Chapter 788 - Ch: 10-12

Chapter 10: A Time Traveler's Tale, Part II

AN: Thank you for all of those who have read this story and reviewed. This chapter will include a synopsis of their time at the Merlin Academy of Magic, and then the beginning of their time as curse-breakers/warding experts. I won't go into too much detail about the training and jobs, but I will give a few sections that have some details on them.

The two years at the Merlin Academy of Magic were great for Harry and Daphne. Their courses and studying for courses took nearly all of their time. Harry was taking more advanced courses than Daphne, and his work load was considerably more, but it didn't mean it was harder. Even the Regular Classes at this level were difficult, and were much worse than the Hogwarts NEWT courses in that these courses required much more material in the end.

The Transfiguration Classes including weekly individual training in the animagus transformation for those who had a form and had the ability to use it. One of the first things they learned was how to indentify an animagus and how to help someone who had an animagus form. Neither of the three Animagus Professors promised that a student who had the ability to change into their form would get it. And the students had to sign a contract stating they or their family would not hold the school responsible for anything resulting from the unauthorized use of the animagus form or for not registering the form in the home country of the student.

For Harry and Daphne, this was quite understandable. But they had registered their forms with the Veela Nation as a Dual Citizen of the Veela Nation and the United Kingdom, something their friendship with the Veela Matriarch Council allowed. Since the International Confederation of Wizards recognized the Veela Nation, their animagus forms were legally registered to world-wide standards and they could then hide their forms from the general public in any other nation unless appropriate Law Enforcement Authorities asked them for their registration papers if they were caught as animagi.

But that wasn't an issue. Harry and Daphne had made progress toward their form, and they were still a ways away from completing it by the time they graduated from the Merlin Academy. With meeting their professor once a week as a team, Daphne was the closest, being able to complete most of the transformation. Harry had a long way to go, as he was making progress, and had managed to turn his arms into wings, and, interestingly enough, to change his eyes so he could see better, by the time they graduated.

Both scored relatively well and passed the required exams to receive course credits. Daphne had passed the exit exam with a high enough score to be given certification as a Field Healer, which was a step down from a full Healer, in that she lacked the two years of formal education at a magical hospital. She had also passed the Journeyman Potions Exam, and would be working on her potions mastery.

Harry had passed the Combat Magic, Defensive Magic, and Warding Exams at the Journeyman level. He still lacked a lot of knowledge in those areas, but those were the areas he did best in. He did decently enough in the other areas.

Life in Antarctica was interesting to say the least. Portkeys could be used to travel year round, unlike the Muggles, who could only travel during the summer months in Antarctica, which were winter months in the Northern Hemisphere. With the liberal use of charms, they were able to explore the continent on various field trips, including a couple of week-long camping trips during the school holidays. This made great use of Harry's tent, and Daphne was glad that Harry had decided to bring the tent they'd rarely used before time traveling.

They could also take portkeys to Australia, New Zealand, and Chile for field trips and vacations during the school holidays. Harry had even taken three trips to participate in the International Combat Magic Squad Competition, of which he was the star member after he'd single-handedly defeated the previous team, including the school's top student dueler, during the tryouts. The only catch was they could use nothing illegal or nothing immediately lethal. And there was a set of spells that were illegal to use.

Because Harry had studied goblin battle magic, as well as parseltongue battle magic on his own time, he could use those spells as long as he used analogs to the legal spells that were listed in the rules manual for the competitions. Since Daphne studied healing, Harry helped her learn goblin healing spells since Ragnok had given him permission to teach Daphne since she was a goblin friend.

For the most part, the goblin spells were more powerful and harder to block than their wizard counterparts, and that made Harry and Daphne a well liked duo for the competition team, as each competition team was required to have at least one medic member, and Daphne had won the position by proving she could hold her own while taking care of a patient under fire.

In the end, Harry was the best at Combat Magic in the school and Daphne was the best at potions. They won academic wards for their accomplishments in those areas, including awards for their senior thesis.

Near the end of their time in Antarctica, they took the break between the last two quarters to go to Cairo and interview for positions there. Harry and Daphne were both hired, contingent upon their graduation from the Academy, and Harry would be hired as a Curse-breaker and warding apprentice. Daphne was hired as a Healer and Potions Master Apprentice, as they had chosen to focus on their best skill areas. After all, a good team had a broad range of skills available.

The night after they got their diplomas, Harry and Daphne retreated to their room to rest for their trip to the main Gringotts branch in North Africa. The branch was located in Cairo, Egypt, and was the Middle Eastern Headquarters for Gringotts.

"Daphne?"

"Yes Love," Daphne asked, knowing their room was heavily warded, thanks to Harry.

"You know, I think these two years have been grand, don't you?"

"Yes I do," she said. "Our love life is brilliant, and with that potion I learned, we don't have to worry about me getting pregnant."

Harry smiled and nodded. He was happy that Daphne had found a better contraceptive potion. It had taken both of them to find it, as it had been written in parseltongue, which, surprisingly enough, Harry found could be written by speak to a dictation quill.

Daphne looked over at Harry and wondered why he was reminiscing. Of course, it hit her that he might be proposing. She hid her grin, as she'd been waiting for this since the previous Christmas.

"It is," Harry said, starting to show his nervousness. "The reason I brought it up is that I'd like to make our relationship more permanent."

"How? I already signed the agreement to be your concubine a few months ago."

"Well," Harry said, dropping to one knee and holding out a ring. "I'd like to make you my wife for real, if you'll have me."

Daphne grinned and jumped on Harry to answer him.

The next day, a very happy Harry and Daphne finished packing their trunks. Once they were ready, their trunks were in their pockets and they left to go to the main travel area for their scheduled portkey. Their portkey was scheduled to go before anyone else, as they had a meeting with a goblin in Cairo this very day, as Cairo was several hours behind the local time at the school.

At the departure point, Professor Whiting smiled at the two as she held out the portkey.

"I do hope you'll remain in contact," the woman, who was aware of their true identities, said.

"We'll try, Professor," Daphne said, with a grin. "You know how life is."

"I do," the woman said. "Make us proud at Gringotts. You should be happy they accepted you."

The lovers smiled and accepted the portkey. It activated a minute after they received it, and then they were gone from Antarctica, moving onto a new stage of their life.

The meeting at Gringotts went well, and the two filled out the paperwork required to work at Gringotts. Their status as goblin friends put them at the head of the pile when it came to being hired at Gringotts, and Ragnok's letter to the Gringotts-Worldwide Leadership had not hurt in the least when he told them that the two had allowed Gringotts to earn several hundred thousand galleons in a two year period before being sent back in time to train and work for Gringotts.

After the paperwork was completed, they were sent through the Gringotts Employee Orientation and then sent to the orientations for their respective training programs. The training programs were often conducted together, and Daphne would split her time between the potions department and the healing section of the Gringotts-Cairo Branch. Harry would work as a curse-breaker, as curse-breakers were trained to ward and enchant at the beginning because curse-breaking required knowledge of wards and enchantments.

They would be split up to train for now because of training issues, and they did not like it, but accepted it. And Ragnok had been in contact with them, promising to marry them before they returned to their own time. He would be making arrangements for the wedding, which would take place in about two years after they started training.

For his training, Harry was assigned to a team of curse-breakers investigating the pyramids of Egypt. I was the favorite place to train curse-breakers and warders, as they had to ward their camps against marauding bandits, storms, and muggles, as well as keep the Muggles away from the areas they were exploring. And most of Gringotts' expertise was in this area, though some would be transferred to various branches to serve duties there.

However, the human employees had a lower chance of being transferred to the active branches for their work. Those humans who were allowed to transfer were among the best of Gringotts warding teams in Egypt.

Daphne was assigned to one of the Gringotts Field Hospitals in Egypt that catered to curse-breakers. With her cover identity and the ring on her finger, the wizards were not as likely to try to get in her pants, but she knew it would happen. That was one thing Daphne worried about extensively. She also missed her Harry at night, as she had gotten used to snuggling up to him at night and making love to him several times a week.

At the two year point in their employment at Gringotts, Harry and Daphne were moved to the same camp since they were going to be wed. The orders had come down from high, and both were pleased to get them, as Daphne had worked hard and earned her Healer Certification in a short time to fill a healer vacancy at Harry's camp. She still worked towards her potions mastery, but that was going to take several years anyway, as she had to perform original research to either modify a potion or create a new potion. And quite a few Journeymen in Potions never reached the Mastery stage due to the lack of quality in their work.

