Chapter 18
The next few days went by with nothing major happening. There was no investigation into the fireworks that had isolated the headmaster's office as Dumbledore didn't much care to explain the various highly illegal monitoring devices that had been destroyed. Dumbledore wasn't seen at meals and rumors were flying that he was doing his very best to save his political hide. This absence was used by the professors who were not aligned with Dumbledore to tease the opposing side. The growing hostility between the professors were kept from the students as much as possible.
Harry and Hermione were under very close scrutiny in class by their professors, but were generally left alone after class. Ron, Draco and Neville were still far more focused on each other than on Harry and Hermione, much to their relief. There was no mention of the award for services to the school, but the newspaper was still heavily campaigning for Harry and Hermione to be awarded the Order of Merlin. Support really started gathering pace when it was pointed out that the person they captured happened to be a killer of thirteen Muggles, a traitor and a Death Eater.
On Saturday, they woke up early to visit the Grangers. They really wanted Dobby back, but Doug had been avoiding work all week. Alice had assured them that Doug would be in today or she would personally drag him in by his ear. When Harry and Hermione showed up at her parents' home, Doug still hadn't shown up, Emily was busy working with the cabinetmaker on the vanishing cabinet project and Hermione's parents were off on another round of house-hunting. So Hermione got to work teaching Ashley more of Snape's improved potions while Harry started working to devise a toilet setup for the Basilisk. At midday, Doug had still not arrived, so Alice went to his apartment and brought a reluctant Doug to the Granger house.
As soon as he got in Hermione looked Doug straight in the eye and demanded. "Where have you been?"
"I have been busy looking for the things you requested." Doug replied with as much charm and innocence as he could muster.
"That is a load of rubbish and we both know it. We know that for the rare items that you can't find, you pass the request on to the Outcast organisation and they get it for you. That is what Alice did on your behalf when she was filling in the Weasley orders, so she will receive what would have been your cut this week." Doug looked away in shame for a moment before trying another tack.
"That's not how I do it. I go straight to the source and try to get it from them to get a better deal," Doug said, thinking quickly in an attempt to cover his backside.
"This is a better way, as we didn't notice any difference in price between what you're getting it for and what the organisation was able to get it for. It is faster and uses less time. Unless you have been keeping the difference for yourself." Hermione said, clearly not buying his feeble explanation.
So Doug tried something else. "I have also been expanding my network of contacts."
"Have they given us anything useful?" Hermione asked.
"No, but it is early days yet."
"We did not hire you for that. The only outside contact you need besides the Outcast organisation is Rita Skeeter and that would be quite rarely, as I doubt she cares to be seen with you."
"Rita did contact me to tell me that Sirius was now at St. Mungos recovering from his Azkaban ordeal. Remus was there as soon as Sirius arrived at the hospital. In fact, Remus is constantly at Sirius' side, since he's not able to find work and the work we gave him has completely dried up," Doug said, desperately trying to redirect the conservation.
"I very much doubt that the communication lasted all of Tuesday and Friday. Wednesdays and Thursdays are your days off, unless we need you, and then you are to be compensated for your time as your employment contract stipulated. So, again, what else have you been doing, Doug?" Hermione said, clinically.
"I have being moving house and celebrating," Doug admitted in defeat, realizing that he couldn't win against a truly determined Hermione.
"With our house elf to help you."
"Yes," Doug said, quietly.
"And without asking our permission first," Hermione stated.
"Yes,"" Doug admitted in an even quieter voice, head hanging low in shame.
"I hope you did not overwork the little guy?"
"He has been a great help. All I got him to do was move some stuff and clean the place. Any repairs I did myself."
"Where is Dobby?"
"Dobby."
"Yes, master," Dobby said upon arrival..
"What did you do for Doug, Dobby?" Hermione asked.
"Dobby cleaned, moved, cooked, washed for good master." Dobby replied happily.
"Dobby, who freed you from the Malfoys?"
"Master did, he is so great."
"Doug!" Hermione screamed "You are to transfer Dobby to Harry immediately or else!"
"Dobby, this is Harry Potter. Do you want to be owned by Harry?"
"You are the Great Wizard Harry Potter. Killed evil wizard as a baby." Dobby said admiringly..
"Yes," Harry agreed, smiling down at the little elf.
"I will love to be the Great Harry Potter's house elf! Dobby is very honoured. I will do a very good job. I will work very hard. But I like Master Doug too, as he helped me get away from the evil master Malfoy."
"He did no such thing! We did that, he was supposed to act only as our go-between. Doug, you are to transfer Dobby to Harry right this second! Hermione yelled.
Doug quickly transferred Dobby.
"Dobby, you are never to take an order from Doug ever again. We are the ones who paid to get you away from the abusive Malfoys. Do you understand?" Harry asked.
Dobby nodded.
"You are to get one galleon a week and one day off per month." Harry said.
"That is too much, Harry Potter sir. I don't need to be paid or get time off." Dobby replied
"As my house elf, you do. And you will be representing me, so you will need a uniform. Not clothes, but a uniform to show that you work for me. You also not to punish yourself, but tell us if you did something wrong so that we can correct together. Is there anything else, Hermione?" Harry stated, leaving no time for Dobby to protest.
"If he does not want to do something, he has to tell us so that we can make alternate arrangements."
"Dobby, you will also listen to what Hermione says, just as if I spoke it." Harry said.
"Alice, can you please take Dobby shopping for his room? He will be staying in Doug's old room in the tent. Can you also get him different uniforms for different occasions and anything else he needs? Of course, we will pay for it all," Hermione said, while Dobby stood there in shock.
"I can go right now. For the uniforms, do you have a particular preference in style?" Alice asked.
"I think something with the Potter Crest on it, that would be good. If you can find it, of course," Hermione said, after some thought.
"Okay. I don't think that will be too much of a problem." Alice replied.
"Dobby, why don't you follow Alice to get what you need?" Harry said.
"But what if you need me, Master?" Dobby asked, obviously uncertain about this arrangement.
"If I need you, I will call for you, but I doubt if I'll need to interrupt your little shopping trip," Harry responded. Alice left with a sobbing Dobby to go shopping. As soon as they left, Hermione turned her attention back to Doug.
"So, Doug, what punishment should we give you for taking off work and using our house-elf without permission?"
"Nothing," Doug said hopefully.
"Not going to happen. I think you need to clean the Basilisk manure from rest of the Chamber of Secrets. That will be your punishment for not showing up for work without informing us first. As for borrowing Dobby, you will be helping my parents renovate the new place they are getting," Hermione said in her most intimidating voice, blatantly daring Doug to refuse or argue.
Doug gulped and nodded his head.
