Chapter 12

Harry soon came back with Hermione, who had arrived slightly early, as was usual for her. With her, came Susan Bones, who had agreed to meet at Hermione's house. Hermione and her had always gotten on well. Susan was intelligent, with a strong, supportive personality.

After them, Neville arrived, with Pansy Parkinson, Daphne Greengrass, the Patil twins, who had taken the knight bus. They looked a little shaken, but that was to be expected after using the erratic conveyance. Lastly, Luna arrived. She had apparently walked from the other side of a nearby park, where her father had dropped her. Harry greeted them all and then ushered them to the projector room, where they all took seats for the edited version of what happened the previous day, first.

"Okay, so this first part, some of you know." Harry began. "I've taken the liberty of editing the film as necessary, so that you don't have to sit here for two and a half hours. Long story short, we went to the moon yesterday to deliver a certain package and to setup something for our private use at a later date. Enjoy the show."

He started the playback as they entered the ship. It showed everyone that went along and showed as Harry helped strap everyone in, before taking the Captain's seat and taking off. They watched as the ship exited the atmosphere, and switched between internal and external views, and what Harry's personal camera plate picked up. There were a few comments and questions.

Neville and Flitwick were very proud, when most of those there congratulated them on being some of the first magicals in space. Madam Pomfrey had decided to sit this meeting out, considering she knew what was coming and because McGonagall was there.

The video skipped over the flight and the Zero-G fun, and continued as they approached and rounded the moon. When Harry landed and transfigured the Airlock around himself, Hermione looked nervous, realising what was coming, despite knowing Harry was obviously fine. When he exited the ship and retrieved the package, the view was from his tie, so they couldn't see him.

The feed quickly switched back to the forward display as he put the box down. There were gasps from the adults as Tom Riddle appeared. The conversation that followed had the children gasping as well, realising what Harry had actually done. Then he secured the area and the view went back to his tie, as the rest of the conversation took place.

There were some tears of joy from many there, realising that Voldemort was finally properly taken care of, and Sprout jumped from her seat to hug Harry and thank him. Harry accepted her gratitude and directed her back to her seat after producing a handkerchief for her from his inner pocket. Even Snape looked pleased at the way Harry had handled the man that had killed the love of his life. No punishment could suit him better than an eternity of life, unable to affect anyone else's. He simply nodded at Harry in gratitude. Harry accepted that with a nod of his own.

Then they watched as Harry entered the ship again and flew the ship to another location on the moon. This part happened in fast forward, since nothing interesting really happened on that leg of the trip. The last part, where he placed the house and exited the garage, was the end of the show.

"And there you have it." Harry said as the playback stopped. "Voldemort has been disposed of, as humanely as the bastard deserves, and the Elder Wand can never harm another person again."

"But you are still its master." Padma pointed out. He had forgotten that he had mentioned that.

"True, but nobody can get at it by trying to kill me for it, and only people bound by a vow, family loyalty, and you, know about it." Harry said. "Also, I'm the only one that can retrieve it. So as long as nobody tells anyone, nobody can threaten the people I care for, for me to retrieve it."

"That was a smart move, Black." Snape said, with another nod. "Quite inventive to leave the most powerful wand in the world with the only person who can never touch it. The Dark Lord will curse you until the end of time for that."

"Won't the crate and the wand burn up, when the sun shines on the dark side of the moon?" Hermione asked.

Neville made to question that, but Harry explained before he could. "The dark side of the moon is what muggles call the side that always faces away from us. It's not always actually dark." Harry explained. "And the wards protect that area, to never reach any real extreme, to protect the items, and to never suffer any external impacts."

"It always faces away?" Snape asked. He had always assumed it turned at some point.

"The moon is both tidally locked and rotates in time with the planet, so it turns, but just fast enough that it never shows its other side." Harry said.

"So, Voldemort will never see the planet again?" Snape asked, a bit of a smile coming onto his face.

"Not as long as we live, at least." Harry said. "Unless something happens, like a large meteor strike or something, but if the moon's orbit changes, we're going to have all sorts of other problems."

"Like, end of the world, kind of problems." Hermione chimed in.

"Exactly, so if Voldemort ever does see the Earth again, it will probably be the last time, anyway. Hopefully thousands or millions of years from now." Harry finished.

"I am finally free." Snape said as the thought finally reached him, and relief flooded his system. "Thank you, Black. I owe you the ability to finally stop catering to Dumbledore's whims now that the Dark Lord is defeated."

"You being an ass was what Dumbledore wanted?" McGonagall asked. Then she quickly put a hand over her mouth. "I'm sorry, Professor Snape. I didn't mean to say that in front of the children." she apologised.

"It's quite alright." Snape said. "And frankly, yes. He wanted me to portray the role of a man still aligned with the other side. Nobody could know, in case the Dark Lord ever returned. With him so thoroughly defeated, I dare say that day will never come."

"Congratulations." Harry said. "Let Remus know if you ever want another job. You suck at teaching."

Snape glared at him, but allowed the comment, considering it wasn't necessarily incorrect.

The other kids gaped at Harry. "What? It's true, isn't it? Unless that was part of the act?" he asked of Snape.

"I might be able to perform my duties better, now that I don't have to pretend that I blatantly favour those aligned with the other side." Snape said. "That being said, I never wanted to be a Potions Professor. I always had an affinity for it, but my true passion lay in teaching defence."

"You're skilled at it too, I know." Harry said. "And that brings us neatly to the next part of the presentation. My real life's story. I'll ask that you all hold your questions till the end of the tale, please." he said, looking at everyone and waiting for their nods. When they all did, he continued.

"When I first arrived at Hogwarts, my best friends soon became Ron Weasley and Hermione Granger. I was a scrawny, underfed kid, because I was still living with my relatives. In my first year, Hermione, Ron and I realised the Sorcerer's Stone was being kept at Hogwarts and someone was trying to steal it.

"Being headstrong eleven-year olds, we tried to save the stone on our own, when Dumbledore left one evening, and we realised the thief knew enough to proceed with his mission. Our Head of House wouldn't listen to us, because we mistakenly thought the thief was Severus Snape, a bitter man who hated me for reasons I only speculated about at the time.

"So we went through the trials and I was the only one who could proceed into the room to face Quirrel, who turned out to be the real thief. Voldemort was possessing him, you see. Now, my mother left blood-protection on me when she died and that made it so I couldn't be touched by Quirrel and I accidentally killed him, setting the spirit of Voldemort free again, to try and return years later.

