Dan and Emma's Shock

# # #

Harry and Sirius enjoyed an early lunch after Harry had spent a lot of the morning after his training session writing. Sirius spent some of it reading what Harry had written of both the redevelopment of the Hogwarts' curriculum and Harry's supposed life story.

After lunch they waited until the appointed hour. Harry made sure Pixie was aware they'd be having guests over, and she could prepare snacks. He also put more mundane monies aside for Pixie's household shopping fund.

Amelia and Susan stepped through from the floo first, and a couple minutes later Neville and Augusta came through. As Augusta was stepping through there was a sudden 'Pop-pop-pop' sound and, from the entry hall, came the sounds of folks not used to portkeying suddenly arriving.

Harry went in to make sure the Grangers were alright with Dan sitting on the floor muttering, "Oh, God!"

Hermione was giggling but said, "That was fun!"

While Emma moaned, "Ohhh... that was bad."

With Neville's help Harry had the two Grangers up on their feet, while Amelia helped Hermione up. Greetings and pleasantries were quickly exchanged while Harry led everyone back, or just into, the parlour. Harry had Pixie bring in some fresh juice and gave the Grangers time to get their portkey legs back under them.

Once everyone was settled down, and Sirius had joined them, Harry introduced Sirius to the Grangers, Neville and Susan; before taking a seat himself.

"Thanks for coming, everyone," he said. "Though I know it feels a great deal longer it's now been just over a week since all this started, and I felt we should all get together to discuss matters.

"Plus, as I explained to each of you last night, I want to change how soon I pull Dobby out of the Dursley House."

Emma said, "Good, because I have to admit I was very uncomfortable learning someone was being so ill-treated there. I don't care if they're not human; they still have feelings and can feel pain."

There were murmurs of agreement from quite a few others.

Nodding, Harry said, "And I couldn't agree more. That's why I've a better idea. One that will save Dobby from a further six weeks of that nonsense."

Harry went on to explain what he and Sirius had discussed the afternoon before. He outlined how it would send Dumbledore into a panic, at first, and then lead to his further embarrassment when he caught up with the real Harry in Diagon Alley.

He also put to them all how he was going to have the goblins remove the suppression on the Potter Head of House and Black Heir's rings

"So, Sirius will be alerted by the rings I've taken up my Black Heir's ring, which will be the supposed trigger for him to race to Diagon Alley to look for me. Dumbledore will already have been alerted by his spies I'm in the Alley somewhere. I'll ensure he finds me in the middle of the Alley. He'll, of course, grab me with the intention of getting me out of there, and I'll scream bloomin' murder.

"Someone is sure to put a call in to the aurors about some kid screaming how 'some dirty old man was trying to drag him away to have his wicked ways with him'. That will alert Madam Bones to bring a team of aurors with her to the Alley. And we play it from there.

"Dumbledore will, again, be publicly embarrassed. Sirius will be able to claim me as his godson and heir to all and sundry. And I'll be able to come out of hiding."

The first to speak, Augusta said, "It's perfect!"

Frowning, Amelia said, "I can't find a fault with it, other than to point out you're relying on Arabella Figg to contact Dumbledore in time; for Dumbledore not to be in the Alley himself at the time and intercept you before you go into Gringotts; and for him to have spies in the Alley."

"That's why the four to five hour delay before I head there," said Harry. "That's both more than enough time for Arabella to contact Dumbledore, but too long for him to spend the entire time wandering the Alley himself. There's still folks out there who want to... remonstrate with him about the owl interceptions. He won't want to be there too long. Hence, why I know he'll have spies there."

Thinking, Augusta then looked up and said, "How about I spend the middle of the day in the Alley to keep an eye out for Dumbledore. When he turns up, I'll know. And I'll also have a fair idea who he bribes, or pays, to alert him when Harry turns up. I'll let Harry know via mirror and he can then make sure the spy, or spies, see him and recognise him."

"That'll work," said Amelia.

"And if I wear a cap or similar, and keep it pulled down low, I should be able to get to Gringotts without being seen," said Harry. "Once I'm out of Gringotts it no longer matters how long it'll take Dumbledore's spies to spot me and alert him, and for Dumbledore to turn up. As soon as I leave Gringotts I'll take my cap off and make sure the scar is visible. Then I just wander from shop to shop collecting my school supplies and wait him out."

Augusta said, "And out in public you can brandish the Will. Dumbledore will be left to explain his 'will tampering'... which is yet another charge to lay against him... and it will also be discovered he wasn't your guardian, after all. So he had no excuse for stuffing you in the Dursley home."

"And no excuse for stuffing me back there later," finished Harry.

"You get your letter on the 24th," said Emma. "So, Dobby needs to remain for another week and a half."

"Better that than another seven weeks," said Amelia.

Emma nodded thoughtfully.

"Now," said Harry, taking the conversation again, "as I'm now going to come out of hiding, and will publicly have taken up my Potter and Black rings, that then gives Susan and Neville the opportunity to also show their rings; if you, Madam Bones; and you, Madam Longbottom, permit them to.

"If they come forward with their family House rings, the concept of having a Proxy comes into play. At the moment, Madam Longbottom, you're still carrying the role of Regent. Technically, that's not lawful. Madam Bones can always say she's only on the Wizengamot in her capacity as Head of the DMLE. But, it'll also mean another Proxy can be brought into play on 'our' side."

"I don't claim to be the Regent for the House of Longbottom, anymore," replied Augusta. "I now say I represent the House of Longbottom. People can make their own assumptions."

"Oh, how very Dumbledore-ish of you," chuckled Harry.

"As for Susan, since the goblins have already blocked the rings, I'd rather wait until just before she boards the Hogwarts Express," said Amelia before turning to her niece and asking, "Is that okay with you, Susan?"

Susan nodded and shrugged her shoulders, "Yeah, I don't mind."

"I think we should do the same with Neville. That way the Wizengamot will not be waiting for him to present himself," said Augusta.

"Yeah, sounds good," said Neville.

"But, I still want to keep the founders' heirs rings hidden until absolutely necessary," said Harry. "That would just raise too many questions until we're ready to deal with them."

