Chapter 39
Later that night, after everyone was asleep, Harry & Hermione went into their respective apartment trunks. They used their time turners, then they headed off to Hermione's old home to meet Dan and Emma.
When they arrived, they were somewhat surprised that half of the expanded house was now a library. They were both well aware of the plans to convert this place into a library; they were surprised by the amount was work already done. Harry and Hermione made their way to the old living room where the meeting was going to be held. Upon opening the door, they were surprised to see Grant, Miles and Sirius waiting for them with Hermione's parents.
After the usual greetings, Harry turned to Emma and asked, "What is this meeting about? We have two hours at most before someone notices that we are not in our beds."
"I will let Grant explain it since he is the one who called this meeting," Emma replied.
"Grant, do you mind getting started? It is getting late and we have class tomorrow," a tired Harry suggested.
"As most of you are aware , we have started recruiting from Central and South America. Well, a few weeks ago, we hired a guy who was trying to escape a drug cartel.
"He was a muggleborn wizard with very little skill or education like most of the people we have been hiring. He said he was on the run because he saw them use magic to transport large shipments of drugs. Based on the descriptions he gave us, we were able to determine that the drugs were being transported via portkey. Using the contacts that we have been developing through our new ventures and the Outcast Movement, we were able to discover the time and place of another delivery.
"This gave us an opportunity to verify the transportation methodology and track the delivery to a general area. Due to the distance travelled by the portkey, we were able to determine the delivery was sent to somewhere in Europe but that is all we got. We originally started this search to try to eliminate a threat to our organisation and, hopefully, lead a country in Central America to our way of thinking. However, the discovery of deliveries to Europe gave this operation a greater international significance.
"Since Europe was Sirius' domain, we contacted him. We had hoped that he could determine the destination. Sirius had a plan and sent Rita in her other form to tag along with the next shipment in order to locate where in Europe the deliveries were being sent.
"Do you want to continue the story?" Grant asked Sirius.
"Okay, so Rita had no problems following the drugs. She was shocked to see two prominent European politicians who have supported Voldemort's agenda on the receiving end of the drugs. Once they received the drugs, the Europeans sent large barrels of Galleons and boxes filled with muggle currency to Mexico. Rita followed the money to a Mexican Dark Lord that has been growing in strength. She made it back with the information last night," Sirius explained with an unusually serious manner.
"We were planning to launch raids on both sites seizing the money, killing the people, and destroying the drugs. Because we were planning to use the company's security forces, we contacted Dan and Emma for authorisation for the operation. When we asked them, they wanted us to run it by you two first," Grant stated.
"Let's work out what steps we should take before we launch such a major operation," Harry suggested. "What country is receiving the drugs?"
"The drugs get delivered to Italy first; they are broken down and then are distributed throughout Europe," Sirius replied.
"What is the chance that the Italian ministry of magic will assist us?" Harry asked.
"Practically none, the two purebloods in charge of the operation are very powerful politically. If we attempt to get their ministry involved, they will immediately find out," Sirius explained.
"We can use this opportunity to further our long term goals. Why don't you try to discover the distribution network in Europe and the UK? We can pass this information on to the Muggle authorities via Dan, Emma, or Sirius. This will build their credibility with these authorities, which would be useful for us later," Harry suggested.
"That sounds like a good plan," Sirius replied with support from Grant and Miles.
"We are meeting some very highly placed members of the UK police force when we attend all those charity events. It shouldn't be too hard to pass the information to them directly," Dan stated.
"Remember, start with the lowest level drug dealers first and work your way up. That way it will not spook the purebloods," Hermione added. This caused a twinkle in Sirius' eye that Hermione noticed.
"What are you thinking about, Sirius?" Hermione asked.
"I was just thinking that you should add Dudley's name to the list of drug dealers," Sirius said.
"What ever happened to the Dursleys?" Hermione asked.
"Well, Dudley and his gang were convicted of multiple counts of assault, theft, and a boatload of charges that I cannot remember. His gang is now in the juvenile correctional facilities while Dudley was given community service after Dumbledore intervened.
The Dursleys were not satisfied with this outcome, so they are appealing the decision even though they are running out of money."
"What happened to the others?" Emma asked since she was upset at the treatment Harry got from his relatives.
"The company Vernon worked for found out about his discriminatory behaviour as well as his workplace harassment of other employees. He was sacked and the company settled with all the current and past employees that were bringing legal action against the company, but not Vernon.
My private investigator, who was following all this for me, has told me that the company is assisting the current and former employees. They are trying to put together a class action against Vernon. The Dursleys are not going to know what hit them once the legal action starts. It will probably bankrupt them and will ensure Vernon will be forever unemployable. Petunia will probably have to work for the first time after being a housewife for over 10 years. That should be fun to watch. Her lack of any marketable skills should put a further crimp in their lifestyle. If you can get Dudley convicted of the drug dealing charge, he will be sentenced to an adult prison rather than the juvenile facilities due to the seriousness of the charges."
"Can you find out when the cases hits the court? I want to be there to see justice being served," Hermione asked.
"I will see what I can do," Sirius said.
"Getting back on topic... Hermione, would it be possible to create a portkey redirection ward like the mail redirection ward that was found on me?" Harry asked.
"I think so," Hermione replied after some thought.
"Then I suggest that we place portkey redirection wards around receiving areas for the drugs and money. That way, we can swap the drugs and money for fakes. This can cause a rift between the two parties, and if we handle it correctly, this can do some of our work for us. The real drugs can be given to the authorities to substantiate our claims, and the money can fund our equality movement. We could also use some of it to pay for our security forces," Harry suggested.
"I like it," Sirius said as he imagined swapping Leprechaun gold for real gold, transfiguring newspaper into muggle currency and baby powder for the drugs.
Miles also liked it since it would mean more funding for his organisation.
Grant was on board as well since in all probability, the company will get to invest the money before it was used.
"I think a significant portion of the money should be used for scholarships, especially for Squibs." Emma suggested.
"I can go with that," Miles said in support of the request.
"So are going to leave them operating?" Hermione said in disgust.
"That's not what we said… The swaps and the reporting are steps we can take now so that we have the time to properly plan the raids. I also think that we should get the muggle authorities involved, especially the group from the US.
Miles, do you think you can convince the US Magical Ministry to assist us in organising a joint operation with the muggle law enforcement to take down these criminals?"
"Getting the US non-magical authorities involved will not be a problem; in all likelihood, the Mexican Dark Lord will have operations in the US as well as in Europe. The biggest problem will be the Statute of Secrecy. I think the Muggle authorities might be willing to have their memory of the raids removed since it will allow them to put a stop to a major drug operation," Miles replied.
"To sweeten the deal, offer to allow them to borrow Basilisk armour for the duration of the raids," Harry suggested.
"Why would they opt for Basilisk Armour over bulletproof vests?" Miles asked.
"Basilisk Armour is better than bulletproof vests for three good reasons: it can stop curses as well bullets, when you get hit by bullets in Basilisk armour you don't feel it due to the cushion spells on the lining, and it is lighter, cooler, and more compact than bulletproof vests," Harry replied.
"Can I have a suit to demonstrate its qualities?" Miles asked.
"Sure, Grant can hook you up," Harry said.
"If we are going to deal with the non-magical authorities then it would be better if either Mrs. or Mr. Granger became active in the American political arena," Miles suggested.
"We were planning to move next year anyway. Maybe we should move up our schedule?" Emma suggested.
