Chapter 5 – Potions
The first day that Snape was seen in public after Hermione cursed him was met by laughter in the Great Hall as everyone saw that his hair was clean, for once.
Harry whispered to Hermione, "This is the first time I've ever seen his hair actually clean."
"I heard that he was washing his hair a lot because of the itching. And he was too distracted to brew potions with the itching driving him crazy. He wanted to continue his classes so that he take out his frustrations on his students. But Dumbledore had to forbid him, a teacher scratching feverishly at his groin all the time would be very unprofessional and inappropriate, even for him. So he was forced to read instead."
"Watch! Snape can't stand the snickering, he's already getting up and leaving. Our next potion class is going to be absolute hell, you know."
"Don't worry, I've got you covered. Just lend me your glasses before Potions class."
"What are you going to do?"
"I am going to hex your glasses with an image that will hypnotize him when he tries to use Legilimency on you again. You would have him in your complete control without anyone ever knowing."
"I love you, Hermione. Have I told you that?"
"Nice to hear. But we are still way too young."
This brightened Harry's day. Instead of dreading Potions, Harry was now seriously looking forward to it.
"We need to be subtle about this."
"Hermione. Why don't you give me help me control him so I don't go too overboard, okay?"
"Alright. Let me work out what to do. How about making Snape give all of his students Outstandings, give us unlimited passes to the restricted section and then tell us all of his deep, dark secrets?"
"Can we use the glasses on Voldemort too?"
"No, you can easily use your scar or one of Voldemort's Horcruxes to access to his mind. Your hexed glasses will still require direct eye contact. So it wouldn't work. It's a pity though, just imagine what we could do!"
Later that day, Harry and Hermione went to the Granger home, where Hermione approached Doug and Emily.
"How are your mental exercises going?"
Doug responded. "It's taking me quite a while to reach a really peaceful state. So getting to where I can access those memories... Well, it's going, but pretty slowly."
"That's alright, you're a man of action just like Harry, so working at something like this is going to be as tough for you as it is for him. Just hang in there. How about you, Emily?"
"I am slowly sorting through my memories."
"So you might be ready for the next stage soon."
"I don't know about that."
"Back to the reason we came. Doug, have been able to buy the other trunk of pranks?"
"Yes, got it right here, Harry."
"How about those books about Basilisks and Parselmouths?"
"I have only been able to find a few books on those subjects."
"Thanks. We'll start reading them tonight."
"Doug, can you get the anti-petrification potion?"
"That shouldn't be a problem."
"Can you also get some live sheep or cattle that have been Stunned?"
"That'll be easy."
"I want to pick them up next week, if possible."
"Okay, that is doable."
"Emily have you paid for those blank books for me and ordered more?"
"Yes, I have paid off your account and have more books on order. Do you want all of the ones they have in stock right now?"
"That would be great."
"When will the rest of the order arrive?"
"Sometime in the next few days."
"You both did a great job, thank you."
As soon as Harry reach the Room of Lost Things, he moved Ravenclaw's diadem from the room to the Granger home for safekeeping. He also locked the vanishing cabinet in the Room of Lost Things so that if Voldemort came looking for the diadem he wouldn't go straight to the Grangers'. Classes with Professor Quirrell were difficult on both sides. Harry was forced to constantly shield his mind and Professor Quirrell got severe headaches from his many attempts to use Legilimens on his student.
Finally, their regular classes with Snape resumed. Harry was looking for toward to trying out his newly hexed glasses. Snape rushed into the classroom with his cloak billowing as usual.
"Put away your wands, you will not be needing them."
"Potter. where is your essay on the boils potion?"
"Here it is, sir."
Harry handed in the essay, that Snape had ordered the Slytherin and Griffindors do for homework. Hermione had made sure it was the same as last time by asking Padma to check it for them. Harry had prepared the homework at Hermione's suggestion. That Harry was now very thankful for.
"This is not long enough, Mr. Potter. You are supposed to be a Ravenclaw. Detention with me tonight."
"Potter, collect everyone's homework."
Only a few students had done their homework.
"Potter, why did you not tell your fellow classmates to do the assigned homework? You now have an additional week of detention."
Hermione had finally had enough and she knew Harry couldn't take much more either. She cursed Snape again, same as last time.
Snape immediately started scratching and he knew something was wrong again. Just as he was about to leave, Hermione hit him with an overpowered tripping curse that made him lose consciousness. While he was down, Hermione hit him with the diarrhea curse and reversed the itching curse she had used on him minutes ago. When Snape finally woke up, Professor McGonagall was standing over him with his potion class all looking down at him with complete disgust. Snape suddenly realised he had pooped his pants while he was passed out. Snape fled to his private quarters to shower and change.
The Weasley twins came over to Harry later that day.
"What did you"
"do to Snape?"
"We could never"
"take out a teacher"
"without getting expelled."
"I did not do anthing. It was the curse."
"Give us a break."
"No curse works like that."
"How about the DADA position?"
"You got us there."
"Before you guys go, I have a proposal to prove who are the current best pranksters in Hogwarts."
"We are listening."
"Why don't we go to a empty classroom so that we can discuss this proposal a little more privately?"
"Lead away."
"We are intrigued."
"I know that you are both entrepreneurs and pranksters. Here's my proposition, if you are willing to agree to certain terms. I have discovered a method of smuggling things into the castle without getting caught. And I'm willing to let you in on it if if you agree to the following terms. One, you don't try to find out how. Two, you need to distract the other students and teachers from my activities. Especially Draco and his friends. Three, don't ask me to bring in anything illegal. Four, you don't tell on me if you are caught. And finally, I get 50 percent of your profits."
"We will need to discuss it."
"I will give you half hour. I'll be just outside the door while you two discuss it."
After half an hour, Harry was called back in.
"We believe your cut"
"is too high."
"What do you believe is a reasonable percentage?"
"10 percent"
"as we are taking a greater risk."
"40 percent as I am risking a family heirloom."
"30 percent is our final offer."
"Deal. Here is the contract, why don't you read through it before signing."
"I think we've been had"
"But it is such a good deal!"
"So we are in agreement, then?"