"Yes," said Dan. "I'd like to keep my little girl, my little girl, for a while longer, if it's all the same to you folks."

"I think we're all in agreement with that," replied Harry, looking around the gathering. He saw nothing but nods.

"Anyone else have any questions or view on that matter?" he went on to ask.

"No, but I want to ask about the cubes," said Hermione.

"Go for it," replied Harry.

"When do we start on the ones on magic?" she asked eagerly.

Harry laughed and replied, "You start tonight, actually. You all now have the wealth of knowledge of pretty much doctorates in Physics including both theoretical and practical, Mathematics, Law... both mundane and magical, traditions in both worlds, courtly behaviour, ethics and morality... which would earn you a PhD in Philosophy, non-magical and magical medicine, potions and herbology."

"Wait," said Emma. "Did you say doctorates?"

"Yep," replied Harry. "Six of them, I believe, right off the bat. Add potions to the mix, with chemistry, and they wouldn't have much problem adding another half dozen. They can't get their doctorates in medicine because that requires a certain level of practical work, which they don't have... yet. However, it wouldn't take them long to pass it, considering they have perfect recall of all the rest of the medical knowledge."

"My God!" she exclaimed. "That's about twenty to thirty years of tertiary level study, just there!"

"Yep, and we're only halfway through", said Harry.

Continuing, he said, "Tonight we have technology and technomancy plus information on how to monitor your magical cores. You need that last one to make the heirs realise their magical cores have a limit, before I then give them the rest on magics. That's arithmancy, astronomy, runes and ley line magic; cantrips, charms, curses, hexes, transfiguration and conjuration; and wandless, druidic and a smattering of other forms of magic. The last three will then be weaponry, security systems, business principles, leadership, tactics, strategy, politics, diplomacy, and languages and communicating with other races.

"In there are PhDs in business, political science and languages. And, once magic is recognised by the mundane world, they'd be able to pick up PhDs in magic."

"You've revolutionised the education system of the world," said Dan with wonder in his voice.

"But, we can't market it," said Harry firmly. "Can you imagine what it would do to both the education industry and the risk you take with young children having the knowledge to blow up the world?"

Amelia, who was drinking a tea at the time, suddenly spluttered, "Blow up the world?"

"Oh, yes," replied Harry. "Non-magicals already have the weaponry to blow up the planet. They've had it since the 1950s. Now, consider four eleven year olds running around with the knowledge to be able to do that, and add their ability to cast magic into the mix.

"With magic, you can easily develop and activate an atom bomb without really trying. Do that on a large enough scale, and you could set off a chain reaction that would annihilate the entire United Kingdom in one hit. That is the power witches and wizards have already. Giving them the knowledge of how to do that, add removing all sense of self preservation, and we'd all have been ash hundreds of years ago."

"And you want to give them," said Dan, indicating the other three heirs, "the ability to do that?"

"They already have it, Dan," replied Harry. "All witches and wizards do."

"That's one of the reasons why we have to get the wizarding world back under control," he continued. "Do you know what could happen if some idiot wizard gets it into his head to figure out why 'muggles' are so big on Einstein's 1905 formula E=mc², and reads a mundane book or two on the subject?"

"Oh. My. God!" he said with a look of horror.

"Now," said Harry, "think of how many mundane born witches and wizards have gone through Hogwarts, have then been unable to find a life for themselves inside the magical community, and have returned to the mundane world and re-entered the mundane education system? Hell, kids in the early years of high school learn this!

"The rather large section in the fourth cube that covered ethics and morality, enough to earn them a PhD in Philosophy, and the section on logic in the third cube, means they now won't go off and try to do it for themselves. But that doesn't mean anyone else wouldn't. The fact it hasn't happened yet is more a miracle than anything else."

"I feel a little ill," said Emma.

"A witch or wizard, given the sort of knowledge a first or second year mundane high school student possesses, may get it in their head to decide to test Einstein's Theory. The resultant explosion can easily level a small house. And probably kill the witch or wizard who tried it, instantly. Now, have them build an atomic bomb on a much larger scale, and set it going as a chain reaction, and it would very quickly result in the total annihilation of the planet. Nothing left, anywhere, but free particles," explained Harry.

Dan groaned.

"Now give that knowledge to a witch or wizard who is insane," said Harry.

"Bloody hell!" groaned Dan.

"But here's some more examples to think of when I'm only talking about what students can learn to do at Hogwarts before they graduate," said Harry. "Apparate in to any nuclear weapon facility and make off with a nuclear warhead; or detonate it in situ. Apparate into any nuclear power plant and translocate the core, via a port key for example, direct and deep into the earth's mantle. Take a large body of seawater and compress it to the point where nuclear fission commences, and you've got yourself one hell of a large hydrogen bomb. Hell, create a massive amount of dynamite by transfiguring part of the earth's crust, and detonating it, or just wait until the damned thing heats up due to the molten core of the planet. In any of those situations you can crack the planet wide open. Boom! No more planet.

"Myrrdin and I know, giving the three heirs the knowledge to do it, does not mean they'll use it," said Harry. "Because, the lessons they received on logic, ethics and morality won't let them. And that's why the cubes don't start giving them any knowledge on magic except potion making until tonight. That's why Myrrdin and I organised the knowledge they're receiving and is given to them in a carefully orchestrated order. They have the knowledge but, at the moment, would have lacked the wisdom to use it wisely."

Turning to the other three Heirs, he said, "And when you get the knowledge on magic, remember, you're only eleven and your magical cores can't handle the drain much of the magic requires. If you attempt high level spells while your core is still quite underdeveloped, you'll quickly suffer magical exhaustion and end up falling down unconscious. It can take many days to recover from such an act. And I can't give you your next cube until you recover."

"I also know Hermione, for one," said Harry, looking at the young girl directly and smiling, "will try to figure out a way to use the magic in a way that won't cause so much drain on her magical energy reserves. She's welcome to try."

Hermione frowned but looked like she was taking the message to heart.

Brightening and straightening up, he said, "Anyone else have any questions?"

No one spoke.

"No?" asked "Then how about a report about our various projects we've been tasked with over the past week?"

