Chapter 9 – Preparations and Room of Requirement
On Sunday morning, Harry and Hermione visited the Grangers again to plan their first raid on Voldemort's secret stashes.
"You look a lot better, Harry," Emma said with a smile.
"Frankly, you looked like shit yesterday. You were a real mess," Dan added as he and Emma hugged Hermione in greeting.
"Does anyone else want to insult me, Hermione, Doug? No? How about you, Emily?"
"I did not see you yesterday, so it would be unfair of me to speculate. I will say you're very short and cute, will that do?"
Harry waggled his eyebrows and teased back. "Is that an offer?"
"Sorry, Harry, I prefer my men a bit more mature. Well, at least old enough to shave."
Harry feigned a truly pitiful expression of deep disappointment that made everyone burst out laughing.
"Doug, Emily, how are your mental exercises going?" Hermione asked after everyone calmed down a bit.
"We have both sorted out and organized our memories and are now practicing our basic mental defences."
"That's why we often hear Doug crying like a girl in the middle of the night," Dan said, jokingly.
Doug flushed and fired back. "I do not!"
"You definitely do so. There is nothing wrong with getting in touch with your feminine side," Dan added with a mischievous grin.
Emma rolled her eyes. "Boys, just stop. You are not going to start another wrestling match in this house, do you hear me?"
"Okay, people, why don't we get back to business? How did it go after we left yesterday?"
"It went well. We set up a lunch meeting with our lawyers on Monday to draw up a professional employment contract. The Outcast organisation will deal with all paperwork on the wizarding side of things."
"That sounds great. Did you talk to them about finding that administrative assistant you were looking for?"
"We're expecting a list of candidates to be sent to us by tomorrow. And we are both taking tomorrow afternoon off to meet with them."
"How about my Acromantula hunter/security candidates?"
"Outcast found several candidates who were very interested. In fact, they were willing to send over a few of them today, as many were eager to start as soon as possible. But we decided to wait until tomorrow so that we can sort through both sets of candidates at the same time."
"That sounds like a sensible plan. By the way, we've acquired some information regarding the locations of Voldemort's secret stashes of valuables, including the wards and protections surrounding them. Here are some copies of our list of sites and the protections on them. You will notice that nearly all of the locations are right here in the UK. There is just one other one in Albania."
Hermione passed everyone a copy of the map that Harry made after successfully gaining access to Voldemort's mind and then grabbed a fresh piece of paper and a pen.
After spending a few minutes looking over his copy, a wide-eyed Doug raised his head to stare at them both incredulously with more than a hint of fear in his eyes.
"You seriously expect me to accomplish all this on my own?"
"No! Are you daft, man? Of course, we don't expect you to do it alone. You couldn't even if you wanted to."
"Are you going to hire outside contractors to help?"
"No. You're going to be our main curse-breaker, but Harry can use his special talents to help you along. Emily will be going also and I'll be able to help you as well."
"No offence intended, but Harry and you are just a couple of kids. And Emily has no experience in curse-breaking at all."
"Hermione, this sounds really, really dangerous. I think you need to seriously consider hiring professional curse-breakers to pull this one off."
"Trust us, it's really not going to be all that difficult. We'll hardly be going in blind. We'll be going in knowing exactly what we're looking for and exactly how to get it, which makes the job ever so much easier. Especially when Harry, our resident parselmouth, will be right there to handle all the snakey parts."
"I don't like it. I still sounds entirely too dangerous."
"We really don't want any outsiders finding out about these sites. The information in these sites, cash money aside, will be invaluable to us in the future. We need to try at least one site."
"Doug, if the foray into the first site doesn't work, I have to insist that that you stun these two and bring them home immediately, do you understand me?"
"Yes, Dan, of course. I will make absolutely sure our young friends remain safe."
"Do you promise?"
"I give you my word."
"Thank you."
Doug whispered to Hermione, "You had better be right about this. I don't want to lose my bonus."
"Now that we've decided to go ahead, I think we need to carefully decide which one to try first."
"Albania is definitely out, at least for now."
"Private homes might be a bit more difficult to gain access to as well. Which means Hepzibah Smith's old home is out, along with Nott Manor, the Carrow country estate, the Avery holiday home and especially Riddle's manor."
"I think we should still consider Riddle Manor. Currently, there's only an old caretaker living there." Harry added.
"So that leaves us with the stashes in Hogsmeade, Wool's Orphanage, Borgin and Burke's, the Leaky Cauldron and Riddle Manor." Hermione said, as she finished crossing the other locations off the list of potential raid targets.
"Borgin and Burkes is out. I don't think our lot will have much success getting permission to visit their back room without one heck of a fight," Doug pointed out.
"Wool's Orphanage and Leaky Cauldron would be the easiest according to this list."
"While Riddle Manor has some heavy defensive measures in place, it's also likely to contain the most valuable stuff of the lot. The cave near Hogsmeade is massive and has some truly outrageous protections on it to boot. It would take much more than a week to organise a raid on that one.
Harry thought about it. "I say we tackle Riddle's Manor first."
"How about this. Why don't we raid Riddle Manor first, and, if we are successful, magically pack the whole lot to be taken back here and sorted. That way we can prove to Mum and Dad it wasn't anywhere near as dangerous as they think. Then everyone goes to the orphanage, including Mum and Dad. Doug, Emily, Harry and will keep ourselves Disillusioned while my parents pass out gifts to distract the staff and the children. Once the coast is clear, we'll start the raid. So buy plenty of toys and loads of sweets for the kids. We need to keep them as wound up and hyper as possible to keep the staff out of our hair while we clean out Voldemort's valuables. Finally, if we're not too exhausted, we'll have a go at the Leaky Cauldron stash."
"That sounds doable. If you guys fail to gain access to the Riddle Manor hoard, we can still try to the orphanage, though.
"Okay, make sure you have everything prepared for next week. Especially the trunks."
"Why don't you, Doug and Emily go outside and think it over? Harry and I need to have a word with my parents about something. Don't go too far, we might need your input." Hermione said as she nudged Doug and Emily towards the door. Once the door was closed, Hermione used her alternate wand to cast locking and anti-eavesdropping charms.
"Mum, Dad, what do you think of Doug and Emily?" Hermione asked.
"We think they're both great, based on the two months we've known them. Why do you ask, dear?"
"Do you think they are trustworthy enough for us to tell them about the Room of Requirement?"
"You've had plenty of interaction with them too. What is your gut tell you about them?"
"You know that Harry and I aren't all that good when it comes to the emotional stuff. I prefer to go with empirical facts and Harry's emotional upbringing was pretty stunted by his abysmal home life. Sorry, Harry, but it's true."