"Cheer up, we won't be as mean as last time and leave you all by yourself in the Chamber. Instead, every time Harry goes to the Chamber, you'll be going too."
"I think my following Harry into the Chamber might give people the wrong idea," Doug said in jest.
"I mean the Chamber of Secrets, you daft idiot."
"I would prefer following Harry into the toilets to going back into the Chamber of Secrets."
"Sorry, Doug, I don't swing that way," Harry said in response.
"It is your choice, either the Chamber of Secrets or you're fired." Hermione informed him.
"Chamber of Secrets." Doug said in a quiet voice with his head down.
"Now that that is out of the way, what else did Rita tell you?"
"Nothing much," Doug said in relief.
"What about the contract between Harry and Rita?" Hermione asked.
"It is just your basic agreement for enforcing the Malfoy contract. I have it right here." Doug said, pulling a contract from his robes and handing it to Hermione. Hermione quickly read it over before passing it to Harry.
"What is the consideration?" Hermione asked, in reference to the contract.
"She said it was the money we paid her." Doug replied.
"So what do you think, Hermione?" Harry asked.
"It's good. You should sign it." Hermione replied. Harry signed the contract, made a copy of the signed contract and passed the original back to Doug.
"Do you have the Malfoy contract for us to sign?" Hermione asked. Doug removed another contract from his robes and passed it over to Hermione. Hermione checked the contract thoroughly before signing her name and passing it to Harry for him to sign. Again, Harry signed it, made a copy and gave the original back to Doug.
"Doug, why don't you buy another expanded trunk and meet me back here at 1:30 p.m. tonight to go to the Chamber of Secrets." Harry said. Doug nodded and quickly left before anyone could stop him.
Harry let out an exasperated sigh. "Doug's becoming a real problem."
"I know. I think it's time to get him to sign one of our cursed contracts. Either that, or we fire and Obliviate him," Hermione agreed, clearly disgusted with their errant employee.
"I don't think we have a choice. Maybe we should have all of our employees sign one, that way Doug won't realize he's being singled out."
"Sounds good. I'll start working on the contracts right now," Hermione said, immediately pulling paper and pens from her bag.
Harry made himself useful working on the Basilisk toilet.
Later that night, Harry proceeded to the Chamber of Secrets balancing the toilet device across his shoulders, with a scared Doug in tow, carrying a trunk containing the stunned Acromantulas. As soon as Harry made it to the mouth of the passage, Harry called out loudly in parselmouth.
"Good evening, Basilisk. It is Harry and my scaredy-cat friend, Doug."
"Good evening, friend Harry. I am closing my eyes, you can come in ."
Harry and Doug entered the Chamber of Secrets.
"I have some new food for you to try."
"I was getting bored with the food you had been providing, there was no challenge involved in obtaining it. Am I getting Doug as a snack?" The Basilisk sounded rather hopeful.
"No, sorry, I'm afraid I still need him. But I brought a few Acromantulas for you to try." Harry opened the trunk and removed one of the huge stunned spiders. He used Renervate to revive the creature, wand at the ready, just in case it should decide to attack. Fortunately, the Acromantula took one look at the Basilisk and immediately made a run for it."
The Basilisk didn't even attempt to go after it.
Harry, confused, asked, "Aren't you going to catch and eat it?"
"I give a chance to escape before I hunt and kill it."
"Whatever. Just don't take too long. I need you to try that one before we leave, so I can release more if you like it."
"I won't take too long. I just want to do something to Doug that I found rather enjoyable."
"You won't hurt him, will you?"
"No."
"I will get everything set up and then I'll leave you to your entertainment." Harry started setting up the toilet he designed while Doug went into the tent to change into his shoveling gear. When Doug's back was turned, the Basilisk followed silently behind with his eyes closed, using its sense of sound and taste to guide it. As soon as Doug was nude, the snake lazily licked him from head to toe. Doug shrieked like a little girl and fled the tent, still completely nude.
He rushed to hide behind Harry, who was having none of it. "Sorry, mate, but I'm not interested in you that way."
Doug belatedly noticed his state of undress and turned red from head to toe, rushing to cover his privates as best he could before looking towards the now-empty tent. Harry could hear the Basilisk's hissing laughter and grinned to himself. So Harry strode over to the tent, Doug right on his heels. As soon as Harry entered the bedroom that Doug had been changing in, the Basilisk slipped into the room Doug was using now and licked him again.
"I think it's all clear, so why don't you finish changing in here?" Harry said, amused by the Basilisk's antics.
Doug changed clothing in record time and started shoveling as quickly as he could.
After Harry had finished setting up the toilet, the Basilisk returned from his Acromantula hunt.
"MMM, the spider was nice and crunchy. I want more."
The Basilisk undulated over to Harry, very pleased with its meal.
"I like this prey, its lots of fun to catch without being too dangerous for me. It tastes much better too."
"I will release the others just before I leave so you can have fun chasing them."
"It would be good to have such entertainment when you're not here."
"To keep it nice for you down here, I've designed a place where you can shite and still keep the Chamber clean."
"Where is the area?"
Harry showed the Basilisk where he had placed a large funnel connecting to a trunk that will open when the snake does its business. He explained to the Basilisk how it works and why it should use it. It took a little while to convince the Basilisk try out the new arrangement, but it finally agreed.
For now, however, the Basilisk couldn't resist pushing a pile of shite down onto Doug as he shoveled away, half in the trunk and half in the chamber. Doug did his best to take advantage of the Basilisk's shoving it in his direction. Every time the Basilisk would shove more shite onto Doug, more than half of it went directly into the trunk. A few times, Doug needed Harry help him climb out of the smelly dung-filled trunk, but it was still much faster than straight shoveling, so Doug didn't really complain too much, at least not in Harry's hearing. After Harry had finished with everything he had come there to do, Harry and Doug left for the night, taking a moment to awaken the Acromantulas before leaving the Basilisk to finish its meal.
At lunchtime the next day, Harry went back to the Grangers, having missed breakfast as he had slept in after spending a long night in the Chamber. Hermione was already awake and there, having chosen not to stay up late the night before.
"Hi Doctors Granger, Hermione," Harry yawned his greetings.
After they greeted him in turn, Harry asked, "How is the house-hunting going?"
"It's going great. We found a derelict and rundown unlisted 16th century manor house that we really like. It has one acre of land and several outbuildings, and its just outside of Crawley. We just love it," Emma said excitedly.
"There would be a great deal that would need to be done to get it into working condition, but, as you said, magic will go a long way to help fix what needs fixing. We're going to see our lawyers on Monday about making an offer on the place," Dan added.