And the gathering began discussing where they were up to in their tasks.

"On the matter of the mundane and magical laws, Harry," prompted Susan. "It's all just a giant mess. Where do we start?"

Harry thought for a few moments before replying, "Start with the ones that contradict, or are against, mundane law. And focus even further on the laws relating to equal opportunity and equality. Her Majesty is particularly miffed with those. Break them down, if you need to, into what doesn't need to be touched, what needs to be... altered, what needs to be removed from the books entirely, and what needs to be completely rewritten. Don't rewrite them yourself. That's for Her Majesty's legal boffins to do; and we don't need to get that specific just yet. "

"Grandmother and I have been listing who on the Wizengamot are dark families, who are neutral, who would support Dumbledore, and who would support us against Dumbledore," said Neville. "But, that's more Grandmother's knowledge than mine. And she's working through it now. Is there anything else I can do?"

"Well, I've been looking at the school curriculum and rewriting the damned thing from the ground up," replied Harry. "I'll get you to go through what I've done and suggest some changes. Then the two of us are going to start looking at general lesson ideas for some of the new classes. Plus, I want to look at ideas to keep the students busy throughout the school year with after-hour activities. I know the four Houses have an inter-house Quidditch competition, but that only keeps a very small select few busy except on match days. We need a whole raft of other activities. Start thinking of wizard games the students can be involved in that'll burn off physical energy, especially ones that involve inter-house competitions. Idle hands lead to mischief, and I want no student to have idle hands for too long."

Neville, musing, said, "There are books about other sports and games I can look at for some ideas."

Harry nodded and said, "And there are mundane sports you may be able to adopt and give a magical twist to. I'll buy a few for you, and you can see if there are ways you can adopt any of them."

Sitting back, he said, "If that bores you after too long, you can also give Hermione and Susan a hand. Even between them, they're going to be busy for a long time with that job."

"Now," he said, leaning forward again. "How're you all coming along with your search for your animagus forms?"

Hesitantly, Hermione said, "I keep having visions of flying through storm clouds. But they tend to scare me, I'm afraid of heights."

"And I find myself running through the woods on four feet, really fast!" said Susan.

"What about you, Neville?" asked Harry. "I know you've been at it a lot less than the girls, but how's it coming along?"

Frowning, Neville said, "I just keep getting a sense of being low to the ground, and being really annoyed when something comes near me."

Surprised, Harry sat back and said, "Actually, that's pretty good, all of you. Myrrdin must be really helping."

"He's pretty boring on this subject, actually," said Susan.

"He's rather dry and... clinical," said Hermione.

"I actually like him," said Neville.

"Well, if you want to get help from another source, talk to Sirius, here," said Harry, indicating his godfather. "I think he'll be able to help."

Sirius sat up straighter and said, "Maybe... yeah, maybe I can at that."

After some more chatting about other matters, plus a decent afternoon tea provided by Pixie, the group broke up. Harry took Hermione back to the Granger home via apparation, Sirius took Dan, and Amelia took Emma. When Amelia left, Harry then reset their emergency port keys.

Dan, watching him for a little bit, said, "Thanks for those, by the way, Harry. And thanks for the test run. I was rather concerned about them, actually."

"Then you should have told me earlier, Sir," replied Harry.

Dan nodded and said, "You've been a busy lad. I knew you'd have time to do it eventually."

Harry sighed and said, "Dan, you and your family's welfare is my number one priority. If something concerns you, tell me!"

"Thanks, lad," said Dan. "But I'm still having trouble wrapping my head around the fact you're actually a lot older mentally than you look. I'm getting there, though."

Harry and Sirius left a few minutes later with Harry saying he'd see them again that evening soon after 8.30pm.

# # #

Back at the Manor, Sirius said, "I wish you wouldn't be so casual about leaving hints I'm an animagus, Pup. I don't want it bandied about."

"With this group, I can't afford to be anything but entirely open with them," said Harry. "I need them to trust me, implicitly. Besides, you have nothing to fear from any of them, they're on your side, remember?"

"But, still," sighed Sirius, "I'm an unregistered animagus and Amelia Bones is the Head of the DMLE."

"So am I, Padfoot," replied Harry. "So am I. And, soon, so are those three kids."

"Plus," he went on, "don't you think Amelia and Augusta would like to know how to find their own animagus forms? That's something you can help with, if they want to know. They can't use the cubes like the other three."

Surprised, Sirius rocked back. "I hadn't thought of that," he said.

"Well, it's something to consider," said Harry.

# # #

That evening, Harry did the rounds with the Technomancy, technology and discovering your magical core cube. He was back home after one of the fastest pass-throughs he had yet.

Once home he decided to have a chat with Pixie.

"Pixie!"

*Pop!* "Yes, Master Harry, Sir?"

I need to know if you know how to find a non-magical... muggle... street address. Or if you can find another house elf for me, even though he's taking Polyjuice."

"Oh, Pixie don't know street address. But, if Pixie taken to a place, Pixie know how to find it later, Master Harry, Sir," said the elf.

"And what about finding another house elf, even when they're not bonded or they're taking Polyjuice potion?" he asked.

"Pixie can find house elf if Pixie has met them before, Master Harry, Sir," she said.

"Okay, then," said Harry. "If I take you to outside a place, can you go into the place and go where I tell you to find a Polyjuiced house elf?"

"Oh, yes, Master Harry, Sir!"

"Good," he said. "I'll apparate to a place in Surrey. I'll then call you. You come and I'll point the house out to you, okay?"

"O-Kay, Master Harry, Sir!"

"Fine," he said.

Harry apparated to the laneway not far from Privet Drive and donned a Disillusionment Charm. Then he walked around to Privet Drive and stood not far from Number 4.

"Pixie!" he called softly.

The little elf popped in to existence alongside him.

"Yes, Master Harry, Sir?"

Pointing to Number 4 he asked, "Do you see that house over there?"

"Oh, yes, Master Harry, Sir!"

"That will be the house I want you to come back to when I tell you to go to Privet Drive. In the cupboard under the stairs is a little house elf named Dobby. He's taken Polyjuice Potion to look like me. I want you to come back tonight and bring him food and a message from me, okay?"

