Chapter 12
CHAPTER 12
It had been two weeks since the end of term and the summer was going brilliantly so far. They had had one play date with the Darcorns so far and they had truly loved it. All the Darcorns had been a little fussy being separated like they were, but when they were allowed to be together, even if it was just for a day, they seemed to snap right out of it and began to act like their old selves.
Harry and Neville were racing Storm and Thunder through the forest behind Longbottom Hall when suddenly Neville pulled Thunder up short and stopped, looking around quickly.
Harry who was behind him on Storm stopped short as well and looked around to see what had caused his ‘brother’ to stop like he had.
“What’s up?” Harry asked, not seeing anything out of the ordinary around them.
“The War Wards of Longbottom Hall just went up, we need to get back right now, I don’t know what caused them to go up, but it can’t be anything good.” Neville turned Thunder around and raced back to the stables at top speed. “Yah!” He shouted and kicked Thunder into action.
“Oh shit!” Harry exclaimed and turned Storm around and followed Neville and Thunder as fast as Storm could go. They reached the stables only minutes later their Darcorns breathing heavily, and called for Jeeves, normally they would brush down their Darcorns and tend to them, but they were sure that something was up, and that they needed to get back inside as quickly as possible. They introduced the Darcorns to Jeeves and asked if they would allow him to tend to them, when they got hesitant approval they thanked their beloved friends giving each one a juicy rat for their cooperation, then they ran inside to see what was going on.
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“Do they have any information on how she did it?” Frank asked.
“No nothing so far. They think that Narcissa was down there visiting Lucius and she passed Bellatrix’ cell. Their best guess is that when she passed Bellatrix’ cell, Bellatrix lunged out and grabbed her then choked her through the bars until she was unconscious. Then Bellatrix grabbed her wand and opened her cell door.” Amelia stated,
“Narcissa is badly bruised but she will live, although she is having problems speaking right now. They said that she would be fine in a couple of days. They admitted her into St. Mungos for observation though.” Amelia continued. “They think that Bellatrix swam out until she was past the wards and then apparated away. But again that is best guess. We haven’t found a body yet and all we know is that she is missing and she did have a wand when she went missing. Other than that we have no real information. We know she killed three guards on her way out, using Narcissa’s wand, that is why it took this long to get to you. The alarms didn’t go off for almost three hours after the incident, because there was no one alive to sound the alarm, it wasn’t until shift change that anyone noticed anything wrong, then they did a check of the prison and found Narcissa, and Bellatrix’ empty cell and called an all out alert, for a prison break. So she has a three hour head start.”
“Damn, and her first stop will probably be here. Thanks for the heads up. We will have the boys return immediately…” Frank started.
“They already have Dad. What is this about a prison break?” Neville asked.
“Bellatrix Lestrange has escaped prison, they don’t know if she is alive or dead yet though, since they haven’t found a body they assume she is still alive. If she didn’t drown that is, and we just haven’t found the body yet.”
“Bad Kitty escaped?” Neville looked at Harry who looked back at him, neither wanting to say what they were thinking. They both knew she would want revenge for the humiliation of them catching her when they were not even two years old, so they were both high on her hit list.
“Bad Kitty is loose?” Harry answered.
Frank smirked at the nick name the boys had given Bellatrix when they were young, but then took on a serious expression. “Yes, Bad Kitty is out there somewhere loose, we don’t know where she would hide out, so we want you boys to stay close to home until she is caught. Exercise the Darcorns in the corrals for now, no more long distant rides until we know more about where she is or until she is recaptured. You two are to go no where alone, even with your friends, you are to go no where without an adult escort understood?” Frank stated.
Both boys nodded “Yes Sir.” They agreed immediately, they were well aware of just how dangerous Bad Kitty honestly was. They were well aware of just how dangerous she was now, they both had read all the reports on Bellatrix LeStrange when they had gotten older, when they were nine years old to be exact. And since then they had a whole new respect for their abilities and their power when they were young. They knew their biggest strength back then was probably the element of surprise; since no one would suspect a little kid of being able to do such magic. But now she knows how strong they are and would come at them with everything she has got. And that means she would aim to kill.
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Bellatrix Lestrange’s weapon of choice was a knife though, and she just happened to find a beauty. Who knew that muggles could enjoy the beauty of a finely honed knife as much as she did. Hmmm.
She looked over the three dead bodies of the young campers that lay around the campsite and shrugged. Oh well it was all hers now. As she continued to go through their things. She picked through the female’s clothing and since they were about the same size she picked out several pieces and put them in one of the back bag then gathered up some of the food stuffs, a sleeping bag and some miscellaneous things she thought she might need like flasks for water, lanterns, all the knives they had, rope, bug spray, and a first aid kit. Then packed the girl’s back pack full and after she changed, she looked like any camper hiking through the woods, and not an escaped convict. She even took the girls boots right off the dead girl’s body. She gathered any muggle money that they had which was almost four hundred pounds, and headed out.
It was a long way to London and she planned to apparate from one safe hole of the Dark Lord’s to the next until she got there, gathering what ever was still there, if anything was still there that is. She was one of the few that knew of most of the bolt holes the Dark Lord had. He had eight in England and she knew the location of six of them, the closest to her was about a hundred and sixty miles away, so she needed more in her stomach than the bologna sandwich and granola bar which she had just eaten to get there, considering she had not eaten since the morning before. She looked at the map the three had had with them and it indicated a town not far from there so she apparated to it first, hoping on finding a hot meal there.
Bellatrix was in luck. There was a small pub that had inexpensive, yet hardy food. So she ordered fish and chips and a beer. Her first real meal in almost ten years so she relished every bite, even if it was a little greasy it was heavenly to her. Food she could sink her teeth into, not some soup or porridge that was so bland that it would almost make you cry tasting it. At the time you were happy for it since it was something, anything to eat, but compared to real food it was disgusting gruel. If there was one thing she hated about prison it was the food. She could handle the heat, the cold, the constant dampness in the air, the isolation, the constant screams, the dementors even, but the food… the food was cruel and unusual punishment. She thought that her taste buds had died ages ago until she tasted that fish on her tongue, no they hadn’t died they had just gone on a long sleep, Merlin this was heavenly, she thought as she relished every bite.
When she finished eating she gave the waitress a nice tip and got a meal to go as well. Then headed out, she went around the corner of the building and apparated to the first bolt hole to check it out.
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Sirius and Remus were gathered in the Parlor with Frank, Alice, Harry and Neville talking about the prison break and what could be expected when Amelia called on the floo again, of course she was allowed to come through.