Daphne, by this time, had completed her animagus transformation, and happily pranced around the camp as a boar. The men stayed away from her after she had used her animagus form to knock a man down and crush his testicle after he had gone too far and placed his hands on her in an inappropriate place. She didn't get in trouble for that, but her boss had warned her that she should take care not to do that too much. But her reputation had been changed forever that day in the minds of men everywhere. Mrs. Smith was a woman not to be messed with.

It was always a laugh for Daphne when Harry had the odd visit to make love to her. He would come up to her and kiss her, making the men around him cringe in sympathy for what was about to happen to him. But when Daphne not only returned the kiss but drug him to her quarters for two days of almost non-stop love making, Harry was a celebrity for taking on the Bitch Boar and giving her an attitude adjustment, even if it lasted for the time Harry was with her.

Harry, on the other hand, was still working on his animagus form. He had gotten to the point where he could change his arms, legs, and eyes at the same time, but he couldn't make any more changes. There were a few feathers on his chest and back, but he couldn't change his torso into the phoenix body. It was almost impossible for him to do so, and contacting several tutors had not come across any answers for his problems. And he had to change the torso before he could change the head.

Daphne was sad that her Harry couldn't change into his animagus form, but she was glad he was able to enhance his eyesight with a partial transformation. The enhanced eyesight, when combined with his glasses, made it easier for him to stay alive while in the heavily cursed tombs that littered Egypt.

"Smith and Smith," one of the human supervisors said, as he stuck his head in the tent.

"Yes sir," Harry asked.

"You're wanted in the main tent," he said. "Immediately."

The two left their private tent, which was Harry's personal tent, and headed to the large tent that served as the office for the camp manager, Master Breaktooth. They had been working for Breaktooth for about a year, their third year as Gringotts employees.

They got to the tent and Harry called out.

"Sir, permission to enter?"

"Enter," the goblin said.

The two entered and the goblin looked them over for a moment as they stood, waiting for the usual invitation to sit down.

"I called you here to tell you that you are being reassigned," the goblin said. "I know you have only just gotten to this camp, Mrs. Smith, but this order came from up high. A representative of Gringotts-Worldwide is coming to discuss a few things with you, and you will meet them in our Cairo Branch. Your portkey leaves in an hour. You are to have all of your things packed and get back here within the hour."

"Yes sir," the two said.

"Now get to it."

They left the tent and quickly made their way back to their tent. Their travel bags were ready, and all they had to do was to use magic to fold the tent and place it in Harry's bag. Their bag also carried a few items they would use until they could get into their tent again.

Once everything was ready, the two went to the main tent and Breaktooth looked at them critically as he examined a document that was on his desk.

"This came for you, Smith. You're to read it, as the Vice President of Operations, Greenfist, will expect your comments on what he has for you."

"Yes sir," Harry said, accepting the document.

"This is the portkey. If it leaves without you at 19 hours, then you will have a lot of trouble. I will let you go to the employee common tent and leave from there."

Knowing they had been dismissed, the two Gringotts employees left for the tent. Harry opened the document and read it.

"What is it," Daphne asked, trying not to read over his shoulder.

"It's a new contract," he said. "They're offering us a new contract."

"What kind?"

"We're going to be sent to another camp in Egypt after our wedding, where I will serve as an Assistant Team Leader."

"Where at?"

"We're going to the Gaza Camp," Harry said.

"And my position?"

"The same. You're going to be at the Gaza Camp."

"It's the largest field camp in Egypt," Daphne said. "So that means that I can continue my potions studies and work as a healer. You'll be working as a curse-breaker."

Harry nodded. A curse-breaking team generally consisted of four people, a Master, a Journeyman, and two Apprentices. Harry was currently a Journeyman on the verge of being certified as a Master.

"Who is your team leader?"

"I don't know yet," Harry said. "But we will have to renegotiate our contracts."

"This time, we will ask for more money," Daphne said. "Gringotts made thousands of galleons off of your discoveries, letting you get a miniscule half a percent of the find. I want you to negotiate for five percent of the gold and copies of the knowledge."

Harry nodded. Getting five percent would be difficult for him, but it was possible to get. Gringotts would only give such a high value to one of their valued curse-breakers. The five percent would also mean that his base salary would remain the same, about three thousand galleons a year. A curse-breaker could make good money if their team made a lot of good finds. Most curse-breakers made anywhere from five to ten thousand galleons a year, with the best making over twenty thousand galleons in commission each year.

And breaking one set of curses to open one small room in a pyramid could take months of study and careful work. Harry's experience had been that the curses took about two or three weeks to study, and another three weeks to break. But that was for the easier curses that he was allowed to break and learn to reach harder and harder curses. And he had been one of the best on the team, probably due to his education and his sheer power. Having a lot of power was a boon for curse-breakers most of the time. And someone having a lot of power they could control was even better.

In Cairo, the two were escorted to meet with Greenfist. The goblin waited in the office of the Cairo branch president.

"Mr. and Mrs. Smith, it is nice to meet you."

"Nice to meet you too, sir," Harry said, nodding to the goblin. The two stood with their hands clasped behind their back, the standard pose for reporting to a superior.

"Please, have a seat," the goblin said, after a moment to examine the two dressed in business casual robes. "I have come here because of your request to Ragnok," the goblin said. "We have arranged for the two of you to be wed in the Swiss Alps, the same location where your parents were wed, Miss Greengrass. Ragnok will officiate and your account managers will be assigned to witness this. This marriage will be legal according to Gringotts Laws but your Ministry of Magic will not recognize it due to your age and because they require other obligations for a legal marriage to take place.

"As you are time travelers, it will be within your best interests to have a public wedding after you return to your own time and when you are of age in your own time to please your government laws. Do you understand?"

"Yes sir," Harry said.

"Good. Furthermore, I am here to renegotiate your contract as a goblin friend. I do have copies of your original contracts, as they were sent with you. When goblin friends marry, it is our standard procedure to allow you to renegotiate a contract, as you must sign it after we combine your estates under Gringotts laws. The Estates will remain separately named for legal purposes until your official, Ministry-regulated wedding."

Daphne and Harry shared a look. This was their chance to get a better contract as goblin friends. They wouldn't request a time turner, of course, but they would try to find a way to get great fees as well as limit Gringotts' ability to gain control of their estates if they die without heirs.

The negotiations for the new goblin friend contract would take six weeks, and several intense meetings, but the two would get the contract they asked for: rates that were ten percent better than what normal wizards got, Gringotts would receive their estate if there was no will or magical heirs or if Gringotts was left money in the will, and they would have the opportunity to be employed by Gringotts at their discretion.

Their new employment contracts were also increased slightly. Harry would receive the normal base pay for his years of experience, and he would also receive three percent of any find as well as copies of any books and writing that he helped discover. He also had to sign an agreement to not disclose Gringotts Curse-breaking procedures and not to compete directly with Gringotts for a period of ten years after his employment with Gringotts ended. Daphne would receive a pay raise each year, which was normal for a healer and potions master, as the camps had healers who served in both jobs to save money overall. There was not enough work for a Potions Master at every camp, so it was necessary for the healer to have the necessary qualifications to make the potions they would need for their patients.

After the negotiations were ended, Harry and Daphne traveled to the Swiss Alps to get married. The wedding was a simple affair, and they wore traditional wedding robes, as Daphne's family required. Since this was a merger between the Greengrass and Potter families, Greenfist would witness the wedding for Gringotts.

The wedding was short, but Harry and Daphne enjoyed it, as, at the end, they flashed gold, symbolizing their new bond for life. They had used the magical ceremony, and it wouldn't allow for divorce at all. They were bonded for life, though they could live separately, and even have lovers on the side, if that was what they wanted.

But Harry knew he wouldn't need extra lovers. He had Fleur, and Daphne had promised that she would let him include a few more women, either for the long term, or for one night threesomes. But she had to approve of them.

After a month-long honeymoon spent traveling in South America, they returned to Egypt to continue their duties, this time as a magically married couple instead of just acting as a married couple.

When Harry got to Egypt, he found that his team leader was Master Curse-breaker Blackhand, the most revered curse-breaker in all of Gringotts. Surprisingly, the only apprentice assigned to their team was a recent Hogwarts Graduate and new hire named Bill Weasley. Harry smirked as he recognized Bill, and knew that this would be fun. But Bill wouldn't know it was Harry until later.

