June 29, 2006
It was a Thursday, four days after the students had returned home from Hogwarts, when the elections were held. It had been arranged so that the students that were of age would be able to get home and get settled in time to still be able to go out and vote.
By the end of the day all the votes were in and counted. No one was really surprised as Kensington Shacklebolt came out the clear victor.
Well Albus wasn't really surprised, he was still angry about the outcome. Gertrude just hadn't had the same name recognition as Kensington. What had happened with the attack on the ministry hadn't helped.
The attack had allowed Kensington to portray himself as being in control and a stable leader. The past few weeks the papers had been full of all kinds of stories, all of them praising Kensington for his swift and decisive action that had stopped so many Death Eaters.
Even though Albus had control of The Prophet and had them printing positive stories about himself and Gertrude, it just wasn't enough. They had started from too far behind.
It hadn't helped that James had refused to listen to him and switch his support to Gertrude. They had had a quick talk just before the school year had ended during an Order meeting. Not only had James refused, but so had all the others. The only ones that had supported the woman were those Albus had known he could count on supporting anything he said.
Unfortunately, even Albus had to admit that they had a point. Kensington had proven to be a capable minister, and Gertrude had not. The woman had struggled to keep her cool just during the election. No one who really looked thought she would be able to handle the pressure. It had seemed that whenever she was placed in a situation with any form of pressure, even just doing an interview with a friendly reporter, the woman had struggled and said all the wrong things.
Now, Albus just needed to get the new minister on his side. He had finally reached the point where he had to admit that it was going to be difficult. He remembered all those years ago when Kensington had served as proxy for James. The man, while willingly listening to what he had to say, had never once agreed with him.
Albus needed to get control. He needed to be in charge with what was to come. Voldemort was back, and he was the only one that could arrange his defeat.
Mischief Managed - July 7, 2006
Fred and George were just closing up the shop when two owls arrived, one going to each of them. They already knew what it was.
The week before, they had received their NEWT results, both had passed everything, and this was the final response to the applications they had sent out.
After receiving their results both of the twins had reached out to masters in their chosen fields of study. Since the apprenticeship program had been returned, they were planning on applying to it. Fred wanted to try for his mastery in spell crafting, while George wanted alchemy.
In the week since they had received their results they had been in near constant contact with their chosen masters. These letters contained the final requirements for them to get the positions. If they could meet these final requirements then they would be starting their work on getting their masteries.
It wasn't going to immediately get them the mastery, it was only the first step. They would spend two years on their apprenticeship, before they could take their first round of tests. After that they would need to write a peer reviewed article, do more practical and theoretical work in their field, take another round of tests, write their thesis and present it to a review board of masters before taking a final round of tests. If they could complete it all, then, and only then, would they be able to get their mastery.
Each read their letters and were pleased, but also slightly worried. Finishing closing the shop, they went to go and get the last thing they needed.
Peverell Manor
Hadrian had been home for a few hours when Fred and George came through the floo and requested to meet with him and his fathers.
"What can we do for you three?" James asked as he and Severus walked into one of the sitting rooms to see the three boys.
"I'm not sure." Hadrian turned to look at his two boyfriends, confused by their actions.
"We have graduated." Fred stated.
"But we don't think we could handle being separated from our Hadrian for a prolonged period of time." George picked up for his brother.
"Since we have both decided that we want to try for a mastery,"
"And Hogwarts has brought back the apprenticeship program,"
"We decided to apply to work with Professors Fabbri and Zarno as their apprentices."
"And they know about our relationship with Hadrian, and are willing to make allowances for it."
"According to the school charter a relationship like ours is allowed,"
"So long as we keep it private and don't flaunt it in front of everyone,"
"But we would need to have a valid contract."
"We know that none of you exactly approve of marriage contracts, but if we want to continue to see each other than we will need one."
"That's what you two have been working on, you have been trying to find a way that you can stay at the school with me." Hadrian had a dazzling grin on his face and he snuggled into the both of them where they sat on the couch before looking to his fathers with pleading eyes.
James and Severus glanced at each other. They knew they really couldn't deny them.
"Well it was true that neither of us are fond of the idea of marriage contracts, we also understand that the three of you will be together regardless." James smiled at his happy son. "We will agree to signing a contract, but it will only be a basic contract. And you will not be marrying until after Hadrian finishes school at the very earliest."
"Thank you, thank you, thank you." Hadrian threw himself at his parents and hugged them. "We need to write up the contract, now."
"I think we can help with that." Severus smiled as his son hugged him like he had when he was still little. "The Prince family has a basic contract that is standard, any member of the family just adds the details, like how long the engagement will be, fidelity clauses, and the like.
If you use it, you could just write in the basics and be finished within an hour or so. But, we are going to have to make a slight adjustment to the fidelity clause."
"They're mine!" Hadrian snapped slightly at his papa as he reached out and grabbed hold of the twins.
"We know, but we need to take your situation into account." James said in a placating voice. "The last thing you want is for your contract to break because someone was finally successful in drugging you with a love potion or spell. Your papa just meant that we would need to make sure to add that the fidelity clause wouldn't be violated if you were drugged or threatened."
"It makes sense." Fred rubbed Hadrian's back comfortingly. "You know they are going to keep trying, we don't want to take any risks with violating a marriage contract because of something those idiots do."
Hadrian went back to smiling. "Ok, when can we start writing the contract?"
Severus smiled at his sons excitement. "I will go and get the contract from the Prince Vault. You three just start working on the basic outline. You will be able to add how many dates you will go on per month, and when and what kind of gifts will be expected. It might seem a little silly, but it will give you an excuse to leave the school grounds and just spend time together."
Severus left the room as the three teens started working on what they wanted in their contract. He decided that he would be stopping by The Burrow to talk with Arthur, Fabian, and Gideon. He knew more than likely Fred and George had been so excited about what was going on that they would have forgotten to inform their own fathers about what they were planning.
It took just over three hours for the newly made marriage contract to be finished and signed. James would be filing it with the ministry and the bank the next day to make it official. Fred and George were also planning on sending a copy to Professors Fabbri and Zarno so they could review it as well since they had needed the contract in place before they could agree to take them on as apprentices.
The contract wasn't as detailed as it could have been, but it did cover the different aspects of their relationship that needed to be covered. Now, like Severus had mentioned, the fidelity clause in the contract wouldn't break if any of the three of them had been drugged, spelled, threatened, or forced in any way. It also stated that the three would be required to spend a minimum of six hours of alone time together each week to ensure proper communication in their relationship. They would also be required to go on a minimum of two dates per month.
They had covered everything they thought they could to ensure that Dumbledore and the others wouldn't be able to interfere. It would keep them from being able to stop the three from seeing each other. They knew that Dumbledore was going to do everything he could, along with his allies, to keep the three of them separated, but the contract would stop them.
By the end of the evening Hadrian was thrilled. He had been so worried about having to spend so much time away from the twins, and now he was going to get to stay with them and there was nothing anyone could do to stop it.
Granger House - July 13, 2006
Hermione was nervously pacing back and forth in the kitchen. Today was the day the Headmaster had warned her that her OWL results were supposed to arrive. She was sure she passed everything, but she was still worried. She knew how unfair things were in the magical world.