"It's alright, Hermione. It is better to remain upfront than to bury it all and ignore it. By the way, how is my adoption going?"
"Everything's on track and you should have some official documents to sign in just a few weeks. Then there will be a hearing in late November that you'll need to attend. There should be a final hearing sometime in the new year. Around Easter, we should know what the final outcome will be. I think we'll need to be moving to a bigger place soon. Preferably a good distance away from this operation, so that when the inspectors come round, they'll have nothing even remotely suspicious to find."
"You should start looking right now. We have all the funds we need from the sale of all the Basilisk parts. Has Remus come to see you yet?"
"He was supposed to see us yesterday, but didn't turn up."
"If Remus doesn't show up today, send word so that I can owl him."
"Getting back to what I was talking about earlier... Mum, Dad, do you trust them enough for us to reveal more of our secrets?"
"I think I can see where you're going with this. It will help put my mind at ease. Yes, I say show them."
"What am I missing?" Dan was visibly confused.
"Dear, Hermione is thinking of telling Doug and Emily about the Room of Requirement. It would be an ideal place for them to prepare and practice in a perfectly safe environment," Emma explained.
"Oh, yes. I see. And yes, you should tell them," Dan agreed.
"Okay, we so we all agree to tell Doug and Emily about the Room of Requirement. What about you, Harry?"
"I completely trust your judgement, Hermione," Harry said as he hugged his friend tightly. Dan went to open the door, but failed as Hermione's locking charm was still in place. When Dan tried again, Hermione removed the locking charm at the same time. The results was Dan falling over on his bum when he yanked open the door. Emma, Hermione and Harry burst out laughing. It was like watching a Charlie Chaplin pratfall.
Emma grinned at Hermione. "Was that strictly necessary, dear?"
"No, but it was absolutely hilarious!"
Dan got up and mock-growled at her, "Very funny, Hermione. You will pay dearly for that, my dear. See you down by the Vanishing Cabinet."
Then left to find Doug and Emily and led them to the garage. Once everyone was gathered round, Hermione got to work putting up a series of heavy-duty privacy charms.
"Doug and Emily, what we are about to show you is one of our biggest secrets. If you don't think you can keep quiet about them, then please say so now."
"We won't say anything. Besides, remember, we actually have to keep our mouth shut about anything we're told. That's part and parcel of our employment contract with you lot."
"I thought what you signed was an ordinary Muggle employment contract?"
"Dan had us sign one Muggle contract and then a magical one as well, using a blood quill."
"That's something you should have told me, Dad."
"Oops. I forgot." Dan said apologetically, but his eyes said he didn't mean it.
"I think we're even now," Hermione said menacingly, silently challenging Dan to disagree to with her.
"Okay, let's just get on with it. We're burning daylight and there's too much to do."
"As I was saying before, you are about to learn some of our biggest secrets. You might have been able to work some of it out yourselves, I expect."
"Just tell us, alright?"
Harry took over, sensing they were growing a touch irritated with Hermione's delivery.
"This is a magical vanishing cabinet. It is connected to another one, which is inside Hogwarts itself. The room where that cabinet is located is connected to the place where we've been storing all the gifts I get from fans as the Boy-Who-Lived." Harry rolled his eyes good-naturedly. "But the real reason why we're showing you this is that traveling through the cabinet will gain you access to the Room of Requirement."
"We're both Hogwarts graduates and neither of us have ever heard of a place called the Room of Rquirement."
"My parents were a bit more adventurous than you guys since they actually discovered the place," Harry said in jest.
"I was in Ravenclaw, Emily huffed. "We considered studying to be much more important than discovering new ways to get in trouble."
"I was a Hufflepuff, guys. We were all about making friends and not getting in trouble," Doug stated with pride.
"Trust me, you guys are going to love this. Hermione, would you mind checking to make sure the coast is clear?"
Harry discreetly slipped Hermione the Marauders' Map to make sure no one was around who shouldn't be.
Hermione was back a few moments later.
"It's fine, let's go."
"Come on and follow me," Harry said before walking straight through the Vanishing Cabinet, Doug and Emily right behind him.
"Why aren't your parents coming too, Hermione?"
"My parents are Muggles, don't forget. The wards around Hogwarts completely disorient them, so they can't come inside."
"This place is amazing," Emily said, gazing around in wonder.
"You can say that again. It's truly massive and you seriously expect us to clean all this out?" Doug stared at the piles and piles of goods as he slowly walked aaround the Room of Lost Things.
"Yes. And we haven't even got to the most interesting part yet. Come on, follow me." Harry lead them out of the Room of Lost Things.
"This is the seventh floor of Hogwarts, isn't it. Where did the door go?" Doug wondered.
"From here you have access to the Room of Hidden Things, which is the room we just came from. And here is the Room of Requirement, which I am about to show you now." Harry began pacing back and forth before the tapestry of the Barnabas the Barmy attempting to teach trolls ballet. Suddenly, the door appeared. Hermione opened it immediately and lead everyone inside. It was a perfect recreation of the Great Hall.
"This is the Room of Requirement. It can be anything you imagine it to be," Harry told them with a smile.
Doug raised a curious eyebrow. "So all you have do is picture it in your mind and the room will give you what you want?"
"Yes, exactly," Hermione confirmed.
Doug got a mischievous twinkle in his eye and suddenly a blow-up doll appeared on his arm. Emily slapped Doug silly and scolded him for his cheek.
"You have a vile and disgusting mind, Doug. Do you know that?"
"Yeah. I know and I like it it that way."
"Just know you can't take anything out of this room that you did not bring with you," Harry pointed out. Doug pasted a fake look of crushed disappointed on his face, earning him another scowl from Emily.
"Just imagine what you can do here in the room!" Emily sighed, before wrinkling her nose at Doug. "Well, I don't want to think about what Doug might do in a place like this, that would definitely scar me for life and kill my appetite as well.
"Harry, I'm reserving the right to show Emily how the room works. You can show Doug separately." She eyed the older wizard apprehensively. "I really don't need to have my mind corrupted by what he might imagine."
"That's fine," Harry agreed.
"This room is incredible."
"Why don't you two experiment a bit while we gather a few things, okay?"
"That would be great!" Emily was anxious to explore the room's capabilities.
"It is possible for you to take Emily with you?" Doug asked, his expression hopeful. "I'd like to test the room privately, if you don't mind."
"You guys need to work that out between yourselves, we've gotta go. See you in a bit."
Harry and Hermione quickly left before they had to hear Doug and Emily bicker over who got to use it first. The went straight to their dorms to collect a few blank books before carefully making their way back to the Room of Requirement.
"Harry, would you mind going in first. Make sure Doug isn't doing anything I really don't want to see?"