Over the next several years, Harry and Daphne worked hard. Harry was making thousands of galleons off of his commissions as a curse-breaker, and he averaged about thirty thousand galleons a year, thanks to the finds he and Bill were able to make for Gringotts. When Blackhand was promoted to Site Manager, Harry and Bill were made the only non-goblin curse-breaking team, and they continued to rake in the galleons.

As team leader, Harry received an extra one percent of the find. And he received his mastery from Gringotts as well as the ICW, which recognized the mastery certification. This made his base pay increase to five thousand galleons a year, plus commission.

Daphne completed her mastery in potions, and she received a pay raise as well.

In 1992, they were sent to North America so Harry could work as a curse-breaker and a warding specialist. Daphne worked in the New York branch of Gringotts as a healer and potions master while Harry was based out of the New York branch to work on projects.

He either worked on checking the wards over the vaults, breaking curses on dark items brought in, or on projects customers hired Gringotts to do. With his increasing experience and knowledge, Harry was often tasked to work for the American Department of Magical Affairs, where he worked as a contractor.

Daphne loved that, as Harry was able to learn a lot more while working for the Americans to support their Law Enforcement Division. Legally, instead of working for Gringotts, Harry worked for one of their well-disguised subsidiaries, North American Curse-breaking Associates. The business also provided warding for hire, but that wasn't Harry's job.

He often taught the basics of both subjects to the American equivalent of Aurors and Unspeakables, as they needed to know for their jobs. And he was often in the field, traveling all over America to reinforce wards over National Security Areas such as the White House or Nuclear Missile Silos. As a British National, he was allowed to do this work since he could swear a non-disclosure oath not to reveal the wards he placed or where he placed them.

Doing this work made Harry learn a lot about how modern technology interfaced with magic. During his contract work for the Americans, he received a post-graduate certificate in Technomagic, which was the application of magic to modern technology, and vice versa.

Finally, in May of 1995, Harry and Daphne were released from their Gringotts employment contracts to prepare for their return to their own time, and to help them readjust to England after being absent for ten years.

Overall, their employment with Gringotts had been lucrative, especially for Harry. He had averaged fifteen thousand galleons per year for the eight years as a Gringotts employee. About one percent of that had been paid in income taxes to the British Ministry of Magic since he was a British Citizen. Another half a percent had been paid to the Veela Nation since he was a citizen there as well.

And he had finally completed his animagus transformation about six months previously when he had come across another phoenix animagus who taught him a few tricks to make the transformation easier. It had turned out that Harry had been trying to force his magic to change him when it should have been a more subtle approach to will his magic to change instead of forcing it to happen.

He had happily learned how to use his animagus form from his fellow animagus, and Daphne was pleased to have a new way to travel since he had mastered flash traveling with a passenger.

So, after their time in America and working for Gringotts had come to an end, the happy couple decided to spend the next month touring the magical areas of Eastern Europe, as they hadn't been there before. This would allow them to send out feelers to find out what was going on, and Eastern Europe was known as a hotbed for blood-purists, as they got a lot of support in that area. And there was the warding contract Harry had gotten through Gringotts: he was going to help ward the dragon sanctuary in Romania.

After checking in through customs in Romania, the couple made their way for the hotel for a night of love making and rest. After all, they would have to give this up when they returned to Hogwarts.

Chapter 11: Romanian Contract

Harry sighed as he looked around the Dragon Preserve. This was not his type of work. At least Daphne was enjoying her work helping the Preserve's Potions Mistress do her work. The two were quite a pair, and had been for the past weeks since Harry and Daphne had arrived.

Harry was currently walking with a team of dragon handlers and warding experts, as they had to go into the preserve itself with the ferocious beasts to check on the ward stones that held the magic of the entire wards. If these stones went down, then the entire preserve would be without wards, meaning the dragons could leave and the Muggles would be able to see the dragons.

This was the last part of the warding for Harry, and this entire contract would be worth thirty thousand galleons for Harry alone, not including the rest of the warding team, most of whom were employed full time by the owners of the preserve.

As they approached the warding stone, Harry froze as he felt a tremendous source of magic. He waved his hand and the entourage stopped, with some of the warders, mostly those hired through other sources, nervously looking around.

"What's going on," Charlie Weasley, one of the escorting handlers, asked.

"Charlie," Harry said. "Why is there a lot of ancient magic?"

"Ancient Magic?" Charlie asked, frowning. "I don't know what you're talking about."

"It does feel like a pyramid," one of the warders said, looking around. "It's not Egyptian Magic, but something more powerful."

"Something that predates Ancient Egyptian Wards," Harry said, as he looked around with his mage sight. He extended his senses, finding out that his animagus form was the reason he had mage sense. He closed his eyes and extended his aura until it was in the near visible range. If he had his eyes open, he would have seen the Dragon Handlers and the other warders look at him in awe for the sheer amount of magic pouring off of him.

With his eyes closed, he could sense magic much better. It was as if he had another set of eyes. Strangely, he could see the landscape's magic, and could see the sources of radiating magic. He turned until he found the source of the magic. It was a cave in the mountains.

"What's that cave," Harry asked.

"There are no caves there," Charlie said. "The warding stones are in that cave," he added, pointing in a direction that was ten degrees east of where Harry currently looked.

"There's a major source of magic if it's not a cave," Harry said. "But with my experience, it's a hidden place."

"How," one of the warders said. "How in the name of Merlin can you do that, James?"

"It's a secret," Harry said, with a smirk. "I want to examine it after we check the warding stones."

"Do you think it's dangerous to leave the source of magic there?"

"No. It has been there for several centuries at the least," Harry said. "It wasn't made recently, and it is very powerful."

"Why wouldn't we feel it," Charlie asked. "We come through here all the time when handling dragons."

"I don't know," Harry said. "But you may not be in tune with this type of magic. I can almost assure you anyone who has gone to Egypt to break curses, such as your brother Bill, would be able to sense this magic. Without that kind of sense, you don't make it a year, much less make it to team leader like your brother did."

The redhead shrugged his shoulders, and Harry continued on, following Charlie to the small cave that held the central warding stone. Harry stopped at the entrance to the cave and took out his wand. He cast several detection spells to be safe and he nodded in satisfaction when the results came to him. The cave was protected by several wards like the plans indicated. These wards would be temporarily disabled while they went in to check the primary warding stone with the Preserve's Chief Warding specialist, a former Gringotts Curse-breaker.

Two hours later, the warding job done, Harry and Charlie headed toward the cave. The others went back to start the beer drinking early.

"I've heard quite a bit about you from my brother," Charlie said. "He said that you helped him learn curse-breaking as a team leader."

"Yes," Harry said. "He's a great guy, though sometimes can't hold his drink."

"What do you mean? We Weasleys can always hold our drink."

"Well, he had the bad idea to flirt with my wife," Harry said, with a raised eyebrow. "Wondering hands left him in the hospital in Cairo for about a week when she got done with her punishment."

"You didn't do anything?"

"And risk being punished myself? No thank you," Harry said, as his alert eyes scanned the area. "Wait here."

Charlie nodded and turned his attention away from the mountain. They were in a safer area of the preserve, but there were still dragons who could make it in this area if they really wanted to. They were rarely seen here, but it didn't mean one wouldn't try to find them.

While Charlie watched for dragons, Harry used his wand to get a feel for the magic. He just held his wand out and let his senses take over. Sometimes, the wand was a good conduit of magical energies from the environment. It was one of the methods Harry chose to use since he had good magic senses. His self-preservation wouldn't allow him to cast spells or even touch an area with unknown magic until he was sure it was safe to touch.

With a practiced eye for detail, Harry slowly memorized what his senses were telling him. With magic this powerful, there was no need to get hasty and try to hurry through something. This could easily take weeks or months to figure out a safe way of breaking the curse.

Harry didn't have months. He only had three weeks before he had to be in London. And after that, there would be no way in hell he could escape from the watchful eye of the Order of the Phoenix, or what remained of it. And Molly Weasley would, no doubt, attempt to corral him in a place she deemed safe and take over ordering him around like Dumbledore used to do.

An independent Harry would not stand for it, and he would have to speak with Sirius and Arthur Weasley about controlling Molly's authoritative urges so that she realized that Harry wasn't one of her children she could order around.

But that wasn't now, and Harry returned his full focus and thoughts onto the matter at hand. When he opened his eyes, he withdrew his notebook and the miniature dictation quill. This quill was enchanted to read his thoughts, and only his thoughts, so he could write down notes on things without speaking.