"I guess we can share a full-time role at the surgery. We can take turns looking for a new practice and home in the states," Dan added.
"Remember, look for a place where we can either build or convert into a large library nearby," Hermione said absentmindedly.
"If you are buying a home in the States, you should consider buying a large one because it would be invaluable as a political tool in both the magical and non-magical world," Miles suggested.
"I guess we can start donating to US-based causes as well," Emma said as the alarm on Miles' watch went off.
"I have another appointment. Is it alright if I leave now?" Miles asked since he did not want to upset the Outcast Organisation's biggest contributors.
Everyone looked at each other before Grant took the initiative and said, "It should be fine."
"When you are dealing with the different authorities, remember to warn them that the Italian Magical Ministry is not to be trusted," Harry added before Miles left.
"I should leave as well. I don't want to let Lucius and the pureblood supremacists know I am in the country," Sirius said.
"You should look into other purebloods who support Voldemort's agenda getting involved in the drug trade as well," Harry suggested.
"I think I will. In fact, since pureblood supremacists have no regard for the lives of Muggles, I think I will investigate any activity which will generate a lot of money and hurt non-magical people," Sirius replied as he got up.
"That is a good idea; see you next time in the Chamber of Secrets," Harry said as Sirius made his exit waving as he left.
"Do you mind if we discuss a major investment opportunity?" Grant quickly said as he could tell that the meeting was about to break.
"That is your area of expertise, and we have given you the freedom to invest in you believe aligns with our goals."
"Well, this is a major diversion from your requested path, and it requires us to increase the amount we are accepting as deposits."
"You spent all the money we raised already?" Emma asked incredibly.
"I have invested all of it. Most of it was invested in shares, which I prefer not sell even though we have made the required return. We are in final stages of negotiations to buy a multinational gold mining company. We recently acquired a solar power cell manufacturing company which we are planning to expand and overhaul. In terms of magical businesses, we have acquired a firewhiskey company, butterbeer company, a broomstick manufacturing company, a Floo powder production company among others," Grant replied.
"What about income we are receiving from existing operations?" Dan asked.
"It is being used to set up the solar business, fund the Granger Institute and to relocate the businesses we acquire to Colorado," Grant explained.
"So what is this business you want to invest in?" Dan asked.
"I thought that portkeying was a great way of transporting things, especially really big items. I thought that we could buy a big multinational logistics company and use portkeying to reduce transportation costs. This is my big idea," Grant said as he handed out folders outlining his proposal.
"As you see, we can more than reduce the transportation costs to a third of their current costs by buying obsolete drilling platforms and moving them. We would place them into international waters where Ley lines intersect. Warding these platforms against erosion, the elements and non-magicals would ensure the longevity of the platforms. Having the platforms sitting on Ley lines will make portkeying a lot easier.
We will have giants move the cargo from the ship to the platform and vice versa. This means that the Giants will not be available to the purebloods if they try to start a war. We could hire nearly every giant since we could use them amongst our various operations. Plus, we could provide employment for a lot non-magicals that are aware of the magical world like Squibs," Grant explained.
Hermione was quiet satisfied that they overcame the problem with the non-magicals finding out by using the platforms rather than just portkeying directly from land. Some things would still be sent by air. Dan and Emma were happy that this new methodology would reduce the consumption of oil, making it less reliant on Earth's non-renewable resources. It would also help shrink their carbon footprint which Hermione said was a hot topic in the future. Harry liked the fact that it gave employment to so many different people and races.
"So how much extra money do we need?" Dan asked.
"I would say around 200 million dollars to be safe. I think that we need to lift the deposit by 15 thousand dollars," Grant explained.
"Are you sure you need to do that? Remember that we have been buying a lot of new companies[,] and that means a lot new people with unutilised deposit allowance. They may not be aware that it is available to them. Try advertising the availability of this service to new employees before we try lifting the deposit limit," Emma suggested.
"We should to try offering this service to the staff at our dental surgery since I feel bad that they are missing out on this great opportunity," Dan added.
"I will get started working on your suggestions," Grant said, not happy that his request was rejected.
"Can you provide us with information about the deposit service, which we can give to our dental staff?" Emma asked.
"Okay. Hermione, can you provide the information on the portkey redirection ward?" Grant replied.
"I will get back to you on the ward sometime next week," Hermione replied.
"That is fine," Grant said before he bid farewell to them.
Once he was gone, Harry turned to Hermione and asked,
"Are you alright? You were awfully quiet during the meeting[,] and that was highly unusual for you."
"I am tired and suffering from period pain," Hermione replied. This shut up Harry immediately[,] while Dan pretended he did not hear what his daughter said.
"Do you need Naprogesic? I have some in my handbag."
"No, I forgot to take the period potion last night. It eliminates the symptoms completely. No more mood swings, pain, cramps or tiredness that I usually experience," Hermione replied.
"I wonder if it works on non-magicals..." Emma said as soon as she heard no more period pain.
"You can always ask Ashley for a sample to test," Hermione suggested.
"I will definitely will," Emma replied.
Dan deciding that he did not want to listen to his wife and his daughter talk about their female problems said,
"Why don't we call it a night?" Emma and Hermione agreed, much to the relief of Harry and Dan. Harry rushed out while Dan hugged Hermione and Emma before following suit. Emma and Hermione burst out laughing as soon as they were gone.
"They are so easy to scare away," Hermione said to Emma as she to hugged her mother before going back to Hogwarts.
Chapter 40
A/N This chapter will refer to things that I forgot to include in earlier chapters.
On Thursday night, Hermione turned to Padma and asked, "What is up with Malfoy? He looks like he is sucking a sour lemon,"
"He is disappointed that the school is focused on Lockhart's misadventures rather than Ginny's recent escapades. Malfoy has been telling everyone in Slytherin that Ginny Weasley should have gone to Azkaban for breaking into the Three Broomsticks and stealing Firewhiskey," Padma explained.
"I heard that Malfoy was practically celebrating when Ginny received the howler from Mrs Weasley saying how disappointed she was with Ginny and her brothers. The look of horror on Ginny and her brothers' faces was like the icing on the cake for Malfoy and his like-minded Slytherins. When did he change his tune?" Mandy interjected.
"I believe that they were enjoying watching Ginny squirm under the attention of the school. But when the school's focus shifted to Lockhart's misadventure and the accompanying investigation, their entertainment ended as Ginny was embarrassed a lot less as people were not watching her all the time," Padma explained.
As the week progressed, Malfoy's disappointed look grew. There was an inverse relationship between Malfoy's look of dissatisfaction and the amount of squirming Ginny was doing. Lockhart was enjoying the attention, and he didn't care that it was from an embarrassing situation. Draco decided to take some action in order to focus the attention on Weasley family again. On Saturday night when Ginny arrived in the Great Hall with Ron as her scheduled family escort, Malfoy walked over and said, "Protecting your family's one remaining asset, Weasel?"
"Get lost Malfoy!" Ron said threateningly.
"Scared that I will take your sister's virtue and reduce her bride price? As if I would lower myself to touch such filth…" Malfoy said with distaste. Ron launched himself at Malfoy and started swinging. Harry and Hermione watched the brawl with interest. When everyone's attention was focused on the two fighters, Hermione hit the pair of them with a pain numbing charm before hitting them with another spell. The second spell gave them the equivalent of a brittle bone disease for a few minutes.