Harry strolled into the Room of Requirement with his hand over his eyes and yelled, "Hermione and I are back! Doug, you had better not be doing something that we kids shouldn't see!"
The room was now a testing area.
"This room is great! We didn't do anything inappropriate, I swear."
Harry let Hermione know that it was safe and they started making stacks of blank books on a table that conveniently appeared in front of them.
"Now, we're going to show you something else we found not long ago. It's a spell that allows you to make a copy of any book you want, including any notes that have been added."
"Wouldn't copy protection prevent you from doing that?" Emily asked.
"It's a very old spell that was created ages before modern copy protections existed and was used widely by warriors who used it to make copies of any books of they couldn't read. And patience isn't exactly something that warriors were known for, so this spell is relatively quick and easy to use," Herminone told them.
"This spell is a big secret and you won't need to use it, just while you're working for us. Is that agreed? I really don't want people finding out about it and working out a counter-spell."
Both Doug and Emily quickly agreed. Hermione then demonstrated the spell and practiced with them until Doug and Emily were both able to consistently cast the spell themselves. Harry and Hermione then had them practice getting in and out of the room and then they all went back to the Granger home.
Before Harry and Hermione returned to Hogwarts for the night, they had a quiet word with Doug and Emily.
"You guys can prepare for the upcoming raids using the room. We also need you to try to recreate the vanishing cabinets. You can use the Room of Requirement to get everything you'll need. It can provide you with a whole library of books to learn all about them. Also, grab as many of the blank books as you can. We're going to have you both helping us make copies of books from Hogwarts' library. But preparing for the raids is your first priority, okay?"
"See you guys later," Harry added as he and Hermione left to wash up before dinner.
After dinner at Hogwarts, Professor Flitwick approached Harry with a message; Dumbledore wanted to see him in his office at once.
With a disgruntled sigh, Harry made his way up to the Headmaster's office.
"Harry, do come in!" Dumbledore smiled at him in his fake, grandfatherly manner.
"A source has told me that you have obtained access to a stockpile of Basilisk parts. Is that so?"
"Yes. Why does it concern you?"
"Basilisk parts are very dangerous things to have around. I have taken them into my personal custody, as it is not safe for you to have access to such things."
"So, are you saying you mean to illegally seize something that is not yours. You will return them all to me immediately or else my mentor will have the aurors arrest you for thievery."
"You mentor? Who is your mentor, Harry?"
"That is none of your business. However, if you do not return everything you've illegally taken from me, believe me, he will come looking for you himself."
"Is that a threat? Are you threatening me, Harry?"
"No, Professor, it is simply a warning. Imagine how much further damage will come to your reputation if word of this should leak out."
Dumbledore went white at the thought. Skeeter's article had done a significant amount of damage to his previously sterling reputation and he was still working on cleaning up that mess. Another scandal was the last thing he needed.
"I will your belongings returned to you tonight."
"You had better. This is costing my mentor a considerable amount of money to market. If I find that any of the Basilisk parts are missing or have ended up in the possession of Professor Snape, my mentor will take prompt legal action. So I will be making certain that every last bit of it has been returned."
Harry left the headmaster's office absolutely livid with Remus for selling them out to Dumbledore and went to Hermione to tell her what their supposed friend had done. She instructed him to immediately write a letter to Remus demanding an explanation. If they weren't satisfied with it, they decided that they would stop using Remus and replace him with the Outcast organization as their sole marketer.
Harry grabbed a quill and got to work:
Dear Remus Lupin:
I have just returned from Professor Dumbledore's office. Imagine my surprise when he informed me that he had in his possession the Basilisk parts that I arranged for you to sell. Can kindly tell me why you felt the need to inform a third party of our private activites? And have you shared any more privileged information with anyone else that you know you shouldn't have?
If all the Basilisk parts are not retrieved by you tonight and sold immediately, I will contact the authorities regarding the thief. You have until dinnertime tomorrow to bring all monies from the sale directly to the Grangers. Failure to do so will result in your swift arrest and prosecution
Regards,
Harry Potter
PS: My trust in you have taken a major hit. If something like this ever happens again, not only will I have nothing further to do with you, but all of my future marketing will be handled by someone else and you will be out of a job.
Hedwig waited patiently as Harry finished attaching the scroll to her leg and then flew off into the night.
That night, Harry sneaks away to feed the Basilisk hoping the extra action will calm him down. Ge then harvests more venom, fangs and blood to be given to Ashley, the new potion master when she starts.
A/N I want to thank my beta, Amusant, again. She has been wonderful. Just a reminder that there is a poll on my profile page for how to get rid of Draco Malfoy.
Chapter 10 – Troll
The next morning Harry had calmed down a bit from his confrontation with Dumbledore. When Harry's newspaper arrived in the middle of breakfast, he was delighted to see Rita's latest article was the Prophet's headline story.
Did Dumbledore Kill His Squib Little Sister?
By Rita Skeeter
This reporter has learned that Hogwarts headmaster, Albus Dumbledore, Hogwarts headmaster, one of our most revered leaders and so-called Champion of the Light, may well have killed his own sister, Arianna Dumbledore, who happened to be a squib. There was a fight between Albus Dumbledore and his close friend, Gellert Grindelwald, which, I am informed, resulted in Arianna's unfortunate demise.
This shocking discovery resulted from information provided to me by another well-known and respected authority on wizarding history, Bathilda Bagshot.
As it turns out, the circumstances of the young squib girl's death were purposefully hidden from public scrutiny. If Headmaster Dumbledore is truly the saintly figure and champion of the underclass that he has long been purported to be, then why did he go to such exhaustive lengths to conceal not only the existence of his sister, but also the manner of her death? And what other shocking secrets might Albus Dumbledore be hiding under his robes?
When I went to the Ministry to search for details regarding the demise of little miss Dumbledore, I discovered that there was no mention of the incident at all. Which begs the question... Was an investigation conducted at all? And, if so, why wasn't Dumbledore charged in connection with his sister's untimely death?
When I contacted the DMLE for a statement regarding this blatant miscarriage of justice, they flatly refused to comment. Undersecretary Umbridge, however, has assured me that she will have the matter investigated throughly.
Harry sat back to enjoy watching Dumbledore splutter and fume. His good mood continued until he received Remus' response to his owl.
Dear Harry,
I am sorry if you feel that I have betrayed your trust. I was only looking out for your best interests. Anyway, I recovered the majority of the Basilisk parts that I gave Dumbledore.
Unfortunately, Professor Snape had already used some parts by the time I arrived. Since you obviously feel very strongly about this issue, I will repay you for the items that Professor Snape has used. It might take me some time to repay you in full, but I swear that I will. The rest of the money will be in the Grangers' possession by Sunday at the latest.