“Well we hit a bit of a break, if you can call it that. About twenty minutes ago three campers were found dead in the Mount St. Helens National Park, they were suppose to meet up with two other buddies, who had come to join them and they found them all dead. The non-magicals have no idea what caused it, that’s what put up the flag and we got it. We had alerts out for any unusual activity in the area anyway and since it wasn’t that far out of our scope they went ahead and notified us.” Amelia stated as soon as she got into the parlor.
She looked around and took note of everyone there and then continued, “There was three adults in their mid-twenties, two males, one female. The female was about Bellatrix’s size and a lot of her belongings are missing so we think that she is disguised to appear as an American traveler or camper at this point. She has the backpack and camping gear that belonged to the young girl and probably any weapons the people had on them which is unknown at this time although the one gentleman did state that his friend’s Bowie knife was missing. So we know she has as at least a large knife with her now, which makes her extremely dangerous. Her and knives are not a good mix.”
Harry just grinned real big and reached into his pocked and took out at his pocket knife and handed it to Amelia. She gave him a funny look but accepted it and just looked at the pocket knife then took out the blade and looked at it, wondering what Harry wanted her to see, and why he had interrupted what she was saying.
“Cultroflora!” Harry stated pointing his wand at the knife in Amelia’s hand. Suddenly there was a daffodil where before there was a quite sharp buck knife.
“What in the name of Merlin!” Amelia gasped.
Harry grinned. “Well…we knew that her weapon of choice was knives, so we decided to take her weapon away from her, even if she throws them at us. As long as we can see it in time, we have it licked.”
“You boys have been creating spells again haven’t you?” Frank accused. “What did I tell you about doing that without an adult present? You could have… never mind. Which one of you did this one?”
“It was both of us this time, I did the first part and Neville came up with the second part, when we put them together they just worked. We only tried it on like two butter knifes to get the pronunciation correct and now its perfect.” Harry grinned at Frank, he knew they couldn’t be mad at them since it was something to help with their defense and help protect themselves.
“Merlin help us all. You two need to stop doing that. Write it up and I’ll send it to Minerva, hopefully she won’t box my ears for letting you do another spell without supervision. Ah… don’t tell her that part. Just write it up and make a few different flowers or something, you know what I mean. Take some photos and we will see about getting this one published as well. I’m sorry Amelia you were saying….” Sirius shook his head and performed the Reparifarge spell to turn the flower back into a knife.
“Ah yeah, what was that spell again boys, I need to teach that to my crew… just in case we end up facing her out there?” Amelia looked at Harry, still a little taken back at the fact that they had created a new spell all on their own.
“Cultroflora, it means knife to flower. Simple and to the point, the hardest part is focusing on a flower when your life could be in danger, but even in a panic you should be able to do it, it is only four syllables and it is a simple point and shoot, no wand movement at all. So the hardest part is thinking of a flower, if you practice it making daffodils all along… it will just be easier to do, so when you need it it will be almost second nature. And daffodils are like the most basic flower I could think of, so they are the first thing that popped into my head when I think of a flower, but you can make any flower you can imagine with it. Pansies, Poppies, Roses, Tulips, Carnations, Irises, anything you might have a favorite flower that pops into your head first so use it, I just used daffodils because they mostly come in just yellows and they are pretty simple to look at, their leaves are simple, their flower is simple and they are quick to imagine.” Harry explained as he called Jeeves for a few butter knives and proceeded to show them what it would look like as other flowers.
“Cultroflora.” Amelia tried it on one knife and produced a nice daffodil of her own, then smiled, it really was that simple. All right she was going to teach that to all her crew. Nice to know.
“Back to what I was saying though. Bellatrix is out there looking like an American tourist, she is armed, with both wand and at least one large knife that we know of, and she did take all of the individual’s non-magical money so she could have purchased more knives as well. So don’t underestimate her in any way. She has the ability to change her appearance through glamours so trust no one, and there is also polyjuice potion if she can get her hands on the ingredients or a potion master who is willing to make it for her. From what I recall she was pretty talented in potions herself so be aware of that as well. Take every percussion. Trust no one. At this point don’t even trust me, if anyone wants to come through ask them a question only they would know before you let them into your house.”
“Like what?” Neville asked.
“Like what was the first spell I saw you cast?” Amelia stated.
“Bad Kitty play nite nite?”
“Exactly. I didn’t truly see you do the first spell when you stuck her to the wall, so the first spell I actually saw you do was ‘play nite nite’ and that goes for both of you since you both really did it. Anything like that, something simple that can be quick but no one else will know. Nothing too complicated though. Make it simple.” Amelia explained.
Everyone nodded and began to think of different questions to ask different people. Some people would be easy, other people harder. But they would make it work, some how.
“I’ve got to get back to head quarters, if I hear anything else I will let you know. Cultroflora, got to remember that.” And with that she through the floo powder into the fire and called out her destination, the next moment she was gone.
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Amelia stepped out of the floo into her office and found Kingsley Shackelbolt, Alastor Moody and Nymphadora Tonks waiting on her. “Alright folks what’s the word?”
Moody spoke up. “We found a pub not far from the camp site where the murder victims were found that stated a young waitress served a woman matching LeStrange’s description said she came in and ordered a meal, fish and chips to be exact, then ordered the same to go. She remembered her because the woman left her a twenty pound tip. Which shocked the waitress when the cost of both meals was barely half that amount. She just gave her thirty pounds and told her to keep the change. The waitress was thrilled, but evidently it was someone who had no clue about muggle money. Said she left about an hour and a half ago.”
“Oh and Amelia this is Cadet in training Tonks, she is assigned to me for the time being, part of her talent is that she is …”
“…a metamorphmagus, yes I know. I met Cadet Tonks when she was quite young, and am familiar with her talents, welcome to the force Cadet.” Amelia smiled at Nymphadora who smiled back but tried to remain at attention even though she had to suppress the giggle that threatened to come out.
“Yes, we thought her talent might be useful in our current case. While she needs work in stealth and sneak she more than makes up for in camouflage and conceal. Plus her knowledge of the Muggle world is an added benefit for us, she can even drive a muggle vehicle…is licensed to do so and all.”
“My goodness Cadet, you have been busy. But speaking of useful, do you still have your knife on you?” Amelia asked.
“Always.” Moody Replied.
“Alright, come at me like you are going to stab me with it.” Amelia instructed.
“What are you up to,” He asked.
“Just do it…Cultroflora!” She called out almost too late. She saw the flash of silver and reacted on instinct and bam… Alastor was holding a Daffodil in his right hand instead of his silver bladed knife that he always kept with him. Never knew when you might encounter a werewolf nowadays now did yah.