"Yeah"
"Why don't you read through the document? I'll be back."
Harry went to the Ravenclaw dorms to retrieve the trunk full of prank items and went back to the classroom. After making sure it was the same document as the one he gave them earlier and that there were no changes to it, Harry and the Weasley twins signed the agreement.
"What's in the trunk?"
"To celebrate our new agreement, I decided to give you this trunkload of pranks to torture and Draco his friends with. This trunk, once emptied, can be used to do the exchanges. It will be much less suspicious if we aren't always seen together. We can leave it in one of the many spare classrooms, which will be locked with the Marauders' Oath. You put the order in writing with the maximum price you are willing to pay. You'll need to give me a 10 percent deposit when you place your order. If the items cost more than the maximum you are willing to pay, the client can either agree to it or I will keep the deposit. The deposit is forfeited if the item is illegal in the UK, if they cancel the order once I receive it or if the item is not available. Orders with special instructions or animals can be knocked back and will attract a premium of 20 percent or more if accepted."
"That should work."
"I will let you set the prices since you guys know the market better."
They designated a classroom on the sixth floor near the Room of Requirement to be their regular drop off and pick up point.
Harry's detention was transferred to Filch as Snape was forced to spend the rest of the day and night in the infirmary for observation. So Harry had to polish the trophy cabinet again.
The next night, Harry had detention with Snape in his office. As expected, Snape attacked Harry with Legimens as soon as he set foot in Snape's office. Harry was fighting off Snape's mental attack with all he had, then the attack slowly started to ease. After half an hour, Snape was totally under Harry's control and susceptible to any suggestion he made. This was because Snape had to lower his mental barriers to launch the mental attack and the hypnotism attacked the teacher's fully exposed mind. Harry had Snape give him all his secrets including all the potion formulas he had personally created. By the end of detention, Snape was still going so Harry created a post-hypnotic suggestion that would allow him to control Snape whenever he wanted.
So for the next few nights, Harry would go to Snape's office for "detention" with Hermione following under his invisibility cloak. Snape would then pass off all of his secrets to Hermione and give Harry and Hermione unlimited passes to the restricted section of the library. Snape would get them any rare books he had access to, gave them rare potion ingredients and taught Hermione everything she would ever need to know about potions. At the end of the detentions, Harry and Hermione had plenty of blackmail material, not just on Snape and all the other Hogwarts professors, but high-placed ministry officials as well. Snape was also selling potions on the side to supplement his income. Hermione found out who his major customers and started competing for their business with Snape brewing all of the potions, if Hermione was successful. Basically, Snape was undercutting himself and making money for Harry and Hermione.
Harry's classes with Snape became loads of fun, even though the class still did not learn anything from him. Snape would come in rampaging and Harry would use the post-hypnotic suggestion to get Snape to calm down. Even then, he still could not teach and if anyone asked Harry what he did, Harry would always blame it on the curse.
Hermione started a daily class teaching the various subjects to the Hufflepuff and Ravenclaw students of their year. There were certain conditions for the attendance of the class/group study. The conditions were the students wouldn't engage in bullying, they would promote equality, they would not bother Hermione or Harry between classes except for meals, they would behave themselves during classes and they would not report anything Hermione or Harry did to any of their professors.
Chapter 6 – Annoying shadows, Business and Rita
Hermione's birthday was a very quiet affair. No one, save Harry, sent her a card, because none of her Hogwarts schoolmates knew it was her birthday. Harry was extra helpful throughout the day, but there was no obvious indication that it was anything other than an ordinary day for Hermione. That afternoon, Hermione cancelled her study group so she and Harry could slip out to have her birthday dinner with the Grangers. There was a small celebration with only Harry, Doug, Emily, Emma and Dan in attendance. They all gave her rare books as presents, Doug having used his contacts to purchase books for the others. Harry, on the other hand, had used Snape to get even rarer tomes for Hermione.
Ron and Neville were extremely suspicious of Harry and Hermione's absence from dinner that night. The next day, while Hermione was busily researching and Harry was copying books from the restricted section, Ron and Neville came over to pester Hermione about it. Sticking to their usual routine, Harry came back to the table a little later. Harry could see that Hermione was rapidly losing her temper with Ron in particular. She hated Ron, now that she thought it through. Hermione considered what Ron did to be a form of rape.
Harry marched over to confront the bothersome pair.
"What are you guys doing here?"
"Just hanging around some friends." Ron replied.
"We are not your friends and we have never been your friends,. So I ask again, what are you guys doing here?"
"We know you and Hermione are up to something and we're going to find out, one way or another."
"What gave you that idea?"
"The two of you skipped dinner last night, you skip lunch quite often on the weekends and you, Harry, are always doing something with my twin brothers, which I don't like."
"I am friends with your brothers, they are very funny and cool, unlike some others I could name. Hermione, let's go. I don't want to hang around these two losers."
Hermione and Harry packed their stuff and headed straight back to the Ravenclaw dorms with the two boys trailing behind them all the way. Ron and Neville even tried to follow them into their common room.
"You don't belong to this house. What do you think you're doing?" Harry had raised his voice loudly enough that some of the older Ravenclaw students walked over to investigate.
"We just want to hang around with you," Ron replied, even as Neville grabbed his arm, trying to get a subborn Ron to leave.
Michael Rogers raised a suspicious eyebrow, asking, "Have either of you been invited by a Ravenclaw or are you a student of this house?"
"No."
Ron tried to come in anyway, but Rogers shoved him back towards the door.
"Then get out and don't try to come in again or we will inform Professor Flitwick. Goodbye."
Ron and Neville left, visibly disgruntled.
"Thanks, you guys. Those two idiots are constantly following us around like two lost puppies. I felt like strangling them."
"Harry Potter fans?"
"I don't know and I don't care. See you guys later."
Harry and Hermione found themselves a quiet corner in the common room and Harry checked the Marauders' Map.
"Damn, I don't believe it. They're still there."
Harry went to his room to get one of the invisibility cloaks they found in the Room of Lost Things and Hermione went looking for a few members of her study group. She found Lisa, Mandy and Isobel sitting at a desk in the common room doing their homework.
