Hundreds of spirits flooded the Alley. Echoing calls of revenge and accusations were heard throughout. The people who had been shopping froze at the sight, causing him to smirk. Let's see them try and banish those vengeful spirits— not bloody likely. It's good to be the Master of Death , he thought as he watched the shades descend.
Those ghosts that saw Harry Potter as their savior started yelling at the gossipers, chasing them through the cobblestone street. Reminding them about all the times Harry Potter saved their arses. Many converged on the Daily Prophet's building. The Master of Death had to hold back his laughter when a much frazzled Rita Skeeter ran from the building screaming for help, being pursued by no less than a dozen spirits.
Other spirits that were killed by Death Eaters, vowed they would haunt their murderers for years to come, many of them spirited away to find soon to be victims.
The Muggle-borns that died in the camps drifted to the Ministry and Azkaban.
Chuckling quietly to himself, the young immortal made his way to WWW, to check up on George. He was concerned that with so many people fleeing the area that the shop would have a drop in business. He removed his Cloak in the alley next to the store and made his way inside. Tapping the occupied redhead on the shoulder, he jerked his head toward the back room. George nodded and held up a finger, suggesting that he would join him in a minute. He nodded his understanding and went to the indicated room. He looked around and noted the new trinkets and smiled at his friend's innovations. He leaned against the workbench when he heard the door open and cast the Muffliato Charm.
"Harry," George said as he closed the door, "what brings you here today? I thought we were going to meet up tomorrow." He then joined his younger friend at the counter.
"Hello, George. Well, I wanted to see if you knew anything about the rumors going around. Do you know anyone who emptied their vaults? And if you do, did they tell you why?" Hydrus asked with a small smile.
George, being the quick man he was, turned to face his friend with an accusing glare. "You did something, didn't you? Don't deny it, I know you did, if what people are saying is true, you started this whole thing," he said, jabbing his finger in the other man's chest. "Not that I'm upset about what's happening, but you could've invited me."
"Trust me when I say, it was something that escalated without me knowing." The younger man held up his hands defensively. "All I did was warn a few people that they might not be able to trust the goblins, and they might want to move elsewhere." He shrugged, rubbing the sore spot.
"So you didn't mean for this to happen?"
"Oh, I meant for it to happen, I just didn't think it would be this soon." The dark-haired teen smirked in satisfaction.
"Still, you should have told me, I could've helped."
"How is business?" Hydrus asked, changing the subject.
A wicked grin spread across George's face. "Oh, we are making a good profit. Those joy buzzers are a hot seller, and the calculators are flying off the shelf. Those idiots don't get that what they're buying is based off Muggle technology. They just think that I'm a genius, which I am, but that's beside the point." He puffed his chest out in mock pride.
"That you are, my friend," he said sincerely, clapping the older man on the back. "I'm glad to hear you're not losing customers, with so many people leaving."
"The Pure-bloods have more money anyway, plus, now I can jack up the prices," the redhead shrugged, though he did miss some of the people that had left, like Katie Bell and his other former teammates. "By the way, Kingsley came to see me. Wanted to know if I knew where you were. Thank Merlin, I couldn't tell him anything," he informed his friend.
"Any idea why he wants to find me?" the green-eyed teen asked, thinking of quite a few things the Ministry would want him for.
"He didn't say, just that he wanted to talk to you," George answered. He was concerned about Harry, what with the talks of him being a Dark Lord, even if there was no proof of any wrong doing. The redhead was glad the younger man did the adoption ritual, now he would be harder to find.
"Look, George, come by my house later tonight. There are a few things I want to tell you," Hydrus requested.
"Alright, Harry, I'll pop by after the store is closed."
"Thanks. Oh, by the way, you might want to take a gander at what's happening in the Alley. Before you ask, yes I did it and I'll tell you how tonight," the immortal suggested. Then he donned his Invisibility Cloak and left the store. He didn't want to explain this anywhere they could be overheard, and with the Minister trying to track him down, he wouldn't put it past him to put listening charms up at WWW. Even though the silencing charm worked well, he didn't want to chance it.
A vindictive smile was plastered to his face while he watched the ghosts take their revenge. The street was emptier than it had been when he went into George's shop. It looked like the few that were left were either too scared to run, or hadn't been haunted and were simply watching those that were with thoughtful looks on their faces. It made Hydrus feel a little better that not all of the Pure-Bloods thought he had turned evil.
When he got to the house, he wrote another note to Neville, asking him to inform any neutral family, who didn't support the people persecuting Harry or just didn't care about gossip, to get their gold out of Gringotts and look to moving. The more people he got to leave this backwards society the better for his plans. He had Kreacher deliver it, knowing that his friend would not recognize the house elf as his.
He then went to the kitchen to make a light supper of fish and salad along with a hearty dessert of chocolate cake, for him and George. When he was done he put it under a stasis charm and settled down with a fantasy book to wait for his business partner.
It was seven-thirty when George popped in.
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