I don't understand why you have such strong negative feelings against Professor Dumbledore. He has done many great things for magical society and for me personally as well. If you had informed me of your distrust of Professor Dumbledore, I might have acted differently. Harry, you should know that your parents always had great respect for Professor Dumbledore, just like most good citizens of the wizarding world.
Regards,
Remus Lupin
After reading the letter, Harry passed it over to Hermione so that she could read it too. Knowing how hurt and upset Harry was after being betrayed by the man he had considered both a mentor and friend, Hermione quietly led him to a nearby empty classroom to give him an opportunity to vent his frustrations.
"Harry, do you want me write Remus back for you?" Hermione asked, just as soon as they were alone.
"Thanks, Hermione. Right now, I'm just too angry with Remus to deal with him myself. We discussed the fact I had access to Basilisk parts during our first meeting. If he had concerns about the potential danger involved, then he should have spoken with me about it instead surrendering them to Dumbledore without even asking me. He is a grown man and he is behaving like a child."
"I understand your perspective, but I can also understand Remus'. You can't really blame someone for taking a particular action if you don't warn them about why they shouldn't do it in the first place. That's called communication, Harry."
"Okay, you're right. I didn't think about that."
"So, do you want to write the letter or do you still need me to do it?"
"I'll do it."
Dear Remus,
I don't blame you for going to Professor Dumbledore, who sounds like someone you truly admire. This situation is my own fault for not warning you that I don't trust him and this latest action just reinforced my negative opinion of the man. For him to seize something so valuable that doesn't belong to him makes me continue to question his personal ethics.
You can repay the money that was lost and I will grant you the extension you requested. But understand this; another repeat performance or any other betrayal of my trust and I will demand and expect immediate payment of all outstanding debts.
Just so you know, the person I obtained the Basilisk from had it appraised at 350,000 galleons street value. So that is how much I expect to receive. In installments, of course.
Regards,
Harry Potter
Harry had Hermione read over the missive and approve it, then they rushed off to find Hedwig and sent her on her way.
The next few days were filled with nothing but classes, preparations for the raids and piles of homework. Professor Dumbledore was often absent from meals, much to Harry's relief. Then Halloween finally arrived and Harry was a complete nervous wreck. As they walked down to the Great Hall for breakfast, Harry couldn't hold it in any longer.
"It's a lot easier not knowing what's coming than it is knowing what's about to happen and being forced to wait until the time is right."
"I know what you mean. It's really hard to do homework when we have to be careful to avoid showing how advanced we are, too."
"So what's on our agenda for tonight?"
"I'm going to feed Fluffy some contaminated meat at lunch time. It won't hurt him, it's just designed to start an infection in anyone he happens to bite. Then we'll just hang around the library after classes to wait for the troll. Once the troll is in the building, we go to the bathroom and take it out."
The rest of the day went exactly as planned with Hermione feeding Fluffy before getting ready for the evening. Harry was busy copying as many books from the Restricted Section as he could, taking advantage of the library being empty as everyone while everyone was stuffing themselves at the Halloween feast. Hermione was researching and keeping an eye out for the troll on the Marauders' Map.
As soon as she spotted the troll on the map, she jumped up and grabbed Harry.
"It's time, let's go!"
They quickly made their way to the same girl's lavatory where Hermione had encountered the troll the first time around, tracking the troll's movements via the map to make sure they were directly in its path. Hermione was holding Harry back as he was visibly eager to confront the troll and attack it. When they arrived at the lavatory, she had to take a moment to calm him down before they were able to proceed.
They arrived just as the troll made it to the stairwell. They went into their pre-planned positions with Hermione heading inside and Harry leaning against the wall just outside as if he was waiting for her.
When the troll got there, Harry yelled, "Aren't you finished yet, Hermione? We need to get to the feast before everything's gone!"
"I'm almost done, I'll be out in a minute, okay?"
"Hurry up, I think I saw something!"
"Then do something, I'm coming!"
Harry used Aquamenti to hose down the wall outside of the girls lavatory. The confused troll stared down to find its feet surrounded by a huge puddle of water. Then Harry used a freezing spell to turn the puddle into a sheet of ice, causing the troll to lose its balance and fall.
Harry yelled, "Hermione, stay in the toilets and lock the door, there's a troll out here!"
Which was the prearranged signal for Hermione to attack and take out the troll.
Hermione immediately opened the door to find the troll right outside, She screamed, then cast a spell that shoved the troll back towards the stairs. The troll landed hard when it hit the ice and slid up and over the railings before hitting its head on the floor below, knocking it out cold.
Harry then extracted his memory of the encounter with the troll and fished a vial from his pocket, saving it for later review in his pensieve. He had only just finished when the professors arrived in force, with only Professors Quirrell and Professor Snape missing from the group.
"Why were you two out here and not in your dorms?" Professor McGonagall demanded.
"What do you mean?" Harry asked, innocently.
"We told everyone attending the Halloween Feast to go to straight to their dorms, young man. Now why are you here and not safe in your dormitory?"
"Professor, Harry and I weren't actually at the feast... Harry doesn't like to be reminded of the night his parents were killed. So we decided to hang out in the library instead. We were heading for the kitchens to get something to eat, but I needed to stop at the lavatory. That's when we encountered the troll.
"What happened then?"
"Hermione was finishing up and I was outside waiting for her when the troll showed up. I told Hermione to hurry so we could get away. But you know how it is, girls always take such an awfully long time, so I had to delay the troll until help turned up. I watered down the area in front of the lavatory and turned it into ice. The troll slipped and fell and I was going to try to get it away from Hermione, but she blasted open the door and the troll went flying."
"What spell did you use?"
"I don't know, I just panicked, I wanted the thing away from me. I aimed my wand and it and the troll went zooming across the ice."
Harry wondered aloud, "How did a troll get inside the school anyway? I thought the Hogwarts was supposed to be safe."
"We will be looking into that, I assure you." Dumbledore said, twinkling in his grandfatherly manner.
"Let me get this straight, you don't know what's going on at the school you happen to be in charge of?"
Dumbledore was visibly disappointed whenHarry began questioning his actions. Professor Dumbledore was so used fawning respect and admiration, so Harry's obvious lack of respect was making it very difficult for the headmaster to control his temper, which pleased Harry to no end.
"Shouldn't one of you check on the troll?" Hermione questioned, hoping to defuse the rapidly building tension in the room.
Flitwick and McGonagall both rushed off to handle the troll while Harry and Dumbledore continued to stare at each other down. When McGonagall and Flitwick came back, they were still looking at each other with obvious distaste.
McGonagall eyed them both for a moment, then said, "The troll is unconscious. We've taken the liberty of moving it out of Hogwarts and into the Forbidden Forest."