As the fight continued, Professor Snape and Professor McGonagall finally noticed. They rushed over to stop the fight with Professor Lockhart following close behind. Professor McGonagall asked as soon as the boys were separated, "What happened here?"
"Ron hit me for no reason," Malfoy said as innocently as possible.
"You liar, calling my sister filth and then saying that we would sell our sister seems to be a reason!" Ron countered.
"So you admit that you started the fight?" Professor Snape said triumphantly.
"That is not what he said and you know it, Severus," Professor McGonagall said before turning to Ron. "You should not have started the fight just because of Mr Malfoy's name calling. If you are upset about something, you should tell a Professor so that they may take appropriate action. Therefore, you have now earned one month's detention with me. Now, off you go to the infirmary,"
"What about Malfoy? He started it," Ron complained.
"That is none of your concern Mr Weasley," Professor McGonagall said.
"But Professor McGonagall…," Ron started to whine when Professor McGonagall stopped him.
"No Buts; off you go,"
"Maybe I can help," Professor Lockhart offered as he spotted the broken noses.
"There is no need," Professor McGonagall said quickly since she did not trust Professor Lockhart.
"Why don't I fix those broken noses? It is very easy," Professor Lockhart said as he began moving his wand. Harry acted as soon as he saw what Lockhart was trying to do. He discreetly fired a bone vanishing curse at Malfoy and Ron when Lockhart tried to fix Ron's broken nose. Both Ron and Draco's noses immediately flattened as the bones in their noses vanished. Everyone laughed at sight of the two boys with nothing but a flap of skin where their nose used to be.
"What have you done?" Malfoy accused Lockhart when everyone started laughing at him and Ron. This made everyone laugh even more as his nose started to rise and fall as Malfoy spoke. It looked like the nose of an elephant seal, and his voice was also strange because he was not getting as much air from his nose as he normally would.
"Your nose is no longer broken," Professor Lockhart said triumphantly as he quickly made his exit.
"Let us get them to the infirmary now," Professor McGonagall said as soon as Professor Lockhart was gone. After they left the Great Hall, two massive screams can be heard from the hallway.
"I guess the pain suppression spell wore off," Hermione said with a creepy smile.
"Remind me never to piss you off; you are scary when you are angry," Harry said half seriously.
"I think we need to do something about Lockhart, he looks as lucid as ever. This means he is still avoiding his quarters, and we need to keep him in his quarters for prolonged periods," Hermione said.
"Is there any spell that might make him sleep in the bed in his quarters?" Harry asked.
"Off the top of my head, I don't know of anything…" Hermione replied.
"How about only use the toilet in his quarters?"
"Hmmm, there is a spell that is used for toilet training pets that might help with that," Hermione replied after some thought.
"Maybe you can use that spell for now while you try to adjust the spell so that Lockhart has to sleep in his own bed," Harry suggested.
"I will get him at our next DADA class," Hermione offered.
"I will look forward to it," Harry stated as he tossed up whether it was better to hit Lockhart with a diarrhoea hex or constipation charm. Then inspiration hit, and Harry decided he was going to start looking for a spell that would shrink Lockhart's bladder so that he would constantly running to his quarters to use the toilet.
At lunch time the next day, something funny happened. Percy was heard screaming after Penny. "Why won't you go out with me?"
"I don't like you and I am not interested in you. Now get lost!" Penny replied as she walked away.
"Has Percy been chasing Penny for long?" Hermione asked Mandy and the girls.
"Yes. All week in fact and Penny has been knocking him back. She was interested in him before his family name began to stink. Penny is a very ambitious girl which was why she was interested in him in the first place. It was a good match since he was ambitious, he followed the rules, and a prefect on his way to a ministry position. But in light of recent events, that the position at the ministry is just a pipe dream for Percy.
Things has gotten so bad, he started helping his brothers do the paperwork for their business since he has resigned himself to the fact that it will probably be the only work he would be able to find once he leaves Hogwarts. His family's well-known association with Dumbledore would ensure he would have trouble finding any other work in the magical community," Mandy said. Hermione could not help smiling at how bad things had become for Percy.
"Their father was also demoted for the flying car incident," Lisa reported. It was no surprise that Hermione and Harry both felt no sympathy for Arthur Weasley or the rest of the family except for the twins.
"Speaking of the Weasleys, have you seen the youngest male Weasley or his nemesis, Malfoy?" Harry asked as he looked around.
"Sorry, I have not seen them," Lisa replied. Mandy however looked happy.
"I know why you have not seen them today," Mandy said smugly.
"Do tell," Hermione said.
"I heard from a student who was in the infirmary when they were brought in. Both of them broke quite a few bones in the fight. They are going to be stuck in the infirmary for a week taking regular doses of Skelegrow. They cannot take too much pain killing potion because it is addictive so both of them are being kept asleep as much as possible. Can you image what it would be like in the infirmary if they were awake?" Mandy said. Hermione immediately imagined Ron and Draco arguing all the time but screaming when their pain potions wore off. She was tempted to turn that image into reality but she decided against it.
"A week without the dumb Weasley and 'I will tell my father' Malfoy. We might actually learn something this week without them interrupting classes all the time," Lisa said happily.
"As if any of us learn anything in class anyway. We learn more from the special homework the Professors started giving us when they realised we were way more advanced than the other students," Padma said.
"It is the mind arts that give us the edge," Su suggested.
"Does any other school teach it?" Padma asked.
"Most of the magical world follows Hogwarts and stopped teaching it," Hermione stated.
"Why would everyone follow Hogwarts?" Padma asked.
"Hogwarts is the oldest school in the magical world with the biggest library. More discoveries were made here than anywhere else in the world, and that is why it is considered the premium educational facility in Europe and the rest of the world," Mandy said condescendingly.
"If rumours are true, that will not be the case for much longer. I heard that a school in the US has made heaps of new discoveries. The school has a library that is still growing, and they recently introduced mind arts with fantastic results," Hermione said.
"I heard about the school from Professor Sprout. She was very excited by the discoveries they were making. For some reason she did not say what the school was called," Isobel added.
"Probably does not want us to leave Hogwarts to attend the new school...," Padma said.
"I believe that Poppy, the healer, who used to work here, is now at the new school," Hermione said. Mandy and Padma's ears both pricked up upon hearing this.
"Are you sure?" Mandy asked.
"No," Hermione replied even though she was positive. She did not confirm it since she wanted Mandy and Padma to investigate it themselves. They did exactly what Hermione expected as they made some lame excuse before leaving followed not long later by everyone else.
At breakfast just before their DADA class, Padma asked Su Li, "Have you done your DADA homework yet?"
"I have done it, but I don't understand why we have to explain the strategic advantages of his approach towards confrontations with the werewolves. Anyone with half a brain knows that he only defeated that werewolf with blind luck," Su replied.
"At least all you have to do is waste time on the homework that he gives out. Hermione and I always get roped into helping him recreate the various fights he wishes to talk about in class," Harry complained.
"I see the strain on your face from stopping yourself from hexing the Professor senseless every time he makes you do that," Padma said with sympathy.
"At least he is not following you around like the beginning of term...," Su pointed out.
"The first few days were horrid! Professor Lockhart was following us around like a lost puppy, only not cute in any way," Hermione said with a cringe.
"I like how you made him back off. How did you find out that Lockhart had sent some photos of himself with the two of you talking to the Daily Prophet?" Padma asked.