“What in the name of Seven Hells was that!” Alastor shouted!
“That my friend is the latest, curtesy of Black and Longbottom. Cultroflora…turns any knife into a flower, the easiest to do is a daffodil so one thought and no more knife.” Amelia smiled. “Oh and Reparifarge! There you have your knife back.”
Alastor stared at his silver knife again and couldn’t believe it. “So Sirius and Frank are still working for us on the side lines huh?” Looking up to Amelia.
“Not Sirius and Frank, this was a creation of Harry and Neville. Those two are Auror material if I ever saw it. Taking out Lestrange, Dumbledore, a Basilisk and creating their own spells at only eleven years old… I want those two on my payroll when they get old enough. Before the Department of Mysteries has a chance to land them that is. I will even partner them together if they want.” Amelia stated.
“I don’t think they would have it any other way Ma’am.” Tonks interjected.
“You are probably right about that, those two can do just about anything, if they work together. They knew that LeStrange’s weapon of choice was a knife and so they created a spell to render her harmless. Between that and Bad Kitty play nite nite, I think they are pretty well protected against her, at this point.” Amelia couldn’t help but smile.
Alastor chuckled, he still found that funny. Bad Kitty play nite nite, and then Bad Kitty up. Put the worst of the Voldemort’s minions behind bars. “How did you say that one again?” Alastor asked,
“Cultroflora…Cul-Tro-Flor-A, you can think of any flower but they recommended a daffodil because it is so basic and no frills. And easy to remember, just focus on a daffodil and don’t think of any other flower.” Amelia explained
“Cultroflora!” Alastor called out, and sure enough the silver bladed knife in his hand turned into a daffodil quick as a wink. “Reparifarge!” He called out, and his knife was back. “Damn, we definitely have to talk to those two before the DoM gets a shot at them.”
“That’s my thoughts exactly.” Amelia stated.
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Bellatrix had almost seven-hundred in gold on her now and not quite three hundred in muggle money left. She had been eating at muggle pubs or take away when ever she got a chance and that money was going fast. She had bought a couple of new knives along the way as well, didn’t help the money stretch any further though but she had fallen in love with this one boot knife and the other one had matched it so beautifully she just had to get them both.
She had hit four of the six bolt holes that she knew of.
She had gotten another wand, several potions, some proper Wizard’s robes and about seven hundred galleons and a little over two hundred in muggle money. There were also some knives and a couple of whips there that she grabbed as well. She normally didn’t like whips but she grabbed them just in case.
It was now time for her to head for London. She knew where the Longbottom mansion was from her last visit, but this time she was going to do it smart. No mistakes this time around. She was sure they would be under a Fidelius Charm again since her break out, so she had to work around that, but she had patience. An abundance of patience. If she had to, she would wait to grab the two menaces until they went back to Hogwarts and just grab them there.
What she needed was to be close enough to their mansion that if they took their wards down for even a minute that she could slip in and grab the little snots and get out, or just kill them there and be done with it. So she came up with a plan.
She would set up camp somewhere on the edge of Longbottom property and wait them out. She had all that girl’s camping supplies, and all she would have to do would be to run over to the Travel Center in Diagon Alley and buy a tent, under disguise of course, and buy enough food to last through the summer. Even if she was only here a few days she would need the food for later on anyway. Even if she couldn’t get the boys here and had to go to Hogwarts to get them, she could use the tent in the Forbidden Forest and live in it there until she achieved her goal.
Her goal was quite simple, Harry Potter and Neville Longbottom dead. Period.
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The whole summer was filled with practicing defense, doing research and reading ahead. They had the other Darcorns over a few times but not as often as they would like, due to certain circumstances. They simply had the house elves pop the Darcorns into the stable and allowed them to mingle for a while instead of really going riding on them or anything. It seemed to make them happy enough, but it was a shadow of what they had planned in comparison.
They had planned on several long rides and a couple of over-the-night camp outs and maybe even some outings to different places, but now with everything that was happening they had to stay at home and pretty much just exercise their Darcorns in the corrals and near the Hall and not go out of sight of the corral. Frank had ordered several nice juicy rats and a few fresh ferrets to make up for the inconvenience to the Darcorns so they didn’t seem to mind it too much. Hermione, who was watching the news closely, the Daily Prophet that is, so she knew all about the break out and the current search for Bellatrix Lestrange. But she still caught up on the newest information when ever she came over to the Longbottom’s to exercise Procella.
Hermione even helped Harry and Neville on their Defense practices. She bought several advanced books on defense at the bookstore and began going through them and looking up possibly useful spells. So far they had learned Stupefy, Bombarda, Asendio, Cave Inimicum, Confringo, Reducto, Depulso, Confundus, Revelio, Expulso, Flipendo, Fumos, Incarcerous, Incendio, Petrificus Totalus, and a few others as well. They did their best to have these little cram sessions when they were all together so that they could all benefit from the knowledge and no one would be left behind.
They worked hard with Pavarti to get her up to their level and she was doing remarkably well, of course everything that they showed her she went and immediately showed to her sister. Which Padma ate up the knowledge like she was born to it.
They all worked on their Taekwondo and Karate, Luna finally got her brown belt in Taekwondo which was a cause for a huge celebration. They had it along with Harry and Neville’s twelfth birthday on the same day. So it ended up being a huge party for everyone. It was held at Longbottom Hall, of course, and it was invitation only. It was smaller than it would normally have been due to the threat of Bellatrix, but they had hired security through Amelia and were using off duty Aurors that needed a little extra gold. Sirius had wanted to pay for everything but Frank wouldn’t hear about it, so the cost was split evenly.
Since Frank and Alice were providing the location of the celebration, Sirius insisted on providing the refreshments. And boy did he buy a lot of refreshments, all kinds of meats, cheeses, veggie trays, fruits trays, dessert trays with all kinds of goodies on them, and three big huge cakes one for each kid, Luna’s was strawberry swirl, Neville’s was chocolate swirl and Harry’s was treacle tart swirl, that last one was the hardest to make but the house elves somehow managed it and it was delicious. Harry had never even thought of having a treacle tart cake until he bit into his birthday cake but now he found a brand new flavor of cake, because when he did his bright emerald eyes just lit up and he began to practically purr. After he finished his cake he had to call Jeeves and Misty and give them both a big hug and tell them how brilliant he thought his cake was, they were both practically in tears by the time they popped out of there, they were so thrilled that their little Master was happy with their work, and on his birthday no less.