Seeing Dumbledore and Harry trading a look, she quickly added,"Why don't we have both of you checked out at the infirmary, make sure neither of you were injured? Professor Flitwick, would you please clean this up while Professor Dumbledore looks into how the troll got in here in the first place?" McGonagall lead Harry and Hermione to the infirmary while her diminutive colleague started cleaning up the hall.
The next day, after they were medically cleared by Madam Pomfrey, the pair traipsed off for a hearty breakfast at the Great Hall. Since they were kept for observation in the infirmary all night-despite their protests that they were perfectly fine-a rumor had begun floating around the school that both Harry and Hermione had been badly injured during their encounter with the troll. The fact that they hadn't returned to their dorms as usual the night had given real credibility to the rumour. Hermione suspected that their night in the infirmary was part of a deliberate ploy by Professor Dumbledore to damage their public image and make them both sound crazy. So she warned Harry to not mention the troll incident last night at all and just say they were kept in the infirmary for observation. Her suspicions were proven correct when Professor Dumbledore took a moment to make a brief announcement that the troll had been dealt with and would no longer be a problem, purposefully giving everyone the impression that he and the other professors had been the ones to deal with the troll, not two first year students. The lack of points being awarded to Harry and Hermione for their services to the school was the clincher.
After classes had finished for the day, Harry and Hermione headed to the Granger home to see what had happened while they had been so busy. They found Dan and Emma in the living room where they were having tea with someone unfamiliar. Hermione hugged her parents while Harry politely greeted Dan and Emma.
"Harry and Hermione, we would like to introduce you to Alice Branstead. She is our new administrative assistant and your new librarian," Dan told them.
"She was one of the candidates we interviewed on Monday, she just started on Wednesday, " Emma added.
"Nice to meet you both. The Doctors Grangers have been telling me all about you and I look forward to working with you."
"Nice to meet you too, Miss Branstead." They both said a little overwhelmed by the enthusiast nature of their new employee.
"Please call me Alice. Sorry, I am just so terribly excited. The library you have is truly massive. When I applied for this position, I thought that the job would be mainly dealing with administration at the dental surgery and looking after a small private library. Instead, I found out you lot have multiple operations both in the magical world and the muggle world with plans to expand. And not a small family library, but a large tent filled with two rooms completely full with another one well on its way to being filled. Goodness!" she exclaimed.
"Do you mind telling me a little about yourself, Alice?" Harry asked.
"Oh, of course not, Mr. Potter. I worked in both the magical and muggle worlds as an administrative assistant for many years and have some additional experience as a librarian. My biggest hobby is reading and I support equality as my mother was a werewolf and my father was a Muggleborn wizard. Due to my mother's condition, I wasn't allowed to go to magical school and we could not afford private tutors, so I was educated in the muggle world."
"Alice, please call me Harry."
"And you can call me Hermione."
"Do you have any questions, Harry, Hermione?"
"Do you have a wand?" Hermione asked.
"Yes I do. My father tutored me at home for two OWLs so I could legally own my own wand."
"Which do you prefer, the magical world or the muggle one?" Hermione asked, curious.
"I think that both have their good points and bad points. They are just very different."
"That's a great answer and we totally agree. Welcome to our team."
"Are you staying here or do you have your own place?" Harry asked.
"I was planning on keeping my own place but now that I have seen the number of book I'll be in charge of, I am now inclined to stay here. As I love reading, you'll probably have to drag me away each evening to send me home and I don't think I should bring any books home, I've noticed that some of the volumes are exceedingly rare," Alice explained.
Harry thought for a moment. "Dan, Emma, can arrangements be made if she does decide to stay here?"
"If she wants to stay, then Alice could share a tent with Emily. That is, until we are able to find a bigger place for us all. We're actually looking right now. We spoke to a real estate agent and they're trying to find a place big enough to fit our growing needs. The fact that we're able to pay in cash ought to speed up the process tremendously."
"How about Ashley, our budding Potions mistress? What's happening with her?"
"We have signed an agreement with her and she'll be starting next week. She'll be busy most of next week, buying the equipment and supplies to set-up the potion lab. Hermione, can you come sometime late next week to show her some of the potions you've been making?" Emma asked.
"Where will she be staying?" Harry wanted to know.
"Doug found a special tent that will be used for her potions lab. Since we have so many tents, Doug just finished building a pagoda in the back yard that now houses all of our tents, with an anti-Muggle notice-me-not ward to keep curious people away. The goblins took care of getting approval to build a special pagoda, so we're all set there.
"See you later, Mum, Mad. By the way, where are Doug and Emily?"
"In their tents, getting some rest."
"Nice meeting you, Alice, we need to get back to school, but we'll see you around," Harry smiled at their new employee as they left.
Harry and Hermione visited the tents and rounded up Emily and Doug so that they could discuss the raids to be conducted the following day.
"Ready for tomorrow, Doug?" Harry asked.
"Not really, but then I don't think I'll ever be ready," Doug replied.
"You did get everything you need, right?"
"Yes. Even quite a few things I don't think I'll really need, but that I got just in case," Doug flexed his shoulders, trying to work out the tension that had settled there.
"Good."
"Emily, how about you? Are you ready for tomorrow?" Harry asked Emily.
"Yes, but Doug is taking the lead on our little adventure, so my preparation and assistance was rather limited, as I don't have any curse-breaking experience. Instead, I've been spending much of my time working creating duplicates of the vanishing cabinets. I think we're going to need to hire a cabinetmaker who is experienced with both Muggle and magical techniques."
"Doug, can you help Emily find someone fitting that description, maybe next week sometime?"
"It might be a bit difficult to locate such a person. They might not exist here in the UK, we might need to make it a global search, which is liable to take a while."
"That's okay, just find someone who can help Emily. By the way, did you manage to find a pensieve in all that stuff you were sorting through?"
Doug pulled out his list and scanned it quickly.
"We did find three small pensieves. Why, do you want to keep them?"
"Yes and any other ones you find. I going to give you a memory that I need you to pass along to Rita Skeeter for me."
"What the hell are you dealing with that bitch for? If you'll pardon my french, ladies," Doug exclaimed in outrage.
"Sometimes we're going to have to dance with the devil to make a necessary deal, Doug. Rita Skeeter's a very well-known reporter who has made her reputation on taking people apart. Having her working for us neutralises her as a potential threat and makes her an asset instead. That's why I'm going to set up a meeting between you and Rita for Sunday afternoon. You'll give her the memory of an incident at school and that she'll be using to further discredit Dumbledore. Can you also give her 300 galleons for me, that's her monthly pay," Harry explained.
"What was the incident at school that you want Rita to see?" Emily asked, visibly concerned.