"That's great. And we already have our first volunteer to help you repair the place. That would be Doug."
"What has that man done now?" Dan wondered aloud.
"He didn't turn up for work for several days and didn't inform anyone. He used Dobby to help him move without asking us. So we've decided to have all of our employees sign the cursed contacts we designed," Hermione told them, handing her parents the new contracts she had written out.
"How are you going to get them to sign?" Emma asked.
"I think, with Doug and Emily, we will give them a portion of their bonus for agreeing to sign. For Alice and Ashley, we will agree to teach them the copying spell. The hunters will be asked to sign before they're paid. And every new employee will sign when they're hired."
"How about the Outcast school professors?"
"Did they agree to work with us?"
"They jumped at the chance."
"Once we teach Alice the copying spell, she can start building them a library of the more common books for now."
"How about the money to fund their research?"
"We're have several streams of income we'll soon be able to use for that. The Room of Lost Things is not making any money now, we stopped doing that since we no longer trust Remus. Dobby should have all the stuff moved from the room to the sorting tent by the end of the week, and we'll start putting everything we can't sell or use back into the room. We are not selling Basilisk parts anymore, we're using most of them in our potions. Our new potion business is growing, but it will grow more in time. We made some money from the acromantula venom and silk. But our biggest money maker right now is the Basilisk shite. So it should be alright. We'll hopefully have new income sources coming online soon. How is the investing going, Dad?" Hermione asked.
"It's going good for now, but you can't rely on maybes."
"We aren't, if we need money we can always sell more of the Basilisk parts. We are not selling it in Britain or Europe because we don't want to give corrupt governments money or armour that can be used against us."
With Dan and Emma's assistance, Hermione was able to get everyone to sign the cursed contracts. It took a while to convince Doug to sign, but he eventually caved under their pressure. Emily was delighted with her signing bonus. Alice was thrilled with the book spell she was learning and wanted to start on duplicating the library immediately. Ashley was overjoyed about the complete library the Grangers had and could not care less about the book copying spell. Each hunter was given a small plain basilisk knife upon signing as Harry thought it was only fair.
Chapter 19
On Monday morning, Snape had finally returned to work after recovering from a severe infection the resulted from the Cerebus bite. He limped to the head table amid loud catcalls and boos coming from three quarters of the students that had arrived early for breakfast, including Harry and Hermione.
For the first time in a week, Dumbledore was also seated at the head table, clearly hoping for a better week. The presence of Dumbledore forced the other professors to put aside their hostilities to display a united front to their students. So when Snape arrived, there were a few polite inquiries about his health and he was welcomed back, even by those who didn't really mean it.
Harry turned to Hermione and whispered, "You should've made the infection even worse."
"I gave him the worst infection I could without actually killing him."
"Damn. Our potions business is going to suffer now that Snape's back."
"No it won't, the dementia will soon make it impossible for him to concentrate enough to prepare his potions ingredients, let alone brew. I hope he does try, he's liable to blow himself up and ruin his reputation as a master of Potions."
"Hm. That's a thought. Maybe we should order something from him that is particularly dangerous to brew."
"We need to wait and give the dementia some time to become more pronounced, then we'll order something that no student could ever make. In fact, I know just the right potion to have Snape brew."
"How long do you think he'll be out of commission?"
"A month, two max. His muscle control would be shot to pieces during that period. His hands will shake and he won't be able to talk because he won't be able to control his tongue. Also, his bladder and bowel control will become non-existent. It'll force Madam Pomfrey to confine him to the infirmary for the duration."
"Perfect. We can do it early next month and have him miss what I assume would be the busiest season for potioneers. The holiday season means loads of orders for hangover cures and contraceptive potions, which will have prices at a premium. It will also keep him out of our way and unable to investigate our activities."
"Harry, the Christmas season actually isn't the busiest season, at least according to Ashley, because people still have time to brew what they need themselves. Around exam and tax time is busiest, when people have their hands full getting their preparations done and don't have time to brew anything."
"Good to know. I'll make sure to avoid Ashley like the plague when that time comes around," Harry said in jest.
At that moment, newspaper delivery owls finally arrived. As Dumbledore scanned the headlines, his expression changed from hopeful to disappointed and finally to utter outrage. Harry quickly skimmed the lead article that was clearly pissing Dumbledore off.
Boy-Who-Lived to Receive Order of Merlin!
by Rita Skeeter
Harry Potter, the famed Boy-Who-Lived, will be receiving the Order of Merlin - Third Class for his apprehension of the dangerous criminal, Peter Pettigrew. The Award will be presented to young Mr. Potter at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry on the following Friday. At the same time, he will also receive an award for Special Services to Hogwarts for his courageous defeat of the troll which threatened him and his fellow students. He best friend, Hermione Granger, will also receive these same awards. We at the Daily Prophet would like to take a moment congratulate both recipients.
Lucius Malfoy was instrumental in lobbying the Wizengamot for these children to recieve their just reward. When the announcement was made, Lucius Malfoy stated, "We need to encourage our children by providing them with better and younger role models. Who better than the two young people who defeated a troll in their first year of magical education and conducted their own investigation for the protection of their fellow students? This award was more deserving than some other recipients," Mr. Malfoy added. I personally believe that last to be a rather pointed dig at Chief Warlock Dumbledore's own award, which has recently been tarnished following the recent revelation that Gelbert Grindelwald was his lover.
The decision to bestow these awards on Mr. Potter and Miss Granger was the result of a very close battle between Mr. Malfoy and Professor Dumbledore. The final vote by the Wizengamot was a true nail biter. The initial round of voting had appeared to go against these brave students, but surprisingly, the tide swiftly turned after Chief Warlock Albus Dumbledore left the building.
I have learned that Professor Dumbledore lobbied hard behind the scenes to prevent his students from receiving the award they were due, claiming that they were far too young and that the prestige of the Order of Merlin would be lessened if Mr. Potter and Miss Granger received the award for, and I quote, "so little effort."
Presentation of the Order of Merlin award will be done by our illustrious Minister of Magic, Cornelius Fudge. No word yet on who will be granted the honor of presenting the Special Services to the School award. The Ministry of Magic will make a limited number of tickets available for purchase by members of the general public who wish to attend this special ceremony. Further details will be provided as we learn of them.
Suddenly, Harry and Hermione were surrounded by a flood of congratulations from their fellow students and a few of their professors as well. As things quieted down, Dumbledore stood up and announced, "I would like to congratulate both students on their upcoming awards, but would like to take this moment to remind them that school rules are still to be respected. If they repeat what they did to receive their awards, they will be punished most severely and quite possibly expelled!"