By the time it got to be time for presents to be opened every one was stuffed and anxiously waiting to see what was in the huge pile of presents that was waiting over by the fireplace in the front parlor.
Luna opened her presents first and she loved most of her presents. Many of her presents were books and stuffed animals. She did get a new writing set, with calligraphy quill and multiple inks from Alice. Persephone and Xenophilius bought her a brand new riding outfit complete with new bridle and saddle blanket. Sirius bought her a gazing ball and stand, the ball was made out of selenite crystal so it was a true gazing stone, one of the old ones like the gypsies used to use; the stand was set up so that she could set a candle underneath and gaze into the ball and see the fire of the candle burning through the ball and hopefully get a vision in the reflection of the fire. Harry got Luna a beautiful starburst bracelet to match her necklace that he had bought her before. It had a solid silver bracer and in the middle of the bracer was that beautiful delicate starburst looking design, complete with the sapphire in the middle. The whole thing was about an inch and a half wide, just wide enough to fit the star burst and a very pretty but delicate boarder, and still look feminine. Neville got her a very rare and beautiful golden moon drop flower. Mainly because her father was always calling her Moon Drop, but also because they were a beautiful flower and they only bloomed under the moon, he thought that Luna would actually appreciate them. He told her he would help plant them where ever she wanted to and teach her how to take care of them too. She was thrilled with the beautiful flowers, and with her other presents, but everyone could see the present she liked the most was the one from Harry. Since she had wore the necklace he had given her today she immediately put on the bracelet and she kept tracing the little starburst pattern with her finger and smiling through out the day.
Neville got a lot of clothes from every one since he had grown almost three inches since last year. But he got some fun things as well. Sirius got him a set of six Bonsai trees and the kit to making a miniature Chinese meditation garden. He loved the idea and began planning how he wanted it to look immediately. But was interrupted with having to open the rest of his presents. Remus got him a sheath for his sword that he had been practicing with, that would strap to his back rather than to his leg, that way he could have other knives strapped to his leg if he wanted to. His parents got him several seedlings that he had been drooling over from that new catalogue he had just gotten in, as well as a new wardrobe. Persephone and Xenophilius bought him several packs of seeds of rare and unusual plants and a new pocket watch that had a bonsai tree on it, apparently they had heard of what Sirius was going to get him and thought it would make a good present as well, and he loved it. Harry got him a new knife set, one was a knife that was meant to go on your belt that was about twelve inches long from the tip of the blade to the tip of the handle, one that was a boot knife that was about six inches long that would attach to your boot and could be hidden away, and one that was a multi purpose pocket knife with several functions to it, kind of like a Swiss army knife, only it matched the set that he had gotten Neville. Pavarti got him a series of miniature seedling plants to go in his Bonsai garden, and a miniature water fountain and pond set up. Complete with tiny koi fish and plants they would like. Susan and Hanna had bought him goodies from Honeydukes. The rest of their friends from school either sent something from Honeydukes or packets of seeds of some rare or unusual plant and books to go with it. Hermione got him a leather bound study planner that was really gorgeous. And even Professor Sprout got him something, she got him a miniature set of gardening tools to use in his Bonsai garden, and they were not flimsy little tools either they were the real deal working tools. Neville was so excited about getting to work on his new Bonsai project he could hardly wait. All through out the day he kept going back over to the things that went with the Bonsai set and checking them and working with them a little. That is until Alice forced him to pay attention to his guests.
Harry had grown over four inches during the year so he got a lot of clothes too, but he didn’t argue with that at all, Sirius even got him some new dragon hide boots since his old ones were getting to be too small now. Frank and Alice got Harry some clothes but they also got him some books on Defense Against the Dark Arts, Frank even gave him a set of Auror training manuals, first level of course. Hermione got him a matching study planner like she got for Neville. Persephone and Xenophilius got him a new saddle blanket and set of saddle bags that he could use on Storm, they were endless bags…so he could put all of his camping gear in the two bags and not have to worry about big and bulky bags or anything, everything he would need would fit nicely into the two bags and weigh almost nothing. He could put his tent and trunk in one side and his food, water and what ever else he wanted to take along in the other side. He was thrilled with that present. Remus got him the same sheath that he had gotten Neville, so that he could put other knives on his belt as well. Neville got him a pair of matching daggers with sheaths that would go on his belt. Luna got him a new trench coat that had dozens of pockets inside it, that he could put almost anything in. Some of the larger pockets were meant to be bigger on the inside than they were on the outside so he could fit anything he wanted inside it and no one would be able to see anything different from the outside, He could even put his new saddle bags inside one of the pockets and no one could tell. He checked and yep his broom would fit into one of the pockets too. What was cool is that it didn’t hamper the movement of the trench at all and it looked completely normal from the outside, even completely loaded down with stuff. Harry kept playing with his new trench coat until Sirius reminded him that he had guests too and he should be playing host to them as well, so he put away his new trench for now and went back to the party and his guests.
Pavarti ended up helping Neville put together his Bonsai garden and it turned out so beautiful it could almost make you cry. Neville had put a little sand garden with some various miniature succulents in it. He made a small Buddhist style temple and added it to one side, and put the koi pond and fountain on the other side. He even got several small flat stones and made walk ways throughout the garden that lead from tree to tree and put little benches there for meditation and just to sit and enjoy the view. Neville decided that some day he was going to have a big garden just like his miniature one somewhere on the Longbottom property, so he was putting a lot of thought into where everything was going and everything that was being placed onto the gardens. All in all it was about four feet by four feet and absolutely breathtaking by the time he finished it, although it took the better part of his summer. Neville put it in his study in his seven compartment trunk when it was all finished, so that he could take it to Hogwarts with him. That way it wouldn’t get overgrown or die or anything while he was away at school. And with the spell work on the trunk nothing would get thrown around or damaged, not even the sand garden or the koi pond that he had built. But he was going to put a few extra spells on it just in case anyway.