She knew the grades she needed to carry on in her chosen classes and just hoped she got them. There were just a few classes she wasn't overly sure of since the exam periods had been too short for her to get all the information in.
Jean and Howard watched as their daughter paced. They really hoped that she had done better this year. Education had always been important in their family, so they really wanted her to do well. They had arranged to have Professor Black send them a few updates throughout the year and had been extremely pleased when he had informed them a few months ago that Hermione had finally started to follow instructions.
When the letter finally arrived Hermione snatched it from the owl, causing it to hoot in agitation. Ripping the letter open she skipped right to her grades.
Subject Written / Pratical / Overall
Alchemy : EE / A / A
Ancient Runes : O / O / O
Arithmancy : O / O / O
Astronomy : O / O / O
Care of Magical Creatures : O / EE / O
Charms : O / EE / O
Defence Against the Dark Arts : O / EE / EE
English : EE / (N/A) /EE
Herbology : O / A / EE
History : O / (N/A) / O
Language (French) : O / EE / O
Law : EE / (N/A) / EE
Politics : EE / (N/A) / EE
Potions : EE / EE / EE
Spell Crafting : A / P / A
Transfiguration : O / EE / O
Warding : A / P / A
Going over her grades, Hermione was both pleased, annoyed, and furious. She was happy that she passed everything, but she knew that she deserved to do better.
What was making her furious was the classes that she wouldn't be able to continue in. She wouldn't be able to continue in potions, spell crafting, or warding. The one that was making her the most angry was potions. Professor Prince refused to take any student that hadn't received an O. She deserved an O she knew, she was sure that the only reason she hadn't gotten the grade was because he wasn't a good teacher.
Hermione was already planning the letter she was going to write to the headmaster. She wanted to take her NEWT in potions and was sure he could force Professor Prince to let her in the class.
She didn't even notice that her parents were decently pleased with her grades. instead she just left the room, completely ignoring them, to go and write, first to the Headmaster, and then too Ron to see how he did.
Lion's Den, Upstairs Flat
Molly smiled happily as an owl flew in the window to deliver her Ronnie's OWL results. Her sweet baby boy was still sleeping. She had spent the past few days working on getting him back on the right path now that he wasn't going to have to follow his fathers stupid rules.
Once the owl was gone she opened the letter to see just how well her little boy did.
Subject Written / Practical / Overall
Alchemy : A / A / A
Ancient Runes : A / P / A
Arithmancy : A / A / A
Astronomy : A / EE / EE
Care of Magical Creatures : EE / EE / EE
Charms : EE / EE / EE
Defence Against the Dark Arts : EE / EE / EE
Herbology : EE / EE / EE
History : P / (N/A) / P
Potions : EE / A / EE
Spell Crafting : A / P / P
Transfiguration : EE / A / EE
Warding : A / P / P
Molly was less than pleased. Ron hadn't done nearly as well as she had wanted. Looking through the additional paperwork she read through the grade requirements needed to continue in each subject.
While some professors were willing to accept students that only got an A, like Hagrid, others weren't. Ron would only be able to continue in astronomy, COMC, charms, DADA, herbology, and transfiguration. He hadn't scored high enough in any of the others. This put an end to her dream of her Ronnikins becoming an auror.
Molly knew that her baby boy wasn't stupid, so she didn't understand how his grades were lower than she wanted. It never crossed her mind that the reason his grades had dropped was because she hadn't made him review over the summer, taught him good study habits, or even really encouraged him to do well in any way.
Storming off, Molly slammed into her sons room to demand an explanation for his lower grades.
By mid afternoon Ron was less than pleased. His mum was being completely unreasonable. So what if he hadn't gotten perfect scores in every class. He had done well enough.
Well he was slightly annoyed that he wasn't going to keep going in spell crafting and warding, it wasn't a great loss. He had thought the classes were going to be so cool, but they really weren't. He had thought creating spells was just making things up, but it wasn't. To create spells there was all kinds of math involved to try and balance the spell so it didn't rupture, what ever that meant.
And then there was warding. He had just wanted to learn to cast a ward, but he wasn't able to do much of anything. It just wasn't fun. He was supposed to spend hours working on runic arrays just to end up with the most basic of wards. It had annoyed Ron to no end that when their power levels had been tested he had been told he was going to be limited on the level of wards he would be able to cast. Seeing that Harry had been approved to cast the more advanced wards just made him angrier, he knew it was just because he was famous.
Ron just wanted to have fun, not spend all his time studying. His year had ended horribly because Hermione had forced him to study for hours every day. Now, it was summer, and he didn't want to have to think about anything to do with school.
River Run Alley - July 21, 2006
Hadrian was happily sitting eating his lunch with Draco and Neville going over a few books. The three ate lunch together every afternoon during the week as they were all working in the alley this summer. Well all three came from wealthy families their parents had encouraged them to get jobs as it would teach them responsibility and the value of money.
What had started out as a great day took a quick nosedive as they all heard a familiar voice call out. None wanted to look up from their food as two red heads, a know it all, and her parents arrived at their table. None of them had anything against the elder Grangers, but they really weren't happy to see the younger three so soon, they had hoped to not have to see the three of them until school started again in the fall.
"Hi Harry." Ginny giggled as she batted her eyes at Hadrian once she was close.
The three just ignored her and kept on eating.
Howard and Jean shared a glance as they saw the boys reactions to their daughter and her friends. It was clear they didn't like them. And Jean thought she understood.
Since learning that she had a magical family Jean had thrown herself into learning everything she could. She wanted to know everything. One thing that she didn't really realize, was that the more she learned about the magical world and culture, the less stringent her former beliefs became. That wasn't to say she was no longer devout, because she and her husband were, but they were less fanatical about it now.
This was actually going to be their last trip into the magical alleys until they went for Hermione's back to school stuff. Jean had gotten into contact with her grandmothers brother in Australia, and they had been invited down to visit. They were planning on leaving in a few days to spend a month in Australia.
Moving forward, Howard properly greeted the three boys. After the re-introductions were done, and the boys had agreed to having the adults use their first names Hermione had had enough. She didn't like how her parents were reacting. They knew who Harry was, but were acting like all the other idiots and not making Harry behave properly.
"Why are you out here?" Hermione stomped her foot. "You know how dangerous it is right now. Honestly Harry, how can you risk your life so foolishly? I'm going to have to write to the Headmaster to come and get you."
Hermione started looking around as if expecting to find parchment, ink, quill, and owl just sitting out waiting for her.
"I'm perfectly fine, and it is the summer, I am not answerable to the Headmaster." Hadrian rolled his eyes.
"But Harry." Ginny whined. "You know that He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named is back and wants to kill you. You really shouldn't be risking your life like this. You can't leave me like that."
"What I do has absolutely nothing to do with you." Hadrian snapped. "I really don't know how many times I need to say it. You. Are. NOT. My. Girlfriend. You aren't even my friend."
"Why would they think you are in danger?" Howard asked in concern. He had heard his daughters young friend daydreaming about the boy in front of him and it was clear to him and his wife the girl was slightly delusional.
"Because He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named is back and wants to kill Harry." Ron announced.