"Can I ask a big favour from you lot?"
"Sure! What can we help you with, Hermione?"
"We need you girls to cover Harry and me as we try to escape a pair of annoying boys who insist on following us around. In return, I will help you with your homework in the library."
"We have a deal,"" the girls said in unison as Hermione was, even now, well-known as the smartest girl in school.
"Harry, over here." Hermione called.
"So what do you need us to do."
"Walk out as you do normally, just keep the door open a bit longer than you usually do. Thanks."
"How are you going to get out without them seeing you?"
"With this." Harry pulled out an invisibility cloak with a flourish.
"Is that an invisibility cloak?"
"Yes it is. Are you ready?"
"Yeah."
"Let's go. We will meet you in the library."
Harry and Hermione were able lose the boys using the chattering girls to hide their exit. After spending an hour fulfilling their side of the bargain, they continued with what they were doing before Ron and Neville interrupted them.
At the next class the Ravenclaws shared with the Gryffindors, Ron and Neville tried to sit next to Harry and Hermione. But Harry and Hermione moved away to avoid them. When Ron and Neville tried to follow, Lisa and her group intervened to stop them.
Over the next few days, Ron and Neville continued to follow them around as much as they possibly could. Harry and Hermione kept using the same strategy of going to the Ravenclaw Common room to lose them, but Ron and Neville eventually realized they were going to slip out to the library and started lying in wait for them there. If Harry or Hermione spotted their stalkers before they reached their seats, they would surreptitiously cast the Sonorus charm on the duo, resulting in Ron and Neville getting kicked out of the library by Madam Pince for talking too loudly.
In classes, Harry and Hermione had help from the study group. Between the lot of them, Ron and Neville were constantly getting into trouble and earning loads of detentions. But they still refused to give up, so Hermione and Harry decided to up the ante.
They arranged for their friends to incite a nasty argument between Draco and Ron, resulting in Draco challenging Ron to a duel in the trophy room at midnight. Harry and Hermione, who had been quietly observing, ran away in glee when the challenge was issued as they had some serious plotting to do. Late that night, after curfew, they went in search of Peeves.
"Peeves, we need your help with a prank for tomorrow."
"Peeves is listening."
"Tonight at midnight, two Gryffindors are going to the trophy room on a dare. We thought we would offer them a little extra challenge, with your kind assistance."
The poltergeist was visibly intrigued.
"Go on."
"We would like to dress you up as a dementor and scare the living daylights out of them."
Peeves cackled madly.
"Oooh, that's good! I will have to remember that one for future reference."
"So you'll do it?"
"Of course. I wouldn't pass this chance up for anything."
"Here is the coat. We will have to be with you to make you seem like a real dementor."
"You won't tell on us? If you do, we will stop giving you the prank stuff."
"Peeves swears not to tell a soul."
"Meet us at the second floor near the stairs to third floor at 11:30 tonight."
"Peeves will see you there."
By 11:30 that night, Harry, Hermione and Peeves had worked out the fine details of the plan. Peeves was thoroughly enjoying himself, flying about the room in a cunningly transfigured dementor costume that was nothing at all like the lame bedsheet disguise that Draco and his friends had used in the past. Hermione cleverly added some extra-special effects like a billowing cloak that spewed a chilly fog to add a touch of realism that was very much like the bone-chilling cold that was part of being in the presence of a true dementor.
Peeves floated patiently near the entrance to the third floor while Harry and Hermione hid under an invisibility cloak with a notice-me-not charm added that was specifically keyed to kneazles. Peeves heard Ron and Neville running in his direction and grinned widely, savoring his moment. It was showtime! As the boys rushed past him, completely oblivious, Peeves began slowly billowing towards them.
Feeling a sudden cold draft, the clueless victims turned to find a hungry, black dementor eagerly reaching for them. Ron and Neville immediately began screaming at the top of their lungs, frozen to the spot in sheer terror. When Peeves drifted down towards Ron's face as if preparing to deliver the Kiss, the boys went white, turned tail and fled as if their lives depended on it.
Harry and Hermione then used their spare wands to silently inflict Ron and Neville with an obscure nightmare curse that would plague their dreams with everything that they feared the most, making sleep next to impossible. Harry and Hermione grinned at each other under the cloak. Their night of mischief was now complete. Quite pleased with the resounding success of their plan, the duo headed off to relieve Peeves of his dementor disguise before getting some sleep themselves.
The next morning, Harry and Hermione discovered, to their great delight, that Ron and Neville had lost Gryffindor 100 points each and were both ordered to serve a month of detentions for being caught out after curfew. That harsh punishment plus their restless nights finally forced them to leave Harry and Hermione alone.
At last, a routine for the joint venture between the Weasley twins and Harry could now be established. Twice a week, the twins would drop off money to pay for their completed orders plus a deposit for any new orders. They then could fetch their newly-delivered goods to distribute to their customers and reap their profits. The twins had clients from every house in Hogwarts with a surprising amount being in Slytherin. The Slytherins, as it turned out, were the ones who ordered the most expensive items. Most orders were food-related, such as high-quality chocolates, ice cream and from the Muggle-born students, favorite muggle soft drinks. Using the Weasley twins' inventiveness and expertise to order unique birthday presents was also a common practice.
Harry never dealt with any customers directly, instead all orders were taken in writing and hidden under the Marauders' Oath. The orders and the money would then be given to Doug. Doug would carefully examine the list, crossing off any illegal items and making a careful note on the particulars. Then he would through to the previously sorted items from the Room of Lost Things, filling as many orders that could easily be passed off as new. The remaining list he would send to his contacts or go shopping to make the necessary purchases. Orders that would take longer than usual to fill would be so noted. At the end of the week, Doug would update the list of outstanding orders with comments like Illegal, Delayed, Unavailable. Then the filled order would be sent to the twins who would then give Harry his cut of the profits and any customer complaints. These complaints would be passed to Doug to deal with and Doug would be paid his share of the profits. If there were any urgent or special orders, the twins would approach Harry during meals or at Hermione's study group to make special arrangements.