Harry and Luna spent hours going through catalogues picking out things to get to put in the pockets of his new trench coat, like a new compass, fifty foot of nylon rope and some para cord, several knives, a few flashlights, they even picked out some things from Zonko’s Joke shop, like a bunch of Filibuster fireworks, stink bombs, smoke bombs, and flash bangs. Harry saved one pocket for owl treats just for Hedwig and another pocket he placed a cooling charm on for fresh meat for Storm so that he could store a few bits of meat there for his Darcorn as well. He separated his trunk into one pocket and placed his saddle bags into another pocket, that way he could just grab his trunk out quickly and get anything he needed in a flash, without having to take out the saddle bags, then take out the trunk and get what he needed. All he had to do was reach in and grab his trunk and get what he needed out now that he had a designated pocket for it. He then went through and stocked up his tent, it was a modest four bedroom tent, with a living room, two bathrooms, kitchen and study. Harry figured since they had their trunks that it didn’t need to be fancy or have lots of extras. His trunk had a potions room and separate bedroom as well as library and study if he needed it, so the tent would be perfect for any outing that he or they would go on. Harry stocked it full of nonperishable foods and put some perishable foods under stasis charms so that they would keep at least six months if not a year. His cold cabinet was stocked with meats and cheeses, also put under stasis charms, but he put them in the cold cabinet just for extra protection. He made sure there were plenty of towels, linens and blankets or quilts for each bed and then put the whole thing into his saddle bags when he finished stocking it full. Then stored the saddle bags in one of the bigger pockets in his trench coat and hung his new trench on the back of his door for easy access.
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The summer seamed to end far too quickly for everyone at Longbottom Hall, the kids had finished their homework the first week they had been home and then had focused on mainly Taekwondo or Karate, Gymnastics, or basic Defense. They did take breaks to play music and dance though and enjoyed that a great deal as well. They worked with their Darcorns as much as possible with their limited mobility, and had the other Darcorns over a few times, although not as many times as either they or the others would have liked. When they finally got their list of books from Hogwarts it was decided that everyone would go as a huge group and pick up their things…it was either that or just a couple of the adults go and none of the kids liked that idea.
So all the kids and all the parents decided to go to Diagon Alley the Monday before September first. Which would have been August thirtieth. The Alley was packed with last minute shoppers and those that were hoping to catch some great sales that were going on right now.
“Let’s hit Madam Malkin’s clothing first and work our way up the Alley.” Sirius suggested.
Frank nodded, since most of the crowd seemed to be around the Flourish and Blotts right now anyway, it seemed like the logical thing to do. “All right people in formation, munchkins in the middle.” Frank called out as they all headed up the Alley to the designated shop. Alice, Persephone, Ananya, Jean, and Sirius went into the store with the kids. The rest of the guys stayed outside to ‘guard’ the door. Sirius felt a little conspicuous being there with Neville’s mom, Luna’s mom, the twin’s mom, and Hermione’s mom, but he was there for Harry and he had to remember he was doing this to keep the boys safe. So into the depths go he…
First, he started with the things Harry hadn’t gotten for his birthday, which was new Hogwarts uniforms. Again Sirius suggested the brushed cotton and silk blend, instead of the run of the mill plain black uniforms. They got them for Gryffindor this time though, so it would have the proper piping and lining as well as badge on the lapel. They also got two sets of gloves, scarves and hats, just in case. Sirius also had Harry measured for a new winter cloak while he was at it, and he got him some new dragon hide gloves since his were getting a little worn in places. Harry and Neville were lucky, they had gotten most of their new wardrobe for their birthday and so they just had to look around for statement pieces, as Sirius liked to call them. Neville found a rather fetching burgundy cloak with gold satin lining that was quite reasonably priced. While Harry found the same exact cloak in black with a forest green satin lining, again marked down for the end of the summer sales. They even had matching handkerchiefs that went with each one at no additional cost.
Harry and Neville could hear the girls all giggling over on the other side of the store and wisely adverted their eyes and pretended not to hear a thing, nope they didn’t want to know. It would only lead you to trouble so, nope. Not looking over there, not even curious. They knew that if they looked over there that they would get pulled into one of those girl things, like what do you think of this outfit, which outfit do you like better, do you think this color looks better on me or that color, does this dress make my butt look big… bad, bad, things happen when you get pulled into those types of questions, it is best to stay as far away from them as possible. So the guys just finished what they had to purchase and made their way to the door, quietly.
“Boys could you come here, we want your opinion on a couple of things?” Persephone called out, just as the boys were about to reach the doors.
“RUN!” Harry shouted to Neville, and they both darted for the door, leaving Sirius and Alice with their packages and wondering what was going on. At first they thought the boys had spotted Bellatrix and had taken out their wands just in case, but then they saw Luna standing in the middle of the isle with her hands on her hips, shouting “Cowards!” To the two boys, they realized what was going on. Then Sirius turned back to the cashier and continued to pay for Harry’s things, while Alice waited with Neville’s pile trying hard not to laugh as she watched Luna stomp back to the dressing rooms, grumbling about cowardly boys the whole way. It took another thirty minutes for the girls to finish in the store but that was alright, Sirius had shrunk down all their purchases and placed them in their bottomless bags, ready for the next stop. So they just waited not so patiently outside, anything was better than being in there with the girls, right now at least.
Next was the apothecary, Persephone had made a list for everyone on what potions they would be making so what extra potion ingredients to get and have on hand this year, they also picked up more crystal containers, and a few paste tubs, Harry of course checked out their books and bought any new releases that he didn’t have as well. They each bought a couple of new cauldrons for their trunks and some new supplies for their potions room there as well, making sure that it was fully stocked and had fresh ingredients too. Harry got two new burners and a case of oil to use in the burners, so did Neville, Pavarti and Luna.
Then came the stationary shop, Scrivenshaft’s Quills Shop, everyone needed new quills and more parchment and new maybe a few new journals or three. Luna stocked up on the rainbow ink that had just came out, it was really interesting, the ink would change colors as you wrote and remained permanent once it dried. They all got a few ever ready quills as well, and some standard inks to go with them.
The Magical Menagerie was next, Harry got Hedwig a variety of Owl treats and and a new perch to put in the tent. Everyone else got their own Owls treats as well, Neville got Hades some of the apple and bacon treats he loved so well and a new perch for his room in the tend as well. Luna wanted to try the new chicken and smoked salmon treats with Rowena, so she got those. It wasn’t until Harry mentioned that she had a room reserved in his tent that she even considered buying a second perch for Rowena but in the end she bought a duplicate of the delicate perch she had purchased before, crystal food and water dish and all. Pavarti had finally decided to get herself an Owl so she and her sister got themselves a pair of Barred Owls that were in the Menagerie. The male Padma took and named it Hermes and the female Pavarti took and named it Aphrodite. Good thing those two Owls were not related, the twins were even thinking of breeding them and having little ones, they were that beautiful. They of course got all the perches and treats for them, and at Harry’s insistence the twins got extra purchases for the tent as well.
Then everyone went over to Johnston and Fibs Cobbler Shop, Harry and Neville both needed new shoes, their old ones were getting too small and wouldn’t make it another year. So they both got two new pair of black shoes one for casual, and one for dress. The girls all decided to buy their shoes in the muggle store Harrods, since they had a better selection of styles.