Howard and Jean just kept looking at the dark haired boy. They had read about what had happened during the last war and also knew from the papers that he was back again. But they didn't think the man would be fool enough to go after the one who defeated him again.
"I'm perfectly safe." Hadrian shook his head in exasperation, he really didn't understand why these three thought they could control him.
"But if you were threatened, shouldn't you have at least some kind of protection?" Jean questioned in concern.
Hadrian could hear the real concern in the womans voice so decided to reassure her. "I haven't even turned 16 yet. But, in the past 15 years I have been kidnapped 3 times. Had multiple attempts on my life. And, all my mail is checked before it is forwarded to me because I usually receive a dozen or so death threats each year along with hexes and curses in letter form. If I hid every time I was threatened I would never leave my house.
My family, well protective, also never wanted me to live my life in fear and always taught me to keep my head up and to just keep going. But, I am also covered in protections. My family rings are covered in all kinds of protective magics. They guard me from basic hexes and jinxes, and also alert me to any potions in my food or drink. All of my clothing has been augmented with protective spells woven into the fabric. I also have a few different emergency portkeys that will take me to different safe locations if I need it.
Like I said, I am perfectly safe. Not to mention I highly doubt anyone is going to do anything in a public place like this."
Howard had to agree. This wasn't a good place for staging any form of attack. Plus, the boy was obviously well protected by all the different protections his family had placed on him.
"The headmaster isn't going to like this." Hermione muttered, but everyone heard.
"Like he said, this isn't school, so your headmaster has no control over his actions Hermione." Jean looked down to her daughter. "I really don't understand just why it is that the headmaster of a school has so much control in this world?"
"It's because of the importance of children in our society." Draco shrugged nonchalantly. "When the school was first started we didn't have a central government and it was just groups of clans. Clans that had a tendency to go to war with each other. The school was deemed as neutral territory where all the children of our world could get an education, so whoever controlled the school was someone that had a great deal of power over the children. So, when the ministry was formed they included a role for the headmaster of the school.
To most in our society, children are the most important thing. Especially given our recent history."
"Recent history?" Howard questioned. "I know that there was a Dark Lord, but what does that have to do with the importance of children."
"We're actually a society that is recovering from two Dark Lords in less than 100 years. Prior to Voldemort, there was another self styled Dark Lord Gellert Grindelwald. He was a contemporary, and close personal friend of Adolph Hitler." Neville explained. "Within less than a hundred years our population has been decimated, so every child matters."
"Unfortunately the groups that were the most effected by the war were the young. The Death Eaters and Voldemort tended to target young families." Hadrian said. "It's why our year is the way it is."
"What's that supposed to mean?" Hermione demanded.
"We are the children of war." Neville shrugged, he knew that Draco was trying to stay quiet as none of them wanted to listen to the Weasley's Death Eater rants about Slytherins. "Most couples were choosing not to have kids because of what was going on, and many of those that did were killed along with their children if they opposed him.
It's why there are so few pure bloods and half bloods in comparison to muggle-borns."
"That makes no sense." Ron was confused. "They targeted the muggle-borns more than anyone, so wouldn't they have been the group that lost the most members?"
"From the older generations yes, but not in our age group." Hadrian answered. "At the time the war was at its peak, we had all just been born. But, while our births were publicly known through things like gossip and birth announcements, the muggle-born children were safely hidden in the muggle world, no one yet knowing of their existence. The muggle-born children can't be tracked until after they are accepted to Hogwarts, so those in our generation were safe.
Normally, there are a lot more pure and half bloods in each year, but in the few years before ours, and the year after, there is a much higher ratio of muggle borns because they weren't targets of the war. I mean, can you think of a single magical family that didn't lose at least one member?"
"My family didn't. Only mums brothers were targeted, and they clearly survived." Ginny said smugly.
"Are you joking?" Neville asked the girl like she was crazy. "You really should learn your family history.
Your mum's mum was one of those killed in the Yule attack on Diagon alley. Plus, your dad lost three cousins, along with their children."
"How would you know that?" Ron demanded, it was creepy Longbottom knew that about his family.
"Because one of your dads cousins was married to one of my mums cousins. They had two kids. They had been visiting with the others when the house they were at was attacked. Mum still talks about her cousin Lena, they were really close as kids." Neville explained.
"So, under normal circumstances there are more kids in your school?" Jean questioned. It had never made sense to her that there were so few students given the fact that it was the only magical school.
"Yeah, a lot. Two years below us has almost triple the amount of students in our year. But, that was the result of the post war baby boom." Draco finally decided it might be safe for him to speak.
"The only group of students who's numbers aren't higher are the muggle-borns." Neville jumped in when he saw Ron focusing in on Draco. "For some reason the rate of births in the muggle-born community is about 20-30 every year consistently."
"But there wouldn't be enough room in the dorms for any more students. There aren't any spare beds or rooms in the common rooms." Hermione didn't see how the school could take more students.
"It's a magic school." Draco said, allowing no emotion into his voice because he thought sarcasm would just cause her to start yelling. "Things like the dorms and common rooms can grow and shrink as needed. I'm sure you've noticed all the classrooms that aren't in use, that was because there were more students in the past.
I mean, everyone knows the castle can change, just think about the stairs. They're always changing. The dorms adjust to the new number of incoming students."
"Like anyone cares what a Death Eater has to say." Ron sneered at Draco.
"Not this again." Neville sighed. "You really need to get over this old rant Ronald. Just because Draco is in Slytherin doesn't mean he is a Death Eater."
"Yes he…" Ron huffed as Hermione slammed her elbow into his stomach causing her to wince too.
Hadrian just rolled his eyes. Reaching up he tapped his wand that was sitting in the middle of the table to bring up the clock he had set to let them know when lunch was over and that they needed to get back to work. He realized his mistake as soon as he had made it.
"HARRY!" Hermione shrieked as she saw the wand. "You're not allowed to use magic outside of school and you know it. Honestly, what is wrong with you. Are you trying to get expelled."
Hadrian growled slightly as he was hit on the back.
"Well… Where is the letter?" Hermione demanded as she looked around for the owl informing Harry he was getting a warning for using magic outside of school. When she saw nothing, she turned her glare on the three boys. "What did you do? Why are you allowed to do magic and the rest of us aren't. And you have always said you don't use your fame to get to do whatever you want."
Draco sighed as Hadrian dropped his head to the table and banged it a few times.
Neville looked to the girl with an eyebrow raised, looking surprisingly like Severus. "Hadrian is not able to use magic because he is famous, it is because he is working. He was just checking the clock so we aren't late."
"So what, you pretend to work and you can do magic whenever you want? Cool. I'll talk to mum, she'll let us say we're working at the restaurant." Ron grinned at his new plan.
"It's not like that." Hadrian raised his head off the table. "We aren't pretending to work, we actually have to work. And there is an entire process you have to go through to get the dispensation to use magic.
First, you have to have a job that would require the use of magic, Neville for instance, is working with the plants in The Bubble. They require different things and can be extremely dangerous, so he needs magic to keep them happy and himself safe.
You also have to have completed your OWLs to even be considered. Once you have the job your boss, not you, needs to apply to the ministry. They will do a review of your grades, as well as conduct multiple interviews with you to ensure that you have the maturity to handle the responsibility.