"A girl's got to have her secrets," Hermione replied. She was sure that Harry knew her secret since he was there when Colin informed them that Lockhart had asked for some copies of the photos he had taken. It was not much of a stretch to work out what he was planning to do with the photos.
"I loved the look on his face at breakfast when the Daily Prophet arrived. I bet you he was expecting a flattering article about him teaching two Merlin Order award recipients. Instead there was an article saying how they received a letter from the two of you claiming he was basically stalking you. The article portrayed him as a paedophile, and the most brilliant part of it was that the article used the photos that Lockhart sent in himself which made it impossible for him to punish you,"
"I forgot about that," Harry admitted as he happily recalled the incident.
"That is because everyone's attention was focused on the two youngest Weasleys around that time,"
"What are you guys talking about?" Mandy said as she joined the conservation.
"Professor Lockhart and DADA homework," Hermione replied.
"There was homework for DADA?" Mandy said incredulously.
While Padma informed Mandy of the homework, Hermione turned to Harry and whispered,
"I think Mandy must have breached the wards around Luna's possessions. She seems a lot more forgetful this year compared to last year,"
"I think you are right; we can confront her after breakfast," Harry suggested before returning his attention to the overall conversation.
"Professor Lockhart is trying to impress Harry and Hermione. Why do you think he uses them in his class demonstrations and tries to justify his actions in the homework he assigns?" Mandy explained.
"As if that would happen…," Hermione said. "We made our opinion of him quite clear in our letter to the Daily Prophet,"
"I believe he is hoping to change your minds," Mandy suggested.
"That is unlikely to happen," Harry stated. "Why would he want to anyway?"
"You are the Boy-Who-Lived; popular does not begin to describe your following. Fanatical would be best way to describe most of your followers. Plus, you two have political connections that Lockhart can only dream of. The fact that you received the Order of Merlin Award proves your clout and it is well known that the awarding of that honour is extremely political," Mandy explained.
"How did Peter Pettigrew get the award then?" Hermione asked.
"Did you not read the article by Rita Skeeter where she suggested that Dumbledore pushed for Peter to get the Order of Merlin award? He thought it would help to further suggest that Sirius was guilty of betraying the Potters," Padma explained. The rest of the conversation was focused on bagging on Professor Dumbledore. Some of the accusations were justified, like the hiring of the incompetent Professors like Lockhart and Snape. Some were not justified, for example the Chudley Cannons' losing streak. At the end of breakfast, Harry and Hermione approached Mandy.
"Have you been bullying Luna Lovegood?" Hermione asked.
"No, I have not been bullying Luna," Mandy replied with a guilty look on her face.
"We know you did something to her; stop trying to stall and just tell us," Harry demanded. Hermione backed up Harry's request by moving closer to him. Mandy knew that Harry might do something rash if she refused but Hermione planned out a well-thought strategy that would force her to reveal everything she knew. Together they knew there was no way she will be able to stay quiet for long.
"Cho and Marietta asked me to borrow a few things from Luna. They would have done it themselves, but Professor Flitwick banned them from any dormitory below their own," Mandy admitted.
"Did you ask Luna if they could borrow her stuff?" Hermione pointedly asked. Mandy shook her head. "That makes you a thief and is a form of bullying. You remember our agreement when you joined my study group?" Mandy nodded her head.
"If you make a list of things you stole, promise not to do it again, and confess to Professor Flitwick, I won't kick you out of my study group. I will also choose not to enact the consequences of breaking our agreement,"
Mandy reluctantly agreed as she knew how bad it could get if you pissed off Hermione. She immediately started writing down the list of things she stole.
"We will see you later in class with that list," Hermione said as she and Harry left. As soon they were alone, Harry turned to Hermione and asked,
"Why didn't the contract activate?"
"The only possible explanation is the fact she truly believes that what she did was not bullying Luna in any way," Hermione replied.
"We need to work out some sort of prank to punish Marietta and Cho," Harry suggested.
"I agree. What they are doing to Luna is not right, and they are not learning their lesson even after Professor Flitwick punished them,"
"I suspect that Dumb-n-Dork stepped in and stopped Professor Flitwick from carrying out the full punishment he assigned," Harry speculated.
"Let's get to DADA class so that we can get Lockhart," Hermione suggested.
"Have you worked out how to force him to sleep in his own bed?" Harry asked.
"Not yet," Hermione said with disappointment. "So for today I plan to get him use the toilet in his quarters exclusively. I have already performed the spell on the toilet; all I need to do is hit him with the second part of the spell for it to be effective."
"Tell me when you hit him with the second part of the spell so that I can test its effectiveness."
"Did you find the spell that shrinks his bladder and intestines?"
"Yes, I found out that it forces them to eat and drink a lot more often."
"Why don't you hit him with that spell while I get him with the diarrhoea hex?" Hermione suggested since she wanted to make him run to the toilet.
"Only if I can curse him first after you work out the sleeping spell," Harry countered.
"Agreed," Hermione said quickly.
Mandy arrived shortly before class began, and she handed Harry her completed list. He copied the list before handing it back to her. Hermione then gave her some books she would need to complete her homework which Mandy planned to do during class. Mandy headed to the back of the classroom when Professor Lockhart arrived.
It was not long before Lockhart made Harry and Hermione re-enact a scene from one of his books. This time Harry was the Vampire while Hermione played the role of Lockhart. During the display, Hermione saw an opportunity to hit Lockhart with the spell while the class and Lockhart's attention were focused on Harry. As soon as she successfully hit Lockhart, Hermione used her head to signal Harry that she had completed her first spell. Harry fired his hex at Lockhart during the same display when the attention was focused on Hermione. When Harry, Hermione and Professor Lockhart were taking a bow at the conclusion of the display, Hermione fired the diarrhoea curse at Lockhart. This resulted in Lockhart passing wind as he was taking his bow. The class all burst out laughing, thinking it was a part of the act.
Professor Lockhart was extremely embarrassed by the fart until the stomach pains from Diarrhoea curse hit. He ran out of the class room without any warning leaving most of the class confused. After ten minutes of waiting for him to come back, Lisa got concerned and left to find another professor to report what happened to Lockhart. Just before the end of the class, she returned with Professor McGonagall.
"Professor Lockhart is feeling under the weather. I know you all wish him well but the best thing you could do for him is stay in your seats and read your textbooks until your next class," Professor McGonagall announced before leaving. Everyone swamped on Lisa and asked.
"What happened to Professor Lockhart?"
"He is feeling under the weather and is currently staying in the School's infirmary," Lisa replied.
"What is Professor Lockhart hiding?" A student asked.
"Maybe Professor Lockhart is actually a girl," Another student suggested.
"That would explain so much… I heard he spends hours every morning on his appearance," Mandy added.
"But that would not explain Professor Lockhart suddenly needed to leave," Terry stated.
"I would if Professor Lockhart was pregnant and was experiencing morning sickness," Padma suggested.
"That would make sense," Terry replied.
"Who would the father be?"
"Hagrid is too big and would crush Lockhart," Michael suggested.
"Lockhart and Kettleburn hate each other. So he is out," Su added. Harry and Hermione were enjoying the speculation so they decided to add fuel to the fire.
"Dumbledore is gay. So maybe he would like someone who acts like a guy most of the time," Harry suggested. Most of the students in the class agreed it could be plausible.
"Maybe Professor Lockhart might have decided to seduce Professor Snape so that she could find out the secret of the bellowing robes," Hermione proposed. This time, even more people agree it was possible especially since Lockhart had make up on that time they found him in his underwear. Lisa had enough.