"Which he did. At the end of my fourth year, after I was forced to compete in the Triwizard Tournament, against three other seventh-year champions, I was the victor, along with Cedric Diggory, the Hogwarts champion. We took the cup together and were portkeyd away to a ritual site, where Cedric was killed and Voldemort gained both a new body and an immunity to my protections.

"Three years later, I discovered that I had a piece of Voldemort's soul in me and that I would need to have him kill me, to destroy one of the last things that tethered him to an immortal life. He didn't know it, so told me he'd spare the rest of the children at Hogwarts if I faced him, which I did, after sneaking away from the castle and my best friends. Still Ron Weasley and Hermione Granger.

"When I faced him, he cast the killing curse at me, and I let him kill me as Dumbledore, then deceased, due to his hubris and a trap, had planned.

"Then I woke up, in a cupboard under the stairs of my relatives' house as a four-year old boy, having somehow been sent back in time, with my memories and accumulated power intact. I realised what had happened, and started changing things, so that so many people would not have to suffer and die. I contacted Remus, after figuring out how to cast illusions wandlessly, and a lot of practice, so that I could pass for an adult and not simply be taken in to the police for walking around unescorted as a five-year old boy.

"We tracked down and captured my parent's betrayer and handed him over to the Aurors, who finally freed my godfather, Sirius. He had been wrongfully incarcerated. Then we started to plan, and I started to study, so that I was capable of making the changes I hoped to see in the world, and to prevent Voldemort from ever coming back in the first place.

"When I arrived at Hogwarts, a couple of years later, I was ready to capture the Dark Lord, so that he could never escape in the first place. I also intended to spread my influence further this time, so that I could reach all the houses and help them to better themselves." Harry then smiled at the girls in front of him. "I also intended to help all of you, and to make friends with the girls who needed it most.

"It was not only driven by the need to help you, by protecting you with the image I intended to create for myself, but it wasn't only because I thought you were all pretty either." Harry said, to assure them that it wasn't purely selfish. "And that is my story. I have finally achieved the first part of my goal here. The next part, depends on how you feel about my actions."

There was silence, as everyone internalised this.

McGonagall spoke up, first. "You girls must understand that Harry wasn't attracted to you when he formed his friendships with you. Back then he wasn't physically capable of that sort of desire. The boy you knew then, is the same boy you know now."

"But he's actually, what, twenty four?" Sprout asked.

"I have twenty five years of life experience." Harry corrected. "Excluding the first couple of years of my life, of course."

"Poppy said that his body and emotions are at his physical age, so he'll develop attractions to his peers." McGonagall said. "For both friendships and other things."

"But he's more mature, more intelligent." Flitwick pointed out.

"Occlumency." Snape said in realisation. "He's been suppressing his emotional state to stay in a completely intellectual state for so long that he has grown more intellectually inclined."

"That's my theory." Harry said with a bit of a shrug, as his nerves caught up with him again, and he realised the girls hadn't spoken yet.

"You're still my friend, Harry." Neville said. "No matter how much you know. I think I know who you are, and I like that person."

"Thank you, Neville." Harry said.

"This changes nothing for me." Pansy said, then. "I still intend to keep a place by your side, if this isn't the end of your association with us." she finished, with a bit of worry in her voice.

"I'm not going anywhere." Harry said. "I care too much for all of you."

"Then I'm not going anywhere either." Padma said. "You're all my best friends. I don't want to lose any of you."

"Me neither." Parvati said. "I feel the same."

"Thank you girls." Harry said, a bit of a smile on his face.

"What happened to us?" Susan asked. "Back before you were sent back."

"You were all still alive, but your Aunt had died in a Death Eater attack." Harry admitted.

Susan lost some colour. Then she said, "I'm still your friend, Harry, but I need time to think about where we were going. Knowing you are older isn't unappealing, but it also changes things. But thank you for preventing Aunt Amelia's death."

"You're more than welcome, Susan."

"What happened to my family, last time?" Daphne asked.

"I don't honestly know." Harry said. "As an ancient Pureblood family, your family would have been approached by the Dark Lord or his people. People that didn't join, were threatened or killed."

Daphne looked like she was going to cry again. She had already lost her father, to his own evil deeds. She couldn't imagine her mother not joining, to save her daughters. "I'm yours, Harry. My mother and sister owe you their lives and freedom." she finally said. "Thank you for saving us from that."

"I would do it simply for your friendship, Daphne. Like I would do it for all of your friendships." Harry assured them. "I would do it even if you weren't my friends, actually. I'm here to save as many as I can. The other things come secondary. My own life plans never included planning for marriage. Sirius convinced me that it was the right thing to do, since bringing together so many houses would help start a movement to better the world."

"What happened to my family?" Hermione finally asked softly.

"You sent them away, to Australia, after making them forget you and erasing every trace of yourself from their lives. To protect them." Harry said. "You cried about it for a long time. You hated doing it, but couldn't see another way to protect them."

Hermione now had tears running down her cheeks. Then she shot up and hugged Harry hard. "Thank you." she whispered into his ear. Then she brought her head back and pecked him on the lips. "I think I love you." she said softly, before blushing and hugging him again.

"I love you too, Hermione." Harry whispered back softly. "I've loved you for longer than you've known me." True, it started off more like a familial love, in the last timeline, but this time it was different. He knew he would normally be too young for something like real love, but he knew it even back then. This time around, without Ron, she was different. More, somehow.

She only squeezed him tighter, pressing into his neck with her head, as her emotions ran their course and she cried in relief and a bit of confusion about how she could possibly feel so connected to this boy, who had shown up in her life a couple of months short of two years ago.

"I think that's quite enough." McGonagall said, strictly, reminding them that there were other people, older people, in the room. "I think it's about time that you reigned in your emotions again, Harry. You are getting a little close to inappropriate there."

Harry realised that he was holding Hermione a little too familiarly, intimately, so he slowly let go and started working on getting his emotions back under control, as Hermione blushed furiously and turned her back on the rest of the people in the room.

When Harry felt in control again, he said, "Thank you Aunty Min. I think I should keep the emotions under control at all times from now on. It seems that I need more to control, than I had initially anticipated."

"That would be the hormones." Snape said snidely. "Please do control yourself. It would be quite uncouth to use your knowledge of physical intimacy at such a 'tender' age."

"Hey!" Harry objected, as his face turned red. "I'll have you know, that I'm still a virgin in both timelines, thank you very much! I'm no more experienced at those things than my friends."

"Sad." Snape said. "A virgin at twenty-five."

"Stop that Severus!" McGonagall insisted. "Before you give the children aneurisms by making them blush anymore."

