Chapter 49
“And with potions and magic, I can have seedlings establish themselves and be ready to fruit, in ayear or two, instead of four or five.” George nodded.
“And what you don’t sell to Tonks, can go to the Store.” Harry agreed. “Or you can get a stall at the market.”
“Or one of the shop-sheds.” George nodded.
“Excellent.” Harry grinned. “Go see Adelaide Grant, she’s the seed starter, she might have a couple of trees for root-stock, but you’re going to have to go to Tharbad and some of the other Dunland towns to get scionwood for anything other than a basic red apple.”
~~~
October 5th 2923
“… and as Hamlin and his ponies have brought enough logs in, for Jerome to start cutting, he’ll have the lumber yard open for business, as of tomorrow.” Harry finished his summary of events, looking out over the residents of the Pond that had gathered for the monthly town meeting.
“How’s that going to effect the Beddley brothers?” Sigi asked.
“It’s not.” Harry answered. “Or at least not negatively, as Mig will still be doing the firewood deliveries, only now, he doesn’t have to do the felling and cutting, as well. And it won’t have any effect on Jem at all, not unless someone orders wood from Hamlin and wants Jem to deliver it.”
Sigi nodded. “Got it. Thanks, Harry.”
“Not a problem.” Harry replied. “And that’s us, up to date. Anyone have anything they’d like to raise?” He wasn’t really expecting anything, he’d done a pretty clear briefing.
“I do.” Frank stood up. “I’d like us to consider bringing in a cartwright and a harness-maker. If not permanently, then for a few months each year. But we’ve enough carts here and travellers passing through, that a cartwright would have enough repair business coming in, to make a living off of, but still have some time to build new carts. And a harness-maker? At present Gideon is doing that, but that’s not what he’s trained for.”
“Have a word with old Hob, in Bree, and with Squire.” James suggested, from his seat on the far side of the meeting room. “Let them put the word out, for a harness maker. A cartwright, though? I think that’s going to be a dwarf. From what I understand, hobbits buy their carts, they don’t make them.”
“Or maybe we could find a hobbit, that’s prepared to learn?” Willibald Miller called out.
“If you know anyone, send them a letter and check if they’re interested.” Harry replied. “Get back to me whenever you hear anything.”
~~~
October 6th 2923
“Fred?” Harry waited until George was trotting down the lane, towards the hobbit side of town and his in-progress orchards, before he approached Fred. “Can I have a word?”
“Sure, Harry.” Fred grinned “Which word would you like? Quidditch? Gravy? Platform? Burrow? Five? Pudding? Chocolate?”
Harry snorted. “How about… explanation?”
“Sounds kinda boring, but sure, you can have explanation.” Fred snickered.
“How’s George doing?” Harry dropped the smile. “Really?”
“A lot better.” Fred sighed. “He… he wasn’t coping. Certainly not as well as I was. He didn’t have you to pull him up and… you know mum, she wouldn’t have wanted to upset him any further by snapping at him. So, they made sure that he had someone with him, all the time. Mum went into a panic, any time he was out of sight, if someone wasn't with him. Bill put wards on him, to alert them…to anything. If he so much as even nicked himself shaving, they knew. He couldn’t brew without mum or Percy wanting to know, exactly what he was doing and trying to shoulder in and do it for him.”
“They were smothering him.” Harry summarised, flatly.
“They were.” Fred nodded. “He ended up going to work with dad, for the last few days. Waited until there was a flood of calls and told dad he needed the loo. Dad was a little more subtle about his monitoring, than the rest of them, and didn’t think that George could do himself any harm in the Ministry.”
“Oh, no….” Harry grimaced.
“Yeah.” Fred nodded. “George took himself on a tour of the Ministry, dropped in on a few different offices, chatted to a few people. Then he entered the DoM… and before anyone knew what he was doing, he’d thrown himself into the Veil.”
“Yeah…” Harry was right, he’d thought he known what was coming.
“Came as a bit of a surprise, to close his eyes in the Ministry and open them on a field of grain.”
“I know the feeling…” Harry sighed.
“I’m sure you do.” Fred snickered again.
“Did he say anything about… anything… other than the family?”