"Professor Lockhart is not a girl! He is a man who is suffering from an upset stomach!" Lisa said loudly.
"Hermione's explanation is better," Michael stated. Lisa got really angry at this statement and stormed out of class. Not long after the bell rang, and they left for their next class.
A/N the lack of breasts could be explained away by magic.
Reviews are greatly appreciated. I would also like to thank my betas for their great work. Especially amsev who has started betaing my earlier chapters.
Chapter 41
Harry decided to skip one of Hermione's tutorials so that he could plan a birthday party for her. In order to achieve this without raising Hermione's suspicion, Harry got some of the girls in the tutorial to run interfere for him. He found an empty classroom and called for Dobby.
"Yes, Master Harry, Sir," Dobby said as he popped in.
"Dobby, can you ask Hermione's parents if they want to hold a birthday party for her?" Harry requested. Dobby popped away and returned a few moments later.
"Mistress Hermy's parents say that Hermy told them not to hold a party for her as you and her are under heavy scrutiny at school at the moment. They plan to send her a birthday present on the day," Dobby informed Harry.
"Thank you Dobby," Harry said
"I guess I will hold a birthday for her here at the school. The teachers would not mind even Dumbledore will have nothing to complain about as long as we don't serve firewhiskey," Harry continued, mostly to himself.
"Dobby could you get me a number of things for Hermione's birthday party?" Harry said as he began to list the things he required such as a Black Forest Birthday Cake and Butterbeer for Hermione.
"Please make sure you get all these things by this Saturday since that is Hermione's birthday," Harry said after he completed the list.
"Don't need to worry, Master Harry, Sir. I will have everything ready by that day," Dobby replied.
"Thank you, Dobby. How is the surveillance on Lockhart going?" Harry asked. Dobby pulled out a log book with quite a few photos.
"Professor Lockhart was stuck in the infirmary for a day with stomach pains and constipation. Healer Chapman could not identify what was wrong so he was sent back to his quarters where he was on the toilet for another day clearing out the build-up," Dobby read from the log as he showed Harry photos of Lockhart in pain with massive bags under his eyes from lack of sleep caused by the pain. The next lot of photos was of Lockhart in his quarters' bathroom. He was stuck on the toilet while being scared witless by the dark creatures that resided there.
"Did you get the photos of Lockhart in his underwear with make up on?" Harry asked.
"We did even though it was really difficult as Mister Creevey kept taking photos as well, Master Harry, Sir," Dobby replied while handing over the various photos. Harry burst out laughing at both the photos and the image in his mind of a house elf getting angry at Colin Creevey.
"I am going to keep these photos," Harry said after regaining his breath.
"We have lots of copies," Dobby said guilty.
"Glad we were able to entertain everyone," Harry said happily.
"Master Harry, Sir," Dobby said hesitatingly.
"Yes, Dobby?" Harry replied.
"I think you should see Tippy and Myrtle," Dobby said with a bit more confidence.
"Why should I see them?" Harry asked.
"Myrtle has been spying on Dumbledore for us," Dobby said.
"I will get Hermione after her tutorial and see the two of them then. Thank you Dobby," Harry said excitedly at the prospect of getting info from a spy on Dumbledore.
Harry waited outside the classroom where the tutorial was being held with his cloak of invisibility. After everyone left, Harry went into the classroom with Hermione still packing. Hermione suspected that Harry's absence was due to him planning her surprise Birthday party[add: and] decided to pretend she did not notice.
"I just spoke to Dobby, and he tells me that we need to visit Tippy and Moaning Myrtle," Harry said.
"Do you know why?" Hermione asked with interest.
"Dobby thinks that Moaning Myrtle might be willing to be our spy on Dumb-n-Dork,"
"That sounds great. Let's go and find out for sure. Should we?" Hermione said as she offered her arm to Harry.
"It is usually the guy that does that," Harry says.
"We live in the 90s. Girls can do what they want, and I want to lead this time," Hermione replied.
"Okay," Harry said as they made their way to the second floor toilets. When they arrived they found Tippy knitting while Moaning Myrtle was talking to her.
"How are you two getting along?" Harry asked.
"We are getting along like a house on fire," Moaning Myrtle said excitedly.
"It is nice having some place to sit while doing something worthwhile," Tippy replied.
"Remember, if the sink moves, leave here immediately and inform us. Don't wait around or try to find out what is behind the sink. That includes you, Myrtle; we don't know what it would do to you," Harry warned.
"We know. I could not believe that the Professors knew about the entrance but decided to do nothing about it until Tippy explained it to me," Myrtle said.
"How did Tippy convince you?" Harry asked with interest.
"She explained that if two students can work out the location of the entrance to the Chamber of Secrets, then Professors that have been here for years should have no excuse. Especially for Dumb-n-Dork who wears a special pair of glasses that can look through enchantments and spells.
When she explained this to me, I got really mad at the Professors especially Dumb-n-Dork. Tippy then suggested that I get Dumb-n-Dork back by spying on him for you guys. The opportunity to help take him down was too good to miss," Myrtle said excitedly.
"So have you found out anything interesting?" Harry asked.
"He has lost his time-turner when he lost his other possessions. Most of his time is spent trying to obtain a new one. So he spends most of the day on his knees talking to various people on the Floo network without success," Myrtle reported.
"Do you know if he has any plans for either Hermione or me?" Harry asked.
"I have not seen him plan anything. The only thing I have seen so far is him talking to various people about a flying car incident, training Ron and Neville, investigating some sort of prank that severely embarrassed Professor Lockhart, and the time turner business I already told you about," Myrtle replied.
"Have they made any progress on identifying the culprits of the prank on Professor Lockhart?" Harry asked.
"They believe that the Weasley twins were responsible for some sort of caption. But the rest of the prank was beyond anything they are capable of them, and the Professors are getting nowhere. I wish I could have seen the prank. It sounded very funny," Myrtle said sadly.
"I have some pictures that you might enjoy," Harry said as he created copies of the Lockhart prank photos before passing them to Tippy so that she could share them with Myrtle. Myrtle started laughing as soon as she saw the first photo.
"I'll let you go through the photos. Good-bye," Harry said as he and Hermione left.
"Where did you get the photos?" Hermione asked.
"Some student who got it off Colin," Harry lied.
"When did you get the photos?" Hermione asked.
"During the group study session I missed," Harry admitted.
"I know it was to plan my birthday party but I was thinking we can use it to our advantage," Hermione said.
"What do you mean?"
"Since this Saturday is my birthday. If we hold my birthday party directly after breakfast it will give us the perfect alibi for our raid of Filch's office and quarters," Hermione suggested. They spent the rest of the time planning for Saturday.
Early on Saturday morning, Hermione stunned Cho and Marietta while they were still sleeping. She then cast the sleeping spell over them so they would stay asleep before putting a notice me not spell over both of their entire beds. Hermione plucked a few hairs from each of them, borrowed the set of robes they wore the previous day, and took their wands. Hermione put the various items into plastic bags that she placed in her book bag. When she went down for breakfast that morning, she gave Marietta's stuff to Harry.