He touched his wand to the small notebook and then began to replay his thoughts and observations about the magic. When he was done, he closed the notebook and placed it back in his pocket, done for now.

"What was that," Charlie asked, having seen his notebook.

"That's my warding notebook," Harry explained. "I use it to write down my ideas for warding."

"Why didn't you use a quill?"

Harry smiled.

"It's got an auto quill that is enchanted to work off of my thoughts when my wand activates it," Harry said. "I'm done for now," Harry said. "Let's get back to camp."

"Aren't you going to enter it?"

"You never enter a new area until you've had time to study it," Harry said. "Definitely not when dealing with powerful ancient magic like this. I want to consult a few of my notes and a few books I've found during my time as a curse-breaker."

"When do you think you can enter it?"

"It could be quite a while," Harry said. "My wife and I have appointments in the West we cannot miss, and I won't be around after August 30th."

Charlie nodded.

Over the next week, Harry studies his notes, books on ancient magic, and went back to study the area. It had garnered quite a bit of interest, and Harry was told that he would be paid handsomely if he could open the area and find out what was in it.

Several of the others who had been hired refused to stay beyond this just to study some ancient magic when they didn't know if it held anything of value. Harry, on the other hand, knew that something valuable was there, even if it wasn't gold or jewels. Sometimes, knowledge was a value all its own, and he had come to love learning.

And something with these powerful wards was very important in the scheme of things.

So far, he'd narrowed down the wards of a type that Merlin was thought to have used. There were few examples of wards that came from Atlantis, and Harry suspected this was one such ward. He had never seen one, of course, but he was familiar with the magic type. It was a defensive ward for sure, as defensive wards had a similar feel.

Each type of magic had a distinct feel. But each spell could feel slightly different in another area of the world due to the way magic flowed through the Earth's crust and atmosphere. Older magic had a different feel than younger magic, and it wasn't known if that was because of the construct of the magic or the age of the magic.

At night, when he wasn't studying the magic, Harry was studying his wife's lovely body, and enjoying ravishing it. She enjoyed it as well, and she knew he had a potentially great find: he'd always have more endurance when he was excited about something he was studying. It was strange that way, but Daphne loved it when he was breaking curses or studying warding. His excitement would lead to fantastic love making when he was around her. Not to mention she excited him that way quite a bit too.

With a week to go, Harry felt he was ready to try to enter the ward. He felt that it was an intent-based ward, and he wanted to test it out. Daphne insisted that she go along with him, just in case. And she lugged a bag full of potions and other medical supplies.

The dragon handlers and other warders went with them to protect Harry as he worked, and to assist him when possible.

At the ward site, Harry, for some reason, held out his hand and touched the magic, to the shock of everyone else. He had always said that it was dangerous to just touch magic, and Daphne was ready to ear bash her husband for his stupidity, should he survive.

But they were shocked into silence when a door shimmered into being in front of where Harry stood. The young man examined the door closely and then disappeared inside it. The door shimmered closed again, making Daphne swear.

The other curse-breakers attempted to do what Harry did, but they were thrown away from the area. They weren't hurt, but were quite shaken up at the negative feelings the wards gave them.

It was three hours before Harry returned. And during those three hours, Daphne was biting her nails and planning on kissing her husband before she bashed his ears for making her worry so much.

When Harry felt the door open, he felt his magic come into contact with the magic of the ward. The ward seem to think he was an old friend, and he entered the door after seeing something on a table. He turned when the door shimmered shut, and looked around while his wand was pointed at the ground, in a ready position, yet not in a threatening position until he knew what he was dealing with.

He closed his eyes to let his senses out, and the magic had an entirely different feel than it did earlier. It no longer was potentially dangerous. It was if this magic was an old friend. Harry smiled. To him, magic was an old friend. He didn't try to force magic to do anything, nor did he think magic served him.

Magic and wizards were mutually supportive. Wizards supported and protected magic, while magic supported and protected wizards when necessary.

Harry opened his eyes and continued to slowly move forward. He reached the table and saw a book was on it. The book was laid in the center of the table, almost as if it was an altar of some sort. The table was plain, and there were no other items in the cave. And he knew the cave was man-made centuries ago.

Instead of touching the book, he held his hand out over it to test to see if it was cursed. The book held powerful magic, but it wasn't anything that was dangerous. It was as if the magic recognized Harry as the proper owner of the book.

Surprisingly, the book, upon inspection, seemed to be well-kept. The binding and parchment made it quite old, possibly dating back to the Founders of Hogwarts or even before, from Harry's practiced eye. On a whim, he opened the first page of the book.

He read the first page and was shocked. He shook his head to clear it and then read the first page again.

Dear Reader,

This book is a book of great power. It contains a list of all of the magic I have managed to write down before my death. Magic users, as I write this, are slowly dumbing down magic and outlawing spells of great power they cannot use. The contents of this book contains many spells that are illegal in my day. 

This book is in a protected place, and I suggest that you leave it, as only those pure of intent and pure of heart may enter. Only those with the ancient magical abilities may even open this book. Currently, only those shifters with a phoenix form are powerful enough to use this magic.

Anyone who gains a phoenix form has the ability to use ancient magic as my ancestors used before an evil wizard and their greed destroyed my ancient homeland of Atlantis. To assist you in studying this book, you should make a copy and key it to yourself using the spell on the next page. Once that is done, leave this cave and anyone who witnessed you enter the cave shall forget you entered it unless you can trust them with your secret. 

Please study and use this magic well. 

May Magic Continue to serve you well and you serve her.

Merlin

Harry was definitely in shock now. This was a book written by Merlin himself. He turned the page and spent some time studying the spell on the page. The next three pages taught him how to use a wand to use the spell, and how to properly use the spell to copy the book. It was the only spell that could get through the ancient protections on this book and many more, giving Harry an idea of how to copy books that he wanted from Hogwarts.

After all, with his experience and education, Hogwarts would be easy for him, and he would have plenty of spare time to study things that caught his interest. Things such as Ancient Magic.

With an expert wave of his wand, Harry had a copy of the book. This copy looked like a book directly from a printer, and he grinned. This would be a great way of giving him copies of old books to protect them. And the spell could be used on any form of written record, making an exact copy of it in book form. If he could modify this spell, then archivists and those who study magical ruins would be able to copy entire walls with a wave of their wand and then have a concise book to read.

Harry got caught up in reading the book that he realized three hours had passed.

"Shit," he muttered. "Daphne's going to kill me."

With that, he pocketed the book and exited the cave. The door shimmered and disappeared. From the looks on everyone's faces, all but Daphne, they had forgotten what happened.

"What happened," she whispered to him. "They don't remember."

"I'll tell you later," Harry said. "There was an amazing find. I'll keep it for us."

Daphne grinned, and, soon, they were on their way back to the main camp, where the warders and dragon handlers were cursing at the lack of a find. To them, it had turned out to be nothing but magic bleeding off from a ley line they had not known of before.

In their tent, Daphne looked at the book in shock. She could read the book, and the note had changed to tell her that she could only read and study the book, not use the magic. At least not use it at this time. With Harry's help, Daphne would begin to change the spells and rediscover ancient spells, at least weaker ones, that made certain things much easier. It was a task the Slytherin very much wanted to do. Not to mention it would make them famous for rediscovering and modifying ancient spells so they could be used by the common wizard.

With a laugh, Daphne looked up at her husband, who was engrossed in his own copy of the book.

"Harry?"

"Yes dear?"

"You know, Granger would probably have multiple orgasms if you let her even see this book."

"I know," Harry said, chuckling. "But she can't see it. I'll let her in on a few books I've gathered over the years."

"The ones that aren't family books?"

"Yes," Harry said. "And this is…"

"A Family Secret," Daphne said, together with Harry. With both of them saying it together, magic flashed to recognize the command by the Lord and Lady of the House, and the book was named a Potter-Greengrass Family secret. That meant no non-family member could see it without the joint permission of Harry and Daphne.

Daphne and Harry shared a look, and the books were shut gently and placed on tables right before the two lunged at each other in giddiness over the book. Surprisingly, the two could become excited at things such as seeing rare tomes and it led to a very active sex life, especially after Harry had discovered a parseltongue book covering sex magic they could do.

For the next three days, those who wondered by the Smiths' tent muttered 'lucky bastard' or things like that. Harry and Daphne hadn't been seen for three days and those who wondered by could hear loud moaning, religious epithets, various swear words, and other loud noises of joy.