It was true, Snape and Harry's statements had sent all the children, including Harry, to turn scarlet.

"I was helping get the emotions in check, Minerva." Snape said seriously, instead of apologising. "I needed to break the sombre mood this had left them all in."

Minerva wasn't used to Severus volunteering anything to help students before. "Am I going to have to get used to a new you?" she asked.

"I hope so." Severus said honestly. "It's not fun to always be the man that everyone hates."

"He makes a good point." Flitwick said. "I'm hoping the new Severus is more tolerant and tolerable."

"Don't push your luck." Snape said. "I owe Black a lifetime of favours, for putting the Dark Lord in his place and freeing me from the Headmaster. If that means Gryffindor has the lowest house point score at the end of every year until he graduates, as a result, I'm hardly going to complain."

"I just know this is not going to be an easy transition." McGonagall griped.

"Would you excuse us?" Harry asked the adults. "I've got a couple of things to show my friends. I promise to stay in control, and Neville can step in if any of us seems to be losing control."

"I'll be glad to help." Neville said, glad for the change of topic and taking out his lightsaber, activating it. "If they lose control, I'll beat them off each other."

McGonagall nodded, easily, trusting Harry, now that he was under control. "I'll see the Professors back to the castle."

"I'll still have many questions for you." Flitwick said. "But I'll send you a message to arrange a meeting. I suspect you can get to the castle easily enough, considering your statement about apparition during yesterday's flight."

"No problem Professor Flitwick." Harry said.

"You can call me Filius outside of school." Flitwick said. "All my graduates do."

"I never graduated." Harry reminded him.

"Could you?" Filius asked.

"If I wanted, yes." Harry allowed.

"Exactly." Flitwick said. "With your command over illusions, I intend to let you run a few classes next year, so that I can focus on grading papers. It will be nice to have a bit of free time for once, while you give a class using my image."

"That is a great idea, Filius!" McGonagall agreed quickly. "I'll have to remember to award some extra points to Ravenclaw."

"Keep the points." Flitwick said, as they walked out. "He's my assistant. You can't have him." Then the door closed, but they could hear the voices continuing on as the Professors moved away. It sounded to Harry, like he was going to be busy next year. But the Professors didn't seem to realise that if he was in charge of a class, he'd be teaching only the funniest applications of whatever he teaches. Just let them try.

"It seems the Professors have a new favourite toy." Pansy said with a smirk.

"Look at Harry's face. He's already planning mischief." Neville said. "I can't wait." he finished with a smirk of his own.

"So, what did you want to show us?" Padma asked.

"Oh, right!" Harry remembered. "Please be seated, and we'll get the presentation started." Harry took a seat with them and started planning illusions. "During my fourth year, there was a ball. There were fancy dresses and dancing and everything. So please give it up, for fourth-year Harry!" he said as he cast the illusion of himself in his dress robes. The illusion walked in, and bowed to the audience.

"It is a pleasure to pretend to meet all of you." the illusion said, as soft music started playing. "Let us start this presentation in style, and who has more style than me?" he asked with a smirk and a bow. "Here to assist me, please welcome fourth-year Neville Longbottom!" the illusion said and another illusion joined him.

"Good afternoon, ladies. I am very pleased to pretend to be here, to help older Harry pretend to dance, while he introduces you to your older selves." older Neville said, with a smile he didn't have back then, but did have now. He was wearing the stylish dress robes he had worn back then too, just as Harry's illusion did. The girls clapped in excitement, knowing what was coming now.

"First we have Susan Bones and Hermione Granger!" the older Harry said, indicating off to the side, and the illusions of what they had looked like joined the other two and they stepped up to each other to take positions and danced.

"Wow, Hermione!" Susan said. "You look beautiful!"

Hermione nodded and blushed again, but couldn't keep her eyes from her older self, in surprise at how good she looked. She was also glad to note that she definitely looked more feminine, with more curves to go with it.

The older Harry and Neville danced with them switching partners for a bit, before the ladies turned to their past selves, curtsied and walked out of the centre of the room, disappearing as they went.

"Next we have Daphne Greengrass and Pansy Parkinson!" The two older girls appeared and the process took place once again. The girls were also quite surprised at their looks. Classy and feminine. They were pleased.

"Next we have the lovely Patil Twins, who I have to admit, deserved better than mine and Ron Weasley's company that evening. Had I only known the opportunity I was wasting." older Harry said as the twins appeared in their elegant Saari-style dresses. "Fortunately, Neville Longbottom was there to dance the night away with any who wished to join him. And many did, for his skill at it."

After the twins, Neville and the girls stepped away and Harry allowed an older Luna to appear. "Luna wasn't at the ball, as it was fourth-years and above only, but I had occasion to see her in a dress once or twice." the older Harry said. Luna wasn't dressed in eveningwear, but she looked rather pleased at seeing herself, even if she didn't look surprised. Harry had noted her staying quiet throughout the entire exchange. He suspected she'd want to speak to him in private.

There was more dancing, before the music started fading out as the illusions started fading too. When it was over, the girls squealed and jumped at Harry, hugging him and thanking him for showing them a glimpse into their futures.

"Who was your date?" Parvati asked.

"You were, actually." Harry said. "I'm sorry to say, Ron and I waited till the last moment to ask anyone and for some reason you two hadn't gotten dates yet, so I asked both of you to accompany us. Ron's dress robes were a disappointment and he refused to dance and I was upset that the girl I wanted to take was with another boy, so we both neglected you badly. If something like that comes up again, I will not neglect the opportunity again, but I suspect I'd like to dance with all of you when the time comes. And you'll definitely want to dance with Neville."

Harry turned to Neville, "Where did you learn to dance like that?"

"Gran made me take lessons for formal events." Neville said.

"You should thank her. Last time around, I think that's what got Hannah's attention." Harry said.

"I took her?" Neville asked with hope shining in his eyes.

"No, you took Ginny Weasley, as a friend." Harry said. "You two had so much fun, Ron wanted to warn you about not mistreating his baby sister, but by then he was too jealous about the girl he liked dancing with someone else."

"Who?" Daphne asked, wondering who the lanky bottomless pit liked.

"Uh. I don't think-" Harry said glancing at Hermione.

"No!" Hermione objected. "Him?! That's disgusting!"

"I actually think you both liked each other by the time I was sent back." Harry admitted.

"Fuck that!" Hermione swore. "I'm never letting that idiot come near me!"

"YES!" Harry exclaimed. "Finally!"