"Somehow a troll got into the school, it went after Hermione and almost killed us. We want to know why and how a troll could get into a school like Hogwarts. The professors have not revealed the results of any investigation, assuming there even was an investigation. This affects the safety of all Hogwarts students, and we have a right to know what's going on."
"I can understand why you're doing it, but I really don't like Skeeter at all. Anything else, Harry?"
"If she doesn't have a pensieve or access to one, then let her borrow one of the ones you found. Also, ask her if she has any information that might encourage the apothecary in Diagon Alley to become available for sale. Tell her we'll make it worth her while," Harry said, after some thought.
"What if she has information like that about the apothecary? What do you want me to do?"
"If she does, give her 50 galleons as a deposit. Tell her that if the information results in us being able to purchase the apothecary for ourselves, we will then negotiate a suitable reward for her services to us in this matter."
"Basically tell her, here is 50 galleons if the information turns out to be valuable then additional compensation will be forthcoming."
"Exactly. Speaking of forthcoming, have you guys heard anything about our acromantula hunter candidates? I forgot to ask Dan and Emma about them."
"We have six people starting next week, including a team leader. They'll only be working one night a week and they get paid on commission."
"Hm. Maybe you should locate us another of those oversized magical trunks and ask the shopkeeper there about any cabinetmakers he happens to know. Maybe even subcontract his personal cabinetmaker to us, with the usual provisions about confidentiality and potential patent-worthy discoveries," Hermione added.
Doug smacked himself in the head. "I should have thought of that one myself."
"Well we got to be going see you tomorrow bright and early." Hermione says in farewell.
"See you guys tomorrow." Harry adds.
Harry then quickly writes a letter to Rita organising the meeting with Doug.
A/N Responses to reviews
ceo55 – What happened was that Remus goes to Dumbledore before he sells the Basilisk parts and Dumbledore confiscates the items claiming it is for the protection of Harry. Then gives it to Snape who immediately begins experimenting with it. The reason why it is sold only in Britain is that they don't want to pay the huge bribes or customs duties that would allow something that valuable to leave the country. That is why Harry got them working on recreating the vanishing cabinets. Another reason is that the parts are old and not very useful.
ROBERT-19588 - The reason Remus betrays Harry to Dumbledore is that Remus feels like he owes his loyalty to Dumbledore for sticking his neck out by keeping him in school.
Schnuff – Hermione's parents can not pull her out of Hogwarts as Dumbledore is her legal magical guardian once they had agreed to let Hermione go to Hogwarts. Dumbledore would not let any muggleborn leave as it would look bad on him.
LadySonics – I am an Aussie bloke. We spell Organisation with an "s" down under.
Chapter 11 - Raids
Doug, Emily, Harry and Hermione arrived at Riddle Manor very early on Saturday morning. They made a careful search of the property for Frank Bryce, who they had learned, was the current caretaker of the Riddle property. It didn't take long, as Harry used Voldemort's memories of the Manor to learn Bryce's daily schedule. Bryce was quickly Stunned, then Hermione dosed him with a variation of Dreamless Sleep that would result in him awakening later, none the wiser and believing that he had simply fallen asleep on the job.
It took a while to access the Disillusioned closet that contained the bulk of the Riddle Manor stash. Once they located it, Doug got down to the business of confirming Harry's list of the wards and protections they would have to conquer in order to gain access to Voldemort's cache of ill-gotten valuables.
"There are twelve layers of wards protecting this closet. Two of them are blood wards, plus five of the wards appear to be foreign in origin. Exactly as described in your list, Harry."
"Can you teach Harry that detection spell? At least some of the protections are likely to involve Parselmouth magic, so we'll need Harry to translate for the rest of us," Hermione explained.
Doug quickly taught Harry the spell and made him practice it several times until he had it down pat. When Doug and Harry looked like they were ready for a break, Hermione approached them with another thought.
"Why don't you list out the wards we've already gone through, so we can double-check to make sure nothing was missed?""
"Okay." Harry stretched and turned to Doug. "Do you want to go first or should I?"
"I think you should go first, Harry," Doug replied. "If you make a mistake, it can be blamed on your inexperience. If I make a mistake, I look like a blundering idiot with his head up his bum."
Harry grinned. "Okay, the first ward is a simple Muggle-repelling ward."
"Agreed."
"Can we leave that one in place? As wizards, that one won't affect us at all, right?"
"Sorry, but we have to take down that ward in order to gain access to the other layers of wards underneath it. No shortcuts allowed, I'm afraid."
"Alright, I see your point. So how do we go about removing it?"
"The simplest way would be to have a Muggle to repeatedly walk into the ward until the ward collapsed from overuse. But, in this case, that isn't an option. That action would trip the other wards and we would all die very messily. Instead, we will have to bombard it with magical energy, forcing the ward to inflate like a balloon. That's where our friend the Muggle caretaker comes in. Once the ward has contact with him, Mr. Bryce will be like the pin that causes our ward balloon to literally pop.
"Okay, why don't Emily and I take care of this simple ward while you guys make a list of the other wards, along with some suggestions on how to dismantle them?"
Emily demonstrated to Hermione how to expand the ward and the two witches had eradicated it within mere minutes.
"Next one, people?"
"Next up is a notice-me-not ward."
"A simple Finite should take care of that one."
"Third ward is the first blood ward. That one will kill anything or anyone that attempts to pass through it."
"To get rid of that one, you need to use blood to draw the rune symbol of life on a stone, then slide it into the ward line."
"Fourth one is a decay ward. If you're not very careful, it will cause your entire body to rapidly decay and you'll die a most painful death."
"You need to find the stones that make up the ward's boundary and destroy them."
"Fifth one is a fire ward. It will cause your body to burst into flames and you'll instantly burn to death."
"You need to inscribe an ice rune on that one to cancel it out."
"Sixth ward wakes up a horde of Inferi."
"Damn, I missed that one. That makes it a total of twelve instead of eleven wards."
"So how do we get past that one?"
"You need to find the rune markings that make up the ward's boundary and scratch them out."
"Seventh ward causes paralysis to anyone attempting to access the closet. That one's done in Parselmouth, too."
"A simple Finite spoken in Parselmouth should do the trick. "
"Eighth is a Crucio ward, also in Parselmouth."
"We have to expand the ward until it bursts. That one could be quite tricky. See, you'll need to actually be hit by the Crucio, yet maintain your concentration despite the pain in order to keep expanding the ward. Otherwise, the pain will drive you irreversibly insane. Game over."
"The ninth ward causes all spells to rebound on the attacker and is also done in Parselmouth."
"We will have to use a shield spell to surround the area around the ward, thereby limiting the amount of magic it can absorb. Then you keep casting spells directly at the ward until it overloads and collapses from the strain."