Nothing happened at breakfast even though the pair thought that time slowed. At the end of breakfast, Professor Flitwick led Harry and Hermione to the party that Harry had set up. The professors not aligned with Dumbledore also attended the party. Hermione got a lot of books as presents. Some of the books were so rare that Hermione had never seen them before. At the end of the party, the Weasley twins, at the suggestion of Harry, started a food fight. Professor Flitwick joined the food fight but not the other professors. When the fighting ceased, everyone helped clean the classroom before going to lunch. Quite a few people went back to their dorms to take a shower first to remove the remnants of the food fight including both Harry and Hermione. Since the showers were being used by their friends, Harry and Hermione used the showers in their trunks.
After their showers, rather than going to lunch, they used the time turners to go back in time. Harry reluctantly took the polyjuice potion to turn into Marietta while Hermione turned into Cho. The physique of the body he was in was a major distraction to Harry as he made his way to Filch's office and quarters. Hermione had to hold in her laughter when she first saw Harry try to walk in Marietta's body. Awkward would be an extreme understatement.
When they arrived at Filch's quarters, Harry stunned Mrs Norris using Marietta's wand while Hermione stunned Filch using Cho's. Harry started searching for the diary while Hermione created the misdirection and distraction. The search was unsuccessful so Harry helped Hermione who was transfiguring Filch's clothing into a pink ballerina costume. He starting changing all of Filch's clothing he could find into female lingerie. Hermione transfigured Mrs Norris' fur into a matching ballerina costume. They then changed the designs on anything that could be used as cover such as blankets and curtains into pink My Little Pony images. As a final touch, Hermione put matching make up on Filch and Mrs Norris.
They crept back to the Ravenclaw quarters under invisibility cloaks. Harry changed out of Marietta's clothing and gave it back to Hermione along with Marietta's wand while Hermione changed out of Cho's clothes. She then cleaned Cho's and Marietta's clothes slightly so that any trace of her or Harry was removed. She lifted the noticed me not charm and used Cho's wand to confundus Marietta and used Marietta's wand to confundus Cho. Hermione then lifted the sleeping spell before giving them a light stunning spell so they would wake up in time for lunch. As she left to take another shower, Hermione return their wands to them. Harry and Hermione then waited for their past selves to use the time turner before joining their friends for lunch.
Halfway through lunch, Filch stormed into the Great Hall holding a miffed Mrs Norris in his arms. As soon as the students saw Filch's and Mrs Norris' matching ballerina costumes and makeup, the sound of laughter erupted throughout the hall. Students started shouting.
"Very Fetching,"
"Did you two just return from a date?"
"Are you our lunch time entertainment?"
"Did you forget to do your laundry again?"
"Was there a costume party?"
"That's where my little sister's Halloween costume disappeared too,"
"They say pets and owners look alike but this is going a bit too far,"
Filch made his way to the head table and asked Professor McGonagall,
"Can you please help get rid of our silly clothes? I tried to do it for half-hour without success,"
"I can do it," Professor Lockhart offered as he vanished Mrs Norris' clothing to reveal a naked pissed off kitty. The cat struggled to break free from Filch so she could attack Professor Lockhart. Seeing the angry cat, Professor Lockhart took his leave. Mrs Norris calmed down after Professor Lockhart left.
"I want the students who did this expelled," Filch said as Professor McGonagall changed his clothes into something more normal.
"Calm down. What happened?" Professor Dumbledore said.
"Two people stunned me this morning and changed everything I owned. I know it was you two," Filch said to the Weasley twins. They have been his greatest aggravation since the moment they arrived at Hogwarts.
"It could not have been them; they were at a birthday party with me," Professor Sprout stated. This made Filch a little uncertain.
"Did you see their faces?" Professor McGonagall asked.
"No," Filch replied
"Why don't we go back to your quarters to investigate what happened and see if we can identify the culprits?" Professor McGonagall offered. Filch reluctantly agreed. So Filch, Professor McGonagall and Professor Dumbledore left the hall to go to Filch's quarters. Fred and George tried to follow them to see the extent of the prank but Professor Snape yelled at them to stay or face detention with him.
A little later Cho and Marietta arrived for lunch.
"What happened?" Marietta asked.
"Someone pranked Filch," Mandy said.
"Do they know who?" Cho asked.
"No. They are trying to find out now," Padma replied.
"What did they do?" Marietta asked.
"They changed his clothes to a pink ballerina costume. It was hilarious," Mandy replied.
"So you saw the costume?" Cho asked.
"Nearly everyone saw it as he came to the Great Hall in it," Padma replied.
"Why would he go to the Great Hall dress like that?" Cho asked.
"His cat was dressed in the same costume, and he stormed into the hall to get help for his cat," Mandy replied.
"Professor Lockhart was trying to show off, so he removed the clothes from the cat but also removed Mrs Norris' fur as well. Mrs Norris was really angry because of it," Padma added.
"Did anyone get any photos?" Marietta asked.
"That first year student, Colin something, that takes photos of everything should have some photos. Do you see him anywhere?" Padma replied.
"His name is Colin Creevey, and he was there but I think he was able to sneak out after Filch and the Professors," Hermione replied.
"I guess we ask him later for the photos," Cho stated.
A little later, Professor McGonagall arrived in the Great Hall and asked Cho and Marietta to come with her. Most Ravenclaw students went back to their Common room to wait for Cho and Marietta to return from their visit. Harry and Hermione however took a detour to an empty classroom. As soon as they reached the classroom, Hermione asked Harry.
"Are you sure you could not find the Diary?"
"Yes I checked his office and quarters twice. The Diary was not there," Harry stated emphatically.
"Do you think we need to move up our schedule?" Hermione asked.
"I think we should stick to our original plan. If Dumbledore has the diary then he will not destroy until he has examined it thoroughly. By the time he destroys it, Ginny might have already made another attempt at the Chamber of Secrets since she is currently possessed by Voldemort. We will still have our scape goat," Harry explained.
"Are you sure that Ginny is possessed by Voldemort?" Hermione asked uncertainly.
"Yes. She already tried to get to the Chamber of Secrets, something she would not do if she was not possessed by Voldemort," Harry pointed out.
"I guess you are right," Hermione replied without conviction. She was concerned that without the Diary, Voldemort would not be able take control over Ginny. Deciding to put her doubts at the back of her mind and believe in Harry, she led Harry back to the Ravenclaw common room.
About half an hour before curfew, a despondent pair of girls entered the Ravenclaw Common Room. Cho and Marietta were immediately bombarded by questions from their house mates. Penny then took over and said.
"One question at a time."
"Did you prank Filch?" A seventh year student that Harry and Hermione did not recognise asked.
"We did not do anything to Filch or Mrs Norris. However the professors do not believe us so we have been given one week's detention with Filch," Marietta replied. This response made quite a few classmates cringe at the thought of a vindictive Filch being in charge of them.
"Did they have any proof that you guys did it?" Another student asked.
"Our wands were used to carry out the prank according to the professors. We don't know how that happened as we were sleeping in at the time," Marietta replied.
"Are you sure that you did not do the prank?"
"We are positive that we did not do the prank!" Cho said angrily.
"Enough questions. Let them get some rest," Penny said to the gathered crowd.
A/N Thank you for all your great reviews and for the assistance of my betas.
Chapter 42
A pissed off Mrs Norris started following Cho and Marietta around like their very own drill sergeant. Whenever they tried to do something wrong, Mrs Norris would Meow loudly or scratch them depending on the severity of the transgression. Cho and Marietta tried to get away from Mrs Norris or trap her in broom closets without much success. Mrs Norris would always find them again using their scent to follow their trail. After all, their scent was how Mrs Norris identified her attackers in the first place. Whenever they did try to get rid of her, Mrs Norris would give them a severe scratching when she found them again. It became a common sight to see Cho and Marietta walking around followed by a furless Mrs Norris. She was furless because she did not trust the professors enough to allow them to help remedy the problem.