"That pig deserves a cuss word or two." Hermione said, non-repentantly. "Why would you let that happen?! I thought we were friends?"

"I didn't make you do it." Harry said. "He was also a much better friend to us that time around… Well, kind of."

"What do you mean 'kind of'?" Hermione asked.

"He got jealous about any attention I received for a long time, and this time around, I saw some things I didn't notice last time, like the fact that he was using me to get attention." Harry said. "I couldn't stand it, so I didn't form that connection again. I'm hoping he grows up, so that we can try being friends again, later."

"Let's not hold our breath for that." Hermione said. "Do me a favour? If I ever look at him like that, have me checked for potions. I've heard the twins joking about their mother using love potions on their father."

"That's the reason I'm not overly friendly with Ginny this time around." Harry said. "She had a crush on 'Harry Potter' from when her dad used to read her bedtime stories about him, growing up. Then I rescued her from a thousand-year old basilisk during our second year and she latched onto me, trying to get my attention until I actually fell for it.

"I used to spend a lot of time with the Weasleys back then and I can't be sure that I wasn't dosed last time. I tend to think it's true, since that feeling has long since disappeared." Harry said.

"Let's forget about the love potion for a moment, since that's disgusting." Hermione said. "Thousand year-old basilisk?"

"Yeah, last time around the Chamber of Secrets was opened when Voldemort used a certain artefact, that's now on the moon, to possess Ginny Weasley. He released Salazar Slytherin's pet basilisk on the school and tried to kill many children. Through mostly luck, the students were only petrified, except for you, Hermione. You figured it out and made sure to carry a mirror, so that you couldn't die by its deadly stare.

"Back then, you were being called the smartest witch of the generation." Harry admitted. "Sorry for stealing your thunder there, this time."

"You're saving me from a life spent as a drugged-up love-slave. I call it even." Hermione said easily.

"Seriously, what is it with this school?" Susan asked. "Imperius spells and Obliviations? Now love potions? What next?"

"Nothing, hopefully." Harry said. "Though, I do suggest you all start studying occlumency, now that you know my secret. It allows you to stop people from reading your mind."

"There are mind-readers at our school?" Hermione asked aghast.

"Snape and Dumbledore are the only ones I know of, but it never hurts to be prepared." Harry said. "It also helps with emotional control and better memory. That's how I remember what you all looked like back then."

"Were there ever more balls?" Parvati asked hopefully.

"Unfortunately not." Harry said. "The closest that happened, which was a formal event, was a dinner Hermione and I both attended."

"What did I look like?" Hermione asked.

Harry blushed. "You were really pretty."

"Come on, then." Parvati encouraged. "Show us!"

Harry sighed and got the memory in his head. Then an image of Hermione appeared in her pink dress.

"Merlin!" Daphne exclaimed. "You're gorgeous!"

"Why don't you always wear your hair like that?" Pansy asked. "It's really flattering."

Hermione wasn't looking at her hair. She was looking further south. She had cleavage!

Harry spotted this and smirked, he lifted her chin and said. "Your eyes are up there." Then he turned to Neville, who also seemed transfixed. "Hey, Neville! Get your eyes off her assets! What kind of gentleman are you?"

Neville blushed and looked away. Harry chuckled and made the image vanish. "See why I wanted to skip that?" he asked. "And I don't have any memories of the rest of you in flattering dresses like that, so now you'll feel left out."

"We'll just have to make sure you get new memories like that, then." Susan said. She would have loved to see what she turned into. "How about us in our normal clothing? We'd still be able to know what we'll look like." she pointed out.

Harry obliged and got the memory of what they all looked like at the last time he saw them, making them appear. The girls all stood up and circled their images, inspecting them critically. They didn't see anything to complain about and voiced their opinions.

"Neville looks good too. A bit more handsome." Daphne said. "Hannah is a lucky girl."

Neville was also looking at himself. Harry had given the image a smile, that he only wore these days, but the rest was all him.

"At that time, you'd been keeping a lot of children safe in the castle, while it was being run by Death Eaters. You were their protector, in a time when people were losing hope and I was needed elsewhere." Harry said. "I'm sure you would have turned into a great man, had I not come back before I could see it. Your parents would have been proud."

"Thank you, Harry." Neville said with a small, sad smile. Praise from Harry still meant the world to him, and the idea of his parents being proud of him, for protecting students, against Death Eaters, of all things, made him very happy. "That means a lot." he said. "This whole thing gives me a lot of hope for the future."

"Me too." the girls all said. They all had different reasons, but the sentiment was the same all around. They weren't going to be awkward twelve- and thirteen-year olds forever. They grow up and become stronger, more successful, more female and more confident. Then Harry let the illusions fade again.

��And there you have a sneak peek into what you will look like one day." Harry said.

"Can you teach us to do that?" Pansy asked. "The illusions, I mean."

"There is no specific spell for it. It's done by wandless magic, which is more versatile than the wand-magic we learn at school." Harry said. "I can try and teach you that, though, if you want? Hermione's been learning it since first year."

"Why does she get special treatment?" Daphne asked. She still remembered the way Harry had held her. She wanted that, too.

"Because she goes home to muggle parents." Harry said. "She doesn't have the option to show them her magic, otherwise."

"Of course." Pansy said in understanding, not that she could empathise, being from a household where she could borrow her mother's wand to do things if she wanted. "The added benefit is that we don't have to worry about being disarmed, as well."

"Also, everyone seems to have different talents." Harry said. "I have my illusions and summoning and banishment, which gives me a few advantages. I can emulate physical contact in my illusions, for one."

"He can also make himself seem really strong." Hermione added. "And make himself float, by banishing the floor constantly. He's basically a superhero with just that."

"I fly using a harness I invented these days." Harry said. "It's got a lower chance of hurting people below me. I can also cast spells through my wandless manipulations." He looked at Susan, who was looking at him in question, and she started lifting up, with no gesture from Harry, then she started giggling as Harry applied a tickling charm through the power he was using to hold her up. "Like this." he said.

"So you can just do whatever you want in your immediate area?" Padma asked, her eyes going wide. "That's a really powerful advantage!"

"It could also be abused, if it was anyone but Harry with that power." Daphne said thoughtfully, knowing he'd never abuse his power. It just wasn't in his character. "You can be successful at anything you attempt, simply by making the results work for you, or making people believe you can do anything."

"But where's the fun in that?" Harry asked, hitting them all with tickling charms at once, as he allowed Susan back to her seat. The girls had all worn pants for the day, remembering the last time and the Anti-Gravity room. "I like being mysterious and all, but actually achieving what I set out to do, is a hell of a lot more satisfying."