"The tenth is particularly nasty and is also done in Parselmouth. For all intents and purposes, it's an Avada Kedavra blood ward."
"This makes that ward especially tough to defeat. Theoretically, we'll need to use blood to write the counter-spell in Parselmouth. Problem is, of course, that there is no counter for Avada Kedavra. So we'll have to think creatively to get past that one. Next?"
"Eleventh ward is also in Parselmouth and summons the Inferi."
"Voldemort was obviously hoping that some of the attackers would have died, forcing the survivors to battle their dead friends," Emily said, with a shudder of pure disgust.
"We do the same as with the sixth ward. But since you're much closer to the end, the markings will be really hard to find."
"Twelfth ward is an insanity curse."
"Identical process to the Crucio ward."
"That's all I've got," Harry added, unnecessarily.
"Well, there was one additional ward, on the door frame itself. It's a slow-acting killing curse that mimics the effects of a poison. You would need a seriously talented curse-breaker to get rid of the curse itself, there is no potion out there that will touch it. To get rid of this ward, we'll need to destroy the door frame, taking care not to touch it."
"About how long do you think this will take?" Hermione wondered aloud.
"All of today, at the very least." Doug replies.
"What if I told you we have a way of doing it much faster and easier than what you've just described?"
"I say I'll not risk our lives on maybes, Hermione." Doug declared.
"There won't be any risk to us. Just a few other things, I promise."
Doug's eyes narrowed at the little witch. "Exactly what are you planning, young lady?"
"We conjure a load of harmless snakes to overwhelm most of the wards. The wards that we can't overwhelm with snakes, we'll just use chickens instead."
"That might actually work." Doug said, excitedly.
"Why hasn't anyone thought of this before?" Emily wondered.
"I don't know, maybe because everyone always tries to use Imperio to get the animals to do what they want, but wards generally don't react favorably to Unforgiveables of any kind. People who have tried it in the past have been driven to insanity and the animals simply explode, poor devils. That is why they use magical techniques."
Harry watched Douglas intently for a moment. "So, what do you think? Are we going to try it?"
"Yes, why not? The risk to our persons are minimal. Wait here, you lot, while Emily and I go fetch us some chickens."
As soon as Doug and Emily returned, they all got busy using the conjured snakes and chickens to take down all the wards protecting the closet. Once the wards were down, they had made a huge mess and created enough roasted chicken to feed an army. It had taken them only a few hours to accomplish and their treasure-hunting team was none the worse for wear.
When they were finally able to open the closet, they stepped into a huge, magically-expanded room loaded with money and priceless valuables beyond their wildest dreams. It was like walking into a bank vault at Gringott's There were huge piles of gold, stacks of Muggle money, piles of intricately-carved wands and holsters, loads of untraceable Portkeys, gold and silver valuables (probably stolen from the homes of Muggle Death Eater victims), Dark objects, shelves and shelves of rare potions and potions ingredients, rare books and grimoires, and many other items that boggled the mind.
"Merlin's flaming beard! This is one hell of an amazing hoard. So what is my cut of all this," Doug asked, eyes alight with the thrill of discovery.
"We were thinking of ten percent for you, Doug, as you were expected to carry out the lion's share of this job, while Emily should get five percent for her help with the research and preparation for the raid. The Outcast organisation will get fifteen percent to help fund the new school. There will be strings attached for such a grant, by the way. Harry and I worked this all out with my parents while we were still in the planning stages of this raid."
"I think I deserve more, at least fifteen percent, I think my input in the operation is worth well more than a measley ten," Doug countered."I'll have you know I about drove myself nuts with worry about what could've easily happened here," he added.
"You can always get zero. Let me remind you that it was Harry who took on Voldemort himself in order to find the locations of these stockpiles and what was used to protect them in the first place. And it was me who did the bulk of the research, in addition to coming up with ways to get us past all those wards, without which we would either be dead or still spinning our wheels," Hermione pointed out.
"It was me who discovered and identified that curse on the door frame that Harry knew nothing about. I should definitely get a bonus for that one."
"If you want more, Doug, you can always do the next raid all by yourself," Hermione informed him, smiling sweetly.
"Okay, fine. Ten percent it is." Doug said, defeated. He didn't dare push too hard for fear of losing a job he truly enjoyed, with mates he enjoyed working with, for once.
"Now that that's all settled, can we please get back to work? Doug, your job is to indentify and separate any Dark objects for special handling. Emily, do you mind going to my parents house to tell them that we were successful and that we're all alright? Harry and I will handle the job of cleaning up the huge mess we made getting past all those wards," Hermione declared, leaving no room for further debate.
Thankfully, using magic made the cleanup process go much more quickly and easily. When Emily returned from her errand, she helped Harry and Hermione by delivering the boxes of freshly-cooked chicken to a grateful nearby homeless shelter. When she returned from her delivery, Emily accompanied Harry and Hermione to check on Doug's progress.
"How are things going with the Dark object detail?"
"Okay, but it's fairly slow going. I've already cleared some of the cursed items, but this place is huge. I'll be busy for quite a while yet."
"While you're busy dealing with that, the rest of us are going to start packing up the money and checked valuables into the trunks so that we can start moving it out as soon as possible."
"Sounds good to me. You should start in that corner and work towards me, I've already sorted that section. When I finish up with the cursed items, I'll come over and help you guys with the packing."
"I've been thinking about something... Since Remus should be coming to my place sometime this afternoon, I believe that we should postpone the orphanage raid until later tonight. Both because Harry and would like to avoid seeing Remus and so that there will be someone home to collect the money he owes us. I'm thinking that you and Harry should make an attempt on the Leaky Cauldron stash after you're finished with this batch of cursed objects. Emily and I will finish packing up the rest of this, then we'll join you at the Leaky Cauldron. That is, unless you feel the need for someone to hold your hand while you're doing the curse-breaking?" Hermione asked, innocently.
Doug made a face, but agreed. "Fine."
He walked off, continuously muttering under his breath while he worked on clearing out the cursed items. After an hour of work he was finally done and called Harry over.
"Time for us to go," Doug announced. "We will see you at the Leaky Cauldron a bit later, yeah?"
Harry slipped on his invisibility cloak and Doug swiftly packed up his curse-breaking gear. They Apparated to the Leaky Cauldron, where Doug paid for the room they wanted and ordered a hearty meal for two to be sent to the room. As soon as Doug closed the door, Harry tossed off his invisibility cloak. Harry was just about to start examining the wards when Doug suddenly stopped him.
"Whoa, Harry, we need to rest and recharge our batteries before we tackle the wards for this job," Doug told him. Then he proceeded to stretch out to take a catnap on the bed..