Charlie Weasley was one of those, and he frowned as he thought about this. The couple was quite active, and he was quite jealous of James, who was a good friend of both Bill and himself. Charlie had also heard about how a Mr. Smith had spent a day in Diagon Alley and destroyed a Death Eater hunter-killer team using rare magic. Obviously, to him, it was this very man, as he and his wife had disappeared for a couple of days around the time the Death Eater attack had occurred.

With that knowledge in mind, Charlie wanted to ask him about what he was doing and why he did that to the Death Eaters. And, of course, he would send word that the man and his wife were staying in Romania. But then there was the deal with Dumbledore. Charlie wasn't so sure about how to deal with things now that Dumbledore was gone.

The Order of the Phoenix had essentially collapsed, though there were a few like McGonagall and Flitwick who continued to organize people to watch over certain areas. Without the Aurors, it was impossible to get a good force for anything, as Mundungus Fletcher had been booted from the Black Manor for attempting to steal things.

Charlie knew that, and he knew that his job was important in Romania. He would want to help out when he could, but it was quite impossible for him to do much while in Romania. The best he could do was to keep an ear open for how the locals and other dragon handlers viewed the war.

Most of them didn't like Voldemort at all, but didn't want to get actively involved in the fight in England. But if it came here, Charlie knew that there would be quite a few who would defend the Dragons. There were a handful here who Charlie didn't trust at all, as they seemed to be blood purists.

As he entered his post for the day, Charlie shook his head to clear it. It was dangerous to have his mind on something else.

When Harry and Daphne showed their faces, both looked quite satisfied. The couple had come out the day before they were returning to Western Europe, and they went to the dining hall to eat with the dragon handlers one last time.

Charlie smiled at his friend as he sat down.

"So, how was your break?"

"It was brilliant," Daphne said, with a bright smile. "James has the best endurance I have ever heard of and he's even shagged two pureblood Veela into a stupor before. In one night."

Charlie looked at him incredulously.

Daphne saw Harry smile and nod.

"It's true," he said. "I would swear an oath on it."

Charlie's eyes went wide, as did those of the others who heard it. And the male dragon handlers had a new role model.

"And how long did he last in the past few days," one of the more ribald men asked.

"He lasted long enough to give me multiple…."

Most knew what Daphne was going to say, but her words were drowned out by an explosion. Everyone jumped up, wands in hand, to see what was going on.

Harry immediately extended his senses with his eyes open. It wasn't as accurate, but it was safer for him.

"Death Eaters," Harry hissed. "And the Dark Bastard is with them."

A shiver of fear went down the spines of the Dragon Handlers as a group of Death Eaters burst into the room, only to have their remaining parts sprayed onto their friends and the walls when Harry and Daphne unleashed a hail of blasting spells.

The other Death Eaters were shocked, but one of them recognized Harry immediately.

"It's Smith!" he yelled. "AVADA…"

Before he could finish, the man gurgled as he had a nice hole in his throat from Daphne's wand.

"Do not attack my husband," Daphne hissed, in an angry voice.

With that, the two went toward the Death Eaters, firing off a barrage of spells that would take several curse-breakers a week to identify and remove from certain, still living, Death Eaters.

Twenty minutes later, all of the Death Eaters were down for the count. Most of them were dead, and Voldemort himself had fled when James had hit him with a bone breaker, destroying his right arm and removing his wand hand with a cutting spell. James bent down and took the wand for safe keeping, knowing it was a nice thing to have.

The Dragon Handlers, few of whom got injured in the fight, looked at Harry and Daphne with awe. Charlie knew he had a report to send in to his brother and the Order of the Phoenix, as Moody had told them to report any intelligence to the Order so it would be passed on to Sirius, who was leading the search for Death Eaters.

None of the dead or captured Death Eaters were Inner Circle Members. Those had positively fled when Voldemort had been wounded and used his emergency portkey.

When the local authorities arrived, the Law Enforcement boss looked at Harry and Daphne with a nod after hearing what they had done.

"Good job," the man said, in heavily accented English.

"Thank you," Harry said, in slightly accented Romanian. The man smiled at Harry and started to question him in his native language.

Once the interviews were completed, Harry and Daphne knew they had to leave. It was time for them to leave, and they would use the goblin portkey to get to England.

"Charlie?"

"Yes James?"

"If you report this to your friends in the Order of the Phoenix, let them know that I will not work for a bunch of housewives and gossips. If they want my help, then they will arrange for me to have Auror status in the UK. Oh, by the way, your occlumency shields aren't worth shit."

With that, Harry and Daphne left a shocked Charlie Weasley standing at the portkey point.

Upon arriving in England, Harry and Daphne sighed with relief. They could become themselves again and Harry took out another portkey, holding it out to Daphne. This one would take them to one of the houses the goblins purchased for them in Scotland.

Several portkeys later, they were in the house and resting after a long battle.

That night, the Order of the Phoenix, or what was left of it, met with Charlie, Bill, and the Aurors at Grimmauld Place. They were going to discuss the latest information that Charlie had said he wanted to give them.

"Weasley, what is it you wanted to tell us," Moody asked.

"As you know," Charlie began. "Mr. and Mrs. Smith have been working at the Romanian Dragon Preserve. Mr. Smith is an expert curse-breaker and warder, and former Gringotts Employee. Mrs. Smith is a Healer and Potions Master. Both of them were in Egypt and Mr. Smith was Bill's team leader for at least a year."

Bill nodded.

"Why didn't you let us know this earlier," Sirius asked Bill.

"I didn't think about it," Bill said, sheepishly. And he didn't want to admit that he was too busy admiring Fleur's nice bum.

"This information would have been useful when we were trying to figure this Mr. Smith out," Moody said. "Ok, Weasley, go on."

"Well, Mr. Smith is the best warder I've ever seen. And he has magic senses that I've never seen a human have before. Or at least one I can verify. He was able to sense a magical ley line that none of the dragon handlers, in the decades of work there, have found. Further, he was able to detect wards quite easily and charge them up, as well as repair them."

"What happened today, Weasley?"

Charlie snorted. "Mr. and Mrs. Smith seemed to want some time alone, so they sequestered themselves for three days in their tent. Today, they came out to eat dinner with us.

"During dinner, we heard an explosion and Mr. Smith sensed Death Eaters and You-Know-Who were there. Before the Death Eaters could come in and attack us, Mr. and Mrs. Smith hit them with all sorts of blasting spells, killing five and fatally wounding six before anyone knew what they were doing.

"A short duel later, and ten more Death Eaters lay dead or dying, and four more were seriously wounded. The Inner Circle Death Eaters were around You-Know-Who, and he attacked them. He couldn't stand up to Mr. Smith, who hit him with a bone breaker and also cut off his wand hand. Mr. Smith has custody of You-Know-Who's wand."

The shock in the room was palpable. Before Sirius could say something about destroying evidence, a black phoenix appeared.

"A Royal Phoenix," Charlie said, in awe, as the phoenix trilled to greet Fawkes, who had arrived at the meeting.

The phoenix stopped in front of Sirius and held out a letter, as well as a small package. Sirius checked the package with spells and then opened it. A wand fell out as he read the letter.

"This is You-Know-Who's wand," Sirius said. "The strange thing, this letter is in Harry's hand writing. It seems he has been training under the direction of Mr. and Mrs. Smith all summer."

"What is in the bottle," Molly Weasley asked.

Moody took one look at it.

"It's a copy of a memory," the grizzled Auror said. "Black, what does the letter say?"

"This memory contains Mr. Smith's view of the battle. The view his wife said was not different and they decided to send this one to me so it could help me with the investigation."

"We should watch…"

"This is evidence," Sirius said, shaking his head. "Moody and I will examine it and then we will decide who gets to see it. I'm sure Minister Bones will need to see it tomorrow, and I want to prepare for her. And I will take this wand in for forensics testing. Then we will destroy it."

"Shouldn't Harry destroy it," Tonks asked. "After all, he did lose his parents."

"Lass," Moody said. "We don't want to risk a Death Eater getting their hands on the wand. So we will do the testing right here and I will go and get Ollivander for the correct identification of the owner of the wand. Obviously, if it is You-Know-Who's wand, then he will be able to sense it."

There were nods of acceptance, and the Royal Phoenix disappeared, his job done. Fawkes also disappeared, going to stay with the Royal Phoenix.