In the scheme of things, it wasn't all that much. But it was better than nothing. Doug was trying to boost sales by creating a priced list of items they had to sell from the Room of Lost Things. Once the list was completed, Harry would pass it on to the Weasley twins where they would add their own fee.
Knowing that their arrangement could potentially be discovered by snooping reporter Rita Skeeter, Hermione forced Harry to make a deal with the devil. Harry owled Rita to meet him at the Herbology greenhouses the following afternoon, at lunch time, in her beetle form.
Rita arrived right on schedule and Harry picked her up and took her to an empty greenhouse. Rita turned back into her human form after Harry locked the door.
"I was surprised to hear from you, Mr. Potter. How did you find out that I'm a beetle animagus?"
"We all have our secrets, Ms. Skeeter. By the way, this is not an interview. Instead, this is a business proposition, I am willing to pay you 100 galleons per month to protect my public image and trash Dumbledore's. Any additional dirt you discover or assistance in my other business endeavours will earn you a nice bonus."
"That sort of work is worth way more that a measley 100 galleons. It needs to be at least 1000 galleons."
"I will not report you as an illegal animagus to the authorities."
"Okay, say 500 galleons per month."
"300 galleons per month for 12 months and we re-evaluate the deal after that."
"Deal."
"Here's the contract, I had it drawn up earlier. Look it over. I'll be back soon."
A while later, Harry came back into the greenhouse classroom and they signed the contract.
"Here is your first month's pay and a 200 galleon signing bonus."
"Nice doing business you, Harry. You really should do an interview to get your voice out there, though."
"I will do so eventually, but not right now."
"I will get the exclusive interview?"
"Only if you do a good job destroying Dumbledore's reputation for me."
"I will get right on it. Expect my first story to be published sometime next week.."
"Here's a little tidbit to get you started; Albus and Gelbert Grindelwald were very close friends. Talk to his brother, Aberforth. He is bound to have plenty of dirt on his brother."
"Thanks, that should give me a good place to start digging."
Rita changed back to beetle form and left.
A/N Thank you for stick with this story despite my bad grammar and spelling. I will also like give an extra big thank you for everyone that have wrote a review to this story.
Just so you know, I have a poll on my profile on how I will get rid off Draco.
Chapter 7 - Basilisk
That Friday night, Harry and Hermione were fully prepared and free to head off to the Chamber of Secrets unaccompanied by a pair of bothersome idiots. But first they headed over to the Granger home to pick up their supplies and the stunned livestock to feed the hungry Basilisk.
"What are you two doing?"
"Dealing with an issue before it becomes a real problem."
"Like facing an overgrown snake? I read the books that Harry ordered. It wasn't too hard to put two and two together."
"It is just a snake and there will be two of us there. We'll even bring a couple of rooster to help protect us. So everything will be fine, you don't need to worry, honest."
"You're talking about a gigantic snake that can kill with a single look, Harry!"
"Yeah, we know, but Hermione designed us some sunglasses that will protect us from the Basilisk's gaze."
"How big is that thing if you need that much livestock to feed it?"
"It's pretty big, but it's trapped at the moment and really hungry. We need to do this, alright? You don't want a whole bunch of students to end up being killed because we failed to act, do you?"
"Alright, just promise me you'll be careful."
"We will."
"Come back safely."
Harry and Hermione left the Grangers and headed to the Chamber of Secrets with a packed trunk full of stuff they needed for the upcoming confrontation. Once they made their way to the passageway leading to the chamber, they began to re-enforce the ceiling to hopefully avoid another cave-in like last time. Hermione opened the trunk and got busy while Harry went to swipe a few roosters. By the time Harry got back, Hermione had completely finished unpacking. They put on the special safety glasses Hermione had developed and put a silencing charm on the roosters. Hermione then slipped on an invisibility coat and followed Harry into the Chamber of secrets.
"Speak to me, Slytherin, the greatest of the four founders."
Suddenly, the Basilisk slithered into view, hissing ominously.
"You are not my master's heir. What are you doing in my master's sacred place?"
"I am trying to bring the line back into the light. You can work with me or you can die. Your choice." Harry gestured to the roosters trailing behind him.
"I should kill you, pathetic little human."
"If you do, you will die as well. You have four options. You can kill me and die of starvation after my people close off all the entrances to this chamber. You can have die a quick death courtesy of these roosters. You can retend to work with me and die from starvation once your betrayal is discovered. Or you choose to live, to work with me and be fed well. What is your choice?"
"When you say work with you, human, what do you mean?"
"My friends and I will harvest the useful parts of your body without causing you harm. I recommend that you sleep when my friends and I aren't here."
The Basilisk reared back, astounded. Then he hissed angrily.
"You wish to use me as a domesticated farm animal!"
"Yes, but it means you get to live. If you behave. In a few years, we might even allow you outside again."
"Can you give me live prey at least?"
"We can do that."
"Okay, I will help you."
"If you wait here, I will bring you some food. Your prey will be Stunned, but I'll wake them up for you."
So Harry brings in the stunned livestock and he wakes them up. Then leaves so that the Basilisk can eat in peace. Hermione follows Harry out of the chamber.
"It went better than I expected, but not quite as good as it could have," Hermione said from behind him, making Harry jump.
"Bloody hell, Hermione! I was still too wound up from that encounter and here you come sneaking up on me, still under the invisibility cloak and nearly scare me out of my skin!"
"Why don't you calm down and relax, Harry? You can collect the old Basilisk skin while I return the roosters, yeah?"
"Sounds like a plan." Harry took a calming breath and ambled over to gather up the shedded Basilisk skin.
Hermione stared at her friend for a long moment, before letting out an exasperated huff. "Aren't you forgetting something?".
"What?"
"Kindly open the door for me, would you? Unlike you, I don't speak snake."
"Okay, coming."
"Don't forget to keep the door open."
"Yes, Professor."
"I am going to get you for that." Hermione said, wrinkling her nose at him as she left to return their feathered friends.
Harry folded the basilisk skin neatly into the bottom of their empty trunk, then packed the unbreakable jars of Basilisk venom on top.