The girls were still giggling, while Neville tried to control his mirth. Until Hermione pointed her finger and Harry was also hit with a tickling charm. Harry started laughing with them and soon ended the tickling charm, so that Hermione would stop, which she did.

"Well done, Hermione." Harry congratulated. "I see you're really getting the hang of the wandless magic."

"I still need to point or move my hand, though." Hermione said, as she calmed down. "You're way more subtle than me."

"It makes Harry sneakier." Daphne said, approvingly. "But seeing you use a finger to cast a spell is impressive. If I could do that, I'd be pointing at anyone who bothered me, all day long, just to make sure they didn't try anything."

"Not if you want to keep an advantage." Harry said. "Hermione has been practicing and she will likely be able to start casting spells while she's moving her hands as she speaks at some point, to hide the magic."

"It's still a little difficult to talk and cast." Hermione admitted. "But I was able to get a tickling charm off while I laughed, so there is progress."

"I suggest you all get Hermione to teach you the basics." Harry suggested. "She's still a better teacher than me."

"And the smartest witch we all know." Padma said, not minding admitting defeat to her friend. If she was hailed as the smartest of a generation, there was no shame in coming in third after her and Harry, who had basically already completed his education. That thought brought a smile to her face. "I'm finally not the third ranked anymore!" she exclaimed happily.

"How do you recon?" Parvati asked. She had been receiving good marks too, since joining the study group. She wasn't in the top ten, but she was catching up.

"Harry doesn't count, since he's basically already finished school." Padma said. "So that means I'm technically the second ranked in our year." she said happily.

"Congratulations, sis." Parvati said.

"What about all this are we allowed to tell our parents?" Hermione then asked.

"You can tell people that I found a way to start practicing my magic when I was young, and that I have a lot of power. That should cover all the basics about my public skills and abilities, and also explains my knowledge." Harry said. "You can mention that I'm not stupid, either, but don't make it sound like I'm a genius or anything. If you can make it sound like I get a lot of help that would be perfect. I was actually just a little above average in my subjects before I left school after sixth year. Your helping us study put me in that position, too."

Hermione beamed at that. She had helped make Harry who he was. Even if she didn't remember it, it meant something to her that she had a hand in that. "You're welcome." she said with a smile.

"So, what are our plans for the day?" Harry asked. They did have the entire afternoon now.

"Let's go buy swimsuits, then we go to Hermione's house to swim." Pansy suggested.

"Do you girls want us boys to leave, so you can discuss your proportions in private?" Harry asked with a smirk. He was surprised when the girls all nodded. 'Huh, must be a girl thing.' he thought. "Come on Nev. We should leave them to discuss girly things, while we go drink a beer or something, to celebrate our manliness."

"You're not allowed!" Hermione reprimanded as Harry led Neville out.

"Butterbeer, Hermione." Harry said. "I'm not an idiot. I don't want to encourage preteen drinking any more than you do."

"You've got butterbeer?" Daphne asked with wide eyes. She'd always wanted to try some. Her family had never given her the opportunity. Supposedly it was a privilege you only earned in third year.

"Sure thing." Harry said. "Sent Kreacher to go fetch it, just this morning."

"Can we have some?" Pansy asked.

"I'll send Kreacher-" Harry started, just as Kreacher appeared with a tray.

"Lady Parkinson is most welcome to have some." Kreacher said as he bowed slightly, holding the tray out to her and the other girls. He had never been able to shake his respect for Purebloods, but he didn't grumble at muggleborn or half-bloods anymore, either.

"Thank you, Kreacher." Pansy said, as she took a bottle and sipped at it experimentally. "This is really nice." she said. "I'll be looking forward to Hogsmeade weekends."

Harry continued leading Neville away, now aiming for the kitchen, so that they could have a Butterbeer as well.

"What is it with girls and… proportions?" Neville asked, not looking at Harry as he blushed.

"I think girls see boobs as some form of symbol of maturity." Harry said. "They see the older girls, wearing clothes to accentuate their feminine form and getting more attention, and want to do that too. The bigger the boobs, the more confident the girl. So they always worry about size. Not all girls are like that, mind you. Some don't care in the slightest. Some care more for hair, or having a slender waist. The vainest of girls want all of that and more.

"I'm hoping showing them what I did, makes them more confident." Harry said. "If they don't have to worry about that, they don't have to expend any energy on trying to emulate others, knowing who they will become."

"They did all seem rather happy about that." Neville agreed. "You're one lucky bugger, Harry."

"You don't do too badly yourself, Neville." Harry said, making an illusion of an older, shapelier Hannah appear before them, smiling at Neville and walking backwards.

"That is so cool." Neville said, his eyes being drawn inevitably to her chest. "Could you, um,-" he tried, but blushed and stopped.

"Make her do things, or wear less?" Harry asked. "Sorry Neville. While I could make her do stuff, I'm not removing clothing. Even if I wanted to, I know nothing about what goes on under that." he said indicating her outfit. "I can only make appear what I know or can imagine, after all. Do you really want me imagining less? Would that be the gentlemanly thing to do?" he asked.

"No!" Neville said instantly. "And I see your point. Couldn't hurt to ask, though, right? I'm only a boy."

"It actually may have." Harry said. "What if I had said yes and her clothing disappeared? Wouldn't you wonder later why I knew what she looked like in her underwear?"

Neville blushed, but nodded in understanding. "Can we drop the subject, please? I'm not really enjoying being embarrassed all the time."

"I can definitely do that." Harry said. "But you have to remember, if we're going swimsuit shopping, you know there will be swimming, and I expect your eyes to meet only theirs. Is that understood?" he asked.

"Perfectly." Neville said with a straight face. "Sorry for earlier, with Hermione's illusion."

"Not your fault Neville." Harry said. "That dress made certain things stand out. You were going to notice, one way or another. Don't tell Hermione, but she was trying to make Ron jealous by wearing that, since he was making out with Lavender. She had a real thing for Quiddich players back then and he had done really well in a match as a keeper. All the attention he was getting drove her to make out with him in front of the entire common room and Hermione was still upset."

Neville let that sink in, as they reached the kitchen, and Harry opened a butterbeer for them both. "It would seem that you are affecting more lives than we realised." Neville said diplomatically. "So, two of Ron's past conquests are now conveniently in our study group and one in your inner circle?"

"Lavender was a surprise, to be honest." Harry corrected. "Not one I mind, mind you. Now that she is there, I can keep an eye on her as well. She's also more controlled this time around. Last time she and Parvati were good friends and would gossip and flirt. Their grades weren't all that great either."