Occasionally Filch could be seen trying to put a coat or jacket on Mrs Norris while saying,
"You'll catch a cold if you don't keep warm."
Mrs Norris would try to avoid Filch as she had now had a phobia associated with what passed for cat wear. The sight of Filch chasing Mrs Norris with a jacket provided tons of entertainment for the entire school. It seemed like Professor Lockhart was the only person not entertained by the display. He was scared of the cat since every time they crossed paths the cat would hiss at him. That was not the only problem Lockhart had as Healer Chapman had not been able to discover the shrinking curse. He was also completely puzzled as to why the professor had to go to the toilet so often. Professor Lockhart was forced to constantly eat and drink to ensure he was properly hydrated and got enough nutrients. Lockhart's frequent runs to his quarters had earned him the nickname "Running Locky". Whenever Harry and Hermione had DADA, Lockhart would mysteriously get the runs.
On one such occasion, Harry asked Hermione, "Have you made any progress on removing the curse on the Hallows?"
"I still can't remove it but I have worked out who put the curse on the Hallows and what the curse does," Hermione replied with frustration clearly visible on her face.
"Who put the curse on the Hallows?" Harry said with interest.
"It was all three Peverell brothers. They used some sort of ancient blood ritual which encourages the owners of the items to get together at Samhain. Samhain is now known as Halloween. I believe they had the best intentions when they did the ritual; they wanted to make sure the family stayed in touch," Hermione explained.
"That would explain why bad things keep happening to me at Halloween. I wonder why they have not reunited before now if that is the case."
"It is very simple. The Potters hid the fact they had the cloak of invisibility. Even if the owner of the elder wand did meet the Potters at Halloween, they would think nothing of it. While the Gaunts might have the resurrection stone but without strong magical cores, they were not drawn to the other owners and vice versa."
"That makes sense. Since the curse does not seem to be harmful, and I own all three of the deadly hallows now, the removal of the curse can wait," Harry declared.
"Okay," Hermione said reluctantly.
"Have you sent the instructions for the portkey redirection ward to Grant yet?" Harry asked.
"I sent that ages ago; it was a very simple adjustment to the standard anti-portkey ward," Hermione replied.
"Do you want to help me release the binds on Fawkes?"
"Don't you need to work out a way of adjusting the detection grid?"
"Done it already and I know where the ward markers are. I know what we need to do change their detection properties. At Christmas, I will get Jake or Doug to begin putting my plans into action."
"We usually work on different projects so that we can cover more ground. Why the sudden desire to work on a project together?" Hermione asked with a mischievous smile on her face.
"I just thought it would be a nice change to do a project together for once," Harry replied.
"Okay," Hermione said with a smile.
At dinner, a very happy Ron entered the Great Hall. He was so happy that Ron would have put Colin to shame. After moving closer to the Gryffindor table, Ron lifted his arms in victory and yelled.
"I got onto the Gryffindor Quidditch team."
"What position?" Neville asked loudly as he knew his friend wanted to show off.
"Starting Seeker," Ron replied.
"Congratulations," Neville said.
Harry and Hermione looked at each other before Harry said, "Gryffindor must be desperate if they take Ron as seeker. He is a pathetic seeker."
"Who do you think is worse, Ron or Malfoy?" Hermione asked.
"I don't know. They were both equally bad, and Ron was a mediocre goalie at best," Harry replied.
"I want to try something," Hermione said with a mischievous smile.
After dinner, Harry and Hermione did their homework with their friends in the Ravenclaw common room. They left to go to get things from their rooms. When they were at their rooms, they used their time turners and put on their invisibility cloaks. Hermione snuck into Cho and Marietta's room and stole their diaries.
They then made their way together to the Great Hall to follow Ron as he left the hall after dinner. When Ron split from his group of friends to go to the toilet, Harry and Hermione stunned him. Harry then took some polyjuice to look like Ron, while Hermione stripped the real Ron of his clothing and his wand. Checking to make sure that Cho and Marietta were at the library, Harry approached Ron's friends leaving Hermione with a naked defenceless Ron.
"Do you know I just overheard two Ravenclaw girls dishing on our Gryffindor Quidditch team?" Harry as Ron said with outrage.
"They were just being jealous," Dean said.
"No! We cannot let that type of gossiping to go without punishment. We need to get them back for what they are saying about our team," Harry said.
"Okay, what do you suggest?"
"I believe I heard they were going to the library. If you distract them, I will search through their bags for something interesting such as their diaries," Harry suggested.
"Who are the girls?" Seamus asked.
"I will point them out when we reach the library. Let's go before they leave," Harry said. Harry and Ron's friends proceeded to the library where he directed them to Cho and Marietta. While Neville, Seamus and Dean distracted Cho and Marietta, Harry pretended to steal their diaries from their bags. After Harry gave two thumbs up to say he was done, Neville, Seamus and Dean left the library as Harry re-joined them.
"What are we going to do with the diaries?" Neville asked.
"Maybe we should give to Lavender and Parvati. They would gossip about all the juicy things they find in the diaries," Dean suggested.
"I have a better idea. One of my brothers' friends mentioned that he could make Professor Binns say anything he wants. I was thinking I was going to get him to read the juicier passages from the diaries during our history of magic class," Harry suggested.
"That sounds great. It would be more interesting to hear parts of the diaries rather than listening to the normal lecture given by Binns," Seamus said.
"I will go to see my brother's friend," Harry as Ron said as he left.
Harry checked the Marauders' Map and found the real Ron and Hermione in an empty classroom close to the Ravenclaw common room. He quickly made his way there. Where he found Ron tied to a chair with Hermione standing over him.
"What did you do to him?" Harry asked.
"I forced fed him a potion that reduces a person's will before hypnotising him," Hermione replied matter-of-factly.
"What else did you do to him?" Harry asked.
"I might have made him infertile," Hermione replied guiltily.
"That's my girl," Harry said as he hugged Hermione.
"I also did something else but it will be a surprise," Hermione said with a cheeky grin.
"When will I find out what you did?" Harry asked.
"At the Ravenclaw vs. Gryffindor Quidditch match..." Hermione said which made Harry wonder what Hermione had done.
"I look forward to finding out. Can you give me any hints?" Harry pleaded.
"It will spoil the surprise."
"Okay. By the way, I convinced Ron's friends that he stole Cho and Marietta's diaries to get them back for an imaginary insult."
"That is great. I still don't know how you found the spell that makes a ghost say anything you want it to say? It is just such an unusual spell. Where did you find it?"
"When I was training to be an Auror, I came across the spell. It used to be used to organise truces between two warring parties ages in the past. Ghosts could pass messages to the other side without getting hurt," Harry explained.
"I love it when you get technical," Hermione said. "So who are going to use as the scapegoat?"
"I was thinking Pansy or Percy."
"Ron would never deal with a Slytherin[,] and Percy is too uptight to be convincing."
"How about Roger Davies? I know how you dislike him for defending and protecting Cho and her friends."
"Brilliant. Where is he at the moment?"
"He is in the toilet of his dorm room," Harry said.
"Why don't we get him now?" Hermione suggested enthusiastically.
"Don't we have to work out which passages we want him to read out first?" Harry asked.