If you get approved you get a badge like this." Hadrian pulled the badge that hung on a lanyard around his neck. "It stops your magic from registering, but it also keeps a record of every spell you cast. There are random spot checks every week where we have to have a reason for every single spell we have cast. If we can't justify anything then we lose the pass and are barred from getting it again.
It isn't a joke, you have to take it very serious or you get in trouble."
"But why would you need to work?" Ginny was horrified at the idea. "You're rich."
Howard and Jean were startled once again by the girls rudeness, although they knew they really shouldn't be. It was beyond rude to publicly discuss anothers finances, especially in front of them.
Hadrian shot the girl a glare. "Yes, it is true that I come from a wealthy family, but that does not mean I am going to be lazy. For your information, the reason my family is wealthy, is because they work. Everyone in my family has always worked.
Our parents have always encouraged the three of us to take responsibility for ourselves and earn things on our own. I'm planning on using the money I earn this summer to purchase the new copy of 'Advancements in Enchanting' that is set to come out at the end of the summer."
"You're working all summer to purchase a single book?" Jean was surprised. "Either you aren't making a lot, or that book costs a lot."
"We make a decent wage, it's the book that's expensive. All three of us are planning on getting the new books in our favourite subjects. So, Draco's getting the new potions advancements books, while I'm getting the herbology one." Neville smiled, already dreaming of his new book.
"Wouldn't your parents be willing to get them for you since they are involved in your schooling?" Howard had always made sure Hermione had anything she needed for school.
Draco smiled at his dreamy friend. "Our parents offered to buy us the basic copy, but we want the self-updating book which cost five times more."
"Self-updating?" Hermione and her parents all asked as one.
"Yes." Hadrian was surprised the book worm didn't know about them. "The book I want is put out by the Enchantment Guild every five years. The basic book has everything that has previously been developed but then you have to wait another five years for the next one for the new developments. But, the self-updating copy updates itself with each new advancement without having to wait. It also adjusts if there are any changes with previous works."
"I've never seen anything like that in any of the book shops around here." Hermione was horrified at just how much information she may have missed out on because she had outdated books.
"You can only get them from the specialty shop in Celestial Alley. But, I should warn you, when we say they are expensive, we mean they are expensive. The very cheapest book in the shop cost over 100 galleons." Neville warned, he knew the girl was going to try and force her parents to start buying those types of books for her. "It's why we said we are working this summer to buy a single book."
"Well that does make sense since the book will grow as the field expands." Howard thought it was a brilliant idea.
"What are you reading?" Ginny asked, finally noticing the texts sitting in front of the three boys that didn't look like anything she had seen in school. She hadn't been paying attention to the conversation about stupid books and had just been looking around at things.
"The prep books for the healing OWL." Neville glanced from the girl, down to the book, and then back up.
"There isn't a healing OWL." Hermione rolled her eyes. "Plus, we have already finished our OWLs."
"You do know that there is more than just what we learn at Hogwarts, right?" Hadrian questioned.
"No there isn't." Hermione argued.
"Yes, there is." Draco drawled. "The Ministry offers more than 200 OWL tests. We take the ones for the classes we learn at school, at school. But, if you are willing to pay, you can take all kinds of other tests."
"Pay?" Ron questioned. "Why would we have to pay to take school tests."
"Because they aren't school tests." Neville said. "We are self studying healing. So, we are responsible for paying to take the tests. It's 10 galleons per test. But, if you fail the test then you have to wait 2 years before you can try to retest."
"Why didn't you tell me that?" Hermione demanded. She had still been angry about not knowing about self-updating books and now she learns about there being more OWL subjects.
"Because it's self study." Hadrian said slowly. "As in, you are responsible for yourself. It is no one else's responsibility to make you self study."
"So the three of you decided to study healing together?" Jean jumped in, placing a hand on her daughters shoulder to hold her back.
"Yes." Draco agreed. "I want to get my mastery in potions after school, and one of the requirements is to also have a basic medi-wizard license and you need a NEWT in healing for that. Neville wants to be a herbologist, and he needs to know basic healing to grow what is used in potions correctly. And Hadrian, well, given his history it's just better if he knows the basics of healing."
Hadrian stuck his tongue out at his friend, but laughed as he did so. That was actually true, his parents had thought it was a good idea so if he was injured in an attack he would be able to at least heal the basics.
"So you just go to the ministry and you can take your OWLs?" Hermione started to think of all the different subjects she could do, she thought it would be cool to get the record for highest number of OWLs. That would show everyone just how smart muggle-borns were. Since having wizarding relatives had proven to be useless she had returned to the mindset that she was a muggle-born that was being discriminated against.
"No." Neville said. "There are certain dates when the tests are conducted. So, you would have to go to the ministry and sign up to take any tests you want. Usually, they only do the tests for a week at the beginning of the summer, a week at the end, and a week during Yule break.
You also need to tell them which subject you want to test for so they can have examiners from that particular subject there. Actually, you really should just go to the Department of Education and get the information. They have paperwork on everything about your education. It would allow you to know everything and not have to worry about someone else not explaining everything to you."
"I think that might be a good idea." Howard saw his wife once again pulling their daughter back so she wouldn't launch herself at the boy like she clearly wanted to. "When you say they offer a week of testing, does that mean you can take multiple tests all together?"
"Yes, although you can only take a maximum of two tests per day, but they recommend that you only take a maximum of four extra subjects at a time so that you don't overwhelm yourself since we are still doing our school classes alongside our self study." Hadrian answered for the group.
"Isn't that a lot of work for students?" Jean loved to learn, but that just seemed like far too much for teenagers.
"Yes and no." Neville said in a thoughtful voice. "You need to remember that this is the wizarding world. We don't have things like TV to distract us. We also only have a minimal amount of sports, like quidditch. Well there is plenty of fiction, if you look at the bookshops around you will find that there are far more educational books in comparison. Plus, we attend a boarding school. For the most part we usually have a few hours every day with nothing to do, so those like us, choose to study other subjects."
"That, and the three of us are all also in the occlumency club and have been since our first year." Draco added.
"Occlumency club?" Hermione had never heard of that and didn't understand what that had to do with studying.
"Yes, the magical theory professor, Professor Wilber, runs it. He announces it at the beginning of each year, and there are always times posted on the clubs notice board in the common rooms." Neville quickly said so this didn't become another issue.
"How does doing occlumency, whatever that is, help you study?" Jean was confused. She had come across that word in her research about the magical world, but hadn't looked into it yet.
"Occlumency is a form of mind magic." Hadrian said. "There are multiple different branches, but occlumency is an umbrella term that covers them all.
The primary purpose is to protect the mind from a legilimens. Legilimency is basically mind reading. Occlumency helps you build up a shield to protect your mind. But, once you have a basic shield you can start doing other things, like building a mind palace, which is a technique we were taught in the club.
It allows you to effectively learn your way to having a perfect memory. It also allows you to streamline your thought process making it easier to learn and remember things. By storing all information on a specific topic in one place it can allow you to remember everything whenever you need it.
That's how we cover so much. By focusing using occlumency techniques we can read and retain more information over a much shorter period of time. Usually, it only takes an hour or two to get through a textbook for me, so studying more subjects is easier."