"So, while you made changes, you also took their futures into consideration." Neville said. "I can't blame you for wanting to support our friends, but I do suggest you never mention Ron and Lavender and the whole thing with Hermione's jealousy."

"I haven't even begun to tell you of how obsessed Lavender became." Harry said. "She got hit hard by quiddich fever, or a love potion, now that I think about it. She was all over Ron, until he couldn't stand being around her anymore. I'm thinking this works out better all around." he said. He wouldn't even mention the love-sick girl's nickname for Ron. If he ever heard 'Won-won' again, he'd be sick. Fortunately the girl wasn't in his inner circle, as Neville called them.

"You think he'd go that far?" Neville asked.

"I honestly don't know." Harry said. "Maybe the Weasley family magic is lust related? There are quite a few of them, after all."

"Or it could be a family curse?" Neville offered. "Someone wanted them poor and cursed them to always have too many kids to support? They are an ancient Pureblood family after all."

"Is that possible?" Harry asked, never having heard of such a thing. "Why wouldn't they tell people?"

"It's like the family magic thing." Neville said. "If you're under a curse, you wouldn't tell people about it. Most blood-tied curses work that way. You wouldn't be able, or allowed, to tell people outside of the curse or family about it."

"Would that explain Ginny's behaviour?" Harry asked.

"Not at her age, but it might explain your later attraction to her." Neville said. "And Hermione and Lavender's obsession. Especially if the curse works to draw people together. There's a reason Gran wanted me trained in the old ways. Old families have old magics. If you anger the wrong family, your family may suffer the consequences."

"And someone could just cast it?" Harry asked. "I choose to ruin someone's family line and snap my fingers to make them unable to stop doing bad things?"

"It's not that simple." Neville said. "A family curse is usually activated by tricking a person into accepting it. It's like the unbreakable vow. Once sworn, only the person you swore the oath with can break it."

"How would someone trick you into something like that?" Harry asked.

"Let's say, you fell in love with a girl, who didn't know you existed." Neville said. "You go to someone that offers to help, and they cast a spell that you freely accept. They told you that it would make the girl notice you, if you spent enough time around her. The spell worked, but you don't know that the curse stays in your family and your line forever suffers for your decision."

"Fascinating." Harry said. "How do you know these things?" he asked.

"Gran raised me in the old traditions." Neville shrugged. "She didn't want me to make any mistakes, so she told me as much as she could, as soon as she knew I would understand."

"So, if the Weasley family are all under some sort of curse, which attracts people and makes them lose their inhibitions, they'd continue on as they currently are and never know, or be unable to tell people. The only way to lift the curse would be to have the family that cast it, released them from it, is that right?" Harry summed up.

"Not exactly." Neville said. "There is one way to invalidate a curse like that."

"Oh?" Harry asked.

"A curse is only as strong as the caster, but becomes more powerful over generations, especially in magical people. The only way to break such a curse, would be to cast an even stronger curse on the family, which had more immediate and severe consequences, since the magic of the original curse would then become pointless if the new curse would stop the old one from doing anything." Neville said. "Curse a family to die in a year, and that might not work, since they can still make babies in that time to carry the original curse-"

"But curse them to die in a day, and the old curse wouldn't be able to do anything and be undone." Harry interrupted in understanding. "So if I found out that there really was such a curse on the family, I'd have to find a way to trick them into accepting the curse willingly, to have the original curse become invalid and then all I have to do is to revoke my curse."

"If it were only that simple." Remus said, as he walked in. "Sorry for eavesdropping. Enhanced hearing makes it impossible not to hear things sometimes."

"I understand." Harry said. "What do you mean though?"

"A strong blood curse, like what you are discussing, or lycanthropy, would still exist in the victim, until the moment they die." Remus said. "That's why a werewolf turns back into a man, when he is killed. The curse ends upon death. You could therefore not contract lycanthropy to get rid of another curse, even if lycanthropy is a stronger one."

"What if the person comes back from death, after that?" Harry asked.

"What do you mean?" Remus asked. "Are you planning to raise the dead, now?"

"I have an idea about that, but answer the question." Harry said. "What would happen if you died, but someone brought you back?"

"If you saved someone on the brink of death, they would still be cursed." Remus said, not understanding.

"No, I'm not saying the brink of death." Harry said. "Dead. Like your heart has stopped beating."

"The curse would be lifted, sure, but you'd be dead." Remus said. "Also, if it's a family curse, even if you somehow resurrect the person, the curse would come back to you, the moment you made contact with your family, I suspect."

"Bill!" Harry exclaimed. This made so much sense! Why did Bill leave the family to become a curse-breaker? He wanted to find a fix! There was a curse! It would also explain why he ended up with Fleur. If she had a similar effect and could resist and control it, she'd literally be the only person he could marry and not have to worry that it was the curse making her do it. ���Oh, this is going to be epic!"

"What are you planning, Harry?" Remus asked. "You're not planning on killing the eldest Weasley to test a theory are you?"

"Of course I am!" Harry said happily.

"A little more detail here, would be good." Remus insisted.

"Not until it is planned out properly." Harry denied. "Get the wolves to start getting all the family magics from the prisoners. We need that info and we need to find a very specific curse."

"Um…" Remus said, scratching behind his head.

"You already did that, didn't you?" Harry asked with a smirk.

"Well, it could only protect the pack, so there was justification." Remus explained weakly.

"You were just interested in all that knowledge and you know it." Harry accused with a predatory smile. "I could kiss you, Remus! This is perfect!"

"Could you please tell us what you're thinking?" Neville asked. He didn't like the sound of this.

"Okay, fine. Here's what I'm thinking-" Harry said, as he started telling them his plan. He didn't get time to go into too many details, when Remus warned him that the girls were coming down to them.

"Are we missing something important?" Pansy asked, when she saw the looks on their faces. Neville looked shocked and a little bleak. Remus looked thoughtful and Harry looked excited.

"Harry's planning-" Neville started.

"Hey!" Harry interrupted. "My surprise! I get to tell them when or if it works, okay?"

"It's a big 'if'." Remus said. "But, if we took proper precautions, and worked out the spells… I don't see why we can't try it."

"Good point." Harry said, calming down some. There'd be work to do before he could continue. "Let's get to that later, though. I believe we have a shopping trip to plan. Have you all decided to come along?"