Harry shook his head, then got busy clearing the area around the stash and made himself comfortable in one of the armchairs by the door. A bit later, Doug and Harry were just finishing their meal when Hermione and Emily arrived.
"We just finished up the prep on this job," Doug told the pair of witches before winking mischievously at Harry.
"Why don't you get started while we get a little something to eat, we're both famished," Hermione commented, a roll of her eyes clearly indicating that she didn't believe Doug for one second.
The Leaky Cauldron stash had only five wards protecting it and they were down for the count by the time Emily and Hermione had finished eating. This stash turned out to contain only 10,000 galleons and 10,000 British pounds sterling, a few fake identities and a spare wand. The spare wand they found suited Harry much better than the wand he had been using as his alternate, so he decided to keep it for himself. Emily periodically popped in to check with the Grangers to find out whether Remus had come and gone yet, borrowing Harry's invisibility cloak to make sure she remained unseen.
To keep themselves busy while waiting for Remus's visit to end, Emily read while Hermione, Harry and Doug planned their meeting with Rita Skeeter for the next day. It was decided that Hermione would either disguise herself or hide under Harry's invisibility cloak with Doug to the meeting. The meeting was going to be at the Leaky Cauldron and they decided to rent the same room for an additional day for that purpose.
It was almost dinnertime when Remus finally left the Granger home. They immediately Apparated back home, much to the relief of an anxious Doug and Emma. This time, they all left together for the orphanage, first making a brief stop at a nearby restaurant to pick up the special dinner package the Grangers had pre-ordered to serve the children and staff. Dan had also hired a large van to transport them all along with the food and toys.
After everything was packed up and they were on their way to the orphanage, Harry couldn't contain his curiosity any longer.
"How did the meeting with Remus go?"
"It went fine. We talked for a while and he gave us most of the money he owed," Emma replied.
"What did you guys talk about?"
"You mostly. He wanted to know how we met you."
"What did you tell him?"
"We said Hermione had met you in Muggle school, that you had been friends for a long time, that one day she brought you home with her and that's how we met."
"Do you think Remus believed you?"
"I'm pretty sure he did. After all, it was the truth, just not all of it. Anyway, he wanted to give his side of his story to you."
"What was his justification for trying to steal from me?"
"He says he really didn't mean for that to happen. Remus told us that he has always admired and trusted the headmaster ever since he was willing to stick his neck out so that Remus could go to Hogwarts. He said that Dumbledore has proven his worth to him many times over by helping him out when he was down on his luck, even when no one else would. That is why when Dumbledore told him not to contact you, Harry, he agreed to do so. It was also why Remus approached Dumbledore with his concerns about the people you were associating with to handle the preparing and sale of the Basilisk parts. Dumbledore said he was willing to personally handle it himself, claiming that if you were associating with unsavoury people, then it was his duty to deny them the funds to continue their work. When Remus tried to retrieve the Basilisk parts after your letter, Dumbledore claimed that he gave the Basilisk parts to Professor Snape in order to determine their origin. Professor Snape used some of the parts in his potions without his authorisation. He is hoping to rebuild your trust by repaying the amount that was lost. Professor Snape can not afford to pay and Dumbledore flatly refused, saying that Professor Snape used the parts, so it's his responsibility."
" So how much did he pay and how much does he owe?" Harry asked.
"He gave us 300,000 galleons and he owes about 40,000 more," Emma replied.
"How in the world did Snape manage to use 50,000 galleons worth of Basilisk parts?" Harry exclaimed.
"I don't have a clue, but I still say you should be careful around Remus. I think you should leave any further interaction with him to either Sirius or us. He is just too much of a follower and trusts Dumbledore entirely too much to see his shortcomings. He doesn't even want to try, I think."
"I was not planning to," Harry admitted. "I'm too afraid I would lose my temper with him."
"Oh! Here's something that might lighten your mood a bit, Harry. I heard that Snape is in the infirmary... Turns out the git was bitten and severely infected by the Cerebus, just like we planned. This means no Potions class with him next week. Not to mention that the potions he started with the Basilisk parts will surely spoil and be completely worthless," Hermione added with a smirk.
"That does make me feel loads better. Next time I see him, I will make sure he will forgets everything he learned from the Basilisk parts and destroys any potions he might have made with them," Harry said cheerfully.
"I'll do you one better, Harry. I was thinking of slipping Snape a potion that causes dementia. It'll be a slow-acting potion with no cure, I found in one of the rare potion books he got for us. This way his talents won't be available to be used by the enemy and it'll surely be blamed on the infection from the Cerebus bite."
"That is just beautiful," Harry said happily.
"Just imagine, next year, when Ashley starts publishing the discoveries he made. The dementia will make it next to impossible for him to publish his discoveries before Ashley does. He won't be able to remember enough of the details to support and justify his work."
"Snape will be tearing out his hair with frustration. That would be so good to see."
When they arrived at the orphanage, Hermione, Harry, Emily and Doug snuck off to tackle the raid while Emma and Dan started unpacking the food and toys from the truck. The couple felt like Mr. and Mrs. Santa Claus as they went into the orphanage with all the goodies they had brought. They were met inside by orphanage staff, who were delighted to help them move all the food and packages inside.
As soon as they opened one bag of toys they were overwhelmed with excited orphans. The children quickly appeared from everywhere as soon as they laid eyes on the toys. Then everyone sat down to a delicious dinner, including Dan and Emma. Halfway through the meal, Harry, Hermione, Emily and Doug knocked on the door of the orphanage, having successfully looted the stash that Voldemort had hidden there. Unfortunately, this had turned out to be another limited stash, just like the one at the Leaky Cauldron, with exactly the same assortment of items.
When Dan and Emma saw Hermione enter, they sighed in relief and began actually enjoying their meal and the company. At the end of the meal, the head of the orphanage stood up.
"I will like to thank the Granger family for their generosity in providing this wonderful meal and all the toys. Please give them a round of applause to express your appreciation."
When everyone started clapping, Dan and Doug both stood up and bowed to the crowd.
"I believe you said you also wished to also give the orphanage a donation to help with the upkeep of our organisation?"
"Yes, Harry, do you mind bringing me the briefcase from the van?"
Harry got the keys for the van from Dan and retrieved the leather briefcase he had brought along. Harry handed the brief case to Dan, who passed it to the orphanage administrator with a small bow.
The administrator nearly fainted when she opened the case to find tens of thousands of pounds, British sterling. Harry passed Dan another large envelope with the 10,000 British Pounds Sterling they had just liberated from the Voldemort stash. Doug had to be convinced to give up this amount. After the head of the orphanage recovered, the Grangers were thanked again and they all left very happy with all they had accomplished.