Chapter 12: Telling Sirius

AN: Thank you for those of you who have reviewed and read the story. Your comments are definitely appreciated.

Minister of Magic Amelia Bones grunted when she saw the face of Sirius Black in her office first thing. This was the usual for her, and he briefed her every morning about Death Eater activity as well as the Ministry's own investigation into said Death Eater activity.

This morning, when she saw Sirius with a pensieve, a wand, and a sealed report, she took note.

"What happened last night, Sirius?"

"Minister…"

"Call me Amelia," the woman said, as she poured herself a cup of steaming tea.

"Amelia, Mr. Smith was at it again yesterday. You heard about the attack in Romania?"

The Minister nodded as she sipped her tea.

"Last night, Mr. Smith sent me a copy of his memory of the event as well as Voldemort's wand."

"His wand," Amelia choked. "That's You-Know-Who's wand?"

"It is," Sirius said. "We have already run forensics on it, and Mr. Ollivander has agreed that this wand belongs to Voldemort, or Tom Riddle, the name he went by when he purchased the wand. Today, I want to destroy the wand before someone gets it in their mind to steal it."

"Very well. Let's destroy it. But I want witnesses. I want Moody, Shacklebolt, and Tonks here to witness the destruction of the wand."

"We can do that after we conclude our meeting," Sirius said. "First, this is a copy of our report on the attack in Romania. We have various eyewitness accounts, and the Romanian Ministry has sent in their own investigative notes on the matter."

"And their conclusion?"

"It was a clear cut case of self-defense for Mr. and Mrs. Smith," the animagus said. "I also have a clear reference that Mr. and Mrs. Smith are former Gringotts employees. Bill Weasley used to work with Mr. smith in Egypt as a curse-breaker. Mr. Smith was his team leader and has a Mastery in Curse-breaking, a Mastery in Warding, and a Mastery in Combat Magic, with his education at the Merlin Academy of Magic. His wife, Rose Smith, is a fully certified healer and potions mistress. She, too, graduated from the Merlin Academy, and had her Journeyman's in Potions upon graduation.

"The two of them are credited with this list of Death Eaters captured, Dead or Alive."

Amelia went over the list. There were no names that were familiar to her as being Death Eaters.

"New recruits?"

"We believe so," Sirius said. "For the most part. There were no Inner Circle Death Eaters captured or killed as far as we know. Some were wounded when I looked at the memory."

"Let me see the memory. How long is it?"

"Less than five minutes from start to finish," Sirius said. "And we have no idea why the Death Eaters were there, as nothing was missing, and they did not penetrate the Main Dragon Compound before they were defeated."

Once Amelia finished the memory, she nodded.

"That's a great skill to have. I wish I could get those two to work for me as Aurors. They're more than capable of hunting down any level of Dark Wizard from what I've seen. And the magic they used is incredible. I don't think I've seen anyone other than Albus or You-Know-Who to use silent magic in that way."

"I agree," Sirius said. "What do you want to do about this?"

"I say we reward them," she said. "Send them a combined check for the bounties on the heads of the Death Eaters. That's a thousand galleons a head for the underlings."

Sirius nodded and made a note.

"I will have it done, Amelia."

"Good," the woman said. "Is there anything else going on?"

"We have no other intelligence, other than the standard rumors of recruiting in various countries around the world. The Americans are cracking down on the extremists in their country after a terror attack they managed to disguise as an accident."

"What happened?"

"An airplane went down, killing over three hundred," Sirius said, sadly. "It was determined that a group of magical terrorists attempted to hijack the aircraft, but the aircraft's electronics failed and the terrorists apparated off of the airplane before leaving it to go down. The pilots were stunned and the aircraft flew into the ground with all aboard."

"Make a note to offer the Americans any intelligence we have on the perpetrators," Amelia said. "They're offering us evidence on the Death Eaters, so we should reciprocate."

"I will do that when I meet with the American Law Enforcement Liaison today."

The Minister nodded, and then her morning briefing went on.

When Harry awoke, he saw Daphne lying peacefully in the bed. He smiled at her sleeping form and knew that he wanted to do this many more times. But with the two of them going back to Hogwarts, primarily to keep up appearances, they wouldn't be able to wake up in the same bed for quite a while. At least Harry would be able to have Fleur with him, as she was one of his concubines. Daphne didn't mind too much. She just told Harry that she had to approve every girl he had something going on with.

But for Harry, all he needed was Daphne. He wouldn't be seeking to add any more girls as concubines. And if Fleur wanted to be released from the contract, he would do so.

Daphne moved around and Harry looked over at her as her beautiful eyes opened.

"Good morning," Harry said to her.

"Good morning," Daphne said, with a sleepy smile on her face. "Are we ready to face the music yet?"

"Not yet," Harry said. "I told Sirius we would meet him at the Ministry for lunch."

"Good," Daphne said. "It gives us time to get more acquainted with each other."

Harry smiled at Daphne and she held out her arms to him.

At lunch, Harry and Daphne were dressed in normal clothes. Their runic bracelets were in their pockets, just in case, and they had decided to have them with them at all times. Their things were in their pockets, as Harry wanted to keep his safe house hidden from everyone. If people knew of it, then it wouldn't be a safe house. And he didn't trust many people with his life or the life of his wife. Of course, he would give Fleur the secret of the house so she could get there if she had to, or even if she wanted to.

No one else would know the secret right now, unless Harry decided it was in their best interests to let Sirius know so he could get into the house. After all, Harry had heard rumors that the old Black Manor was under the Fidelius Charm. He wondered where the rumors had started, but decided to let Sirius know about the rumors so he could take care of it. If there were rumors, then people who remembered the nearby locations of the manor would be able to find it eventually.

Harry knew that because the Ancient Egyptians often used their version of the Fidelius Charm to hide things in tombs. And Harry was able to deduct the location of the hidden areas. It was what made him such a good curse-breaker.

When they got to the Ministry, they waited at the entrance for Sirius. They didn't need to get into the deep part of the Ministry for meeting Sirius.

While waiting, Harry and Daphne stood in an alert posture, and Harry noted several Aurors standing guard at the entrance. Some of them looked his way, and Harry felt it was because he was famous, and because the papers had mentioned he was missing.

Harry saw Sirius coming up and the man grinned upon seeing his godson.

"It's good to see you, Harry."

"You too, Sirius," Harry said. "May I introduce you to my fiancé, Daphne?"

Sirius started a hacking cough as Daphne gave Harry a sly grin.

"Fiancé," Sirius asked.

"Yes," Daphne said, holding up her left hand with the ring. "We decided it was easier for us to do this rather than let some stuck up pureblood use the old laws to claim me and my family estate."

"I see," Sirius said, looking Daphne over. "Are you aware that…"

"Yes, we're aware the press will find out," Daphne said, shrugging. "And Harry and I purchased the Daily Prophet and I already own Witch Weekly, so I'm sure the coverage will be favorable and not filled with lies. Either that or my solicitor will have a fun time making more money. He works off of commission and he really knows his laws against libel and slander."

Sirius gave a barking laugh as the reporters nearby seemed to shrink a bit. It was an obvious warning shot across the bow for the press.

"Let's get out of here," Sirius suggested, holding out a portkey.

Harry nodded and took the portkey. Daphne held her hand out as well, and they disappeared from the Ministry of Magic lobby.

Upon landing, Harry looked around and found they were in the Shrieking Shack. Sirius grinned.

"I'm not stupid," he said. "But let's eat dinner with Madam Rosmerta. She has a private room ready for us."

"I didn't think she had private rooms," Harry said.

"The Hogwarts students don't get them," Sirius said. "Besides, I've been one of her better customers."

Harry smirked as they saw Fleur.

"Hello, Fleur."

"Hello, Harry," the Veela said, with a bright grin. "Going for lunch?"

"Yup," Daphne said. "Join us."

"Sure," Fleur said, with a smile. "Is that a…"

"Engagement ring? Yes," Daphne said, holding up her left hand.

Fleur grinned at Harry and then looked closer at the ring.

"Well," She said. "How does that affect my status?"

"You can continue to remain as Harry's concubine as long as you wand," Daphne said.

Sirius and another man nearby started to cough from the shock. Sirius looked at them wide eyes.

"You mean…"

Fleur held up the traditional concubine choker, complete with the Potter Crest.