"Then why isn't it taught in school?" Hermione whined. Knowing that would have made everything easier.
"It is. Like Draco said, the occlumency club teaches it." Hadrian said, ignoring the whining. "The reason it isn't taught as a full subject is because it is extremely difficult and there isn't a way to test for aptitude or development like OWLs. You can't really grade something that takes place in your mind."
"It can't be that hard." Hermione rolled her eyes. "I'm sure it will only take me a few weeks once school starts again and I join the club. It won't take me the years it has clearly taken the three of you."
"That isn't going to happen." Neville wished the alarm would go off soon. "Occlumency is an incredibly complex art. Even studying it for years we are no where near mastering it. Most never can gain full mastery. Unless you are a natural occlumens, it usually takes a minimum of a decade to master it if you even can.
You can't just learn it through reading. You have to literally build your shield piece by piece. Then create your mind palace. And then, sort through your memories and file each in your chosen location. It takes years just to manage the basics."
Hermione huffed. She was sure she could do it much faster than these idiots. She just needed to have the same opportunities that they did.
"I feel like I learn something new every time I see you." Jean smiled. "You just have so much information."
"You can learn from almost everyone. Did you know for instance, Florean Fortescue from the ice cream parlour has a mastery in medieval history. A lot of the kids will go and get ice cream while they work on their summer history homework because he will help by explaining more in-depth material." Draco smiled.
"That and he will occasionally give them free ice cream so long as they are working on school work." Neville grinned.
"Really?" Jean had always loved that ice cream parlour. "Do you think he would be willing to explain some things to me?"
"Of course, he absolutely loves to talk about anything history related." Hadrian told her. He smiled happily as the alarm he set went off letting him know that they needed to get back to work. "If you will excuse us, we need to get back to work."
"Yes, of course." Howard nodded to each of the boys as they packed up. "Thank you for once again providing us with some interesting information."
The boys all nodded in return and headed off towards the bubble, where they were all working. Hadrian was with the animals, Neville worked with the different types of plants, and Draco was assisting in gathering the ingredients for potions. The three quickly left, pleased as the adult Grangers held the morons back from following.
"He can't do that?" Hermione whined before turning to glare at her parents. "Why did you stop us from going with them? We need to know where Harry is so the headmaster can deal with it."
"Hermione, enough." Jean sighed, she really was getting frustrated with her daughters attitude. "You have no right to try and dictate the life of another person. Hadrian is allowed to do as he pleases, you are not his mother.
And, as was previously stated, this is the summer, you are not at school. Therefore, your headmaster has no control over him, or anyone. Lets finish our shopping, and then we can stop by the ministry and get the information on extra classes the boys mentioned."
Jean could see all three children were annoyed, but she and Howard wouldn't let them go in the direction the boys had. She remembered all those years ago being told about Hadrian Potter. She had been so pleased at the idea that her daughter would help guide the poor young boy down the right path. Now she realized her mistake.
Hadrian didn't need Hermione. In fact, as much as she didn't want to admit it, she thought he was better off without her. He was a smart, polite, hard working young man. Hermione, and her friends, were proving to be the exact opposite. Jean actually wished that Hadrian had been guiding Hermione down the right path.
Shaking her head, Jean looked sadly at her daughter, wishing she could just go back in time. There were so many things she would change if she could.
Peverell Cottage
Albus flooed into the Order's headquarters in the late afternoon. Looking around he saw that James and Severus were already there, waiting for him. "You demanded our presence." Severus stated in a cold voice as soon as he saw the old man.
Albus withheld a growl, he was already annoyed and knew things weren't going to get any better during this meeting. "Yes my boys. I received some distressing news this afternoon."
He had been in his office going over the new plans he was working out when he had been flooed by an irate Molly. It had taken them a bit of time, but Ron and Ginny had eventually managed to get away from Hermione's parents, who had repeatedly blocked them from going to find Harry again, and went home. Hermione had told them to tell their mother about Harry being in the alley as soon as they saw her and to have her inform the Headmaster for them.
Molly had arrived in his office in a fury. Telling him all about how James and Severus were endangering Harry and forcing him to work. She had gone on and on about it before turning her anger towards the Grangers, telling him all about the complete disregard they had for a childs safety. She had then started arguing that they should get Hermione away from people like that since they clearly weren't good enough for her future daughter-in-law.
It had taken over an hour, but eventually Albus had managed to get the woman to leave so that he could arrange this meeting with James and Severus. They needed to keep Harry isolated right now. Didn't they understand they were endangering the boy, and he was still too useful to risk?
Seeing that the two weren't going to respond he carried on. "I heard that you are endangering Harry by allowing him to wander around the alley's without so much as a chaperon."
"And just who told you that?" Severus questioned.
"That doesn't matter." Albus didn't want to bring Molly into this, he knew the men didn't like her. "What matters is that we can not allow this to continue. Harry must be protected. He can't just be allowed to go out unprotected. It would really be for the best for him to move in here so we can ensure that he is protected. It really is for the greater good my boys."
"Albus, I don't know where you got the idea that you are in any way involved in the raising of our son, but you aren't." James said slowly. "Hadrian is our child, and only we can say what he can and can not do."
"You would willingly risk his life?" Albus gave the two men a sad look.
"We have not risked his life. Hadrian has a summer job, like many other students." James said.
"You can't allow that." Albus quickly said. "Voldemort is after the boy. If he finds out something like this he will attack and kill him. We can't allow that. Harry must be kept safe."
"He is safe." James rolled his eyes. "Voldy is still recovering from the failed attack at the ministry, in case you haven't noticed, there hasn't been a single attack since. Not only was he seriously wounded during his duels with Amelia and Regulus, he lost a rather large amount of his more loyal followers. He isn't about to do anything until he replaces those he's lost."
"We have ensured that Hadrian is well protected, but we are not going to make him a prisoner." Severus drawled. "Like James said, the chance of an attack on Hadrian at the moment is minimal. We will not try and make our son spend his life in fear."
"You must see sense." Albus argued. "It is just too dangerous. You must put a stop to this.
I understand that having Harry staying in a secure location might make him a little lonely, but his friends, I'm sure, would be happy to visit. Hermione, Ron, and Ginny are already aware of the existence of the Order so they can easily come and spend time with him to distract him from the danger he's in. We might even be able to tell Neville eventually, once we're sure it's safe."
"No. We are not imprisoning our son." James snapped. "Hadrian is happy and safe, if we thought there was danger we would deal with it, but we are not going to deny him a chance to live his life. Hadrian is happy, and we are not going to stop him from being so.
Besides, Hermione, Ron, and Ginny aren't his friends. They have bullied him and his friends for years. You constantly trying to force them together isn't going to do you any good. Sev and I are both well aware that the only ones who could have told you about Hadrian's job was those three. We will not force him to stay around the kind of people that would spy on him and report every thing he does to you."
"It wasn't the children who told me." Albus twinkled. "It isn't fair to accuse them of something they didn't do."
"Fine, the kids informed Molly and she took the information to you. Just because there was a go between doesn't change the fact that they effectively spied on him." James said with a shrug.
"The children really could be great friends, if Harry would just let them be. They would be a great example of inter-house unity." Albus gave them a sad look.