"O-Kay, Master Harry, Sir!"

"Good girl," he said. "I want you to go back to Potter Manor, for now. I'll see you there shortly," he instructed.

"Yes, Master Harry, Sir!"

And the little elf immediately popped away. Harry waited for a few moments to ensure there was no one magical watching him. Then he walked back to the laneway and apparated back to the Pottery.

Once back, Harry set about writing down his instructions for Dobby, so he had it fixed in his mind.

Calling Pixie back to him, once more, he told her what to tell Dobby and told her to take food with her to him as he'd been locked in the cupboard for three weeks already. She was also to make sure he had enough food and was to visit him in his cupboard at least once every three days until the morning of the 24th of July.

Pixie left straight away and was back about fifteen minutes later.

"Dobby knows," she said. "Dobby will wait for letter and come straight here as you said."

"Thank you, Pixie," said Harry, relieved that another problem would soon be resolved.

Pixie popped away.

# # #

Back into a normal 'work' week and Harry continued to write his book. His typing was becoming much improved and he was starting to knock pages over at a decent clip.

Sometimes he'd have to go back and add a section he hadn't thought was that important at the time he was writing it. Later, he realised it was integral to another part of his life, so he had to add the missing section. He knew he'd have to retype the whole thing over again, once he'd finished. But, for now, he just added sections by typing it up and pinning it to the sheet where the missing section belonged.

Part of the problem of having an eidetic memory wasn't so much trying to recollect everything, as trying to sort through everything for the nuggets of memory that were important, against almost all the memory which wasn't. Think of it as writing an executive summary of half a page from a folio of over a thousand pages.

He had also given more thought to when he would have the book printed, as he didn't want Dumblebutt tipped off by someone in the printing company. Then he realised he could avoid that entirely by going to a mundane publisher. He'd just tell them it was a fictional account of the life of a small boy, and that he only wanted a modest print run to start with. Once he had enough for the entire student population he'd hold off on having more printed until he was ready for the rest of the magical community to learn about what happened to the boy known as Harry Potter at the Dursley residence.

Then he'd send it to a publisher in the magical world with an addendum: 'This is an account of the life of the boy known as Harry James Potter, the so-called boy-who-lived, as written by Harry James Potter. Any other works ever written about my life are pure fiction. I have never been interviewed by anyone looking to write a story about my life. I have never endorsed a product, no matter what a manufacturer may advertise. If a manufacturer says I endorsed their product, they're lying!'

By Thursday morning the other Heirs had finished the last of the four cubes focussed on magic. There were just three to go, and these focussed almost entirely on mundane matters - except for magical security systems and the language of the goblins and a couple other races.

Sirius had let him know that both Susan and Neville had contacted him for advice of nailing down their animagus forms, but Hermione hadn't yet. Harry wondered whether it was because of her fear of heights, or she felt she was making fast enough progress. He'd check with her that night.

Harry had also, as promised, attended the Granger residence every morning to go through a morning training session. Just this morning, Dan had brought a small 25 calibre ACP automatic.

Though, he had the knowledge of mundane weaponry, this morning was the first time he'd actually held a handgun in hand. It was small, but Dan assured him it was only until he was able to hold a larger calibre. Sure, there was little if any stopping power in the gun; but, that wasn't the point. Magicals didn't use mundane weaponry. Having a handgun, one he can use left-handed, was extra fire-power. Besides, he was interested in finding out how well a Protego Charm could stop a bullet; or, even if it could.

Things were progressing well, but it meant Harry was beginning to feel bored. When he was with Myrrdin, every moment not spent sleeping was spent doing one activity after another. He even read, or they talked, while eating.

Ever since he arrived back at the beginning of the month he had very few moments where he wasn't either sleeping, acting or planning to act. This waiting grated on his nerves. He'd pace if it was in his nature to do so. He only did that when he was really angry. Being bored because he lacked something on which to focus only really had one answer. He meditated.

He was clearing a space on the floor of the parlour to give himself some breathing room when his mirror vibrated. Pulling it out and flipping it open he saw Hermione.

"Hi, 'Mione," he said. "What's up?"

"Hi, Harry," she replied. "You know how you said on Sunday I was welcome to try the spells if I could figure a way to use less energy from my magical core?"

"Of course I do."

"Well, is it still okay if I can do that?"

"'Mione," he replied and sighed. "Just don't do anything that's going to cause you harm, okay?"

"Oh, I'll be careful," she said. "I'll make sure I do all the arithmancy. But I'm going to cross check it all against modern mathematics."

"Okay, but nothing dangerous, right?"

"No, Myrrdin taught you, and us, better than that," she said.

Harry nodded and said, "Well, I did say you're welcome to try. So, have at it. Just don't forget to continue to meditate on finding your animagus form and working with Susan on going through the laws."

"Of course not," she said, clearly put out by being reminded.

"And don't do anything dangerous!" said Harry.

"No, Harry; I won't," replied Hermione, with a roll of her eyes.

"Okay, then," said Harry, I'll see you tonight."

After disconnecting from Hermione, Harry held the now normal mirror in his hand and sighed. "Well, there goes any chance of calming myself enough to meditate," he muttered to himself.

He headed out the back of the manor and sat on the back step for a while. He was trying to work out something to do but couldn't think of anything. So, he rose from where he was sitting on the back step and walked towards the back of the property.

Looking over Pixie's garden beds and chook enclosure, something was gnawing at his thoughts. He pondered it for a while. Then it came to him. He knew how to keep Hogwarts' costs down while also creating both a way for students to earn back points and run a business for those seeking to earn a Mastery in Business Principles. He'd have a farm at Hogwarts!

'Yes!' he thought. 'It can be on the small scale, of course. Cultivate a decent enough sized vegetable garden with fruit trees to feed the student body, run some sheep for meat, some cows for milk and meat, run some chooks for eggs and meat, run some pigs for meat. It would work! There was plenty of land at Hogwarts not being used.'