As soon as Hermione returned, she and Harry went back into the chamber to find that the Basilisk had eaten all the livestock and looked quite full and sleepy. Harry took the opportunity to harvest her venom while Hermione searched the chamber for more shedded skin. Harry were able to remove two fangs that had become rather loose. When the Basilisk had finally fell asleep, Harry and Hermione took stock of the lair and found even more skin and fangs but, unfortunately, no secret Slytherin study or library.
They headed back to the Granger house with a trunk filled to overflowing with Basilisk skin, fangs and venom. Dan and Emma had waited up for their return. As soon as Dan and Emma saw them, they went to hug Hermione and gave a brief hug to Harry as well.
"See, nothing to worry about. We're perfectly fine."
"How did it go?"
"We managed to strike a deal with the Basilisk and got loads of stuff in return."
"Details, please?"
"Tomorrow, if you don't mind. We really need to go to bed."
"Okay, tomorrow. Perhaps over lunch?"
"Sounds good to us, thanks."
They headed upstairs for a quick shower apiece before going back to the Ravenclaw dorms for a good night's sleep.
The next day, they woke late and went to the Grangers for a hearty brunch.
As soon as they all sat down and started digging in, Emma was ready with the first questions.
"What happened last night?"
"We found a very unhappy, very hungry snake. Threatened it, fed it, got what we wanted." Harry smirked, visibly pleased with himself..
"Tell us, Hermione, what happened."
"Exactly what Harry said."
"Stop being funny and tell us."
"There's really not that much to tell."
Dan and Emma kept badgering for details. Harry and Hermione politely refused to give them any more information, so as not want to scare the living life out of Hermione's parents.
After brunch, they gave the shedded skin and venom to Doug. Half of it would sold by Doug with 10 percent of the profits to be split three ways, between Doug, Emily and the Outcast organisation as early Christmas bonuses.
Doug loved this job because he could be active, he was learning from Harry and Hermione, the role was varied so he never was bored, he could see the potential the Grangers had, he got an opportunity to meet different people and he was making really good money. Emily was also very happy with her job; she got to experiment and use her brain, she got to read amazing books that she never would have dreamed of having access to before and she was making good money. On top of that, Dan, Emma, Hermione and Harry always treated them with kindness and respect. Really, what more could anyone ask for?
Harry and Hermione then took the rest of the day off. Harry went flying, careful as always not to fly too well. The last thing he needed was to be pestered to join the Ravenclaw quidditch team and he wasn't planning on trying out next year either. The broom he was using was old, but still a very good one that he had found in Room of Lost Things. Hermione was stretched out under a tree, alternating between watching Harry fly and reading her book when an angry Dumbledore came storming down from the castle looking for Harry.
"Harry, what happened to all the money in your trust account?"
"What concern is it of yours?"
"I just don't want you to waste all the Potter galleons on frivolous things. It is suppose to last you through the years of your education!"
"Thank you for your concern, sir, but it is still none of your business."
"It's my responsibility as your magical guardian to look out for your best interests and to ensure you aren't neglecting your magical needs."
"Why didn't you say so in the first place? My money has been carefully invested."
"Invested? May I ask in what?"
"Sorry, can't say. Confidential agreement, you see."
"Say no more, Harry. I don't want you to lose your magic."
Dumbledore stomped back to the castle in a huff.
"I invested in you, my darling," Harry whispered to Hermione.
"He probably just learned about Rita's investigation into his dealings and was likely trying to pay someone off with your money."
"Why do you think I emptied my account?" Harry smirked.
"I just wonder how much of your money Dumbledore went through in the time between your parents' deaths and your entry into the magical world."
"I have no idea. All I know is that once the money is gone, it is virtually impossible to recover. My training as an auror taught me that."
They had a relaxing weekend to recover from the stress of their dealings with the Basilisk. Harry did go back on Saturday night to talk to it and to work out what its regular needs would be. Then they attached a magical catheter to the snake so that they could get some of its blood without causing it any harm. The visit netted them even more venom, some blood and two more fangs. Harry used the opportunity to work out a regular schedule to manage the Basilisk's care and feeding while harvesting what they could. For the snake and human comfort, Harry added runes around the chamber to heat the creature's lair to a constant, comfortable temperature. They would feed it weekly, then once a month it would shed its skin which would be harvested after it ate. The better the Basilisk was fed, the more often it would shed its valuable skin.
On Monday, in the Great Hall, there were shocked faces everywhere after the Daily Prophetwas delivered. Harry received a free copy, compliments of Rita Skeeter and smiled with satisfaction when he saw the morning paper's headline:
Dumbledore and Grindelwald Were Lovers!
By Rita Skeeter
In a shocking discovery, this intrepid reporter obtained damning proof that the late Dark Lord whose capture made Albus Dumbledore's career was none other than his intimate friend and lover, Gellert Grindelwald. They had worked together to achieve what they called "the Greater Good", which Dumbledore continues to prattle on about to this very day. We should all wonder exactly what these two wizards considered to be "the Greater Good". Rest assured, this reporter fully intends to continue to investigate until she learns the whole truth of the matter.
No one ever came forward to bear witness to Dumbledore's defeat of his friend, Gellert. For all we know, they never fought and it was all a setup between the two to enable Albus to further their joint goals. Currently, Grindelwald's exact location is unknown. He is rumored be a resident of a magical prison with his meals provided solely by house elves. Dumbledore, it is rumored, is the only one to have knowledge of and access to this unnamed prison.
This most unusual arrangement begs the following question: Do we really want someone with such close ties to a previous dark lord to be responsible for our precious children's education? Both Minister of Magic Fudge and prominent pureblood society figure, Lucius Malfoy, agree that Dumbledore's affairs should be scrutinized much more closely. More shocking revelations to come as the Prophet's investigation continues!
As soon as Dumbledore and Snape saw the Prophet's lead story, they were both fuming. The other teachers were not much better, Professor McGonagall in particular. But there was nothing they could do about since everything that was written was true and was now public knowledge. Snape was now walking on a fine tightrope. If he was seen to favor the children of the darker families too much, the families on the side of the light would crucify him without Dumbledore there to protect him. And if he didn't favour the progeny of dark families enough, their Death Eater parents would be out for his blood. To top it all off, he was making far fewer galleons of late, now that his most lucrative contracts had been taken over by a new player. Professor Quirrell, however, was completely delighted with the situation, taking enormous pleasure in seeing his old enemy being crucified by the wizarding press.