"We are not going to force Hadrian to be friends with those that stalk and harass him." Severus sneered at the idea. "As for the whole inter-house unity idea, Hadrian doesn't need those three for that. You do realize that he is best friends with a Hufflepuff and a Slytherin. The Hufflepuff is dating a Ravenclaw, while the Slytherin is dating a Gryffindor. Inter-house unity isn't an issue when it comes to our son."
Albus froze momentarily. A Slytherin was dating one of his Gryffindors. He couldn't allow that to continue. More than likely it was that Malfoy brat, and he didn't want him corrupting any of his students.
Unfortunately for Albus, before he could try again to get Harry away from his family and in an isolated place that he controlled, the floo flared green and Molly stepped out. This was not going to go well.
"WELL?" Molly shouted as she rushed towards the two men. "WHAT IN MERLINS NAME ARE YOU THINKING? ENDANGERING HARRY LIKE THAT. HOW COULD YOU BE SO FOOLISH?"
"I beg your pardon?" Severus's tone was icy.
"Allowing that boy to run wild. Putting him in danger by letting him run around in public." Molly's hands were on her hips as she started a long winded rant about just how disrespectful their son was. About how they needed to get him back in line. How they needed to start following the headmaster, and her, advice on how to raise their son. Finishing her rant by going on about how Harry needed to spend more time with her children so he could learn how to be a good person and with Hermione so he could do better in school.
Severus sent James through the floo home as the rant finished, he knew his husband was going to kill the two of them if he remained. He could rely on his occlumency shields to keep his reactions to a minimum. Once his husband was gone he turned on the two Gryffindor idiots.
"That is enough! Neither of you have any right to dictate how we raise our son, you are not involved in his life. Allow me to make this perfectly clear, we will never follow your advice on how to raise our children.
His name is Hadrian. I am sick and tired of having to correct his name for you dunderheads. We will not be changing his name to any you choose. Stop calling him by the wrong name, you are just proving you know nothing about him and are too stupid to learn. What part of the fact that he was called Harry by the woman that kidnapped and then abandoned him do you two not understand. He hates that name, just like he hates anyone who calls him it.
Also, Hadrian isn't running wild, he has a summer job. We actually want our children to grow up to be functioning members of society. That includes understanding that if they want things they have to be willing to work for it, rather than just demanding things like some spoiled brats that I could mention.
As we already told Albus, we are not going to imprison our son. We have ensured Hadrian has every protection we can give him. We will not allow him to live his life in fear or isolation, it isn't healthy for a teenager.
And as to the idea of your children and Granger making Hadrian a better person… I can't even begin to understand where you get that idea. Have you ever met your children. Ronald has absolutely no work ethic and simply demands everything be given to him on a silver platter and bullies anyone he sees as weaker than him. Life is going to hit that boy hard once he finishes Hogwarts. Unless of course you are going to continue to do everything for him and make excuses when things don't go the way he wants.
Hadrian does not need Granger to guide his studies. He does perfectly well without her. He had been in the top five students of his year every year. Not to mention that he got straight O's on his OWLs this year.
And don't even bring up that demented idea of my son marrying your daughter. It will never happen. We raised him to have standards."
"WHAT IS THAT SUPPOSED TO MEAN!" Molly screamed.
"I personally gave your daughter detention three times last year after catching her half naked in closets with boys. And it was never the same boy I should mention. And I know I'm not the only professor to catch her in compromising positions.
You might want to deal with that. She is getting a very bad reputation in the school as a result of her exploits." Severus sneered. "If that is all, I will be going home to my husband and children."
"Severus, my boy." Albus gave him a severely disappointed look.
"Don't even try and make me feel guilty." Severus snapped as he reached the fire. "You are both way out of line. Get it through your thick skulls, Hadrian is not yours. You do not own him, and you can not control him.
It would be best if you just stayed away from him. We want what's best for our son, and you clearly aren't it."
Molly let out a high pitched scream like a tea kettle as Severus flooed away before she could tell him off for being so disrespectful towards her and the Headmaster. She was going to make him suffer for those comments about her babies. They were perfect, sure, they weren't the most responsible or hard working, but they were still just kids.
"What are we going to do about them Headmaster?" Molly whined, turning to the man.
"I'm not entirely sure Molly." Albus sighed as he rubbed his eyes. He wished the woman had just stayed away. "We don't have any way to legally get the boy away from them."
"How dare he imply such things about my baby girl." Molly muttered.
"That is something we need to speak about. He was telling the truth." Albus really didn't want to have this conversation with Molly. "I have done what I can, but Ginny is getting a very bad reputation amongst certain families.
She has been caught with a different boy at least once a month. You need to speak with her about that. She can't keep getting caught in compromising situations like that. It will be a problem for us making a good match for her. Not to mention the risk of pregnancy which I think we would both agree is a very bad idea for her at the moment. Especially if we ever want her to be Lady Potter, she would never be accepted by the other ladies with the reputation she is earning."
"It isn't like they're married yet. She's just having her fun, she's entitled to." Molly brushed away the subject, although she was going to have to make sure her baby girl knew the contraception spell. The only persons child she was allowed to get pregnant with out of wedlock was Harry's.
Thinking, Molly thought it was a good idea. If Ginny got pregnant with Harry's child then he would be forced to marry her daughter even without a marriage contract. She was going to have to talk it through with Ginny.
"Another thing, we are going to need to start calling Harry, Hadrian." Albus sighed. "As much as I wish it were different, we can't risk alienating the boy right now. We need him too much.
Speak with the children and see about getting them in line. It would be better to avoid any more conflict with the boy. We will need to see about finding out where Harr… Hadrian is working and getting Ron, Ginny, and Hermione to go there during the day. Maybe see about them getting jobs in the same place."
"But they're to young to need to work. It's summer. They deserve to have some fun." Molly didn't want her babies to have to miss out on their summer fun, but she also saw the use of having them work, it would give them more money. "I will talk to them about it. But we might need to make arrangements for Hermione. Her parents are planning on taking her to Australia for the rest of the summer."
"I will speak with them. We can't lose her right now." Albus started to make plans on how to deal with the muggles. He needed the girl around, she was the only one that really had any control over the other two.
"Just make sure you speak with the children." Albus really wanted the woman to get control of those two. "I should go and speak with Minerva and the others before the meeting this evening. We can't risk anyone else fighting with James or Severus right now."
Turning quickly, Albus flooed away, not wanting to have to deal with another Molly fit.
Granger House - July 26, 2006
Albus smiled happily as he looked across the living room at the adult Grangers. He had come to visit them about allowing Hermione to stay in England rather than going to Australia with them.
"I really feel it would be for the greater good for your daughter to stay here during the summer." Albus needed the girl.
"We have already planned a family vacation, Hermione will be coming with us." Howard was annoyed. Who did this man think he was? He had no right to try and tell them they should just leave their daughter for a month.
"But daddy." Hermione whined.
"No Hermione. You are coming with us. We are going to meet with some distant relatives, we want you to know your family." Jean argued.
"Tell me Ms. Granger, wouldn't you rather stay here for the summer?" Albus turned to his student.
"Yes, I don't want to go. I would much rather stay here Headmaster." Hermione smiled at the elderly man. She really didn't want to go half way around the world to meet more family.