"We have." Daphne said. She had really enjoyed the time with the other girls, chatting about what they had learned and the possibilities of the future. They'd have to arrange some time for it to be just them again sometime. She hadn't felt quite as hopeful, since coming home from school. She had had to tell her mother that her father was alive, but in a secret prison, until his crimes could be brought to justice. She wasn't happy, but knowing her husband, she had known of the possibility. As it was, they wouldn't lack for anything, but the uncertainty had been eating at her mother and she still cried herself to sleep at night.

"Should I bring anything besides my wallet?" Harry asked, with a smile.

"We can pay for ourselves, if you could get us to Gringotts to exchange currency?" Pansy said.

"I've got you covered." Harry said. "Are you all ready to go now?"

Neville sighed and downed the rest of his butterbeer. They had been talking so much, he hadn't had time to finish it. It was delicious and he couldn't think of leaving it unfinished. "I'm ready." he said then.

"We're ready too." Hermione said.

"And their outfits?" Harry asked, looking at the Purebloods who were dressed in their best… for the magical world.

"Couldn't you just put an illusion over them?" Hermione asked.

"And then I'd have to concentrate on that the entire time?" Harry asked in return.

"He'd also likely not be comfortable going into your changing rooms with you, to keep the illusions up." Remus pointed out with a humorous smile.

"On second thought, let's rather change." Pansy said instantly. Harry had already seen her and Daphne naked, that one time he rescued them, but that was not something she was ready to either discuss or contemplate. "Could you transfigure our clothing?" she asked Remus.

"Simple things, maybe… But it would be best to ask a professional." Remus replied.

"On it." Harry said, as he took out his board and wrote a quick message to McGonagall.

It took her a couple of minutes to get there, but she didn't really mind. She seldom got the chance to go shopping in the muggle world. When she arrived, it was to see floating illusions of clothing that Harry had made for her to model some of the clothes they wanted from. Harry had had to think back to outfits that Hermione wore over the years and then changed the colouring and cuts to suit the girls.

Having examples floating next to the girls made things much simpler for McGonagall, but she could take into consideration some things the men weren't necessarily aware of, like comfort and functionality. She may have made things slightly more modest too. Not quite as tight as the girls wanted, but not enough to look baggy.

Then they summoned the knight bus.

It was two hours, and a couple of blushes from the boys later, that they arrived at Hermione's house. The girls had insisted that the boys try on some clothes as well, and Harry had straight-up refused to try on speedos. He had settled on some comfortable and slightly baggy swimming trunks. Neville had followed his example.

The girls went up to Hermione's room and shut the door. The giggling and hushed conversations that they heard from upstairs made Neville nervous, but Harry was as cool as a cucumber. Occlumency was useful.

When the ladies exited, Harry complimented them warmly and joined them at the pool. Neville was much calmer this time around and a fun time was had by all. Harry was happy with the friends he had this time around. While they now knew some of his secrets, they didn't seem to judge him based on that fact. He was still just their friend, a boy with a more interesting background and more experience.

At some point, Luna got Harry's attention and they stepped away from their frolicking friends. "I'm sorry we never got to talk, Luna. I know there's something going on. I'm thinking you have a secret similar to my own?"

Luna smiled up at him. "You are not wrong." she said. "My situation isn't exactly like yours, though. I'm the me I always was. I didn't have a space to vacate for an older me to take residence in."

"What do you mean?" Harry asked. He didn't miss her glancing at where his scar used to be. "You're saying, I'm a horcrux, for my older self?"

"You were." Luna agreed. "I don't think there's two of you anymore."

"Are you saying there's two of you?" Harry asked, in understanding.

"Not anymore." Luna said sadly. "When things changed, with mum, there was nothing there for the older me to come back for, so she disappeared. She did leave a message, though. She said to tell you that she was glad she could bring you with, even if it wasn't planned."

Harry looked at the girl, trying to wrap his head around that. "I'm not sure I understand." he admitted.

"You'll figure it out." Luna said with a kind smile. Then she turned to the pool and quickly joined her other friends.

Harry stood there for a while, just contemplating that. Had Luna done something to come back herself and brought him along? Why would he not remember that? It was an accident? He started getting a headache then, so he decided to put the thoughts aside. There wasn't much that could be done about it now, anyway. If he could, would he still want to? He'd think on that later. He had a fun time to have with his friends.

McGonagall had opted to stay with them, and while she didn't swim, she lounged nearby under an umbrella, being served snacks and enjoying a mimosa, which Harry had Kreacher bring for her. By the time they left, McGonagall even offered to accompany the girls back to their homes, while Neville would be taken home after dinner at Grimmauld Place.

When Harry was back from delivering Neville home, he went straight to bed. It had been a long day and he was emotionally and physically exhausted. It was with a shock that he realised he had neglected his physical exercise this last year. He would need to spend some time on that this holiday. He really didn't want to turn into the scrawny kid in class again, even if he wasn't really trying to build muscles. He was just trying to maintain a good shape and build his stamina.

The next morning, Harry woke up with a smile on his face. He had two projects to complete and he wanted to get started. So he set to work on the original project first.

The Index. It would be the central hub for the communication system he had planned. He started by finishing his design on the personal communicator. With the equipment he had created so far, he already had an idea of what he wanted to do.

First, he mounted a tiny magical speaker into one of the smaller boards he had planned for this communications device. It would be loud enough to hear in two different settings, so it would be perfect, by his reckoning. Then he mounted a small plate, which would project an image above the pad.

That part was slightly more difficult, as the plates he had made till then could only take audio and/or video to another plate. It was set up as an input only, with a separate output. Now he was trying to make one that did both, and the magic was fighting him. That was when he realised that he really didn't need to re-invent the wheel. He laughed at himself after struggling for an hour with that. He split the plate in two, and spelled them separately then, before placing them back together.

The effect was an interesting blue glow, with a pinprick of brighter light, which travelled up and down between the two plates. Seeing the effect, gave him an idea and he removed them again and modified them. When he placed the two, now interlocking pieces together, the line between them had a zigzag. As he had hoped the blue line moved up and down the connected line and made an effect like a slow motion electric charge in the shape of a lightning bolt. Cool.

All the magic he was putting on now, was connected to the flaw in the board, which connected to a modified entry in the Index. The Index in turn, would have all the buffering runes to keep the messages that were waiting to be delivered and needed to be stored, depending on which 'flaw' is being accessed. That way if a device is stolen, it could be unbound and the information could be reconnected to a new device. It would also offer the fringe benefit of allowing Harry to check what other people were doing, but that would be a trade secret.