“Only that mum and dad were doing their best to keep him uninformed.” Fred sighed. “He hadn’t been allowed to go to the shop, not even with an ‘escort’. It was like he was kid and not capable of thinking for himself.” Fred ranted.
“Well, in all fairness…” Harry shrugged. “He did throw himself in to the Veil.”
Fred glared at him. “And you know why.”
“I do.” Harry nodded. “And so would your parents. The difference is that, we’re not trying to tell ourselves, that those that survived the battle at Hogwarts are still children and need protecting.”
“Hmph… Fred hmphed in disgust, at the very idea of it.
~~~
January 28th 2924
“Welcome to the Whomping Willow’s Pond, Mr Caplin.” Harry smiled at the hobbit.
“Thankee, Master Harry.” The hobbit was of middle years and seemed typical height and size for a hobbit, but the whiskers on his chin, threw Harry. He wasn’t aware of many hobbits with beards.
“We’ve finished the smial, as per your floorplan.” Harry forced himself to stay on subject. “I understand that Master Frank has shrunk and transported your possessions for you and was going to unshrink them, before you got here. Whether he’s had the chance or not, I’m unsure, if he hasn’t, send one of your faunts along and we’ll see it done.”
“Much appreciated.” Noldi Caplin nodded. “And me workshop?”
“I know it’s a little bit of a walk, but we’ve put your tannery down at the end of Pond Lane, between the Lane and Pond Creek, beside the southern Dock. The dock isn’t complete yet, but we plan to have the footings done, once the weather breaks.”
“Excellent.” Caplin nodded, again. “And have you found a harness-maker, yet?”
“Not as yet.” Harry sighed.
“Well, me eldest son, Yagen, has almost convinced Master Hob, in Bree, to take him on.” Caplin responded. “But Hob’s still a bit hesitant. Iffen you could see your way to speak to the Man, assure him that there’s a place for Yagen, here? I think that’d go a long way to easing the worry that Yagen might try to take over his business.”
“Oh, now, that’s grand, that is.” Harry smiled. “I’ll have Isengar write something up, for Frank and I to sign. Maybe best if I were to deliver it, though, I don’t think Hob’s met Frank, yet…”
“And yer the Mayor.” Caplin added.
“That, too.” Harry nodded. “If you hear of a cartwright…?” He trailed off.
“I’ll let yer know.” Caplin replied.
~~~
May 12th 2924
“Uh, Harry…?”
“Yeah, Sirius?” Harry lifted his head from the tiny lock he was making.
“Do you know anything about dwarven marriages?” The Animagus was looking anywhere but at Harry.
“Dwarven marriages…?” Harry blinked.
“… yeah…”
“Not really, but I can find out…”
“Please?” Sirius asked and apparated away.
“Huh…” Harry grunted and pulled himself to his feet. He needed a break, anyway, so going to the hospital and speaking to Edris was as good an excuse, as any.
From the hospital, Harry entered the Den, grinning and waving to people that greeted him. He climbed to the upper level, above the ale house, in search of his dogfather. Finally, finding the dwarf, hunkered over a large book with a quill in his hand.
“Sirius.” Harry called quietly, to draw his attention.
“Harry.” Sirius smiled at him. “What brings you to my humble little office?”
“You popped in, asked a question and popped out again.” Harry replied. “So, I went looking for an answer.”
“Ah.” Sirius pushed the book aside and gestured for Harry to sit. “And the answer?”
“Not as complicated as I thought.” Harry said. “For you, you have to have someone to represent you, in negotiations. For Dorcas, she-”
“I never said, Dorcas.” Sirius objected.
“Oh, come on, Sirius.” Harry huffed. “We all know that the two of you are… to use a hobbit phrase… walking out, together. Just sit back and hear me out. Both parties have to have someone to represent them, the representatives have to have a minimum of two Master’s beads. And preferably be someone related to them. The dwarrowdam’s rep has to be a senior male of her family. If she doesn’t have one, then she needs to select someone with at least two Master’s Beads, that’s already married. The two Masters will sit with the prospect couple and a contract is negotiated. Once agreed upon, the pair will meet the conditions and the reps will sign off on each clause. Once the contract is signed as met, the marriage is considered legal. The pair exchange beads, each adding their spouse’s bead to their family braid, below the second of their own beads.” As he explained, Harry pulled his family braid forward and showed Sirius how he wore a bead for his father, then his mother, then himself, followed by his brother and sister, then at the end of the braid he used a second bead bearing his own symbol as clasp to tie off the braid.