"There we go." Albus twinkled.
"There we go, nothing." Howard ignored the smiling old man and turned to his daughter. "You are coming with us young lady. We have already made all the arrangements. And, your mother and I do not feel that you are responsible enough to stay home alone."
"I have already spoken with one of my dear friends daughter. Nymphadora Tonks has offered to allow Hermione to stay with her while you are away." Albus had made the arrangements as soon as he had left Molly. Although, they wouldn't be staying at Nymphadora's place, which was currently her parents basement, instead they would be at the Orders headquarters. "Nymphadora spent time working as an assistant professor so she is already well acquainted with Hermione."
"We are not just letting our daughter stay with some person we have never met." Jean was horrified at the idea.
Hermione glared at her parents. "Why must you always be so difficult. I don't want to go with you. I want to stay. What part of that don't you get?"
"I must agree with Hermione." Albus gave the girls parents a sad look, trying to make them feel guilty about denying their daughter. "It really is for the best for her to stay here. It would allow her to continue to study and expand her learning."
"She can study while on vacation." Jean didn't trust this man, something felt off.
"Listen here you demented old man, you have no say in my daughters life." Howard snapped.
Albus turned to his student. "Hermione, I feel that this isn't going to work. I think your parents are just to set in their ways to let you live your life the way you choose.
Would you allow me to cast a few memory modifications so they think they agreed to let you stay? There is no need for them to worry about you not being with them if they think it was their idea."
"That would be perfect Headmaster." Hermione quickly agreed. "Could you also see about making them more agreeable to my point of view. They just never listen to anything I have to say."
"HERMIONE JEAN GRANGER!" Jean was horrified at what her daughter had just said. "How dare you even thing about doing something like that?"
"Get out of my house!" Howard started to move forward to force the man out. "Hermione, you are grounded for the rest of the summer for even considering something like this."
Albus quickly pulled his wand from his robe pocket and stunned both adults. "I really must agree with you my dear, they just don't listen. I will make the modifications. Why don't you go and pack your things. I can drop you off with Nymphadora once I finish here."
Hermione happily made her way upstairs to gather her things. She saw absolutely no problem in altering her parents mind to get what she wanted. They were her parents after all, they should have always been on her side.
Tonks Residence - August 4, 2006
Hermione sat in the living room of the Tonks house going over her notes. While she was living at the Order headquarters, she still had to go to the Tonks house most days. The problem with living in a secured location like the headquarters was that no one could reach you.
When she had visited the ministry with her parents and gone to the education department she had learned that she could get tutors in certain subjects that would raise her OWL grades so she could continue in a subject if she wanted. She wanted to continue to study potions, so she had made her parents get her a potions tutor when they had visited the ministry before they left. When she had spoken with the Headmaster he had agreed that if she could complete the certified summer course he would override Professor Prince and allow her in his NEWT class.
But to complete the course she had to meet with the tutor and work on brewing multiple times every week. Which was why she was at the Tonks's place. She wasn't going to let a professor deny her the education she wanted just because he didn't like her. While she didn't like having to take the course, she would do it just to prove him wrong.
During the past week since her parents left Hermione had finally felt free. She was finally able to do what she wanted, and there was no one that could stop her. It was the best feeling in the world. The only way it could be better was is she was able to use her magic, but she was limited to only the so called magic needed for potions. Hermione thought it was stupid when her instructor had given her the badge that would stop her magic from being traced to brew a potion.
Despite what Professor Prince and this tutor said, she didn't believe that magic was needed to brew. But, she hadn't complained as she had gotten the badge, but the tutor had taken it back at the end of her brewing session.
She was actually enjoying her summer. Most days she would floo to the Lion's Den to spend time with Ron and Ginny. The three of them had finally managed to find out that Harry… Hadrian was working at The Bubble.
The Headmaster and Molly had tried to get him fired, but the staff there seemed to like having someone famous around so they refused. She and Ron had also tried getting jobs there, but had been told all the positions were filled. Now they just went to visit every day she didn't have her tutoring sessions.
During the times the Order met Hermione would be sent outside to play with Ron and Ginny, who Molly would always bring with her. The three would spend the time trying to spy in on the meeting, they didn't like being left out.
The other Order members had been very vocal about the fact that Molly had told the children and that she and the Headmaster had brought the three of them to the cottage. They said that it compromised the security and secrecy.
Hermione didn't agree. It wasn't like they were going to tell anyone anything that they learned. Really, they were more mature than that.
Another thing that Hermione was angry about was Percy. A few days before he had arrived with his father. The Headmaster had requested his presence in an attempt to get Percy to do the right thing. But he had refused. Even worse, before he had left he had pulled his wand and cast secrecy spells on all of them.
Molly had been very vocal about Percy lying to her about his job. She Ron and Ginny had been trying to get him to tell them what he did, while she had been trying to research more about his department and had been asking questions from other people. Percy had been furious since he claimed they were endangering his job.
The spells he had cast would stop them from mentioning him and anything to do with the DOM. It infuriated her, she had just been trying to learn more about his department. It wasn't like they were trying to get him fired. They all just wanted the information he had, and if they had to pressure him to get it, then so be it.
Minister's Office, Ministry of Magic - August 7, 2006
With all the pomp and circumstance done and out of the way, Kensington had gotten right to work. The very first thing he did as minister was to formally invite the military to assist in dealing with Voldemort and the Death Eaters.
They were now in the process of setting up a joint team, working with a few trusted aurors, along with a few Unspeakables that would pass on the information their spy gathered. They were also going to need to set up monitoring positions in strategic locations that would allow them to respond to any attacks that may be coming up.
Thankfully, from what the Unspeakables spy had gathered, there were no attacks being planned. The failed raid on the ministry had forced them back. They had lost far to many people during the attack.
Not only that, but Regulus's plan had worked. The suppression cuff was still on the mans wand arm despite everything Voldemort had done to remove it. According to the spy, who had managed to get to examine the cuff, all the magic Voldemort had used to try to remove it had only served to charge it. That cuff wouldn't be coming off until the end of October, early November, at the earliest. And Voldemort wasn't going to risk doing anything until he was back to full power.
Instead, they were focusing on recruitment. They were having a bit of success, but not as much as they may have hoped. With the invention of the potion to cure the madness in werewolves, and the normalization of their rights, along with the loss of Fenrir, none of the wolves were willing to align with him. They felt that it would just set them back as a species to do so, plus they all already knew Voldemort's views on creatures, even if the man had worked with Fenrir last time.
The only witches and wizards they were really having any success in converting was the children of his followers. And it wasn't like the man could go into battle backed up by teenagers. They were trying to get more adults on their side, but their actions during the previous war had turned so many against them they weren't making much headway.
He had also had to publicly announce that there were no more dementors in Azkaban, and request that if anyone saw any to report it to the ministry immediately. But, before he had even considered making that announcement he had made sure to explain to the public just what the origin of a dementor was. The public had been horrified to learn the truth about it and, once they were told they had all been released by the Unspeakables, they had been pleased.
Much to the surprise of the ministry officials, they didn't get a single Howler of complaint. The staffers thought it might be a first. They got at least one howler over everything they did, even if it was as small as changing the font size on signs.