"I did this so those fools here wouldn't use the old laws to claim me," Fleur said, with a wink toward Sirius. Sirius smiled and nodded. He also realized there was a large chance that Fleur had done that just because she wanted to be with Harry one way or another. From looking at Daphne, it was obvious to her as well.

As for Harry, he seemed slightly oblivious to everything, and it wasn't because of the Veela Charm.

"Let's go eat," Sirius said.

They were soon in the Three Broomsticks and had the meal. Sirius put up privacy charms and Harry put up a few more to Sirius' raised eyebrow.

"Sirius, Fleur, I need to tell you a few things. A few Potter Family secrets."

"I, Sirius Orion Black, swear on my magic and life that I will not betray the Potter Family Secrets," he said.

Fleur nodded and held up the choker.

"The Family Magic will hold me to it anyway," She said.

"The first secret is that Daphne and I aren't just engaged."

"We're married," Daphne said, with a bright smile.

"Married," Sirius choked.

"Magically," Harry added. "But not legally."

"Ah," Sirius said. "Who officiated at the wedding?"

"Greenfist."

"The President of Gringotts-Worldwide?"

"Yes," Harry said. "Except he was the Vice President at the time."

"How?"

"You used time travel," Fleur said. "Isn't that illegal?"

"We used the Goblin Nation's time chamber," Harry explained. "It's not illegal, but its frowned upon."

"You're right," Sirius said. "What did you do?"

"I think if I told you that my nickname during this is James Smith?"

"And I'm Rose Smith?"

Sirius looked at them wide eyed and then he gave a hearty laugh.

"You pranked the entire world, Harry," he said. "The Aurors are looking for someone named Mr. Smith to question about several incidents."

"Well, Mr. Smith is a legal identity," Harry said. "But Sirius, you can see why I need this to be kept a secret."

"Yes I do, but I am also in charge of interviewing Mr. Smith when we find him."

Harry smiled.

"Then we can arrange for you to speak with us this evening at an undisclosed location for our protection."

"I like that idea," Sirius said. "Now what else happened?"

Harry and Daphne explained everything that happened to them and they did during their time in the past. Sirius and Fleur were amazed and both thought it was a good joke.

"At least I know you'll be able to pass your OWLs," Sirius said. "And you should talk to the Headmistress about taking the other OWLs."

"Maybe," Harry said. "I won't enter into the classes, as I don't think that will be allowed. But I'm sure that we can get me dispensation to take all twelve OWLs."

"Me too," Daphne said. "At least all of the OWLs but Divination. It's such a wooly subject."

"How's Dumbledore," Harry asked.

Sirius's face lost the smile.

"He's not doing too well," Sirius said. "He's suffering through withdrawal of his medications, as the healers had to wean him off of nearly lethal doses."

"I have a potion that can help," Daphne said. "Harry and I discovered it in a book we found."

Harry nodded after Daphne gave him a look.

"Go on," Fleur said. "What is the potion?"

"It seems to be a less addictive version of the mind enhancing potion," Daphne said. "The same potion that is often given for many mind ailments. This potion doesn't require as much either, making it cheaper as well."

Fleur nodded.

"Then we should send it to them at St. Mungos," Sirius suggested.

"They won't get the recipe because it is a family secret," Harry said.

"I am willing to brew a few batches of the potion," Daphne said. "It won't take more than a few hours to brew a batch. And Harry is good enough to help me. He may not be a potions master, but he can brew a lot of potions, including Wolfsbane and veritaserum."

"Why do you know how to brew those?"

"Part of my training at the Merlin Academy," Harry said. "The Combat Magic Track required that we brew a certain number of potions. And I later earned my Field Healer license studying under Daphne's great tutelage."

"And under her period," Fleur added, with a snicker.

Harry gave Fleur a playful glare before Daphne smiled.

"You know its true, Harry," she drawled.

"Of course I do, darling," Harry said, looking Daphne in the eye.

"So," Sirius said, changing the subject before it made him uncomfortable. "Did you get in contact with your inner Marauder?"

Daphne and Harry shared a grin before changing at one time. Sirius was shocked at Daphne's large form, and then he almost fainted when he realized Harry was a phoenix animagus.

He opened his mouth several times to say something, but couldn't get anything out.

"You did it!" Fleur exclaimed, running over to hug her lovers and friends.

"You know, as a Hit Wizard, I have to know if you're registered."

Harry and Daphne provided the papers they were provided.

"We're registered under the Veela Nation," Harry explained. "They made us citizens of their island so we can go visit."

"And because the Veela like you," Fleur added. "Did you know that Annabelle and Adrianna are the granddaughters of the Veela Matriarch?"

Daphne and Harry shook their heads.

"Annabelle is in line to command the Veela Security Forces, and Adrianna is the next to be named to the Veela Matriarch Council."

"They're young for those positions," Daphne said.

"We like to place them there young," Fleur said. "That way there is always a few of each age group in the council. This allows them to get differing viewpoints on the situations that face our nation."

"You know several Veela? Did you…"

"He shagged Annabelle and Adrianna quite often after his birthday," Fleur said, with a smile. "And I shagged him as well."

Sirius didn't know what to think. On one hand, he wanted to chastise his godson for his actions like a good parent would. On the other, the Marauder side of him, wanted to congratulate him on a job well done. He settled for something in the middle.

"You know, I'll support you as long as you know what you're doing and don't get in trouble because of it," Sirius said.

"I don't have to worry about that now," Harry said. "I have Daphne to keep me straight."

"And me," Fleur said.

"And Fleur will be staying with him at Hogwarts," Daphne said. "The Headmistress has agreed to allow Harry to share a room with Fleur because she is his legal concubine."

Sirius looked at Harry incredulously.

"So you've been in contact with her?"

"I sent her notice through Gringotts," Harry explained. "She sent me notice through Gringotts."

"That's easy enough," Sirius said. "Now, what are you doing his evening?"

"I thought I'd go and spend it wherever you stay," Harry said.

"The Weasleys, Hermione, Remus, and Tonks are staying with me," Sirius said. "But I'm sure I can arrange for the three of you to have your own room."

Daphne smiled.

"That would be great," She said. "I'll miss making love to Harry at Hogwarts."

Sirius shook his head.

"Please don't remind me about that," he said. "You're showing me up."

Harry smirked as Daphne grinned.

"And that is the reason that I will mention it," Harry said. "Oh, I think I should ask McGonagall about hiring outside tutors," he said. "I don't think I would be encouraged to do well if I had to sit through the normal classes."

"You can speak with her tonight," Sirius said. "She's going to come and visit since she knows I was going to meet with you today."

"And I bet Moody is quite hopping mad right now."

"What did you do, Harry," Daphne asked, sighing.

"I placed a charm that would prevent his eye from seeing through the wall," Harry said, smirking. "And he's in the next room."

"How do you know," Sirius asked.

"I have the ability to sense magic," Harry said. "I've shown it because it kept me safe. I think I gained it when I found out my animagus form and started to learn how to change. Speaking with Fawkes told me that it is true. A phoenix can sense magic much better than a person can and the ability will be transferred to my normal form from the animagus form."

"Just like I have better vision, hearing, and sight in my human form now that I'm an animagus," Daphne said.

"We Veela have known that for centuries," Fleur said. "It comes with the territory of being able to change in our alternative form."

After lunch, they took a portkey to get to Grimmauld Place. Sirius took Harry's knowledge of curse-breaking into account, and he keyed him into the wards so he could fix them. Bill Weasley was there, and he frowned as Fleur obviously doted on Harry. And, of course, Bill felt like it was a professional insult for Sirius to allow an undereducated teenager to work with the wards rather than an experienced curse-breaker like himself.

"Sirius, why did you key Harry into the wards?"

Sirius paused and looked at the oldest Weasley child.

"First of all, he is my godson. Second, he's my heir. Third, he was trained in warding this summer."

"I have several years of experience that he doesn't," Bill said, haughtily.

Fleur and Daphne put their hands on their hips and stared at the oldest Weasley child.

"William," Fleur said, in her voice. "If Sirius wants to place Harry in charge of the wards here, then it is his choice," the Veela said. "And if you want to see what Harry can do, then you should challenge him to a contest."

"Then I will," Bill said. "Harry, I challenge you to a duel and then to a warding contest. The winner will get Fleur."

Harry shook his head.

"Fleur is not a prize to be won, Bill," Harry said. "If you can't understand that, then you should go and learn more about people."

"Then you are scared you will lose," Bill said.

Harry shook his head and spoke softly.

