Hermione
Harry walked into Flourish and Blotts smiling as he saw the adventures of the boy who lived books taken from shelves and packed into boxes. He was enjoying the ruthless efficiency of his lawyers. He wondered if Andromeda would help him learn about wizarding politics, books could only take you so far. But it wouldn’t hurt to pick a few books up while he was here. Making his way through to store, selecting anything that caught his attention he spotted a familiar head of busy hair and found Hermione Granger sitting on the floor flicking between two solid looking tomes. Watching her Harry was trying to work out how she hadn’t ended up a Ravenclaw until he remembered her constant need for adult validation of her intelligence. And the Cult of Dumbledore effect.
‘Hello.’ He waved as she looked up. ‘You trying to decide which one to get?’
‘I’ve already read all the books for first year.’
‘Wont that be boring when you get to class.’
‘I’m already behind everyone raised in this world as a muggle born.’
‘I was raised by my muggle relatives so it’s all new to me too. I think there are some books on wizarding culture here somewhere.’
‘In that corner.’ She pointed behind her.
‘Thank you, I’m Harry Potter.’
‘Are you really? I’m Hermione Granger, I’ve read all about you.’
‘That’s a bit stalkerish isn’t it. And I never spoke with anyone to publish books about me. If you had put anyone else’s name on them I wouldn’t have known they were supposed to be me.’
‘Well you are famous.’
‘Because a mad man fixated on me and my family and killed my parents. Not because of anything I did as a child barely past my first birthday.’
‘Oh, I’m sorry.’ She put the books down. ‘I hadn’t thought about that.’
‘Apparently no one does.’
‘So you don’t fly to school on your pet dragon then?’
‘My pet lama actually.’
She laughed. ‘Any idea which house you will be in? I’m hoping for Gryffindor.’
‘Why? Ravenclaw has it’s own library.’
‘But it’s Dumbledore’s house and he’s.’
Harry cut her off. ‘The wizard who illegally placed a toddler, who could have walked into oncoming traffic, on the doorstep of the woman his parents had a restraining order against. At night, in November. Without knocking on the door.’ Harry shook his head. ‘Oh yes, that’s the house I aspire to be in if that’s considered acceptable. I’d rather be in Hufflepuff.’
‘I’m sorry, did you say he illegally put you on a doorstep? I’m sure he had a good reason.’
‘What possible reason is there for breaking the law kidnapping a child? My parents filed the correct guardianship forms with the Ministry. There was no excuse for ignoring that. Perhaps you are a Gryffindor after all if you are defending blatant negligence that could have killed me.’ He sighed, and she was supposed to be the smartest witch of their age.
He stepped around her and headed for the wizarding culture books. Last time it was meeting Malfoy that determined which house he didn’t want to be in. This time he was clearly headed in a whole new direction. He was reminded of something she had said once before, the first time around. She really was just books and cleverness. She might prove him wrong, he’d given her another point of view to consider. Only time would tell what it turned into.
---
Harry sipped his tea and smiled as the Daily Prophet landed on the table beside him. It was the third day and the last chance the paper had to publish his parents wills.
‘Paper’s in then.’ Lupin commented as he poured himself a coffee and reached for more bacon. ‘You have anything planned for today?’
‘I thought we could venture out into muggle London, I don’t want to be in the wizard side now this has hit the paper. We both need new clothes and you can argue all you want but I’m spending the Black heir money on both of us.’
Remus sighed. He had forgotten how strong a personality the Black family had, Sirius and Dorea both had no problems taking yes as the only proper answer to their schemes. And apparently Harry was as much a Black as he was a Potter.
‘While we are out we should buy new bed linen for Sirius, he’ll be released from being healed by the goblins tomorrow.’
‘Sounds like a good idea. And what are the headlines then?’
Harry handed him the paper. It was a simple headline, both wills made the front page.
Potter’s Will be Done.
Illegally sealed by Dumbledore! The Potter Wills have finally been read and contain many surprising revelations. Dear Reader, one wonders what will follow. Allegations have been raised. The word kidnapping used to describe the illegal placement of Harry Potter with the aunt there was a restraining order against.
Being the only survivor of the attack on Godric’s Hollow by He-who-shall-not-be-named the Potter Heir was placed with his muggle aunt and uncle in direct opposition to his dead parents wishes. A whole list of names of living witches and wizards were offered as alternatives and yet our Chief Warlock ignored them all. Names that had been filed with the Office of Child Welfare in our own Ministry of Magic, making it an easy matter to determine where he should have grown up.
Even more disturbing is Dumbledore himself was the wizard who preformed the fidelius charm that made Peter Pettigrew – not Sirius Black – the Potter’s secret keeper! Both Lily and James Potter even thanked Dumbledore in their wills for casting the fidelius charm. So why did this humble reporter find out there was never a trial for Sirius Black. An innocent man who had been publicly lauded as the secret keeper turned betrayer. Yes gentle reader, that does raise the disturbing question: Why did the wizard who cast the spell never step forward in defense of an innocent man?
A wizard holding one of the highest of roles in our legal system as the Chief Warlock and Supreme Mugwump of the Wizengamot. A wizard who is also the headmaster of the school we send our future leaders to. See page 3 for the emergency session of the Wizengamot that was held to exonerate Lord Black and strip Dumbledore of his position as Supreme Mugwump.
Harry had to admit, Rita Skeeter had done a good job with the article. Evidence to back her up in black and white in the printed transcript of his parents wills on the same page took her poisoned quill to a whole new level. He was mildly surprised to see Dumbledore stripped of two of his roles on the basis of the wills alone. But Harry figured the truth of his actions was hard to refute when published in full, and gave many of the opponents of Dumbledore the chance to act against him.
Remus laid the paper down on the table and looked over to the child of his school friends and wondered what else he had missed by blindly following Dumbledore. He considered why they had given so much power to the headmaster of a school and didn’t like what it suggested. He shook his head, he wasn’t ready to ask questions he didn’t want the answers to.
‘Where did you want to go first?’
‘I’ve always wanted to check out Fortnum and Mason, and lets face it, I’ve got the money so we don’t exactly have to look for a Pound Shop or a charity store.’
Remus shook his head. ‘It’s like sitting opposite Sirius all over again.’ He sighed. ‘You’ll want your satchel then.’