Following this abrupt announcement, Dumbledore strode out of the Great Hall with his clique of supporters trailing in his wake.
Mandy rolled her eyes at the headmaster's dramatics. "Ignore him, I think he's just jealous because he wasn't presented with his award at such a young age. And not only that, but he failed to prevent you two from being awarded, which is proof of his rapidly diminishing power."
"It also reminds everyone that he isn't perfect and has plenty of personal failings. Dumbledore really hates that because he wants people to believe that he is infalliable, invincible and always right. And it's all going to be shoved in his face every time someone disagrees with him. He can't stand to have people questioning his decisions and authority," Lisa added.
Several people nodded in support of this statement.
"He probably wasn't even informed about the awards and it looks like he has no control over who gets to be at the presentation either, since the Ministry has control of selling tickets to the event," Susan chimed in.
Ron stalked over and bit out, "It's not enough that you steal so much attention, now you are getting awards for it. This whole thing makes me sick," he added, pretending to vomit on Harry's shoes.
Harry quickly responded with a hex that sent the redhead scurrying away.
"We don't want you to be sick, so stay away from us. Especially as you eat like a starving werewolf," Harry added, following Hermione out of the Great Hall.
Draco intercepted them on their way to their first class.
"You two owe me for what my father did. I will be coming to collect real soon."
"I wouldn't count on it, Malfoy. Our deal is with your father and your father only. You're not even in our league."
"As if my father would lower himself to do a deal with a Mudblood and a scruffy half-blood. He probably just wanted to get one over on Dumbadork."
"Dumbledore being a complete idiot is something we both agreed on. That might have been the reason why we had a deal. Of course, it might be because of a certain curse that is inflicted on my enemies. Anyway, you're more than welcome to ask him yourself," Harry replied with a smirk.
"As if this curse is real," Draco snorted in derision. "I will certainly ask my father but I very much doubt if this curse of yours is anything for me to worry about."
"Would you like to bet on that?" Harry said, smiling wickedly.
Draco, sensing a set up, thought quickly."Do you really think I would lower myself to actually place a bet with a stupid half-blood like you? Don't make me laugh, Potter. You would probably cheat and renege when you lose. Dregs of society like you have no honor whatsoever." He then turned and left with a sneer pasted on his pale, pointy face.
Hermione silently cast the diarrhea curse at Draco's retreating back and she and Harry went on their way. This was the last they would see of Draco for a while as he seemed to avoid them after that.
Classes were a real nightmare because the professors who continued to support Dumbledore would use any excuse, reasonable or otherwise, to deduct points from Harry and Hermione or to give them detention. They were constantly watched in classes by other students and some of the professors. Even between classes it wasn't much better with all their friends constantly asking about the awards they were getting, even though they had no additional information. Even some students that Harry and Hermione didn't know were asking about the award ceremony.
The worst time for Hermione and Harry was during their daily study group session. All the students wanted to talk about was the award ceremony from who was going to be there, what were they going to wear, why would Malfoy help a Muggleborn student get an award, how could they get tickets to the event, etc. All of which were questions that Harry and Hermione could not answer because they did not know or could not say. The attention they were getting was really limiting their ability to carry out their normal activities. Everywhere they went, someone was always watching them. They couldn't work on making copies of any books because they were constantly interrupted, which made their entire day a complete washout.
On Wednesday morning, the newspaper arrived with the announcement that all the tickets to the awards ceremony had been sold. They had initially planned on a small ceremony, but the demand for tickets proved to be so high that the Ministry decided to turn it into a much bigger event. Added to the proceedings was a special pre-ceremony dinner and even a special guest peformer. Celestina Warbeck accepted the Ministry's invitation to perform, but only because the event was a celebration honouring Harry Potter, the Boy-Who-Lived, and was widely considered to be the social event of the season.
After breakfast, Professor McGonagall approached the pair with flashing eyes and pinched lips. "We will be going to Diagon Alley this morning to purchase you both some dress robes," she told them snappily.
"Can we have Professor Flitwick take us instead? He is our Head of House and we know how busy you are and that you really don't wish to perform this particular duty," Hermione said, trying to placate their professor while trying for a change of escorts.
"I take time from my busy schedule to arrange this trip and you refuse. Professor Snape is right, you're nothing but a pair of spoiled brats."
"We were not consulted about this trip, so it's not our fault if you made plans that did not agree with us. And your blatant dislike of us is why we much prefer for Professor Flitwick to take us to get our robes," Harry pointed out.
"Fine, you can see if Professor Flitwick will take you." McGonagall said with a sniff, her anger with them plain to see.
Harry and Hermione immediately went to Professor Flitwick.
"How can I help you two this fine morning?" Professor Flitwick said
"Can you please take us to buy our dress robes for the Award ceremony?" Harry asked.
"It cannot be right now, I'm afraid. But later on today, when I have a free period, I will be more than happy to take you."
"Thank you sir, " they said in unison and left.
As soon as they were out of ear shot of Professor Flitwick, Harry called for Dobby.
"How can I help you, Master, Miss Grangy?"
"You can call me, Harry."
"You can call me, Hermione."
"Yes Master Harry, sir, yes Mistress Hermy, madam."
"Just Harry and Hermione."
"Mister Harry, Miss Hermy."
"Okay, that's good enough for now. We'll work on it. Anyway, Dobby, can you go to Alice and ask her to give us enough galleons for two sets of expensive dress robes?"
"Yes Master Harry, sir."
"Just Harry."
"Yes Mister Harry."
"Doesn't matter," Harry groaned in resignation.
"Dobby, can you also get us a trunk with an apartment inside? Ask Alice for money for that too, we're going to need it as we are stuck at the school at the moment." Hermione added.
"Right away, Master Harry, Mistress Hermy," Dobby bowed before popping away.
A little later, Dobby popped back and gave Harry two sacks of gold galleons.
In the afternoon, Professor Flitwick came to fetch them to take them shopping for robes.
"We should go to your place first, Harry, to get permission to go on this shopping trip then we can go to your place Hermione to do the same."
"No, we don't need to go to my old place because the Grangers are now my legal Muggle guardians. By the way, can you please keep that a secret from Professor Dumbledore? We don't want him to interfere," Harry added quickly. He definitely didn't want to see the Dursleys again.
"You will need to tell him sometime, unfortunately. The school needs to know for your records." Professor Flitwick said unhappily.
"I want to wait until the adoption is finalised. That way, Professor Dumbledore won't be able to do anything about it."
"Fine. But as soon as the adoption is completed you will need to file the appropriate paperwork."
"I will make sure he does," Hermione affirmed, which satisfied Professor Flitwick.
"Sir, do you know why Professor McGonagall is so angry with us?" Harry asked.