“Ah.” Sirius grunted. “So… who’s eligible as our reps?”
“Master Harden, me, Fred, dad and Frank are the only males to have two Master’s Beads, just yet.” Harry said. “But… according to Edris… neither Fred or dad, qualify. Fred, because he’s already placed himself under my authority, when he claimed me as Head of his House. And dad might have two Master’s beads, but I have a Grand-Master’s Bead and as an immediate member of the same family, I out-rank him.”
“Good thing he never wanted to be Lord Potter, then.” Sirius muttered.
“And while Master Harden is a Grand Master and has been married, he's currently widowed, which puts him in an iffy area. Also? Dorcas lived in the same house as Frank for over a decade, so most dwarves would say that he has more right to represent her, than Master Harden does. He's family, even if not in blood, he's a part of her chosen family.” Harry went on. “And as you’re my Hand…? Iget to represent you.”
“Huh.” Sirius grunted and nodded. “Alright. Do I speak to Frank, or does Dorcas?”
“Actually, in this case, I speak to Frank.” Harry said. “If you want me to go ahead, that is?” Sirius just nodded, his eyes pleading. “Right…” Harry sighed. “I’ll be glad when Isengar takes over as Mayor and I get to just be senior dwarf, in the village. Riding herd on you lot and the hobbits is a pain in the butt.”
~~~
June 7th 2924
“Does anyone have anything to raise?” Isengar asked the residents that had gathered for the town meeting. It was the first meeting where he stood as Mayor, without Harry beside him.
“We’ve an announcement to make.” Frank and Harry stood up, together, but Harry let Frank do the talking. “Harry and I have been meeting for the last month, to negotiate a marriage contract between Sirius and Dorcas. And finally… they got it done. As of this morning, their contract is complete and we watched as they exchanged beads. With their consent, Harry, Lily, Alice, Tonks and Gina, along with Violet, Laura and Hattie have put together a wedding supper, for after the meeting.”
There was a clash of cheers and catcalls, leaving Dorcas smirking and Sirius blushing brightly.
“Also…?” James raised a hand. “Lily and I are expecting, again. Another set of twins.”
“Same, here.” Squire added, raising his own hand. “Healer Alice tells us that it’s twins, too.”
The cheer that answered them, echoed around the partially enclosed hall.
“Lovely.” Isengar beamed at the two couples. “Congratulations to you all.”
“Thank you.” Squire smiled as he replied, while James just nodded.
“Has anyone anything else to raise?” Isengar asked. “No? Then I declare this meeting closed. Please join us in wishing James and Lily, and Squire and Hattie well. Supper is provided by the ladies as Master Frank mentioned.”
~~~
November 24th 2924
It was late in the afternoon and the sky was filled with a later autumn storm, rain with squalls of sleet, that made Harry exchange resigned looks with Fred and Kestrel, who’s head appeared from his little workshop.
“Nasty…” Kestrel huffed.
“If that cold change comes in overnight, like Noldi and Bartleby say, then tomorrow’s going to be foul. From start to finish.” Fred replied.
“Ugh…” Kestrel groaned.
A brilliant blue-white ball of writhing, twisting light streaked down out of the clouds, heading straight for them, the initial flare of light caused Remus to duck from his shop and run across to Fred’s.
“Oh, shite…” Harry muttered. “What now?” The light flared again and a hare leapt out of the flare, leaping and darting around them.
“Isn’t that… Luna’s Patronus?” Fred asked, tilting his head to the side.
“Yes, that’s Luna’s.” Harry nodded, as the hare stopped in front of him.
“Hello, Harry Potter.” Luna’s sweet voice came from the hare. “Could you please come and get us? I’m told we’re in the same place, that Gringotts used before.”
“Oh, Lord above…” Remus’ eyebrows rose.
“Why did I not expect that?” Harry sighed and let his wand flick into his hand. “Expecto patronum.” The familiar stag danced in front of Harry before turning to face him. “Message to Luna.” The stag nodded and opened its mouth. “Give me five minutes and I’ll be there.” He nodded to the stag and turned to Fred. “Could you let Pandora know, please?”