Now with the idea in his head, Harry ran back inside to his desk and began to figure it all out. He needed to talk to someone about how much fruit and vegetables the students would consume, how much meat, eggs and milk they'd go through, and then determine how much of Hogwarts' land he could set aside for it. Okay, he couldn't use the lake and stock it with fish because of the merpeople and the giant squid, but the cost of fish was nothing compared to the cost of the other meats.

The elves could look after the farm while students weren't there, because they didn't have to do so much castle work while said students weren't in residence. They'd be pleased to have something to do. And the students can earn points, learn to run a business, and how to put in place a production plan, all off the back of it. The added bonus would be a huge reduction in the costs of feeding all the students for the nine months of the year they'd be in residence. That would be a significant saving on outgoing costs.

In his excitement, Harry decided to go and check out the grounds immediately, so he had an idea as to where the Hogwarts Farm could be located. It had to be close enough to the castle not to mean the students had to tramp long distances just to get there, but far enough away from the Forbidden Forest not to allow the denizens in there to raid it as they pleased.

Harry switched into his animagus form and phoenix-flashed to the skies well above Hogsmeade. Then he did the same skirting of the wards he did the last time he was there, but more intent this time on looking at all the open grassland around the castle. He found a small vegetable garden next to the castle, but it wasn't anywhere near the size they needed. He thought they might have been magically inducing the vegetables to grow at a faster rate. It could be the 'reserve' vegetable plot. The best place for a new and bigger one was located around the Quidditch pitch, and out towards the boundaries of the warded land.

However, the land out there actually extended well beyond the wards; so, he'd see the other heirs about pushing the wards further away out there.

He, again, had that strong sense of yearning from the castle he felt last time. An eagerness from the castle he enter it. Sighing, Harry flew off and phoenix-flashed back to the Pottery.

Back at the Pottery and a few more notes about the information he'd need to make the castle self-sufficient for food, or as close as possible, and he had the concept down on paper. He'd see someone who was used to feeding a large body of children about just how much food said children and staff combined would need.

As soon as he thought about it he knew the answer. He needed to find out the information from a non-magical boarding school with the same problems. Sure, wizard children ate a bit more because of the energy they expelled through their magics, but about twenty-five percent should just about cover it.

He wrote a letter to Sir David Smythe-Umpton asking him to find out the information for him. He needed to know how much food he'd need to farm; how big the farm would need to be, and how much under crop, how many of each animal he'd need, how to accomplish that in the south east Scotland coastal area - taking consideration of how much snow they'd get, etc.

Oh, yes. Snow. Some permanent charms and runic work to keep the temperature in, and a little around the crops, to maintain a moderate to warm temperature... Yes. Something to ensure it didn't cause a near permanent fog from developing from the warm ground about the crops while the rest of the land was frozen and buried under snow...

He'd drop a letter on Sir David's desk for something about the non-magical aspects. And might set Neville, with his gift for herbology, working on it with the magical aspects. Neville was still at him about getting a serious project to do. This should do it. He'd discuss it with him tonight by turning up a little earlier than usual.

'I love killing multiple birds with one stone,' he thought. 'Especially, when the birds are this big.'

# # #

That night he arrived at Longbottom Manor early, and had the opportunity to discuss his idea with Neville.

Neville quickly went through the outline and said, "I like the idea of large fallow land being cultivated for crop, and the idea of running some chickens and that for soil fertilisation and eggs. But, do you really want to bring in animals that'll be slaughtered? Some of the students are going to 'adopt' those animals, give them names, and stuff like that. Then you're going to send them off for slaughter?

"I can see it now," he continued. Then, using a little girl voice, "Excuse me, Professor? Have you seen Fluffy the little baby sheep? He's been missing for two days," and, in a sterner adult voice, "No, Miss Smith, I have not. Now eat your lamb chops."

Snorting, Harry said, "I didn't think of that."

"And why are you thinking of charms work and the like that'll require them to be recharged so often?" asked Neville. "Use wards. You can use wards to do everything you want to protect the crops. They can be insect repellent for all bar bees and the like for pollination; they can be used to keep out foraging animals, they can be used to pen in animals, such as chickens; they can be used to keep the area within warm during winter; and they can be powered by the same major nor-west to sou-east ley line from which the main Hogwarts' wards are powered."

Harry replied, "I didn't think about that, either. But what about the loss of ley line magic and what that'll do to the main wards?"

"If you need to ramp up the power for the main wards during emergency situations, it's a simple matter of redirecting the energy from the crop wards to the main wards through a simple magical shunt. It'll also provide even more power to the wards than they have already," replied Neville. "Merlin, Harry. You're over-thinking it."

"Damn, Nev!" exclaimed Harry, realising his friend was right. "I knew you were the bloke to do this."

Neville grinned and said, "As for paying for meat. That's easy. We've got all these greenhouses, of which only a few are currently in use. Get them all operating on growing plant-based potions ingredients and we can sell them off to buy the meat and milk. If necessary, we can build more. At the moment, a lot of plant-based potions ingredients are purchased from the continent. So, not only will we be running a profitable business; but, we can sell them for less than what they cost to be imported. And, it means we can sell them without the added impost for import."

Harry laughed and said, "Definitely the right bloke for this! Okay, it's yours. Design the wards and work out how you're going to do it. Remember, it's also a way for students in detention to be given productive work, for students to earn back lost points, a way to keep the house elves active while the school is shut down, and for the school to become, at least in part, self-sufficient."

Neville grinned back and said, "Yeah, I like it. It's right up my alley. Thanks, Harry; I can do this."

"I know," replied Harry. "And you've already surpassed the idea I had with a much better one with only a minute of thought. Once you get tomorrow night's cube, the one on business principles, you'll be able to go to town on how to set it all up as a self-sustaining business. For now, though, just give thought to what you're going to put up as wards."

"What about creating the wards in the first place?" asked Neville. "We don't have the magical core to be able to set it up, ourselves."

"That's what the staff are for, Nev!" replied Harry with a grin. "As you said, though, once it's set up it just needs to be anchored to the ley line. As long as someone on the staff can redirect it's power to the main wards in an emergency, it doesn't matter how many of the staff will have to be involved in providing power to get it running."

"Well, that'll make it easier," said Neville.