Dumbeldore ate his breakfast as quickly as possible and left the Great Hall immediately after. As a highly experienced politician, he was well aware that appearance was everything. So he was doing his very best to behave as normally as possible to avoid giving Skeeter's story any more credibility. But, in truth, the headmaster was seething inside and would begin gathering his forces together to mount a silent, but cunning counter-offensive. His enemies wouldn't know what hit them. Dumbledore smiled.
Harry and Hermione had become quite close friends with Susan Bones as a result of Susan's faithful attendance of Hermione's study group sessions. After the article, Harry and Hermione approached both Susan and her friend, Hannah, to discuss their reaction to the article.
"Hi Susan, Hannah," Harry and Hermione greeted the two Hufflepuff girls.
"Hi Harry, Hermione," the girls responded, smiling sweetly.
"So, what do you think about the article about Professor Dumbledore and Grindelwald?"
"If it was anyone other than Rita Skeeter who wrote that story, I would be considerably more inclined to believe it," Susan stated.
"How about you, Hannah?"
"I don't know, if Skeeter can provide actual proof, then I would have believe her story is true."
"How do you think the rest of wizarding Britain will react to the news?"
"I think if there's real proof to back up the story, then Dumbledore's power base will take a major hit. Even more, it'll give my aunty the ammunition to investigate some cases that have really been bothering her."
"Who is your aunt?"
"Amelia Bones, the Director of Magical Law Enforcement."
"Wow, we head no idea. We were both raised by Muggles, you see."
"No problem. I thought everyone knew since we share the same surname."
"So does your aunt have issues with Dumbledore?"
"You could say that, yeah. My aunt really believes in justice but Dumbledore believes in second, third and fourth chances for some people, but has a zero tolerance policy towards others. She thinks he's a real nutter, to be honest."
"Would she stand up to Dumbledore and his old boys club if she had to in the name of justice?"
"Oh yes, definitely. Especially when a case involves one of his precious pureblood family members."
"That's really good to know."
"Why are so interested in my aunt?"
"Harry has a case he needs to present which involves a serious miscarriage of justice. He's building the case, but he isn't quite ready just yet."
"But you know, I take it?"
"I am his best friend. We share all our secrets with each other."
"We've got to go. Harry, whenever you're ready, just tell me and I'll contact my aunt for you."
"Thanks, Susan. See you later."
Chapter 8 - Voldemort and the Outcast Schools
Harry and Hermione had planned to launch a mind attack on Voldemort the evening after Halloween, which would allow Harry a whole weekend to recover. Dumbledore would be kept busy dealing with the fallout from Rita's article, working madly to prevent any more of his mistakes from becoming public knowledge. But it might have encouraged Quirrell to speed up his timetable in order to take advantage of Dumbledore's temporary distraction, so they needed to act quickly.
At 5 pm, one hour before dinner, Harry and Hermione went in search of Professor Quirrell. As luck would have it, the professor was conveniently in his office.
*Knock, knock*
"Come on in!"
"Professor, Harry and I have a few questions about vampires. You don't mind us interrupting your work, do you?" Hermione inquired politely as they entered his office.
Quirrell was visibly irritated, but acquiesced.
"As long as you are quick about it. Is there is something specific you need?"
Harry and Hermione quickly made themselves comfortable while Quirrell was still talking.
"What kind of physiological changes occur when a person becomes a vampire, Professor?"
"Why do you ask?" Quirrell leaned forward, suddenly most curious as to where this was heading.
"As you know, vampires "live" a lot longer than the average human, even wizards. If we could learn what causes this, we could potentially discover a way to achieve the changes without turning the person completely. Why, it might lead to a much longer life span for all of us!"
While Hermione was busy diverting Professor Quirrell's attention, Harry seized the opportunity to attack Voldemort's mind. Quirrell promptly fell down screaming and clutching his head in agony. Harry had slumped forward in his seat, exhausted, but thankfully unharmed. As soon as Quirrell was unconscious, Hermione quickly began copying the books in his office, pausing only momentarily to munch on the sandwiches that she had brought with her. She transfigured a scrap of parchment into a handy bin, just in case exposure to Voldemort's twisted mind and memories made her friend physically ill.
Meanwhile, the mental battle between Harry and Voldemort was raging. Harry was methodically destroying Voldemort's mental barriers, one by one. Then he would give himself a break for the next round by looking briefly at one of Voldemort's less protected memories. Voldemort would manage to rebuild some of his barriers during the respite, but Harry would crush them as soon as he recovered, damaging the evil wizard's mind even more in the process. This fight continued for what seemed like hours to both, but was only about an hour in real time.
When Voldemort's mind gave out from sheer mental exhaustion, Harry started going through the evil wizard's most protected memories. He skimmed through most of them, but Harry made sure to take every last memory Voldemort had that related to the Horcruxes he had created and removed all traces of them from his mind. Then he carefully searched for memories regarding any hidden stashes of supplies such as spare wands, money, valuables, potion supplies and anything else they might find useful. Whenever he would uncover valuable information, Harry would destroy the original memory so that Voldemort would not know what information was taken. But he did leaves a few teasing fragments of those memories, just to piss Voldemort off. Harry then tampered with a few others to frustrate Voldemort even further.
When Harry finally had enough of the dark wizard's diseased mind, he carefully removed any clue that might lead to Voldemort, Snape or anyone else discovering that Harry was responsible for the damage to his mind. The attack was extremely successful, it had severely weakened Quirrell and Voldemort to the point that they wouldn't be able to do anything requiring much effort anytime soon. Harry smiled victoriously, pleased that everything had gone so well.
The next time, Harry planned to find out where Voldemort had acquired his vast wealth of magical knowledge, including which private libraries he had access to, and, above all, to make sure he hadn't missed anything important. He might not enjoy doing it, but it was a dirty job that had to be done, an unfortunate but necessary sacrifice on Harry's part.