The next step was making the board, which functioned like his normal whiteboards, use dictation magic. You could still write like normal, but Harry really wanted to be able to fit more information on the display. It took him a couple of days to figure that one out and he had needed to visit the Black family library for inspiration.

He had found a spell, called 'the unseen scribe', which would dictate without needing a quill. Unfortunately it wrote in ink from an inkwell, which you had to designate. He finally got his breakthrough, when he was playing with a whiteboard marker, considering the problem. He decided to open the thing up and found some sort of sponge, filled with the specific ink that the markers used.

Designating that as the inkwell had other issues, though, so he ended up needing to force the liquid out and into a container. That worked out much better, and soon the problem was resolved. He had needed to open the prototype board up and place a small receptacle with the ink in it where the unseen scribe could get its supply, but since the receptacle was charmed unending, like the pens had been, he'd never have to worry about it again.

By the end of the month, he had finally succeeded in his goal. He had two devices, which were connected to the Index and able to communicate through it. He had ended up using a bit of muggle ingenuity and added a small nob at the top, which would rotate the camera and projector, so that the board could be placed down on a flat surface and only need a bit of orientation so that the person using it could use it that way.

He had added one or two other things, to make it seem more modern, too.

---

When Bill Weasley received a package from back home, he first thought his mother had sent another care package, with a note to guilt him for never visiting or writing. He was a busy man, though, and for him to earn the privileges he wanted with the Goblins, he'd need to work for it. He thanked the messenger, who had informed him of the package, waiting in his rather small room, and continued with his work.

That evening, when he got home from work, he had almost forgotten about the message, but when he sat down at his desk, to start writing up his daily report, he saw the envelope. It was not what he expected, so he took the thick yellow envelope and felt it. There was something flat inside. Shrugging he opened it and looked inside. He did not expect to see a shiny silver board of some kind.

He took it out and looked at it. It was aluminium on one side and had glass set on the other side, over a black surface. On the black surface, he saw text in glowing white lettering. Harry had thought that was a good idea, since you'd not want to have to light a candle to read your messages at night.

'Say: Call Harry Black'

Now, Bill was nobody's fool and put the device on the table and took a step back, before casting detection spells. The device registered as a large collection of protection magic, covering other magics. Many other magics. He didn't trust a thing that he didn't know, so he set about casting protection spells all over himself and placed a shield in front of him, before saying, "Harry Black."

Nothing happened, so he slowly moved closer and read the message, which was still the same. "Right." Bill said as he stepped back again. "Call Harry Black."

There was a sound then, one he hadn't heard before. It sounded like some sort of ringing. Like tiny bells, but also not. The ringing stopped and started a couple of times, before there was a voice. "Hello. Harry Black speaking. Is this Bill Weasley?" he asked.

"Yes." Bill answered hesitantly, still behind his shield and protections.

"What was that? I can hardly hear you. I knew I should have increased the input volume." he muttered.

"I said yes. You're speaking to Bill." Bill said more loudly.

"Oh, good. Someone didn't steal one of my prototypes." Harry said. "I did only just finish making them the other day. Do you have a moment to talk?"

"Why should I trust a talking piece of metal and glass?" Bill asked.

"Oh, for… Listen, I'm going to end the call. When it's dropped, say: 'Video Call Harry Black'. That will let us speak face to face." Harry said, before he ended the call and a beep was heard before it went quiet.

"Now?" Bill asked. No answer. He sighed then, "Video Call Harry Black."

It rang again and this time it picked up immediately. A small projection popped up and Bill could see a slanted face looking at the ceiling. "Bill? Where are you?" Harry asked. "What am I looking at?"

Bill walked closer slowly, and could suddenly make out the face on it. "Harry Black? Is that really you?"

"I still can't see you Bill. Orient the glass of the Comm to your face. The side that had the message for you." Harry said exasperatedly.

"Comm?" Bill asked a bit of a smile on his face.

"You're being obtuse on purpose, aren't you?" Harry asked. "The device I sent you is a Communications Platform, or Comm, for short. It works like a portable Floo with some added features."

"I told you, you should've just said that from the beginning." Sirius's voice chimed in, and as Bill slowly approached, he saw another man behind Harry, seemingly also looking at the ceiling.

"Just pick up the device Bill. It's not some sort of trap, I promise you." Harry said. "Is everyone going to react like this? I may as well call off starting production of these."

"Make some for Marauders Inc. first." Sirius said. "It would be too useful to just scrap the project."

Bill finally appeared in the projected image on Harry's side. ���Finally, we can see you!" Harry exclaimed in exasperation.

"Can't be too careful." Bill said as he tapped the 'Comm' with his wand a couple of times, experimentally. "Are you sure this thing is safe? I picked up a lot of hidden magic on it."

"I made the damn thing, I should hope it's safe!" Harry said.

Bill finally reached out and picked up the sleek device. "You made this?" he asked as Harry watched the orientation of the room change.

"Yes, I made it." Harry said. He was finally able to look the man in the eye. "Let's try this again. Hello, my name is Harry Black and I'd like to make you a proposition."

"Bill Weasley." Bill said with a bemused smile. "What kind of proposition?" he asked.

"Let's just say, I have a theory I'd like to test and I have need of a curse breaker." Harry said.

"What's the theory?" Bill asked.

"A theory that you are looking for something very specific, away from your family, and in your line of work." Harry said, with an upturned brow.

"I don't know what you are talking about." Bill said with a straight face. 'Could he know? Has someone finally noticed?' he thought.

"What if I told you, I know of a possible way to force a family curse from a person and make it so that said curse cannot reassert itself immediately?" Harry offered.

"When do I leave?" Bill said instantly. 'YES! FINALLY!' Bill cheered in his mind.

"Did you scan the envelope by any chance?" Harry said with a smirk.

Bill turned to the discarded piece of thick paper and cast a diagnostic spell. Sure enough, it was a portkey. He turned back to the image. "I have to be back before my next shift." Bill said.

"That should be doable. Activation phrase is 'Fucking Pureblood Bastards'." Harry said with a smirk.

"I'll enjoy activating this one." Bill smirked back. "I'll be there shortly. How do I end this call thing?" he then asked.

"Put the Comm in your pocket, or place it face-down on the table." Harry said. "There's also a button on the right-side for accepting and ending calls."

Bill oriented the Comm away and pressed the button. The image disappeared. What a useful device! If only more people had them.

Half an hour later, Bill had informed one of his co-workers that he had an emergency to attend, but should be back before the next day, and had gathered a few items, in-case it took longer. He picked up the envelope and said, "Fucking Pureblood Bastards!" and was swept away by a portkey.