"If you need help with it," said Harry, continuing, "Hermione has already asked me if she can look at how to make spells less energy draining on the magical core. Talk to her and see if she can solve any energy hogging problems you encounter."

He further said, "I think she's looking at the magical energy drain on some of the higher spells. I'd rather she directed those thoughts to something like this, than towards seeing if she can reduce energy drain, or adding further power, towards a spell such as a blasting hex."

"Oh, that could be bad," said Neville, thinking about the damage such a spell could do.

Harry nodded.

"Oh!" said Neville suddenly perking up. "I think I know what my animagus form is!"

Surprised, Harry said, "Okay, what is it?"

"I'm a badger, believe it or not!" said Neville laughing. "The Hufflepuff mascot!"

Grinning back, Harry said, "Okay, when you have time, I want you to come over to the Pottery and Sirius and I can help you through actually making that image you've got become a reality. Once we help you through it the first time, each time after that will become easier until you can do it with barely a thought."

"Okay," replied Neville. "Sounds good."

"The last one to attempt to find their animagus form, and the first one to find it," said Harry, grinning. "That's pretty good, Nev!"

Neville grinned back, quite excited.

"Now we need to confirm it," said Harry. "What I want you to do is meditate but remain in your human form. Find a clearing in the area wherever you are, and sit in the middle of it. Back in your meditation pose. While you're there call your animagus form to come to you. You'll be able to see it in its full form. Touch it, and you should feel yourself merge with it. In the meantime I'm going to buy the biggest encyclopaedia of animals I can find."

"I can do that?" asked Neville. "I didn't know I could do that."

"Nev," replied Harry, "it's your meditative state. You're a god there. You can bend your will to anything. Think about what you did when you were building your mind palace."

"Oh, yeah!" said Neville.

"Anyway, cube time. I've still got to visit the others yet."

# # #

After leaving Longbottom Manor and visiting Susan at Bones Manor he asked her, "And how's your animagus form coming along?"

Susan, thoughtful, said, "I think I'm some kind of dog with a long muzzle. When I look down I see paws, but everything is brilliances of grey. I don't know what sort of dog, I am. But it feels big."

Just as he did with Neville, Harry said, "What I want you to do is meditate but remain in your human form. Find a clearing in the area wherever you are, and sit in the middle of it. Back in your meditation pose. While you're there call your animagus form to come to you. You'll be able to see it in its full form. Touch it, and you should feel yourself merge with it. In the meantime, and as I've already said to Neville, I'm going to buy the biggest encyclopaedia of animals I can find."

Nodding, Susan said, "Yeah, I can do that." Perking up she also said, "Can dogs see in the dark?"

Shrugging, Harry said, "I have no idea. But, Sirius might know. He's quite knowledgeable about those sort of things."

"And there's also something weird going on when I'm in dark shadow. Everything seems to blur a bit and I think I'm moving a lot faster."

Nodding, Harry said, "Well, let's find out what sort of animal you are, and we can work out the rest from there. Once we know what animal it is Sirius and I can help you through the first transformation. We'll work out the rest from there."

Susan said, "Okay, Harry."

"Now, how are your other projects coming along?" he asked.

"Slower," she replied, with a frown. "Hermione says she's working on something else, so she's not helping as much. But she still helps out when I specifically ask her to."

Shaking his head, Harry said, "That's okay. The law is going to take a very long time to sort out. There isn't a big rush on this. If you want to work on something else, for a while, do so. I know how boring the law can be."

"The law isn't boring!" she retorted. "It's really very interesting, and I'm having fun with it. I like going through all the laws and seeing how I can make them better."

Holding up his hands in a warding gesture and laughing, Harry said, "Okay, I yield! It's fun and interesting for you. But that doesn't mean it's so much for everyone else, okay?

Grumbling, Susan said, "Okay."

"Now, you've received all the cubes on magic except the one on magical, and mundane, security systems," Harry said. "That's tonight. Is there anything you want to ask me before we start that cube?"

"No," she said. "I think I've covered everything."

# # #

At the Granger residence he found Hermione sitting in the lounge room with a stack of paper sitting on the coffee table in front of her. She was madly writing away with arithmantic formulas and calculus mathematics. Emma was sitting in the chair opposite looking a bit frazzled.

"Okay, what's going on?" asked Harry.

"She's been like this for hours," replied Emma. "She's had dinner but just about shovelled the food down her throat trying to get it over with so she could return to this," she said with a wave of her hand gesturing towards the stack of paper.

Harry looked at Hermione, who still hadn't paid him any attention. He reached into his satchel, removed one of the old cubes he still carried around, and lobbed it to land on the paper in Hermione's lap on which she was still madly writing away.

"Oi!" he called.

Looking up, Hermione said, "Huh?"

"'Mione, you're losing yourself in the work," he said quite sternly. "We've talked about this, remember?"

"Oh, Hi, Harry. Yeah," said Hermione ranging through the emotions of surprise, pleased and glum in a couple of seconds.

"I know you're really excited about what it is you've learned, so far," said Harry. "But, you need to remember to pay attention to what's going on around you, at the same time. Stop shutting people out!"

"Sorry," she said. "I've just been working on something really hard and I wanted to get it finished before you arrived."

Moving to sit down, Harry sighed, "I take it you've got some idea about magical energy conservation in spells?"

"Oh, yes," replied Hermione, clearly excited. "I've already gone through the arithmancy for it. Now, I'm just refining it with proper mathematics. Did you know it's all about high energy physics?"

"Yeah, I did," said Harry. "But there's plenty of time to work on it. You need to spend as much time, as possible, speaking with your parents before the 1st of September. First and foremost, enjoy their company while you can."

"Sorry, Harry," said Hermione, downcast.

Harry sighed and said, "I've told you before, 'Mione; you're the brightest, smartest witch I've ever, and will ever, know. You don't need to prove it to anyone. You definitely don't need to prove it to me."

Hermione scrambled out of her chair and threw herself into Harry's lap and hugged him. "Thank you, Harry."

She leaned in and kissed him on the cheek. Harry blushed from his toes to the tips of his hair while Hermione then leaned her head of his shoulder.

"Ummm... ahhh..." he stammered.