As Harry slowly regained consciousness, Hermione quickly put Quirrell's books back in order and offered a hand to help her unsteady friend to his feet. Harry didn't need the bin, but he was very weak and exhausted from the prolonged mental conflict. As soon as she was done, Hermione Obliviated Quirrell's memory of their visit and magically cleaned his office, removing any physical hint that anyone other than he had been there. Then she wrapped her arm around a worn out Harry's waist and helped him back to Ravenclaw tower.
Once she got Harry settled, Hermione went to the kitchens to get Harry some nutritious and easily digestible soup. Meanwhile, Harry was stretched out on the sofa in the Ravenclaw common room, writing out a detailed report of everything he had learnt from Voldemort's mind, focusing on anything that could be acted on immediately, such as where various stashes of valuables could be found and how to get to them. Hermione came in as just Harry was finishing up.
Hermione smiled and set the tray of soup before her visibly exhausted friend.
"How are you feeling?"
"Like I have been run over by a semi-trailer after going for a 50km run in the desert."
"That good, huh? I made you a few potions that should help you feel a bit better. Drink the first two before you eat this lovely soup and bread and the other three after you're finished."
Seeing how thoroughly wiped out Harry was, Hermione teased him gently.
"Is my little baby tired? Do you want me to feed you?"
Harry nodded his head.
"Here comes the aeroplane, open the hanger."
Harry opens his mouth and gratefully accepts the food. He was too tired to protest the babyish treatment Hermione was giving him.
Hermione hand-fed Harry the entire bowl of soup. After Harry finished his three after-dinner potions, he felt much better but still quite tired. Before Hermione left, she couldn't resist teasing him one last time.
"Does my little baby need me to sing him a lullaby?"
Harry weakly threw one of his pillows at Hermione.
"Just get out of here so I can rest."
"Goodnight, Harry."
"Goodnight, Hermione."
"See you in the morning."
The following morning, Harry woke up unusually late. Hermione had snuck him up a plate of bacon sandwiches so he could have something good to eat before class without being too late. After Harry finished his meal, Hermione leaned over to whisper in his ear.
"How are you feeling?"
"Still really tired, I think I'm suffering from a case of mild magical exhaustion."
"We need to attend classes as usual so Professor Quirrell and Voldemort don't suspect anything. Don't try to perform any spells today, I'll cover for you."
"Thanks, Hermione. I really appreciate it."
During Charms, Hermione carefully used her alternate wand to fake Harry's classroom participation, but used Harry's post-hypnotic suggestion to get Snape to dismiss their Potions class early. Hermione had to lead her study group session alone as Harry went straight to bed after classes and only reappeared at dinner before going to bed again.
The rest of the week was just as hard on Harry. He avoided performing magic if at all possible and slept as much as he could during the week, with Hermione providing as much cover as he needed. Hermione had to do everything by herself, including copying books, making her potions to compete with Snape, handling their joint venture with the Weasley twins, going the Grangers and heading the daily study group sessions.
On Saturday, in the late afternoon, Harry and Hermione went to the Granger home. As soon as they arrived, Dan and Emma worriedly approached Harry.
"Are you okay, sweetheart?"
Before giving him a big hug. Harry gave Hermione his most potent death stare.
"I will get you for this one," Harry mock-growled at Hermione.
"How are you feeling, sugarplum?"
At that, Hermione, Dan and Emma burst out laughing at Harry's expression.
"So, really, how are you feeling, Harry?"
"I am okay, Just really tired, you know?"
"Do you think you are up to meeting someone?"
"Yes, as long as it is not too taxing."
"Doug!" Dan yelled to someone outside.
"What, Dan?"
"Can you pick up our guest now?"
"Sure thing, I will be back soon."
Doug apparated away.
"So, how is business?"
"The joint venture with the Weasleys are netting us about 50 galleons a week in profits, which isn't all that much, but it'is growing steadily. Profits from the sale of ROR stuff is around 2000 pounds a week. Potions is generating 2000 pounds a week too, but there is a huge untapped market out there which our guest hopes to tap into, with your assistance. The Basilisk parts are extremely valuable. Doug and the outcasts managed to sell the Basilisk venom and skin you gave them for a profit of 350,000 galleons or 1,750,000 pounds. Remus is in the process of selling his lot. We have netted over 4000 pounds in just this week, excluding all the monies from the sale of the Basilisk parts. Since our business has been so successful, we decided to hire someone part-time to handle the paperwork side of things."
"The person would need to be aware of the magical world. Why don't you hire someone full-time so they can take care of our growing library and help us keep track of our progress?"
"We didn't really think of that. Emma just did like all the paperwork needed for our operation."
"Why don't you get Doug to contact the Outcast organisation and have them pick out a few candidates for you to interview? Both of you would be working with this person much more closely than we ever will. So pick whoever you please, we don't really care."
"Get your accountant to train them for you," Hermione suggested.
"Do you have the livestock available for the Basilisk?"
"Yes, Doug prepared the shipment earlier, it's right next to the Vanishing Cabinet."
"Could you do us a favour? Instead of feeding the livestock, I was thinking we could hire a few hunters to catch and stun some Acromantulas for the Basilisk to eat. These hunters can also be used later as our crack security force. Do you mind interviewing any hunter candidates too? I'm pretty sure you can also harvest venom, silk and blood from the acromantulas. So we need harvesters as well. Offer them a percentage of the profits from the sale of Acromantula goods."
"So what are Acromantulas and where can they be found?"
"They are giant spiders that live in the Forbidden Forest at Hogwarts. We will show the hunters around once you hire them."
"I think our guests are here. We will talk about these giant spiders later."
Two guests were brought in, judging by the costume one was the leader of England's Outcast organisation while the other was someone who Harry and Hermione had never met before
"Hello Harry, Hermione. I would like you to meet Ashley."
"Nice to meet you, Ashley." Harry and Hermione smiled welcomingly at the newest arrival.
"Nice to meet you both."
"Ashley recently gained her masters in Potions from one of the three small schools we run in America. Your belief in our organisation combined with the sale of Basilisk venom plus Hermione's entry into the high-end Potions black market has encouraged us to approach you with a proposition."