Sitting at his desk Minister Shacklebolt went over the new paperwork. He was pleased with the way things seemed to be going.
There were now protections in place in case of an attack, and since they still had time before Voldemort would risk ordering an attack, they would be improving the security as time went by. Soldiers were stationed within short distances from all major magical areas so they would be able to get to where they were needed.
One thing he wasn't looking forward to was his next meeting with Albus Dumbledore. The man had shown up in his office the day after the elections and tried to tell him what he was supposed to do. He had actually seemed to think that he had the right to give Kensington orders on what he was to do as minister. Kensington had set him straight before telling him that if he wished for another meeting he would have to schedule it or else face his auror bodyguards and possible arrest.
He was sure that once the involvement of the military got out Dumbledore would once again be back. The man just didn't like not being in control and Kensington knew he would not respond well once he knew the path he had chosen for their country to take.
Molly's Flat - August 19, 2006
Molly was happily sipping her tea in the early evening. While she still didn't fully trust the staff Albus had insisted on hiring to properly manage her restaurant, she had needed a break. And, she was right upstairs for when they realized they couldn't handle things without her.
She was thinking about what she was going to be doing the next day when Ginny slammed into the flat in a huff.
"What's wrong my baby?"
"You need to fix my Gringotts card. And Ron's being mean." Ginny whined as she stormed to her mum.
"What do you mean?" Molly was confused.
"My stupid Gringotts card isn't working." Ginny carried on, tears filling her eyes. "I was at Twilfitt and Tatting's to order a new dress for my upcoming date with Harr… Hadrian. She makes you pay in advance rather than when you actually get the dress and when I went to pay, she said my card was declined for some reason.
I saw Ron at the quidditch shop and asked him to just put it on his card until you could fix mine, but he refused. He said me getting another new dress was a stupid idea. Mummy, make it better, I want my new dress. Make Ron be nice to me and share with me."
"I will speak with your brother." Molly assured her daughter. "What is the problem with your Gringotts card?"
"I don't know." Ginny muttered. "She said something about lack of funds or something. I wasn't really paying attention."
"Lack of funds?" Molly was shocked. That just couldn't be.
Getting up she rushed to the drawer where she kept the childrens bank books. Flipping through, she looked at the accounts Arthur had set up. Each account had less than 20 galleons each since he had stopped giving them their allowance once they had moved in with her full time. Then she opened to books for the account she had had Albus set up for them.
She couldn't believe what she saw. Ginny's account showed that she had less than 10 galleons left. Ron only had 32 galleons left.
Molly couldn't understand it as she flipped through the books. There had been almost 6000 galleons in each account only two years before. How could they have gone through so much in such a short amount of time? It had taken over a decade for that money to save up.
Ginny's books showed almost weekly shopping sprees at clothing shops during each summer. She also bought plenty of treats and things when she was in Hogsmeade during the weekends from school. Ron's money seemed to have been spent on quidditch supplies, candy, and things from Zonko's.
"Mummy." Ginny whined. "You need to go to the bank to fix things. I want that dress.
It's perfect for my date. I don't want to miss out on having it finished for when school restarts."
Molly just stared for a moment. What was she supposed to do? All that money gone, wasted on frivolous things. And, she wasn't making enough from the restaurant to refill the accounts.
"MUMMY!" Ginny shrieked when her mum didn't respond to her immediately.
"What are you on about now?" Ron questioned as he walked through the door, carrying another bag from Quality Quidditch.
"I was trying to get mummy to fix my account, but she has been ignoring me." Ginny huffed as she turned to get a snack.
Looking at the bag in her sons hand Molly looked back at the book just in time to see the balance decrease even further as a new total from the shop appeared.
"What have you two done?" Molly muttered weakly.
"What do you mean?" Ron questioned as he went to start looking through the food for something he wanted.
"Your accounts." Molly all but whimpered.
"What?" Ginny was getting annoyed.
"They're almost empty. How could you two have possibly spent that much money in only two years?" Molly looked to her children for answers.
"What are you on about?" Ginny questioned in confusion.
"You have spent almost every galleon you each had." Molly stuttered out.
"Then just refill it." Ginny rolled her eyes at her mothers dramatics.
"That isn't how it works, Ginny." Molly was still trying to wrap her head around this. "That account was opened when you were a baby. Money was added every month until it reached that much. It can't just be refilled. 20 galleons is added each month for your allowance, and that's it.
That money was supposed to last until you were both finished with school and had your own jobs. Instead you've wasted it."
"It wasn't wasted." Ginny whined, not liking the turn this conversation was taking.
"According to your book you've bought dozens of fancy dresses. Tell me Ginny, when was the last time you wore one of them? You wear your school uniform or a few basic outfits. I doubt you've even worn half of them." Molly demanded, getting angry.
"So what. Once Harr… Hadrian and I are together I'll need dresses for all the parties we will be going to . I'll wear them then.'' Ginny snapped back.
"And you Ronald." Molly turned to her son. "What more from the quidditch store could you possibly need?''
"I got a new pair of gloves for next year." Ron shrugged.
"And just what was wrong with the pair you got during Christmas break? Or the pair you got last summer." Molly glared.
"These ones are the latest type. They come in so many cool colours and have charms on them that will keep your palms from sweating." Ron had wanted them as soon as he had seen them. Just like every other pair that was still sitting, unused, in his room.
"So what are you going to do?" Ginny demanded, she wanted her account fixed.
"There is nothing I can do." Molly glared at her daughter. She just didn't understand why they were behaving like this. "You have spent your money. That's it. I can't just make more appear out of nowhere."
"But mummy." Ginny whined, her eyes filling with tears at the idea of not getting to buy everything she wanted. "I want that dress. Get it for me. Get it for me. Get it for…"
"GINNY!" Molly shouted at her daughter. "I can't just get you what ever dress it is you want. That cost money. Money we don't have since you have spent it all."
"I didn't spend it all." Ginny stomped her foot.
"Look at this and tell me where it's wrong." Molly shoved the girls bank book towards her. It never occurred to her that this was the same argument that Arthur had made so many years before.
Ginny looked at the book and saw the different times she had gone shopping. "So what? I went shopping. That's why you gave me the bank card, so I could shop."
"Yes, well, now the money is gone, so no more shopping." Molly snapped. She was trying to think of ways around this, but couldn't seem to think of any.
Maybe she needed to speak with Albus. He might be able to do something. He had money after all, he should share it with her and their children.
"That isn't fair." Ron finally looked up from his food.
"There's nothing I can do about it. That money is almost completely gone. It isn't going to just reappear. I think next summer we might have to see about getting the two of you a job."
"I don't want to work." Both children whined as they gave their mum horrified looks.
"Well it's the only way you're going to be able to keep spending money the way you two seem to want to." Molly knew she was going to have to put her foot down. She hated having to deny her babies anything, but since Arthur wasn't willing to pay child support, like he should, then she just couldn't afford it.
"You're supposed to be looking after us." Ginny forced tears to start sliding down her cheeks. "Why don't you love us anymore?"
"Hush, baby girl." Molly rushed forward, all anger forgotten, to coddle her daughter. "Of course I love you. We'll figure something out. Don't you worry."
Molly never noticed the smirk her two children shared behind her back.