Finally the only place they hadn’t hit was Flourish and Blotts, so they faced the rampaging herds and headed inside. Well rampaging herds wasn’t exactly accurate, it was more like overstuffed store. But to say the least there were a lot of last minute shoppers there trying to get a good bargain. The kids quickly gathered what they needed, then they were allowed about ten minutes to look around and pick out a few new books. Frank and Sirius really didn’t want to hang around the store too long, the crowd was beginning to make them nervous. The hardest part was dragging Hermione out of the store once she got looking around, but they promised her that if she left fast enough that they would still have enough time to go by that New Age store they had found last year and see what new books they had this year, so she rushed around and picked out a few extra books and managed to get out of the store in the allotted time.
After they left Flourish and Blotts, they all headed through the Leaky Cauldron and onto the main road. Jean Granger arranged for cabs to come pick them up and take them over to Harrods Department Store. The girls were all just as excited as the very first time they had ever visited the place, eight floors of everything you could ever possibly want in one huge place.
Unfortunately, since they had all agreed to stick together while they shopped that meant that the guys had to hang around while the girls shopped for unmentionables, and they stood around giggling as they did the same. Thankfully, they were able to do so a lot quicker than the girls did, and they didn’t have to try on anything like the girls did. Who knew that hitting puberty could be such a hassle.
After that mental torture, the girls ended up going over to the shoes department and spending thirty minutes picking out shoes…just shoes, good grief. Harry and Neville both picked up a pair of trainers and a pair of hiking boots, thinking they should put the hiking boots in the tent for possible future use. Each girl on the other hand picked out at least four pairs of shoes, four pair! Each one black but just slightly different from the next pair. Some were flats and some had slight heels, each girl picked out one pair of real heels though, ones that were about four inches tall. Why they would ever need that the boys had no clue, but then again the girls thought the boys were clueless anyway so it made no difference. Then the girls had to pick up handbags or purses to go with the shoes, which again Harry and Neville didn’t understand, since the girls were just going to be going to class all the time, when were they going to have the opportunity or need for a purse? Then the girls picked out things like stockings, and tights to were under their uniforms for when the weather got colder, at least that made sense to the boys, that castle could get very drafty in the winter…let alone the classes they had outside, like Herbology and Care of Magical Creatures. Neville and Harry picked out several pairs of socks, both trouser socks and sports socks, the sports socks were for the colder days since they were quite a bit thicker than the trouser socks.
Then they headed over to the camping section where Harry picked out a few more things for his tent, like six back packs one for everyone, six sets of hiking poles, six fishing poles, a huge first aid kit, a solar powered radio, a hatchet and ax set, several freeze dried meals of all kinds (although Sirius was most curious about the freeze dried ice cream), six sets of snake leg guards, a water filtration system, a knife sharpening set, a sling shot and the little steel pellets that went with it, and several small things that just caught his eye. He even got a full set of cast iron cookware (mainly because it wasn’t available in the Magical World yet), oh you could find a frying pan, a cauldron, and the occasional pot here or there, but a twelve piece cook ware set, nope not gonna find it on Diagon Alley. He also picked up a set of six outdoorsman’s folding camp chairs, and they even had a padded love seat that folded up that he had to get too. Then he got six hammocks just for the fun of it as well. He got six of most of the big things just incase Hermione and Padma got to go along with them as well.
He was hoping that they could all go camping next summer and really do some outdoor fun things, especially with the Darcorns. Hopefully the issue with Bad Kitty will have resolved itself by then. He had everything he purchased shipped to one of Sirius’ friends that lived here in London, the same one that Sirius had shipped the parts to his Motorbike to, of course at a substantial fee, but Harry didn’t care, he couldn’t exactly carry it outside and call Jeeves to come get it all now could he.
Next Harry and the gang headed over to the blue jeans section and began to look around. They were mainly looking around for work clothes to wear when they were working with the Darcorns, so they needed jeans, shirts, jackets, gloves, and boots. They all wanted to get something that they could muck out the stalls and not worry about getting too dirty and so they bought several pairs of jeans and work shirts and each bought a new pair of work books, not wanting to mess up their riding boots too much, if at all possible.
With all their shopping finally finished they headed back out to the parking lot and took cabs back over to the Leaky Cauldron and used the floo to Longbottom Hall where they divided up their purchases and then went about their merry way.
Sirius and Remus made sure the Grangers made it home just fine and then went about unpacking all their purchases and helping Harry pack away all his new things for his next semester that he had yet to pack that was to begin in just two days. Alice did the same for Neville, while Neville made sure his new bonsai garden was secure for travel.
After everyone had finished their last minute packing they headed down to the dining hall to talk over a few things that Frank and Sirius thought they needed to talk out with the boys.
Frank started since this was primarily his idea. “I know you two love to ride the train with your friends and all, but I think it would put too many of the kids on the train in danger to allow you to ride the train this year. If Bellatrix saw you get on board the train she would see it as the perfect opportunity to take hostages or just to go on a killing spree to have some fun just to get back at you two and see how bad she could hurt you before she actually killed you or maybe made you give your self up. There are going to be Aurors on the train anyway but that doesn’t guarantee anything, except maybe their own death as far as she is concerned. If she doesn’t even see you get on the train, then she may leave the train completely alone and come directly to Hogwarts where we are better able to fight her.”
Sirius nodded. “There will be a few undercover officers in disguise on board the train as well just in case Bella sneaks on board as a kid and tries to hide as a kid and wait it out and see if you show up or thinks that you got on early or something. So we are taking no chances at all. She had access to polyjuice remember, so she could be anyone, I trust no one at all. Until they have sat down and eaten at the tables in the Great Hall and neither should you. Even then, never go anywhere alone. Never go with less than the four you normally are seen with, you have all your classes together again this year and no one is expecting anything different from any of you, if anything they expect you guys to be even closer this year than the last.”
Harry finally spoke up. “I think you are right, as much as I hate it, it is too much of a risk to the others to be on the train. We will go with you guys when you head up to Hogwarts tonight.”
“Yeah, I don’t want anyone to get hurt on our account and like you said she could polyjuice as practically any first year and no one would know it. So we go with you guys. Just have Jeeves take Thunder, Storm, and Procella to the stables and we will set the owls loose to head up on their own and be ready to go when you are.” Neville agreed.
