Ch 24 pt 1

Mr. Potter!" called Lockhart.

Slowly pushing the trolley with his trunk and Hedwig's cage was Harry, with Hermione right beside him. The two were almost to the gateway that separated the Wizard World from the Muggle on Platform Nine-and-three-quarters at King's Cross Station. He was pleased to note that both were wearing the clothes he had purchased for them at Christmas, which meant that Harry looked quite spiffy and Hermione's clothes made her very pretty. Her skirt swayed rather nicely as her high-heels emphasized her gait. Hermione had apparently taken his advice on how to walk to heart. And she had transformed into a very attractive young Witch over this last year. Apparently she liked looking nice for Harry. And vice versa.

It helped that she had taken his "advice" to heart and now regularly flew with Harry — buying them new brooms to use instead of the school brooms had done a lot to calm her fears. The school brooms' erratic behaviour had been a major cause of her fear of flying.

Based on the looks she was getting from many at the station he wasn't the only one to notice the new and improved Hermione. He could hardly wait to see the look of shock on her father's face when he realized his "little girl" was growing up — and not just mentally!

Their other friends had said their goodbyes after locating their parents. The two weren't holding hands, unfortunately, as they had their hands full pushing the trolleys.

Well, that wouldn't do. No, not at all! Hadn't they remembered the shrinking charms on their new trunks?

Most of the people still on the platform were watching Gilderoy as he strode confidently over to the young couple. Rita, and The Daily Prophet, had done a splendid job of broadcasting yesterday's event and Lockhart had quite a few additional admirers. Even the Wizards were beginning to become his fans! Those in the school certainly were. Everywhere he went today people had murmured "Hello, Lord Lockhart-Slytherin," respect and admiration in their every word and gesture. People respected him, not just for his adventures in his books but also for his deeds at Hogwarts this year.

As he had waited for Harry to disembark, he had heard many complimentary things said about himself. "He's my D.A.D.A. professor and he fought and killed a Basilisk!" "He found all four Founder's Artefacts" "I was so worried about my OWL/D.A.D.A. until this year when. After his class the test just seemed so easy!" "He's the best D.A.D.A. professor I've ever had," he heard one Slytherin Seventh Year brag. His friend had loudly agreed.

All music to his ears. Gilderoy would have done a little happy-dance right there on the platform if Harry had let him. He was practically delirious with joy, leaving Harry to handle things today.

"Here," he said to the two students when they stopped in front of him. "Tap your wand right there and think, 'shrink,'" he pointed at the lock on Hermione's trunk. She watched, surprised as it shrank to card-pack size. He handed it to her. "There. Slip that into your pocket. When you get home, just tap it with your wand and think, 'full size,' and it will restore itself. As long as you don't do it where Muggles can see, the Ministry will never notice. And it won't trigger any magic detection spells, either. The wand is merely your identification as the owner." Harry quickly followed suit.

He picked up Hedwig's cage and brought it close. He set up a silencing spell around them and whispered to the bird, "Harry Potter lives at Twelve Grimmauld Place, London." He removed the spell and opened the cage. "There you go, Hedwig. You can meet us at home. I'm sure you'd rather fly than be subjected to apparition, wouldn't you?" The owl stared at him a moment, hooted, then flew out the cage and rapidly disappeared overhead. He shrunk the cage and gave it to Harry.

He turned and made hand motions for them to accompany him, "Don't dawdle now, children, others await you." Hermione grabbed Harry's hand and they again started towards the platform's exit.

"Harry," he said confidentially to the young Wizard. "I know that the Headmaster told you that you had to return to the Dursleys. But as I told you before that isn't strictly true. You see, as long as you live with them, they do not have to fear Death Eaters, Voldewhore's followers, finding their home and killing them for being your relatives. That is the reason he sent you home last summer, to protect them. Now that you are twelve it only takes two weeks to renew the spell for another year." Hermione and Harry shot him a surprised glance.

Now, then, you have a choice. Do you want to go home with me and stay at the House Black London residence, and meet your godfather? Or do you want to go stay with the Dursleys for two weeks and provide them with that protection for another year? At the end of the two weeks you would join me at the Black residence."

Harry looked conflicted. On the one hand, if he never saw the Dursleys again it would be too soon. On the other, could he really leave them defenceless?

"Tell you what, Harry, I'll put a listening charm on your trunk. If you want to leave, just call my name and tell me that. I'll be there as soon as I can. Does that sound good?"

Hesitantly, reluctantly, Harry nodded his agreement. By that time, they had passed through the barrier and Hermione had flung herself into her parent's arms, babbling non-stop. Harry looked around for his Uncle.

Uncle Vernon stood not far away. "Harry, my boy, it's good to see you," he said, glancing nervously at the tall blonde-haired Wizard standing beside the Boy-Who-Lived. That the rotten bastard remembered their last meeting so well delighted Gilderoy. "Come along, Harry. Your Aunt Petunia is waiting to see you at home."