“Ah… Sure…” Fred blinked then winced. “Oh, that’s going to be…”
“Could be worse than you think.” Harry grimaced. “Luna said ‘we’. Who is ‘we’?”
“Oh, Merlin…” Remus whined. “I don’t want to know…”
Fred just snickered at the former Professor.
Harry saw the same valley that Gringotts had sent Gina and Matt to, form in front of him, as the squeezing, spiralling feeling of apparition faded. He looked around, not quite sure who he was looking for, but figuring he'd probably know them, when he saw them.
“Harry!” A masculine voice called from over his left shoulder.
Harry spun in that direction, a wand and a knife at the ready. He saw an arm waving at him, from maybe fifty yards away. As he got closer, he saw Luna. Then Neville. Then Dean. And Seamus. And Lee. And Angelina. And Katie. And Alicia.
“Oh, gods above…” Harry moaned. “Oh, no, this is not good…” But he trotted over to them, anyway. “What… are… you… doing… here…?!” He growled, letting his surprise and frustration fill his voice.
All of them, bar Luna and Neville, blinked at him, cautiously.
“Ah, Harry…?” Dean asked, tentatively. “What happened to you? You look…” Harry didn’t answer, instead he conjured a large mirror and turned it to face the others. “Oh…” Dean’s eyes went wide and he blinked a few more times. “How?”
“… No Idea…” Harry sighed. “But all of us are dwarves, here.” He tilted his head in thought. “How many of you are muggle raised?” All of them bar Neville and Luna raised their hands. “Great… We’re in middle-earth. Hobbit. Lord of the Rings. Tolkien. That middle-earth.” Their eyes widened even further and their jaws went slack. “And I’m not alone.”
“We know that Gringotts sent Baron Grinstead's daughter and her family, here.” Neville answered.
“And we’re hoping that as you went into the Veil and survived, that George did too.” Lee added.
“Oh, they’re here.” Harry said sharply. “But they’re far from being the only ones.”
“Not... the... only… ones…?” Katie asked. “There’s more than just them?”
“Oh, definitely…” Harry huffed and let go of his frustration, he wondered how the magicals in front of him were going to react to the Pond’s residents. It should be quite amusing.
“Harry?” Neville asked.
“Oh, you’re going to like it.” Harry grinned. “You and Luna both.” He tilted his head. “Actually… I think you’re all going to like it.”
“Oh, shite…” Seamus muttered.
“Did you pass on my kiss?” Luna asked, earning a few startled looks.
“I did.” Harry grinned. “You mother was quite surprised to get it.”
“Mother?!” Neville gasped. “But Mrs Lovegood’s been dead for…” He cut himself off, casting an apologetic look at Luna.
“Don’t think that really matters.” Harry said. “Gringotts might have sent you lot, but whoever is responsible for the rest of us being here? I told Ernie Macmillan that whoever brought us here, does so when we’re dead, or very close to death, that instead of going from the land of the living, to wherever the dead go, we went from being alive in England, to alive here. Remus and dad talked with someone that was crying. Colin got told that he’d be needed. I got laughed at.”
Neville snorted, trying to smother his laughter at the expression on Harry’s face.
“Yeah, yeah. Laugh it up.” Harry muttered. “You're not the first and probably won’t be last.” He huffed again. “But… back on track. No, it’s not just me and George. There’s…” He paused to count. “… um… oh, gods… There’s thirty(?) of us and mum and dad are expecting another set of twins…” he was stunned at numbers.
“Mum?” Neville asked.
“Dad?” Seamus asked.
“Uh… yeah…” Harry grimaced.
“Who exactly is here, Potter?” Angelina frowned at Harry, trying to channel Minerva McGonagall.