"Professor McGonagall hates not being in control and the entire award ceremony is outside the control of the Hogwarts professors, including Professor Dumbledore. It is being managed by the Ministry with the approval of the Hogwarts Board of Governors."
"Do you know how I can get tickets?" Hermione said.
"I don't know. Your parents will not be allowed as they are Muggles, same with your relatives Harry."
"Trust me, I wasn't planning to invite them." Harry informed him.
"Should we go now?"
"Can you take us to my parents' dental surgery rather than our home?"
"Sure," Professor Flitwick replied.
They then Flooed to the Leaky Cauldron before Professor Flitwick made them a Portkey to an empty alley near the Grangers' dental practice as Hermione had suggested. The office was very busy but as soon as the receptionist saw Hermione, she informed Dan and Emma Granger that their daughter was there. After a short wait, the Grangers came out and hugged they daughter and greeted Harry and Professor Flitwick.
"So what is the emergency?" Dan asked as soon as everyone was seated.
"We need you to give permission for Hermione and Harry to go shopping for dress robes. They need dress robes as they are receiving the Order of Merlin, Third Class, as well as a special school award."
"What is the Order of Merlin?" Dan asked, pretending not to know even though Hermione already told them all about it."
"It is like the Victoria Cross for Bravery, Dad." Hermione replied.
"Congratuations, dear. What did you receive it for?" Emma asked, as Dan gazed fondly at his daughter.
"For catching Peter Pettigrew," Hermione told them.
"That rat you caught?" Dan added.
"Yes."
"They can go," Emma said to Professor Flitwick.
"Can you confirm that you are also the legal guardians of Harry Potter?"
Dan fetched his briefcase from a drawer beneath his desk and withdrew a stack of legal documents. He leafed quickly through them before handing one to Professor Flitwick. Professor Flitwick scanned the document before handing it back, clearly satisfied.
"Do you need any money, dear?" Emma asked.
"No we already got some."
"Are you sure you have enough? Dress robes are expensive." Professor Flitwick asked.
"Yeah, we're fine."
"We should go to Gringotts first. So that Harry can get money out from his trust vault for this and Hermione you can change your muggle money into galleons."
"That won't be necessary, I have plenty of galleons on me.".
"I have my money in galleons already." Hermione added.
"I guess we're ready to go to Diagon Alley, then." Professor Flitwick said before they used the portkey to return Leaky Cauldron.
As soon as they arrived at Diagon Alley, they were bombarded with enthusiastic well-wishers and people who desperately wanted to attend the award ceremony. Once they finally reached Madam Malkins, it wasn't much better as the store was packed full of customers picking out their own robes for the ceremony. Fortunately, Harry and Hermione were given preferential treatment as soon as they arrived. They were quickly measured, chose their styles and colours and were pleased to learn that their dress robes would be sent to them before the ceremony with fitting charms already in place, negating the need for a second refitting. As soon as they paid, they went back to Hogwarts via Floo.
Dobby arrived with their special apartment trunk that night. The trunk was fully furnished and hidden in Harry's dorm. Harry and Hermione would wait inside the trunk while Dobby borrowed books from the library for them, which Harry would then copy and Hermione would use for research. They were both much happier with this arrangement because they didn't need to worry about other students or professors interrupting or questioning them.
On Saturday, they woke up extra early to visit the Grangers.
"Congratulations, Harry and Hermione! I'm so happy to hear about your awards," Emily said as soon as they arrived and everyone else expressed similar sentiments.
Doug then asked. "Is there anyway you can get us tickets?"
"No."
"Damn. Do you know how much those tickets are worth?"
"Don't know and can you get a good magical camera for Dobby so he can take photos of the event for my parents?" Hermione asked.
"Can do."
"Harry, Hermione, we need to speak to you alone. Can we please have some privacy?" Dan said.
The others soon left and only Harry, Hermione, Dan and Emma remained.
"Harry, you need to appear in court the following week for a custody hearing."
"When is it?" Harry asked.
"It is Tuesday, 10 December 1991."
"We need to work out a plan to cover my absence," Harry said, turning to Hermione.
"Hm. Let me think on it for a moment." Hermione said.
"Why don't we just Polyjuice Doug to look like me? You'll have to keep him in line, though. He'll probably try to sell Harry Potter autographs, knowing him."
"That shouldn't be a problem. I'll get Ashley to give me a completed potion she had made after we are done here and I'll make sure to keep a tight leash on him."
"It's settled then. Is there anything else?" Harry asked Dan and Emma.
"Yes, we want you to have a look at the house that we're in the process of buying. If you don't like it, we can always use it for our magical operations and keep this one as our home. We forgot to show you two before we put in a bid since we were so taken by it."
"When do you want us to go?" Hermione asked.
"Now. We can go after popping by the real estate agent."
"Okay." Harry said, a little uncertainly.
"Believe me, you're going to love it. It is a 16th century manor house with stables, a carriage house and a quaint pergola that you are going to adore," Emma said, practically dragging them to the car.
When they arrived at the house, they were both amazed. The house was a wreck, having remained derelict for nearly an entire century. It had been renovated multiple times, but the most recent owners had been unable to maintain the house and let it crumble to its current pitiable state. The walls were still there with the massive oak beams clearly visible. Part of the roof had fallen in and the red brick chimneys were on the verge of collapse. Dense vegetation had taken over much of the building and the surrounding grounds. It had clearly been a grand old home in its heydey with an enormous entrance hall, panelled dining room, a lounge room slash library, two sitting rooms, a study, a huge conservatory and a massive kitchen. The house, once renovated. would make a very impressive place to entertain guests with its high ceilings from the Georgian period Renovations. The Grangers explained that the necessary renovations would commence just as soon as the sale was completed, which would be very soon because the current owners were desperate to sell, with their financial resources rapidly dwindling due to the truly exorbitant land taxes combined with the recession they were experiencing.
As Harry and Hermione inspected the house, they spotted a number of dark creatures such boggarts, ghosts, doxies, etc. lurking in many of the rooms.
"We'll have to get Doug to capture all of these dark creatures. They might prove very useful as potion ingredients or to hide our activities," Harry said thoughtfully.
Hermione nodded her agreement before progressing with the inspection.
When Hermione saw the view of the West Sussex country side from the upper floor windows. She stopped and paused. It was breath taking but the overgrown trees obscure the magnificent view some what. She could see why her parents fell in love with the place.
"Are you alright?" Harry asked concerned by Hermione's suddenly pause.
"The view from here is fantastic." Hermione said.
"I guess. I am more concerned about the state of the building than the views right about now. It looks like it might fall down any minute." Harry said.