"What's the proposition?"
"I know you have access to extremely rare and expensive potions ingredients. Hermione, you have proven to be a very skilled brewer and you guys have the finances to get a good potion-making operation off the ground. Ashley can expand the operation by taking over the brewing while learning things from Hermione that aren't taught in the US anymore. It would free up Hermione to work on the other projects I understand you guys are developing. You will get half of the proceeds from any patented discoveries she makes while under contract with you. Ashley is one of our top master's graduates even though the degree isn't recognised internationally. We are hoping that working with you and having access to rare ingredients will result in her publishing a few papers in recognised Potions journals. This would increase her personal profile and our school's as well."
"Would she be an employee or a full business partner?" Harry asked.
"Whichever you prefer? I really want to learn from Hermione," Ashley replied easily.
"I think long-term contract employee is the ideal choice. What do you think, Hermione?"
"If I am going to teach her, she will need to keep our secrets. So I agree long-term employee. Do you agree, Ashley?"
"That's fine, depending on the pay."
"I'm thinking of starting out with a base pay and contracting you to make a set number of potions. Anything above that and you earn a percentage of the profit. Any discoveries you make are owned jointly by our company with your percentage of ownership determined by the amount of work you put in and how much of our resources you used to make the discovery. Any dispute of percentages would be arbitrated by the Outcast organisation with the leadership making the final judgement. In return for the Outcast's involvement, they get 2% of the profits from this new Potions venture. What do you think of those terms?"
"I can work with that," Ashley replied with a quick grin.
"I think the Outcast organisation will have no problem agreeing to that. Free money, if Ashley doesn't have any complaints. So, Ashley, work hard and don't complain."
"That seems pretty fair to me," Hermione agreed.
"Dan, can you have someone draw up a standard employment contract with those added terms?"
"Magical or Muggle?" Dan asked.
"I say Muggle, as Hermione believes in fair employment contracts with sick leave, maternity leave, holiday leave, etc. I leave it to you to work out the details with Ashley."
"Now you mentioned some Outcast schools? I have not heard of them."
"That is not surprising. Our schools don't quite have the best reputation. Not yet, anyway. They are really small and they operate at night and weekends only. Our professors are usually working remedial jobs during the day and then teaching at night and weekends. The schools are housed in small commercial buildings we own, along with a small library. We can't match the libraries of the top European schools. Or even Salem. As you know, books about magic are exceedingly valuable and the best books are purposely kept out-of-print to prevent the knowledge being passed to the newer schools like ours. Salem has a library only one-third of the size of Hogwarts and it is considered the finest in the US. It is one of the main reasons our master's degree is not recognised internationally. Well, that along with the fact that we only have a part-time teaching staff and they lack the books, money and resources to put into research. They aren't published that often and being published is a big part of winning international acceptance and recognition.
On top of that, our students are usually much older than most magical students, mostly they are pupils that the other schools didn't want to deal with, particularly the loners. Salem has the best international reputation even though they can't academically match the European schools. The heads of houses at Hogwarts are all internationally recognized in at least one field with McGonagall, Flitwick and Sprout easily the most reknowned experts in their respective fields. Snape is the youngest potion master in history, but he is much too guarded with his discoveries. We are hoping that Ashley becomes something like McGonagall or Flitwick and comes back to teach at the Outcast schools. That way we can integrate with a few of the smaller Native American schools that cater to the education of students who aren't accepted into Salem. We will still have students who are rejected by the other schools, mostly Muggle-borns, half-bloods, mixed-race students and dark creatures, such as werewolves. In short, we need to improve our financial situation so we can afford full-time professors, obtain proper resources and build our school's standing in the international magical community."
"Why don't you have just one school rather than three?" Hermione asked, curiously.
"To teach magical creatures like werewolves and vampires in a facility separated from our regular students, also some students aren't able to travel. Not even our commercial buildings are large enough to contain our entire student body, anyway.
"Why can't they travel?"
"There are government regulations regarding Floo and Portkey travel for dark creatures like werewolves and vampires."
"Do the regulations include private Floo networks?"
"No, I believe it applies only to the public networks. The purpose is to prevent attacks on public locations using public Floos or Portkeys." Ashley replied with a sigh.
"Do you own the commercial buildings that house your schools?"
"Yes."
"May I offer you a suggestion? Why don't you try borrowing more funds using the three commercial properties as collateral. Use the funds to purchase a very large but inexpensive property that fits your needs. You could build three big schools on the property, with one designated for the Vampires, one for the werewolves and the last one where students can mix if they wish. Ban anyone who proves incapable of getting along with their fellow students. The common building could be used to house your library and hold sports events. Access to the school could be enabled by adding a few levels of underground parking. Cast a notice-me-not ward around the parking area to ward off any curious Muggles. Then build a Floo right into the parking area that can be accessed by the private Floo network. Once the new school is established, you could sell off the commercial buildings for a nice profit."
"Why we did not we think of that?"
Hermione smiled. "I've notice that logical thinking isn't practiced much in the wizarding world."
"Did you just insult us?"
"What are you going to do about it?"
"Nothing. If I bash you, I might lose the gifts you are providing like all the free clothing, food and money that we so desperately need. Do you have any idea how much clothing gets destroyed just because werewolves forget to strip down before they transform?"
"We're more than pleased to help, you know."
"Before we leave, would you mind looking for a close magical property for us to buy? Since Ashley is going to be working with us, she will need a shielded building in which to brew. A tent won't be sufficient. And Hermione needs where she can pop in to teach Ashley when she's available."
"It does not have to be all that close, I can easily side-apparate to and from here."
"There are other reasons too. Some of the more sensitive potions ingredients can't be moved by magical means."
"We can use our earnings from the sale of the Basilisk parts to fund the purchase of the property, plus any equipment and supplies she might need."
"By the way, Ashley, before you make any purchases, please talk to Doug to make sure we don't already have it."
"We need to go now, but do you mind staying with Doug and Emma to discuss the hiring of new employees?"
"Of course, I don't mind at all. You have both been an enormous help."