Harry sighed, but obediently began to recite names. “In order of discovery by me? Professor Lupin’s son, Teddy. Fred Weasley. Lavender Brown. Colin Creevey. Professor Lupin. Auror Tonks. My dad. My mum. My godfather, Sirius Black. Cedric Diggory. Fabian Prewett. Gideon Prewett. Gina Matthews. Matthew Lucas. Heather Lucas. Alice Lucas. Dorcas Meadowes. Pandora Lovegood. Alice Longbottom. Frank Longbottom. Rosen Potter. Briar Potter. Calypso Lupin. Lawrence Longbottom. Dennis Creevey. Jessie Carbonelli. Ernie Macmillan. George Weasley. And… mum and dad are pregnant, again... with twins, again…”
Jaws dropped and eyes blinked.
“… what…?” Neville whispered, his attention stopping at his parents’ names.
“… yeah…” Harry sighed. “You heard right.”
“Did you say…?” Seamus asked.
“I probably did.” Harry nodded.
“Harry?” Neville looked at his former dormmate. “You said my parents’ names.”
“I did.” Harry nodded again.
“That’s not possible.” Neville replied. “They’re in St. Mungo's. They’ve been there since November 1981.”
“I know!” Harry threw his hands out, in a disbelieving manner. “I don’t know how it’s possible. Voldy killed my parents and yet… they’re here, alive. So’s Luna’s mum and she died in a spell miscasting accident. DeathEaters killed Fabian, Gideon, Dorcas, Remus, Tonks, Cedric, Colin, Lavender and Fred. Dennis and Jessie were drowned by Jessie’s father. Gina, Matt, Heather and Alice were sent by Gringotts, like you. And Sirius, George, me and Teddy went into the Veil. It doesn’t make sense. I know!” He finished on a rant.
“Ah. Okay, then…” Neville nodded cautiously. “As long as you know.”
“Oh, I do.” Harry let his frustration show. “Then there’s Snape and Dumbledore.”
“What?” Neville asked flatly.
“Snape and Dumbledore.” Harry repeated. “We all know that Snape killed Dumbledore, right?” They all nodded. “What we didn’t know, until Snape gave me his memories, was that Dumbledore had blackmailed and guilted Snape into doing it, all so that Snape’s position with Voldy would be secure and that Dumbledore’s Order of the Phoenix, would still have its spy in Voldy’s ranks.”
“You’re saying that… that Snape really was spying for Dumbledore?” Katie asked.
“He was.” Harry nodded.
“But he let the Carrows do what they wanted with us!” Neville argued and Seamus looked just as angry.
“Did he?” Harry argued back. “Did he really? How many of you were killed? How many of the girls were raped? How many of the boys were raped? How many were tortured with anything other than the cruciatus or minor hexes?”
As Harry asked each question, Neville and Seamus began to frown, slowly their heads tilted and their eyes blinked, as they began to think, trying to answer Harry’s questions.
“I… I…” Neville stammered.
“Exactly.” Harry nodded again. “He couldn’t stop them completely, not without exposing himself, but he could limit what was done. Cruciatus for no more than ten seconds at a time, no more than thirty seconds per day. Otherwise it was all hexes, right? Stinging hex, toe biters, hair pullers, that sort of thing. Nothing that caused anything more than small cuts, welts or bruising.”
“Huh…” Neville grunted, until Harry had pointed it out, he’d not seen the pattern.
“Exactly.” Harry repeated. “And Albus bloody Dumbledore thinks this is his ‘next great adventure’ and he’s quite happy to spend it, doing nothing more than herding goats.”
“Huh…” Neville grunted, again.
Harry huffed and changed the subject. “Let’s get you lot home, where we can give you a complete briefing on what we’ve done. Now, as you’ve come from Gringotts? Did any of you manage to bring anything with you?”
“Oh, we brought lots of things.” Luna smiled brightly. “We’ve trunks and trunks of things. Shall we add them and their contents to the briefing?”
“I think we shall.” Harry grinned back at the blonde girl.
“Alright.” Neville sat between his parents, with his brother on his lap, still slightly dumbfounded about that fact. “Based on the information that Harry’s given us, the letters written by both Snape and Dumbledore… and actually thinking about Snape’s actions that last year, at Hogwarts… I agree. Dumbledore’s sitting on his ass and Snape’s doing what he does best, making potions and plotting about how to use them on unsuspecting victims.” This last comment earnt laughter from many people, including but not limited to Sirius, James, Fred, George and Lee.