Dan just snorted while Emma smiled and blushed, herself.

"Pumpkin," called Dan softly. "I think you should climb off Harry, now."

"Okay," replied Hermione. She climbed back off Harry's lap and returned to her own chair.

Clearing his throat, Harry then said to her, "Susan tells me you're not helping her as much with the laws."

"I didn't mean to," she replied. "I just..."

"You just got carried away with the project on the coffee table," finished Harry. "I get that."

"Do you think I should apologise?" she asked.

"That's entirely up to you," he replied. "Do you think you should?"

Frowning and biting her lower lip, she said, "Yeah."

"Then apologise," said Harry. "Friends and family do that with friends and family."

"Okay," she said softly.

Harry nodded and then said, "Now, your animagus form, how's that going?"

Frowning in thought, she replied, "I'm definitely a bird of some sort. But it keeps flying very high in amongst storm clouds. It scares me and I keep losing focus."

Harry nodded and said, "Then I'm going to suggest what I've already suggested to the others. What I want you to do is go into your meditative state. But, do it in your human form. Picture yourself outside on a wide open field, or lawn.

"Once there, and you have everything perfect, I want you to call your animagus form to come to you. That is, call it to meet you. Ask it to land in front of you.

"Once it's there, get to know it. Picture it in your mind. Then switch places with it, if you can. When you drop out of your meditation you'll have it pictured in your mind. Then we can go through zoology books and find it."

"Okay, that sounds good," she replied with a nod.

"If it is a bird, and it sounds like it most definitely is, I'll help you with it," explained Harry. "I won't let anything bad happen to you, I promise."

"Thank you, Harry," she replied.

"Now, it's getting late," he said, changing the subject. "Let's get this third last cube going, okay?"

Nodding, Hermione rose and headed for her room to get changed.

After she'd gone upstairs, Harry sighed and said, "She's just so damned focussed."

"I told you, she's in love with you already," said Emma softly.

Harry blushed again.

"You know, you're cute when you do that," she said with a big smile.

"I'm eleven, ma'am!" retorted Harry

Dan shot back, "With the mind of a nineteen year old!"

Harry snorted. He had no response for that.

Saving Harry from further embarrassment, Emma said, "Hermione should be ready by now. I think we should head upstairs."

She rose and led Harry and Dan up to Hermione's bedroom.

After activating the cube, Harry left shortly thereafter.

Returning back to the Pottery, he was still feeling a bit keyed-up from his time with the three other Heirs and their families. So he decided to go for a bit of a fly in his animagus form around the Great Woods where the Pottery was hidden.

He was also making sure he had everything perfect, and that his flying was great. He knew he'd be the one who had to take Hermione up into the sky, once she was able to assume her form. He had to get her over her fear of heights if she was to make the best use of her form.

# # #

The next morning, after his training session with Dan, Harry made another trip to Diagon Alley to visit Flourish and Blotts to pick up as many books on magical creatures as he could find. He eventually came away with a single huge tome on every magical creature they knew to be in existence.

Then he headed out into mundane London and went to a large bookshop out there that stocked many non-fiction texts. They were the main supplier for the University of London. There, he found a large volume designed for university veterinarians that contained the largest range of non-magical animals. He even picked up a high school biology text, just in case it contained anything not covered in the other.

Back at the Pottery and he read up on the various dogs and badgers. Then he went through the magical creatures book and stored that in his memory.

"Sirius!" he called.

"In here, Harry!" he heard from the kitchen.

Walking into the kitchen he found Sirius working at cooking something.

"What on earth are you doing?" he asked.

"Pixie's teaching me how to cook," replied Sirius.

"Okay," said Harry. "Why?"

Sirius shrugged and said, "It's something to do, I guess. Besides, I've always wanted to learn how to cook."

Thinking a bit, Harry said with concern, "Padfoot, if you're bored here, and there's something else you want to do; please, go and do it."

Looking back, Sirius said, "Pup! I'm happy, okay. I'm having fun."

Sighing, Harry said, "Well, if you're sure..."

With a firm nod Sirius replied, "I'm sure!"

Thinking for a moment, Harry then said, "There is something you can do for me, though."

Curious, Sirius asked, "Oh?"

"I think Neville now has the set of all the textbooks for Hogwarts this year. I'll get the ones that cover Defence against the Dark Arts. I want you to read them all."

"Why?"

"Because, within a couple of days of school starting, Hogwarts is going to need a new Defence Against the Dark Arts Professor," he explained. "And I think, with your experience fighting Riddle and his cronies back in the 70s, you're the perfect choice for the role."

Shocked, Sirius asked, "Why? I haven't even been practicing since I got out of Azkaban. And, before that, it's been close to ten years since I had a wand in my hand."

"I know," replied Harry with a bit of a shrug. "But you're one of the few wizards still around who has just so much actual combat experience. You've lived it. That can't be taught. And you've got a few weeks to get your skills back with a wand.

"Besides, that. You're still a target for those Death Eaters and Riddle supporters who have a grudge to settle with you. You need to get your skills back, and they have to be sharp."

Sighing, Sirius replied, "Yeah, I guess I've been putting it off long enough, haven't I?"

Harry nodded and replied, "And I'm sure Dan would like some training in how to use his non-magical talents and weaponry against a trained combat wizard. Get in contact with him by mirror when you're ready. He'd really appreciate it, and I'm sure you two are really going to hit it off."

"That's actually a really good idea," said Sirius, somewhat surprised. "It would give both of us more skills that may prove truly useful." And he more seriously replied, "Thank you, Harry."

Harry shrugged and said, "I'd actually only just thought of it. But, I'm sure you'd have come to the same conclusion."

Coughing to clear his throat, Sirius then ordered, "Now, get out of here and let me cook you something to eat. Go write your book, or something."

"Yeah, I can do that," replied Harry. "But, before I do, can we check to see if we have any anti-food poisoning potions on hand?"

Sirius threw a potato at him as he ducked and dived back out the door laughing.

# # #

"Harry! Harry! I really am a big badger!"

Neville had called Harry out of the blue via the floo, not via mirror, the next morning. He was clearly very excited. His excitement brought Sirius into the room.