With that they all made ready and got what they needed and gathered in the front parlor to leave for Hogwarts at nine o’clock that night. Sirius went first, followed by Frank, then Harry and Neville, Alice and finally Remus. Each individual had their seven compartment trunk shrunk and caring it with them with all their things inside it. Well all except Harry of course, he was just wearing his new trench coat, with his trunk safely hidden away in one of its many pockets.
A moment later they were all standing in Sirius’ suite at Hogwarts. After a moment or two the Longbottoms headed out to their suite and Remus headed over to his suite while Harry went into his room in Sirius’ suite and put his things away. He had two days to wait for the train to get there and they each had things to do before the kids showed up for the new year at Hogwarts. There was a Professors meeting at nine tonight. Sirius put up the last of his graded papers and sorted through his new listing of assignments getting them ready for the new school year. Both Neville and Harry had given him some great ideas over the summer and so it looked as if would be another exciting year.
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Padma, Pavarti, Hermione, Susan, Hannah, and Luna were all packed into the last compartment of the train. As it swayed smoothly going down the tracks they all were thinking the same thing, ‘where were Harry and Neville?’. It was probably five minutes into the ride that Hermione finally spoke up and mentioned that Harry had flooed her and notified her that they were going up to Hogwarts with their families, not wanting to risk the other students safety with Bellatrix on the loose and her having access to polyjuice she could disguise herself as anyone and attack people on the train or worse take hostages. And so to avoid all that they had Aurors on the train itself and they had gone with their parents up to Hogwarts early hoping to avoid endangering others.
“Yeah, Harry had told me about the possibility of them having to go up early yesterday, but I didn’t think they had mad up their minds yet at that time. I guess it was a last minute decision.” Luna stated with her normal dreamy look. She then smiled and said, “That old kitty doesn’t know what she has gotten her self into if she thinks she can just attack our boys and get away with it.” Everyone knew she was talking about Bellatrix Lestrange but no one said her name out loud, for some reason calling her ‘kitty’ just seemed more appropriate some how.
“Tell me about it, Neville and Harry have been practicing practically non-stop all summer and not just magic either. They have been doing Karate, and Taekwondo, Gymnastics, Pole-arm, Swordsmanship, throwing weapons of all kinds and even getting a head start on Animagus training.” Pavarti smiled, “They were working on using wands in one hand and their orbs in another last Thursday and it was amazing how far they have gotten on that. Harry is so fast now he can practically create one right on top of the other now.”
Padma nodded, “The other day Neville was doing spell chains and throwing light balls one right after the other so fast that no one could dodge or shield fast enough, it was amazing. Truth be told actually, Harry is even faster.”
Luna chimed in, “Harry made three light balls of different colors and then threw a spell chain at Professor Lupin, the poor Werewolf didn’t know which way to dodge or which way to shield. It was so funny, it took Harry all of thirty seconds to put him down. It was funny in a way, but it was truly amazing to watch…that much power and knowing how to wield it, is amazing.” Once again Luna got that dreamy look in her eyes and decided to look out the window and watch as the city of London and it’s suburbs turned into pasture land and farms.
Hermione reached into her carry on bag and pulled out a huge tome and began reading. Pavarti and Padma took out a deck of cards and began playing poker with Hannah and Susan. Luna began to doze as she looked out the window and watched the world go by in a colorful blur. Each person excited about the next semester of school and anxiously waiting to see what the teachers had in store for them, chatting away about different classes and ideas they had about what this Professor would be doing or what that Professor might have in their class this year.
Of course they spoke about their Darcorns and they were all excited about riding them as a group once again. It had been a long summer for their familiars, especially since they hadn’t gotten to take them on the long trips like the had planned to, due to the whole Bellatrix issue. Oh they managed to have the occasional get togethers but still they knew their Darcorns wanted to run and play badly so going back to Hogwarts where they could really stretch out and have some fun would be good for them. They would have to stay within the wards, but still it would give them a lot of space to run in, even though.
Everyone seemed worried about Bellatrix Lestrange, but with Frank and Alice, Persephone and Xenophilius, and Sirius and Remus all being at Hogwarts again this year they were more than protected. Plus Madam Bones had mentioned that there would be Aurors patrolling the grounds and inside of Hogwarts just to make sure that she didn’t get in under a glamour or by polyjuice or something. They even mentioned something about testing all returning and incoming students to check and make sure they were who they said they were just in case. If they had to go through all that before the banquet it might take a little while longer to get to eat but at least they would be sure they were safe.
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Ron had finally finished his end of year tests he had to take at the Ministry, and passed with Acceptable this time, his second time around that is. His first time taking the tests he got two Acceptable’s and five Poor’s and they had wanted to take his wand right then, but Mr. Weasley had spoke to Madam Marchbanks and she agreed to allow him to retake his tests as long as he retook them before the First of September he wouldn’t loose his wand and all wand privileges. So both Molly and Arthur had been working with Ron since then and he had finally managed to pass his tests…just barely… but he did indeed pass.
When he found out that he was going to have to start studying for second year immediately Ron through his normal temper tantrum.
“No way! I just finished a whole year of nothing but studying, I am not going to start studying again, not for a long time!” Ron shouted.
“Don’t you take that tone with me young man. And you most certainly will.” Molly snipped. “You hem hawed around here while the rest of the kids finished their summer homework and refused to study and do your homework for half the summer, so you failed your first round of tests. Thankfully your father was able to get Madam Marchbanks to allow you a second shot at the tests and you at lest passed them. But you will begin studying at the same time as the others go back to school.” Molly insisted.
“I will not, and you can’t make me!” Ron shouted.
“Oh yes I can!” She returned. “If you so much as want to see your beloved broom again any time in the future you will study and you will get decent grades this year. Whether you like it or not. You have slacked off enough. If I have to send you to Durmstrang and pray that their dark ways don’t tempt you to the wrong side, I will. Their love of discipline and being hard task drivers is well known. Maybe they can beat some sense into you, and make you see that you can’t slack off like you have been. In fact I think I am going to write them a letter. I apparently am not a good enough teacher, and don’t have a firm enough hand for you…well maybe they will.” Molly went over to their writing desk and sat down, taking out a roll of parchment and quill and began to write.
Ron, thinking his mother bluffing, stomped off and headed up to his room to pout. He had had enough of her strong arm ways for a while. He was tired and was going to take a nap. How dare she tell him he was going to start studying right after he had spent his whole summer studying just to past those stupid tests. Everyone else got to take a break but he had to study all summer. He had to work on school work every day since he had left Hogwarts. It wasn’t fair. Not by a long shot.