"We can work it out after we get him," Hermione said with passion.
"Okay," Harry replied as Hermione dragged him out the door with Ron still tied up.
Harry stunned Roger from behind before putting him into bed with a temporary notice me not ward. Hermione then collected his wand and a few hairs for polyjuice. They went back to the classroom and released Ron. They hit him with several confundus spells, which were easier to do than obliviate him, and the risks were a lot less to achieve similar results. Harry then took polyjuice to look like Roger and temporarily transfigured his clothes to fit. Once he looked like Roger, Harry went in search of Professor Binns. When he found the ghost, Harry used Roger's wand to spell the Professor to quote a number of interesting passages from the diaries. The spell made the Professor repeat the quotes to certain students within his second, third, fourth and fifth year classes. When he was done, Harry asked Dobby to return Roger's wand and to put the diaries with his things.
The next day, Harry and Hermione actually looked forward to their History of Magic class and they were not disappointed. As soon as Mandy entered the room, Professor Binns said,
"Today we are going to be reading excerpts from the diaries of Marietta and Cho.
"On the 5th April 1992, Marietta wrote Professor Snape would be quite attractive if his washed his hair.
"On 28th of June 1992 Cho wrote I wonder if Professor Snape's billowing cape is achieved by magic. Imagine if I could apply that effect to my hair…"
The entire lesson was devoted to excerpts from the two diaries. Mandy was enjoying the materials so much that she stunned Lisa before she could go for help. This deterred anyone else from wanting to go to get another professor to stop the lesson. Some of the better quotes were:
"Draco Malfoy is good looking but his behaviour reminds me of a bull in a china shop. He has no understanding of finesse, and he has the charm of a vulture.
"I wonder if Draco is gay since he has two guys following him around all the time.
"Professor Lockhart is such a wannabe.
"Cedric Diggory would make the perfect practice boyfriend as he is good looking and gets on well with most people. He lacks the power or wealth to be a good candidate for a serious long term boyfriend or husband material.
"Harry Potter has the potential to be a good future boyfriend or husband. He has it all, looks that will improve with time, he is intelligent, likeable, has bucket loads of political power, titles, a great reputation, and I heard he is also very wealthy. The only downside is that he hangs around with that know-it-all all the time.
"I don't understand why Susan Bones straps her tits in when most girls like Lavender Brown pad their bras.
"What would happen if two ghosts collide? Would they pass through each other or crash?"
The quotes from the diaries continued throughout the lesson until the bell rang. It was probably the first History of Magic class in over a century where the students paid attraction to what the professor was saying. Mandy and a few other students were taking notes of what was being said, another rare occurrence at a History of Magic class. Harry did get a little embarrassed by the quotes about him but it was necessary to push the blame towards Ron. Hermione got a little upset about being called the "know it all" but understood why it was necessary. The rest of the students who were not mentioned were enjoying the entertainment.
For the rest of the day, the entire school was focused on the excerpts from Cho and Marietta's diaries. At dinner, most of the students who were mentioned by the diaries were trying to keep a low profile. Cho and Marietta were both suspicious due to their absence. Ron then strutted into the Great Hall as if he owned it.
"Why does Ron look like he ate the canary?" Hermione asked her Ravenclaw housemates.
"He admitted to stealing Cho and Marietta's diaries. He said that they deserved it, and he refused to implicate anyone else who helped him," Mandy replied.
"Did they find the diaries?" Harry asked.
"Roger Davies found the diaries amongst his stuff but they don't think he was involved," Padma replied.
"Do the professors know who else is involved?"
"No. They don't even know what spell they used. Everything the professors did to try to stop Professor Binns from spreading the gossip failed. All they could do was place a silence ward around him," Mandy replied.
"Are they still looking for the people who helped Ron since I doubt that he could pull it off alone?"
"No. The professors have given up looking for the culprits even though some people like Professor Snape, Draco, Cho and Marietta are pushing for the investigation to continue."
"At least, they have Ron to take out their anger on."
"Ron is an idiot. It is not worth their time to take their anger out on a prat."
"Where are Cho and Marietta?" Hermione asked.
"They are having dinner in the kitchens and staying in their dorm room as much as possible."
Over the next few days, Cho and Marietta were rarely seen except for classes. They were having most of their meals in their dorm room. Whenever Cho and Marietta did venture out into public, people would make digs at them like, "Would you kiss Professor Snape if I forced him to wash his hair?"
Ron was lapping up the attention from the incident. Professor Snape was in even more of a foul mood than normal, if that was possible. Draco was getting mad as people would make digs at him. He was picking on Ron, his friends and family more often to let off some steam. Draco avoided pissing off the twins after he tried taunting them, and they changed his clothes into a clown costume complete with big purple hair, large squeaky shoes and clown make up. Colin was able to capture that image, and he made a roaring trade selling copies of the photo. He was making quite a bit of money selling the different photos he took.
Harry met Sirius in order to complete the trap setup in the passageway that led to the Chamber of Secrets. After they had finished, Harry showed Sirius the photos that Colin had taken of the various pranks they played. Sirius fell over laughing when he saw the photos of Filch and Mrs Norris in their matching ballerina costumes. He also set off one of the traps himself because he was laughing so uncontrollable.
"I needed that," Sirius said when he finally got control of himself.
"Have things been that bad?" Harry asked.
"I am moving every week to avoid potential threats, and Lucius Malfoy has put a 50 thousand galleon bounty on my head. One of my security guards got tempted by the bounty and took a pot-shot at me. When the other security guards found out, they killed him before he could make another attempt," Sirius explained.
"I thought that the contracts would protect you from that. What happened to the security guards that killed the assassin?" Harry asked in shock.
"He did not understand the risks he was taking in breaching the contract. So I worked with my head of security to improve the contracts so they would get a warning if they come close to breaching the agreement. This way our employees will know better than to risk breaching their contracts for the bounty. The magical authorities considered the killing an act of self-defence so the case is closed."
"Are you sure you can trust your head of security?"
"I believe I can since he explained why he has my interests at heart. He will make more money in the long term if he keeps me alive. His continued employment with me and his improved reputation by keeping me safe will make getting another high paid job a lot easier."
"So are you getting him to plan your schedules?"
"No. Only my house-elves know where I am going. It is safer that way since they are totally loyal to me. Enough with the twenty questions; I was thinking that we should block off the chamber of secrets by creating a solid wall here," Sirius said as he indicated section on the map.
"We were planning to create a massive barrier using our mining waste around here. The mining waste will come from the expansion of the Chamber of Secrets. We plan to expand the Chamber of secrets by a tremendous amount so that it can accommodate the Acromantula colony and the Basilisk as well. Using the waste from the expansion will make it look like a rock fall," Harry explained as he outlined their plans for the Chamber of Secrets on the map they had previously created.
"I like how you going to use that big boulder to control when to release the mining waste and to stop the flow of mining waste to allow access to the Chamber of Secrets again. Are you planning to create this system during Christmas?" Sirius asked.
"Yes. We were going to explain it to Doug during our break so that he could execute it on our behalf," Harry replied.
"Well, manpower will not be an issue since I heard a lot of newly identified witches and wizards have applied to work in the mines during Christmas due to the high pay you are offering your workers. It gives them access to the investment schemes you guys have created, which is causing quite a stir. Maybe I will invest more with you guys," Sirius said.
"You are always welcome," Harry said as they continued discussing their plans.