"Remember in the car. Mum said that they had a structural engineer in to look at the place who declared it sound as long as we avoid the chimneys. If it was not safe, my parents would not allow us to look it over unattended." Hermione said as she looked dreamily through the windows.
To satisfy Harry, who was still concerned about the building, they had a looked at the grounds which had a perimeter of trees to provide privacy. The acre of grounds showed signs of a former beauty, with beautiful statues barely visible amid the wildly overgrown vegetation.
"You will be maintaining that garden, Harry"
"No. I won't, you will. Your parents wanted such a big place then it is up to you to maintain."
"They were buying for your sake."
"If you try to make me, I swear I'll concrete the whole thing over."
"You wouldn't dare!"
"Try me."
"Okay, we will get someone else to do it."
After they had a look around the house and grounds, Harry turned to Dan.
"How much is the house and grounds?"
"300,000 pounds plus another 250,000 to renovate the place if done non-magically. According to Doug and Alice, magical renovations should cost us around 150,000 and will take only about a third of the time. Anything we pay to magical people is non-taxable. So we are going to be trying to have most of the renovations done by magical means."
"Do you trust Doug to manage such an important project, Dad?"
"No, but he is a resourceful little guy who is good with people. Alice and I will be watching him closely to make sure he doesn't get out of line. Most of the work will be done by people from the Outcast organisation and they'll be keeping an eye on him as well."
"Do you know why it is so much cheaper?" Harry asked.
"Everything is so much easier and faster when done magically. Approvals can be obtained by the goblins with no problems, massive cranes and trucks are not needed, supplies arrive by Portkey or apparition and there's no need to wait for things to dry when a drying charm will get the job done in an instant."
"I guess really is much faster and cheaper."
"So what do you think, Hermione?" Emma said excitedly.
"I think it's great. Once the renovations are complete and central heating is installed, I could really live here."
"We're looking into combining old world charm with modern day conveniences and techniques such as underfloor heating and double glazed windows. Once the sale goes through we hope to hire a magical architect to help us design it." Dan said with a dreamy look on his face.
"Anything is fine by me," Harry supplied.
"Don't forget, it's going to be your home too. You're going to be a permanent part of this family very soon, so your input really counts to us," Emma said. Harry started to tear up at the thought of family. His repressed emotions regarding his lonely and unloved upbringing come to the surface and he began to cry. Emma hugged him and Hermione joined in on the hug.
"Let it all out. We're right here for you any time you're ready to talk about your past," Emma said, rubbing Harry's back comfortingly.
"You can't imagine how much I've always wanted a family." Harry said in a quivering tone.
"Well, you have one now," Emma said firmly.
"I will always be here for you like you have always be there for me." Hermione said. Then, a bit tightly, "Well, unless someone drugs us."
When they went back to their current home, they checked on the process everyone had made for the week. Alice had started making copies books for the new library and was learning the details of her job. Ashley was slowly gaining a reputation in the potion-making industry and had finished her first paper, which she had just submitted to the American branch of the Potioneers Guild for review. Emily had successfully made a set of trunks that were very like the vanishing cabinets (which they were going to use for the Weasley twin business) and she was hopeful of completing a full sized set by sometime next week. Doug was back to sorting the stuff from the Room of Lost Things and handling requests from the Weasley twins. Dobby had cleared out the Room of Lost Things and had tidied the entire Granger home.
For the rest of the weekend, Harry and Doug raided Voldemort's remaining stashes even the Albania site using the illegal untraceable port keys found in the Riddle Manor. The wards were easy to defeat with the Deathstick. Harry would take down the wards and protections while Doug examined any possible dark objects and Dobby moved the sorted items back to Alice to catalog. There was so much that Alice still hadn't finished cataloguing from their foray into the Hogsmeade stash, but the weekend was quickly over.
Chapter 20 Award Ceremony
On the days leading up to the award ceremony, Ministry aurors began patrolling the grounds. This forced Hermione to remove the attraction spell on Draco, Ron and Neville as the unlikely trio were highly likely to be discovered by the patrols on one of the trio's nightly escapades, which would probably lead to discovery of the charm she had placed on them and raise some rather inconvenient questions. She used the Marauders' Map to track them, following closely behind with the aid of Harry's invisibility cloak. As soon as they were all in the classroom, she stunned the lot of them and swiftly removed the charms she had placed on them. Hermione was tempted to strip them naked and stick them together in a very compromising position, but it would lead to the questioning of the effectiveness of the auror patrols, which was something she really didn't want. Over the next few days, the trio started to drift apart, much to Hermione's relief.
The day of the ceremony was extremely hectic for the Hogwarts staff. Dumbledore's supporters were boycotting the attendance of the ceremony but they still had to greet arriving guests, help organise the food, help set up the canopy and decor for the event and guard the third floor entrance. Harry launched another debilitating mental attack on Quirrell that afternoon, taking care to make sure that Voldemort would be too exhausted and disoriented to take advantage of the situation.
Many students wanted to attend the event but only the really well-connected students such Draco, Pansy, Daphne, Neville, Susan, Nott, Flint, etc. were permitted to attend. The Weasley twins had made many attempts to get into the canopy area to set up pranks but were repeatedly caught in the act by Professor Snape, who had made a point of following them around all day until he finally had enough and warded them in an empty classroom. Other students also made attempts to sneak in including, surprisingly enough, Percy Weasley. But they all failed to get by the aurors who had been posted to thwart any such interlopers.
As this was to be the event of the season, the entire Wizengamot would be present (even the members who voted against giving Harry and Hermione the award) along with the Hogwarts Board of Governors, all Ministry department heads and the most prominent and influential citizens in wizarding society. The sheltered area was decorated in classiest décor the Ministry and Hogwarts could manage. A band started playing as soon as guests began arriving. At 5:30 p.m. Harry and Hermione entered the sheltered area as directed by a ministry official after being checked by aurors for weapons. All of the attendees who were already there applauded loudly at Harry and Hermione's entrance. Lucius Malfoy immediately went over to greet them, closely followed by an avid gaggle of reporters.
"Welcome, Mr Potter, Miss Granger. I am Lucius Malfoy." Malfoy said.
"A... pleasure to meet you, Mr. Malfoy. Thank you for all your hard work to ensure that we received the awards," Harry said, angling his body to hide the fact that Hermione was palming an alternate wand that Dobby had brought her.
"No need to thank me. I adore children and I wanted to reward the people who were looking out for the students' best interests at Hogwarts."
"We did what any responsible person would do and happened to get lucky. Isn't that right, Hermione?"
"Of course it is."
"Why don't I introduce to you some of the people who helped me get you this award?" Lucius said.