Harry laughed and said, "That's great, Nev! Now, we've only one more cube to go, tonight. So, do you want to come through tomorrow and Sirius and I can help you change into your form?"

"Yes, please!" replied Neville. "I'm so excited!"

"You should be," replied Sirius. "It's a very big thing to discover and do."

"Oh, Nev," said Harry. "Do you have all the texts from Hogwarts from Susan yet?"

"Yeah," said Neville. "Susan passed them through this morning. I was reading through them but took a break to do some meditating when I finally met my animagus form in the space. He's big, too. But his colouring looks wrong."

"Well, your own features will form part of the fur, so I wouldn't worry about the colouring too much. We'll see what it looks like tomorrow," replied Harry.

Signing off, Harry and Sirius grinned at each other.

Shaking his head, Sirius said, "Damn, Pup! That was fast!"

Chuckling, Harry said, "That's because you marauder guys set the method by which others could follow. In the process you made a lot of mistakes that we learned from. Myrrdin and I took what worked out and built upon it. And, because myself and the other three were already pretty decent experts at meditation before we started, it made it that much easier to learn and master.

"You guys had to learn from scratch and had no assistance whatsoever. You also had to get past the belief that only a very few wizards could be animaguses. We didn't have any of that."

Nodding, Sirius said, "Yeah, we did. And it took a lot of work to undo what we did wrong. Plus, though we all wanted to find the forms to help Moony, I don't think any of us knew if we could do it or not.

"It was your father who drove me and Wormtail on. I was the first to change because I believed him. He just didn't believe it himself. But, when I changed, he knew it was possible. That's when he believed. It wasn't long after that, he changed too."

Snorting in wry amusement, Sirius went on to say, "We should have realised about Pettigrew then. It took him almost another year before he got it and changed. He should have known and trusted us. But because he knew we shouldn't trust him, he didn't trust us."

"Water under the bridge, Padfoot," replied Harry.

# # #

Stepping through the floo, Neville arrived at the Pottery both nervous and excited. Harry and Sirius had already moved all the furniture out to the walls leaving a large open space in the middle.

Sirius said to Neville, "Okay, Neville. We'll do this when you feel ready. You might want to meditate a bit to calm yourself, first."

Neville dropped down into the centre of the floor into his crossed-legged meditation state while Harry and Sirius took a seat on one of the couches and just sat silently.

After about a minute Neville nodded. Sirius quietly said, "Okay, since your form appears to be a badger, I want you to get on your hands and knees."

Without a word, while staring off into space, Neville assumed the hands and knees position.

Sirius said, "Now concentrate on the feelings you had of your animagus form and pump magic into it. Make your body assume the shape."

Standing on opposite sides, Harry held his hands ready and Sirius drew his wand and pointed it at Neville. As Neville started to shift, they both pumped magic into the changing form.

Suddenly, Neville almost popped, his change was that fast.

Between Harry and Sirius stood on four legs what looked like the biggest badger either of them had ever expected to see. But it wasn't a badger.

Harry laughed and sat on the floor in front of Neville while Sirius conjured a large mirror just off to the side of Harry aimed back at Neville.

Neville, in his form, looked at the mirror and the expression on the animal's face was definitely one of surprise.

Grinning, Harry said to Neville, "Nev. Mate. You're not a badger, though I can see why you think you would be. The two animals look somewhat similar, and the form you've taken is not an animal you'd ever expect to see in the United Kingdom, except in a zoo.

"Nev, you're a wolverine!" he laughed. "Pound for pound, easily the most ferocious animal in existence!"

Neville looked to have dropped back to sit on his haunches. Not a position you would ever expect a wolverine, or a badger, to assume. And his head tilted slightly to one side. Almost a dog like expression.

Sirius, seeing the expression on Neville's face, had sat down on the floor and fallen over roaring with laughter.

Still chuckling, Harry said, "Okay, Nev. Changing back is a hell of a lot easier. All you have to do is let yourself assume your natural shape. So, go for it and do that."

Harry held his hands ready to assist, but Neville didn't need it. His reverse change took just over a second to complete. And Neville was sitting on his haunches on the floor.

"I'm a wolverine?" he asked, shocked. "But why am I so small?"

Sirius answered, though still chuckling, "That's because you're still young. Therefore, your animagus form is also, comparatively speaking, still young. Your animagus is still growing!"

Nodding, Harry said, "You're a juvenile wolverine. No longer a cub, but not yet an adult."

"Wow!"

"It suits you, Nev," said Harry. "A wolverine is an omnivore that will generally avoid trouble. It will run, when it can, but will turn and fight in the most ferocious manner it's capable of if cornered, or if it's family unit is in danger. The only time it generally goes out of its way to attack is if it's hunting small game.

"While it looks a lot like a badger, a badger is a member of the same family as the weasel while a wolverine is more closely related to the bear. It moves about twenty five miles a day when foraging, but is capable of a pretty decent clip of speed for short periods of time.

"It's a really cool animagus form, Nev!" said Harry. "And it definitely suits you."

Neville was grinning like a loon, clearly pleased with what he was hearing.

Harry and Sirius helped Neville shift once more to his form and back again, but let him do it himself, successfully, on the third attempt.

Afterwards, Sirius said, "Okay, that's enough for one day. While your form is pretty close to your own mass, it still uses some of your magical energy from your core to occur. The closer to your own mass, the less energy it takes. But, as Harry has the last cube for you tonight, you need to not be magically exhausted for today."

Harry nodded and, also talking to Neville, said, "Practice it yourself tomorrow, if you like. But only try no more than about three times. You're also going to need to practice moving around in your form, so just move around at home for a while when you're in your form, okay? And call Sirius if you have any questions."

Nodding, Neville said, "Okay, I got it."

They sent him back through the floo to Longbottom Manor.

Turning to Sirius, Harry said, "Well, that's one. And the fact his mass is very similar to his form may further explain why he was the first."

Shrugging, Sirius said, "You're probably right. It may also explain why I was the first to change, your father second, and Pettigrew last. My form was pretty close to my original mass, your father's was about double, and Pettigrew's is only about one one-hundredth."