"You don't want to know what I can do, William," Harry said. "If you challenge me, then I will show you up and you will be embarrassed."

"Prove it."

"Then swear on your life and magic not to reveal what I tell you. That goes for all of you who are here."

Bill refused to swear the oath.

"Then I will not accept your challenge," Harry said. "I can assure you, I will beat you."

"Then you will accept the challenge," Bill said, in a challenging tone.

"Fine," Harry said. He took out his wand and, before anyone could react, he cast a security charm.

"What the hell is that," Bill demanded to know.

"That is a standard security charm," Harry said. "You will not be able to speak of things I do not want you to speak of. And it should affect everyone who enters the house since it is now attached to the wards."

"That's impossible," Bill said. "Only one person…"

Harry took out a rune bracelet at the same time Daphne did. They put them on, and Bill looked faint as Fleur and Sirius seemed to enjoy it.

"You're Mr. Smith?"

Harry nodded.

Daphne looked at Bill after she removed the bracelet.

"And you should know that I will not take your accusations of cowardice against my husband lightly. And our concubine Fleur is not a prize to be won."

"Concubine?"

"Harry signed a concubine contract with me because I feared someone would use the old laws to force me to be their sex slave," Fleur said. "The laws are still on the books, and that is the reason Veela prefer not to come to this country. It is one of the few countries where such forced slavery is still legal."

Harry smirked as he looked at Bill.

"Now, Bill, do you want to challenge me to a duel after Daphne and I killed or captured about two dozen Death Eaters this summer?"

Bill shook his head, defeated. He knew when to call a defeat when he saw it. And he knew some of what Mr. Smith is capable of, and knew that Harry was the man who taught him more about curse-breaking than he had learned since. And it was obvious that Harry knew much more than he taught.

Moody, who had arrived, looked at Harry and then Daphne.

"Potter, why are you bringing in a Slytherin?"

"Because she's a good conversationalist," Harry said, raising an eyebrow toward him.

"Not good enough…"

Moody drew his wand, but Daphne drew faster and removed his wand from him. A moment later, Moody was tied up on the floor, with Daphne's wand pointed into his throat.

"Now, Mr. Moody," Daphne said, in a cool voice. "I do not like it when someone pulls a wand on me."

With Ron and a few others going for their wands, Harry pointed his at them.

"Point your wands down and not at my fiancé," Harry ordered.

"She's a Slytherin," Ron said, dumbly.

"Slytherin is not a bad house."

"All of them are Death Eaters."

"Peter Pettigrew," Harry said. "And for your information, the sorting hat wanted to put me in Slytherin."

The corner of Daphne's lips quirked. She liked how the Gryffindor Golden Boy had turned out not to be so golden or so Gryffindor.

"But she is a Slytherin," Hermione said, but without as much conviction as Ron said.

"You should be with Ginny," Molly said.

Harry wheeled on Molly.

"You do not tell me how to live my wife, Mrs. Weasley. Remember, your name is not Lily Potter."

"I know that," the woman snapped.

"So that means you are not his mother," Daphne said, imperiously. "The only woman around here who can control him is me."

Fleur smirked.

"Of course, my lady," Harry said, bowing to Daphne with a flourish.

"If you don't stop that nonsense, Fleur and I will make you sleep on the sofa for tonight," Daphne said.

Harry's mouth closed and he gave her an innocent look.

"That is not going to happen in this house!" Molly said, in a loud voice. "I won't have you sleeping with two scarlet women."

Harry pointed his wand at Molly Weasley.

"If you insult my betrothed or my legal and magical concubine one more time, then the House of Potter will no longer consider the Weasleys our friends," Harry said, in a threatening tone. "This goes for you too, Ronald and Ginevra. If you push me, I will call in the life debt you owe me, and I will go through with this."

"You can't," Ron said. "You're not old enough."

Harry held up his left hand, which had his family ring.

"How did you get that,' Hermione asked. "Only those who are of age are allowed to get their family rings."

"There are exceptions," Harry said. "The first is if the heir is the only member of the family left and is at least fifteen years old. There are other exceptions, but none of those are important in my case."

"Or mine," Daphne said, holding up her right hand, which contained her family ring.

"Doesn't Daphne get to wear the Potter ring," Hermione asked.

"Yes, when we get married," Harry said. "That won't be until we turn seventeen."

Daphne nodded her agreement.

"Harry?"

"Yes Hermione?"

"How did you become Mr. Smith? And how did you learn so much?"

"I'll need an oath so that you don't tell anyone this or talk about it without my express verbal permission," Harry said.

"Why is that," Hermione wanted to know.

"Some of this information will help me in the fight against the Death Eaters. And if they know who I am, and what identity Daphne and I used, then we will be placed higher on their target list."

Hermione nodded.

Everyone in the house gave the oath, including Bill, after Moody, Mr. Weasley, and Sirius made him do so.

Harry told them what happened, in general terms, and McGonagall, who had arrived to check on Harry, asked to speak with him in private.

"Mr. Potter, congratulations on your engagement."

"Thank you, Professor," Harry said.

"I know that you and Miss Delacour would like to room together. I will approve it only because you have a legally filed concubine relationship. Further, since you are betrothed to Miss Greengrass, and she is the last of her family, I can allow her to share your rooms as well. The Hogwarts rules and regulations allow the heads of family as well as married and betrothed couples to share quarters as long as their guardians agree."

"And Daphne and I agree because we can speak for ourselves."

"Exactly," McGonagall said. "You may inform Miss Greengrass of this information, and I will have the house elves place your things in the same suite. I do have a warning. If Miss Greengrass becomes pregnant, then I will have no choice but to remove her from Hogwarts. And I presume that you will join her."

"Yes," Harry said. "I will. We will take care."

"Good. I also hope that you and Miss Delacour will remember to think about how things look. The only reason I can do this is because you have a legal contract that allows you to stay together. That was done before Miss Delacour signed her apprenticeship agreement with Madam Pomfrey.

"Since you have special circumstances, and I know you have been educated, Aberforth Dumbledore and I have arranged for you to have special tutoring to help you prepare to face You-Know-Who. You won't attend the spell classes, but, instead, will take individual tutoring to prepare you for the OWLs and NEWTs."

"I am prepared for them already, Professor."

"With your scores at the Merlin Academy, I would be surprised if you were not, Mr. Potter. I will also arrange for your betrothed to join in on your training since she is similarly trained."

"Professor, I think she would be served better working with Madam Pomfrey and the new potions master. She is a certified healer and a potions master, and that can be hidden for now."

"We will have to work it out, but I'm sure Madam Pomfrey won't disagree with having Miss Greengrass assist her. The Board of Governors, on the other hand, may complain about it."

"Then we will complain to them for limiting the education of the Hogwarts students," Harry said. "With them in charge, and Dumbledore, the education of Hogwarts students has gone down. From what I've learned, in the past thirty years or so, the number of electives offered to students has dropped significantly."

"Indeed it has, Mr. Potter. I am working to change that. And I'm sure that you and Miss Greengrass can be two of the first students to benefit from the changing curriculum. I am allowed to make fifth year students and above teaching assistants in certain areas, and teaching assistants often have their own individual training in the course they are helping teach."

"What areas would you want me to have?"

"I believe that Professor Vance will accept you as her Defense Against the Dark Arts Teaching Assistant. She won't need help in classes, but we would like for you to teach an extracurricular study session that includes dueling and practical Defense," McGonagall said. "This is up to you, but I would like to start it by the beginning of October. Do you think you can work with that?"

"I think so," Harry said. "I would also like for an emergency healing course to be offered. It should teach basic first aid so people can help others or themselves until help arrives or they can send the injured to a healer."

"A wise idea. I will speak with Madam Pomfrey about that course. It would also require that you and Miss Greengrass, as well as Miss Delacour, serve as teaching assistants if there are many students."

Harry nodded.

"And hat will mean that we have special sessions to learn. But I can prove that I was certified as a field healer," Harry said. "We were with Fleur and trained over the summer."

"Miss Delacour's credentials are good for the summer," Professor McGonagall said. "If you can provide me a copy of your credentials from the summer, and I don't mean those you went back in time to get, I will gladly arrange for you to become a teaching assistant."

Harry nodded.

"I shall send them to you tomorrow morning," Harry said.

"Or you'd bring them to me personally?"

"Most likely," Harry said, seeing McGonagall's wry smile. She knew of his animagus form, as did the Weasleys, Remus, Tonks, Hermione, and Sirius.