Lucius then introduced them around with Hermione subtly inflicting the diarrhea curse on any Death Eater that Harry happened to meet. About halfway through the guests, Harry and Hermione were surprised to see Sirius and Remus trailing behind. As Lucius was about to introduce Sirius, Remus interrupted him.
"Harry, I really am sorry about what happened. I swear I will pay you back."
"Shut up, you thief. I have nothing to say to you."
"Don't speak to my friend like that." Sirius said angrily.
"Who are you?" Harry said, pretending not knowing him.
"I am Sirius Black, your godfather. Remus would never steal from you, he is not that kind of person." Sirius said, rushing to his friend's defence.
"Then he's not a very good friend if he left you to rot in prison all these years without lifting a finger to help. Just like he did nothing to help the child of a friend who was being abused on a daily basis," Harry growled while glaring at Remus, which made the werewolf flush and glance away,his face filled with guilt.
"I seem to be missing quite a few details." Sirius said, eyes narrowing at Remus who hadn't bothered to deny Harry's claims.
"We should talk later, preferably without this thief around," Harry suggested.
"After the ceremony, then. We can talk while taking a walk around the grounds."
"See you then."
A little before the dinner began, the Minister of Magic, Cornelius Fudge, turned up with Undersecretary Dolores Umbridge in tow. Harry and Hermione hated having to be polite to people he hated but they knew this was a necessary evil.
"Good Evening, Minister. You reputation proceeds you. I am Harry Potter and this is my best friend, Hermione Granger." Harry said as he indicated Hermione.
"Nice to meet such respectful and responsible members of society," Fudge simpered, shaking Harry and Hermione's hands in turn as cameras flashed all around them.
"Thank you for hosting this event." Harry said politely, even though he wanted to tear him a new one.
"No problem. This is my senior undersecretary Dolores Umbridge, She is my right hand and I don't know what I will do without her." Fudge said, gesturing to the little toad of a woman in garish pink who stood at his side.
"Nice to meet you." Harry and Hermione said in greeting.
"I heard great things about both of you." Umbridge said sweetly while doing her best to hide her dislike for the young Gryffindors..
"Well, we need to move on, so many people to meet tonight, you know," Fudge said quickly, leading Umbridge away.
Harry and Hermione sighed in relief as they left.
The dinner went slowly for the pair as they were forced to endure pointless conservations with people they did not like. Even the constant stream of people going to the toilets due to the hexes that Hermione had fired didn't do much to relieve their utter boredom. Instead they created a game of firing various curses at Umbidge without being detected. First it was a farting curse, then an itching hex and grew worse until a miserable Umbridge was forced to leave.
Minister Fudge gave a long and boring speech before presenting the Order of Merlin, Third Class to Harry and Hermione, followed by a short speech from Professor Dumbledore gave a short speech designed to downplay their achievements before reluctantly handing them the award for Special Services to Hogwarts. As soon as the ceremony was over, Harry headed off to find Sirius while Hermione snuck back into the castle with the Marauders' Map. Professor Dumbledore was busy attempting to gather more support from the more influential guests and so missed seeing Harry walk off with Sirius for their talk.
"How are you, pup?" Sirius asked.
"Good. Sorry about your incarceration. I'm hoping your recovery is going well."
"Alright. My healers say I can leave soon but that I won't be able to return to work as auror. That is, if I wish to return to work as an auror, which is very doubtful considering what happened to me."
"I can certainly understand where you're coming from."
"Who are you staying with now?" Sirius asked.
"The Dursleys." Harry said knowing that this would make Sirius mad.
"Lily's sister Petunia and her family? What idiot made that decision? You were never supposed to go to the Dursleys!"
"Dumbledore decided to leave me with those bastards and he never once checked on me." Harry said angrily
"How did they treat you?"
"My room was a cupboard under the stairs until I moved in with the Grangers. I was forced to do all the chores as soon as I could walk. The healers say I was severely malnourished." Harry told him, his eyes filling with tears.
"I should have never I left you with Hagrid to chase after Peter Pettigrew," growled a furious Sirius.
"I don't blame you. I blame Dumbledore, he put loyalty charms on me and other people. If you want I can check you for loyalty charms and remove them if you have them?" Harry asked.
"Go ahead, Harry," Sirius told him. Harry performed the detection charm and immediately removed a few recent loyalty charms which were keyed to both Dumbledore and Remus.
"You had them too, Sirius, and they were placed on you recently. They were keyed to Dumbledore and Remus."
"Harry, I am so sorry about Remus. I spoke to him earlier tonight about what happened. You have a right to be mad. Just please don't file charges against him, his life is hard as it is and Snivellus and Dumbledore should be the ones paying. He will pay you back but it's going to take him some time."
"Then force him to go find work and stop hanging around you at the hospital. Those are my terms, I won't press charges if he stays away from all of us unless we initiate contact."
"I need someone to help me through this period of recovery, Harry."
"How about the Tonks family?"
"How do you know about them?"
"My parents wrote me a letter telling me that you're my godfather and that you were innocent. When I tried to find you to get away from the Dursleys, I came across their name."
"I will write a letter to Andy tonight and ban Remus and Dumbledore from seeing me at St. Mungo's. I am sorry again for going after Peter instead of taking care of you."
"Just please help Hermione's parents get legal custody of me and apply for magical guardianship over Hermione and myself. I really don't trust Dumbledore at all."
"I don't think I'm in a fit state to be your guardian right now, Harry."
"I am not saying immediately, but soon. Why don't I give you some material about why I think you should never trust Dumb as a Dork." Harry said, just as Hermione emerged from hiding under Harry's invisibility cloak.
"Is that your father's invisibility cloak?" Sirius asked.
"Yes. By the way, Dumbledore tried his best to keep it from me. That's another reason why I don't trust him. Why don't you look through those newspaper articles, legislation voting records and memories we gathered about Dumb as a Dork. Do this as a favour to me as your godson."
"Okay," Sirius said, clearly not looking forward to any more unpleasant revelations.
"Can you come to the Granger house on Sunday? There we can talk much more privately," Harry whispered to Sirius.
"How can you get out of school?"
"We'll tell you if you agree to meet with us on Sunday."
"Okay."
"Without Remus."
"Yes. I can come and go as I like as long. Well, just as long as I return before dark."
Hermione then gave Sirius her address.
"We'll see you on Sunday then. Make sure you look at the material we gave you before you come."
"Okay," Sirius said reluctantly.
Harry and Hermione headed to their dorms and to bed while Sirius returned to St. Mungo's to begin looking through the information. The more he read, the more angry and betrayed he felt. Dumbledore was responsible for Voldemort's uprising along with the deaths of so many innocent people, including his dear friends Prongs and Lily.