Harry snickered. “Pretty much. Now, it’s your turn to tell us a story. The last we heard was from Dennis. He said the Ministry was playing ostrich and ignoring the whole Voldemort thing.”
“Yeah.” Neville nodded, he’d been designated as the main spokesperson for the latest arrivals, although the others would join in when needed. “Initially, the Ministry spoke out, told the Prophet that… that… Vol-Voldemort was dead, that you’d killed him. Of course, Skeeter had to throw her κnut’s worth in and go on a rant about how wonderful it was, that you’d finally got what you deserved and were thrown into the Veil.”
“So, Dennis said.” Harry snorted. “Apparently, it didn’t go down well.”
“Not at all.” Neville grinned. “Hermione, Ginny and Fleur Weasley lead the charge and… the editor was booted out and Skeeter’s in Azkaban. Then everything seemed to… to fizzle out… It was like… I don’t know. Like everyone expected it to happen and now that it had, they just moved on. Minister Shacklebolt did okay, for a while, but he’s slowly getting more and more bogged down by the purebloods. The last Wizengamot meeting, someone raised the idea that, those muggle-raised that signed the registry, had broken magical contracts. Someone else said that if they had been forced into it, then the contracts were more than likely null and void anyway, but there were some that were talking about making the muggle-raised pay fines or do jail time.”
“Oh, no…” Lily whispered.
“It’s not that popular yet, but…” Neville shrugged. “Some of us weren’t prepared to take the chance. Katie, Angelina and Alicia all worked for the Ministry, so them being convicted of breaking a contract, would be… bad…” He grimaced. “Lee was trying to run Wheezes, but Percy and Ron were hampering him. They were trying to alter the products to make them less dramatic, less effective, less visually startling. Mrs Weasley was insisting that products be removed from shelves, if she didn’t like what they did and… Well, Ron and Percy would override Lee and remove those things.”
“Oh, brilliant…” George sneered.
“Then, last week?” Neville ignored George’s comment. “Luna was showing me, Dean and Seamus one of Fred and George’s products. Something they called… extendable ears?”
“Yep, that’s them.” Fred nodded. “Ideal for listening in on conversations.”
“Well, we heard Molly telling Percy, that with Lee having fought at Hogwarts and the new law the Ministry was trying to bring in, Lee would be classed as an oath-breaker.” Neville sighed. “And she told him to get rid of Lee before the Ministry ordered it, or the shop would lose even more customers. She doesn’t seem to get that the reason for the loss of customers, are the changes that she’s insisting on.”
“She wouldn’t.” Fred said. “She never could admit to being wrong.”
“There’s a few people like that.” Neville agreed. “That was when Hermione got in contact with us. Mrs Malfoy, of all people, had stopped her in the middle of the alley. Told her that she’d had a dream about Harry and her cousin, Sirius. She said that Gringotts knew where you were and how to get people to you. She also warned us that Lucius had banished Draco to America and was petitioning to have all those who fought at Hogwarts, irrespective of which side they fought on, barred from ever claiming a Head of House title.”
“And as that would affect his own heir, the Wizengamot would be more likely to listen, not thinking it was a Light versus Dark argument.” James added.
“Yeah.” Neville nodded. “And as Mrs Malfoy gave Hermione an oath that she didn’t support her husband in the matter, we have to assume that she was helping us. We had less than a week before he planned to present the motion. We did a floo-around and got in contact with the DA, told them what we knew, made an appointment with Gringotts and sat down to make plans.”
Lee took over the explanation, at this point. “Gringotts confirmed that yes, they had a way to send people where you were. That they could open a portal that people could use to cross to other dimensions, no return trips though, it’s one-way only. It could be done at pretty much any given time, but that it would require time between portals to replenish the power nodes… or something like that. I didn't pay too much attention to the explanation, so I'm a little vague on some details.”
“It requires three full moons, followed by a dark moon to properly activate the nodes.” Luna said. “But once the nodes are fully activated and the portal's open, many people can cross through it. It’s more about how many can go through the portal, physically, in the length of time that it’s open, rather than a set number of people or how much weight. They mis-activated the nodes, when they sent the Lucas family through and are insisting on a proper activation process.”
