sure that the real Moody was fed and had water, and also bring him a note that he was going to try and rescue him during the first task. Which the man promptly ate right after reading. The house elf snuck in a few potions, but the man said to be careful or they would be caught. So, Moody played ailing captive, but in reality, he was getting better.

They pulled a few jokes on Snape, but the man wasn't reacting anymore, so they stopped.

Harry, Sirius and the twins made sure to iron out the plans for the first task. Waters had written to say that he and Madam Bones would be there, and that she was quite upset that they wouldn't tell her why. They spent hours hashing it out and now were firm in what they were going to do.

Harry couldn't wait.