The most damning memory was taken from Voldemort. It showed Dumbledore forcing Tom Riddle to go back to the orphanage year after year even though he could have easily placed him with a magical family because several of his classmates families had offered to take the orphan in. The abuse Tom suffered at the orphanage during these times was truly atrocious. His inability to us his magic to defend himself probably made things worse and was probably what led to his utter hatred of Muggles.
When Sirius found out that Snape was the one to tell Voldemort about the prophecy and that Dumbledore knew all along, he was ready hunt both of them down and kill them on the spot. The only thing stopping him was the knowledge that if he did so, he would promptly end up back in prison, leaving Harry on his own again and that was something that he would never do if he could help it. The fact that Snape had gone unpunished for so long proved to him exactly how powerful Dumbledore was and that his fake grandfatherly persona had most of the wizarding world completely fooled. From the articles, Sirius was able to see what Harry and Hermione had been trying so hard to do. They were trying erode Dumbledore's massive power base but it was a slow progress with limited success. When went to sleep that night, he planned to go to the Ministry to confirm the information, Hermione had given him. If it was confirmed, he vowed he would do whatever it took to help Harry and Hermione take down Dumbledore.
Harry and Hermione went straight to the Granger house the next morning to show off their rewards. They were greeted warmly by everyone before a private meeting with only Harry, Hermione, Dan and Emma present.
"We are so proud of you two." Dan said as Emma hugged Hermione and Dan shook Harry's hand.
"Can we get down to business now?" Hermione asked.
"Alright." Emma agreed.
"I finally met Sirius last night," Harry told them.
"How was it?"
"It was alright. I found out that Sirius had loyalty charms placed on him, just like me."
"Do you think he's really on our side?" Emma wondered.
"Yes. He is coming here tomorrow. That is, if it's alright with you two."
"That'll be fine. What time will he be here?"
"I really don't know."
"You asked him over without suggesting a time and we're expected to stay home all day to accommodate him?"
"I am sorry. He probably here in the morning."
"What if we had plans? Someone really needs to teach you a little social etiquette."
"Hermione was there too," Harry defended, while Hermione looked away guiltily.
"Hermione, what did we teach you?" Emma said.
"Do you want us to move the meeting to a different day?" Harry said, attempting placate Emma.
"No. Next time talk to us before setting up a meeting, please."
"Okay. We promise." Harry agreed.
"Do we need to do anything to prepare for this meeting?" Emma asked.
"No, not really."
"What issues do you want to cover at this meeting?"
"We want Sirius to agree to be our magical guardianship instead of Dumbledore, with you two as our guardians in the Muggle world."
"Okay. Anything else?"
"The next step in our plan to take down Dumbledore and Voldemort."
"That is your prerogative. In that regard, we are happy to announce that we were able to purchase 15% of the largest wizarding newspaper in the United States. The Outcast organisation has agreed to act as our representatives in the US."
"That's great, when did this happen?"
"It's still not completely finalised because we still have to pay for our share, but the contracts were signed yesterday."
"How much did it cost us?"
"Ninety-five thousand Galleons or four hundred seventy-five thousand pounds."
"Can we really afford that?" Harry asked, remembering Dan's speech about money.
"Definitely. The income we are generating from the Basilisk shite, the potions business, the partnership with the Weasley twins and the acromantula product sales are generating more than enough to cover all of the employee wages and the other expenses we have going out. Plus, we got a great deal of money from the raids you and Doug did last weekend."
"How much did we get on those raids anyway?"
"Wait right here, I'll find a summary of what was recovered," Dan said, rummaging about for the copies Alice made of the items confiscated from the stashes they had found.
Hogsmeade had only twenty thousand galleons but they had heaps of medical supplies, potion ingredients, spare wands, auror uniforms, badges and weapons. There were no books, muggle money or other valuables at that site. Everything was jumbled together making it impossible for Alice to count until she sorted everything. The site was a staging area for an attack on Hogwarts that had never occurred.
Nott Manor had thirty-five thousand galleons and thirty-five thousand pounds. It had some valuables, both muggle and magical in origin, including several rare tomes. There was the usual assortment of potion ingredients, medical supplies, spare wands and weapons.
The Carrow estate and the Avery family's holiday home had the same as Nott Manor except it had only twenty thousand galleons and twenty thousand pounds each.
Hepzibah Smith 's old home and Borgin & Burke's had only ten thousand galleons and ten thousand pounds each. They also had a spare wand for Voldemort and some fake identification documents.
The castle in Albania was the best of the lot in terms of monetary value. It had fifty thousand galleons and fifty thousand pounds in various muggle currencies including US dollars, French francs, etc. It was filled with valuables both magical and muggle including three pensieves the size of the one Dumbledore had. There were rare muggle books that would be worth a fortune in the open market.
In total they had netted one hundred sixty-five thousand galleons and one hundred and forty-five thousand pounds in muggle currencies. So a grand total of nine hundred and seventy-five thousand pounds or one hundred and ninety-four thousand galleons. Doug's cut was nineteen thousand galleons, Emily's cut was ten thousand galleons, another ten thousand galleons was going to be shared by the other employees but they did not need to know that. Also, the Outcast School would recieve twenty-nine thousand galleons for R&D and their new library. The Grangers were left with ninety-seven thousand galleons and one hundred forty-five thousand pounds to use for their other projects.
"Are we going to give it now or are we going to wait until later?" Harry said after looking at the figures.
"We are going to wait until at least Christmas for Doug. We'll give Emily her share today because she has successfully made the first full-size vanishing cabinet with the professional cabinetmaker on Thursday. So it would be like a bonus for her successes. In regards to the Outcast school, we will give it to them today as well but we are withholding part of the money to pay for the blank books and Alice's work. All the rest can be dealt with at a more convenient time."
Harry and Hermione went to check out the new vanishing cabinet under the watchful eye of Alice, who had created it. After Harry and Hermione were satisfied with it, it was was shipped off to a the international port for priority delivery to a US warehouse owned by the Outcast Organisation. It would take a fortnight to arrive as no magical means of transport could be used for the transportation as it interferes with the natural magical field of the cabinet itself.
For the rest of the day, Harry made up more darts for the acromantula hunters with Doug's help while Hermione went off to try out the mining techniques she had developed from all of her research in the Room of Requirement and Alice worked on another copy of the vanishing cabinet. While Hermione's parents was meeting the Outcast Leadership to give them the money for the Outcast school, Sirius was busy at the Ministry verifying the information he had been given. Sirius was outraged to discover that every bit of it was true.