And another thing, he knew she was bluffing about Durmstang Academy, they taught the Dark Arts there and his mother would never allow any of her children to be taught anywhere they taught the Dark Arts. So he wasn’t worried about her sending him to Durmstrang. So her fake letter or pretending to send it out or anything was all just fake. He knew it, so she could just quit pretending right now.
Molly on the other hand had had enough. She had been wore down to a nub and was desperate. None of the Weasley children had ever been in Slytherin before, but then again none had ever attended Durmstrang Academy before either. Nothing was working with Ron anymore, not even mentioning the Cannons. He was just too stubborn. So in a last ditch effort to keep him in the Wizarding World she and Arthur had decided to send Ron to Durmstrang and see if he changed his tune, Durmstrang was better than having his wand snapped and that had never happened to a Weasley or a Prewett before either.
Arthur felt that Durmstrang’s military style of teaching may just be what Ron needed, and it was something that they couldn’t provide, since everything they had tried so far didn’t seem to work, they had agreed it was their last hope and they had written to the Headmaster of Durmstrang and asked if he could join them even if he had to go back and do his first year all over again just to get better grades in it. Which would probably upset Ron even more, but that might actually be for the best. Give him the opportunity to start fresh and go from there. Yes he would be a year behind everyone else, but at least he would have the opportunity to get better grades that way.
The Headmaster had written back and stated that Ron would have to take their entrance exams to determine what grade level he would be put in, and that he should be prepared to start at level one. Both Arthur and Molly had agreed and had made an appointment for Ron to come in and be tested. All that was necessary was for Molly to send in the confirmation letter and it was set. Which she was doing right now.
Ron didn’t realize just how wrong he could be about his parents not sending him to Durmstrang. They had talked about it when he had failed his first round of tests and now it was very much a reality. He was going to be going and there was nothing he could do about it. When Arthur called Ron downstairs he expected the usual speech about he had to knuckle down and work hard if he wanted to get anywhere in life. Instead he got a very different speech.
“Ron, your mother and I have discussed it and we have decided to send you to Durmstrang Academy. You will start your classes with the rest of your year mates once you have taken your entrance exams to see where they will place you. If you don’t get high enough scores on your entrance exams, you will be placed in year one instead of being allowed to start second year, so be prepared to start your first year all over again.” Arthur stated as he watched the shocked face of his son.
“NO! I won’t go! I refuse! You can’t make me!” Ron shouted, once the shock of what his father stated wore off.
“Actually we can and you will.” Arthur was taken back by Ron’s belligerent behavior, Molly had told him how bad Ron had gotten but he had not seen it for himself as of yet, and to be truthful it was quite shocking. “And you will watch that tone with me young man. I have had just about enough of your attitude. I am Head of this household and you will do what you are told. First you embarrass this house by getting chosen to be placed in Slytherin house, then demand to be resorted and if you can’t be resorted you demand to be taken home. Then when you are taken home you barely do the work you mother gives you and you have to be forced to do it as it is. Then you go to take the first year tests and fail them, because you refuse to study for them, again embarrassing this house. You take them a second time and barely, I repeat barely, pass the tests. If it hadn’t have been for your poor mother hounding you night and day to study you would have failed that test as well and your wand would have been snapped and you would have had your magic bound. We contacted Durmstrang and they will accept you on the condition that you take their entrance test and if you don’t do well enough on it that you be placed in the first year classes instead of second year where you belong. And we agreed with them. Now you will go pack your trunk and prepare to head to Durmstrang. With any luck at all you will get to be in their second year but I highly doubt it. Hopefully, you will do well enough to even be allowed into their first year.”
“I will not go back and do first year all over again! I did that already, I will not do it again!” Ron shouted at his father.
Arthur couldn’t believe his ears, the boy just wouldn’t listen. “Did I give you a choice in this matter, I think not. You are my son, and you will do as you are told. You will take the test and depending on what your scores are will depend on what grade level you will enter, but from what I have seen so far I see no other option but for you to restart your first year. You don’t study, you don’t want to work for your grades, you don’t want to finish your work and you don’t want to learn anything. All you want to do is play chess and play quidditch, well you won’t have to worry about that for a long time while you are studying at Durmstrang. They will make you study and work hard or you won’t be allowed any free time or extra curricular activities at all. No brooms, no chess, nothing. And just to make sure, your broom and your chess set stay here. Once you prove you are studying and making the grades that you should be making then we will owl you your chess set.” Arthur stated, he hated to be so firm with any of his children but with Ron it seemed the only thing that worked.
“What about the fact that they teach Dark Arts? You can’t send me there! They are a bunch of Dark Wizards and Witches. Grindelwald himself went to Durmstrang, so you can’t send me there.” Ron tried.
“By that means of thinking we can’t send you to Hogwarts since You-Know-Who went to that school, so why did you even want to go to Hogwarts in the first place?” Arthur returned.
Ron thought about it for a second then stated. “But he was in Slytherin house, I should have been in Gryffindor and everything would have been just fine. Gryffindors hate Slytherins and so everything would have been perfect.”
“But the hat didn’t want to put you into Gryffindor now did it. It wanted to put you into Slytherin. The same house that You-Know-Who was in. So we are back to square one. What difference would it have been? Bottom line is, you are going to Durmstrang and that is the last there is to say about it. So go get your bags packed.” Arthur pointed to the stairs.
“Why can’t I just keep doing what I have been doing and be home schooled? I passed my test and all.” Ron tried.
“Because you barely passed and that was the second time through. By some miracle they let you take it twice too. Normally they only let you take it once, but because they know me and Madam Marchbanks likes me, she allowed you to try the second time. We have tried everything to get you to do your school work, we have worked with you through the holidays, through the summer and you just barely finished your work on time as it was. You procrastinate and procrastinate until it was almost too late. We praise you when you do your work and punish you when you don’t, we tried talking to you like you were an adult, we tried rewards we tried threats, we tried corporal punishment, we tried extra chores, we tried early bedtimes, we tried both Molly and I working with you on your homework, we even hired a tutor, we tried everything we knew and nothing worked. You simply won’t listen to us. For the last time go get your bags packed.”
Ron glared at his father for a few moments then huffed and rushed up the stairs, slamming his bedroom door as he went.
Molly came over to Arthur and wrapped an arm around her husband’s waist and leaned into him. “I hope we are doing the right thing Arthur.”
“So do I Mollywobbles. But I don’t see that we have any other choice.” Arthur wrapped an arm around his wife and rested his chin on her head. He knew that sending Ron to Durmstrang was going to be a battle and that Ron’s behavior was going to be a problem while he was there, but he hoped that they would be able to handle his attitude there.