“Is that how it worked?” Dean shook his head. “I could never make quaffle nor snitch, of what they said.” He shrugged. “Anyway, they told us to cash in our vaults and exchange it for raw gold and gems. Then we had to decide who was going and in what order, and when. Thanks to you and McGonagall, most of those that fought were actually seventeen, there were only a handful, or two, that were underage. Colin Creevey, but he died in the battle. Ginny’s dormmates, Tina Mimples and Erin Westin, both were injured but survived. Natalie MacDonald was one of those that McGonagall sent through the Room of Requirement, but she and two others had to fight with some lesser DeathEaters, when they blocked the tunnel to the Hogshead. Krista Wellington and Richard Blithely were the others, there. Euan Abercrombie, he was up in the hospital protecting a group of first and second years, that had been separated from the rest of the juniors, in the middle of the evacuation. Eliza Tarren was with Abercrombie defending the hospital, as were Derek Gilmore and Nigel Wolpert.”
“There were others, but most of them were the younger siblings and Malfoy’s motion wouldn’t affect them.” Neville added. “But those Lee mentioned? They’re more at risk because they’re muggleborn or muggle raised.”
“Then there were the injured juniors that were trapped in the hospital.” Lee went on. “Rose Zeller. James Tuckett. Grim Fawley. Malcolm Weiss. Marla Tanker. Ami Keys. Umbridge says they didn’t evacuate with the others, so they must have fought, ignoring the fact that most of them were bedridden at the time of the battle.”
“Oh, great…” Harry muttered. “So, let me guess, we’re having an influx of students…”
“Yep.” Lee grinned. “And not just students. Weiss’ parents, Keys’ mother, Abercrombie’s mother and sister, Blithely’s parents and siblings, Macdonald’s father, and Mimples’ three siblings who are magical but were under Hogwarts age, when the battle happened.”
“Plus a couple of muggleborns that have already graduated.” Katie added. “Brennan Doyle and his family. Penny Clearwater and her family. Oliver and his family.”
Lee looked at Fred and George. “Bill and Charlie Weasley and their families.”
“What?” Fred gasped.
“What about Ron and Ginny?” George asked, leaning forward to hear the answer.
“Or Molly and Arthur?” Gideon asked.
“No.” Lee shook his head. “Hermione and Bill made a joke about it, about following Harry, just to test the waters, but the reactions were…” He trailed off.
“Ron made it pretty clear that he and Percy were taking over the shop.” Alicia added. “He said that George had taken the easy way out. Sorry…” She sent an apologetic look at George and Fred. “Ginny was signing up to the Harpies and while she laughed, she said that even if it was possible, she wouldn’t leave England.” Harry closed his eyes and let a single tear slide down his cheek, any wistful dream of he and Ginny reuniting was gone. “Sorry, Harry…” She winced. “But you needed to know.”
“I did.” He whispered. “Thanks, ‘Licia.” He sighed. “So, how many are actually coming and when?”
“Bill and Fleur Weasley and their two daughters, Victoire and Dominique.” Angelina answered. “With them will be Charlie Weasley and his partner, Alec. Oliver, his wife, Anna, and their son, Ben.” She waited for Harry to summon a sheet of paper and a pencil and write the names down. “They’ll bring with them the most vulnerable. Zeller, Tuckett, Fawley, Tanker, Keys, Westin and Wolpert. And the families. Three for Weiss. Three for Abercrombie. Five for Blithley. Two for MacDonald. Four for Mimples. Five for Doyle. Three for Clearwater.”
“And Garrick Ollivander’s grandson, Torrence,” Alicia added, “his wife, Vera and their three daughters, Edith, Maude and Lydia. Edith and Maude are underage, but Lydia’s husband was killed by the DeathEaters, when they captured Ollivander. She’s pregnant and the goblins want to give her time to give birth before they send her through, but she’s due about the same time as the next group are expected to be sent.”
“Do they expect the… portal… to affect the infant?” Alice asked.
“No, but they weren’t sure about an unborn child and didn’t want to take the chance.” Angelina answered.
“So…” Harry counted. “We’ll get a definite forty, with a possible… six more?” He slid the paper over to Lee. “Have I missed anyone?”
“Forty-one, Harry.” Alicia corrected. “Or as many of them, as they can get through the portal in one go.”
~~~