Harry stared at his uncle, the thought clear in his mind, Who was this man and what had they done with his uncle?

"Do you have your trunk? What of your bird's cage?" the morbidly obese man asked solicitously.

Dazed at the civil tone in his uncle's voice, Harry absently patted his pocket. "Shrunken."

His uncle grimaced, but nodded understandingly, "Convenient, that." He paused a moment as if unsure what to say or do next.

Gilderoy stepped into the gap, "Ah, Mr. Dursley," he said softly. "So good to see you again. And in such good health." The look he gave the man told him clearly that that condition could easily change if he wasn't careful. The dandy turned slightly towards the Grangers. "Oh, Miss Granger," he called.

She paused in mid-word and looked over to him. He waved her over. As she came closer, he said to Vernon, "I'd like you to meet Miss Hermione Granger, one of Mr. Potter's classmates and his best friend. And those two adults with her are her parents. Mr. Granger, Mrs. Granger, Miss Granger, this is Mr. Vernon Dursley. He's one of the top salesmen at Grunnings Drills, and is even in line for a Vice Presidency." That last bit had Dursley sweating as he wondered how the Wizard had learned something he had only that week found out himself. "The Grangers," he explained to Vernon, "are both professionals in London, Dentists."

"Harry lives with the Dursleys. Vernon's wife, Petunia, is Mr. Potter's aunt, his mother's sister," Gilderoy explained. "Harry is going to stay with the Dursleys for a couple of weeks, and then he'll be staying with his godfather for the rest of the summer."

Vernon looked surprised at hearing this, and then pleased as he realized he wasn't going to be stuck with the boy the entire summer. A few moments later Harry/Gilderoy watched as both groups left the building for their respective vehicles.

Hedwig was waiting in the entryway on the staircase balustrade when Gilderoy walked in at Grimmauld Place.

"Ah, Hedwig," he said gently rubbing the owl's head. "I can't tell you how happy I am to see again. I envy Harry that he has you and I don't, I do miss you." The owl gave him an uncertain look, blinking. "Well," he continued, "You needn't worry about that. Harry is staying at Privet Drive for the next two weeks, and then he will be here."

The owl gave him an angry look.

"Now don't be that way, Hedwig, this was the easiest way to let you in on the secret. Besides, it will be another hour before he is home. In the meantime, could you deliver a message for me to Miss Granger? I'm sure she in turn will have a message for you to deliver to Harry. And he will have one for you to return to her!" The owl looked pleased at the prospect of some deliveries in the works.

.

Miss Granger,

As I mentioned, Harry will be at Privet Drive for the next two weeks, then he will move to another address. I will advise you and your parents of the new address at the appropriate time. I expect you will spend a lot of time here with Harry during the day while your parents are at work when that happens. I am sure you both will enjoy playing with each other all summer. You can tell you parents to expect many invitations to come over for dinner, and to watch you demonstrate the magic you have learned.

That's right! Once you are here you can perform magic without fear that the Ministry will detect what you are doing and cause problems. The house is extremely well hidden from magical detection of most any kind. You can certainly help Harry improve how he handles his wand without fear of detection by adults.

Perhaps you should tell Harry about this, as well, and give him something to look forward to doing with you.

Sincerely,

Gilderoy Lockhart,

Order of Merlin, Third Class, blah, blah, blah, you know the rest.

.

And with any kind of luck, his surprise would be ready when St. Mungos released Sirius. And for the rest of the summer there were a couple of projects he needed to finish, including making sure Grimmauld Place survived Harry, Remus, Sirius, and Bell. But right now, he had a few things to finish downstairs.

(◎_⊙)

Bell's suite had become Harry/Gilderoy's potions workshop after his successful heist regarding the Lestranges. The Goblins had been extremely happy with him at the return of their "lost" items — apparently quite a few had been in the vaults — but it took a sharp eye to see so. Later he would see if he could turn that to his advantage in looting a few other Death Eater Vaults.

Much had happened in Bell's suite over the three weeks since then. He had spent every evening with Bell, not that she was awake to notice.

He was still somewhat amazed that his scheme had worked as well as it did. Ten points to Lockhart for excellent planning and execution!

The Witch had remained asleep on her bed — the Draught of the Living Dead was such a useful potion! — curtained off from the rest of the room the entire time. Kreacher had done a marvellous job of watching her, checking periodically that her condition was unchanged and dusting her as needed during the day.

Gilderoy had spent the three days after the heist studying her left arm closely. Voldemort's brand, he had determined, was a form of the protean charm linking her to all the other Death Eaters, with a connection to her magical core. Plus, it linked directly to her nervous system. It provided a way for evil bastard to punish and communicate with his followers. He would always be able to find a follower anywhere. It was also a drain on the Witch's magic. A minute drain, but a drain. For his plan for the Witch to work, he had to get rid of the brand. So far, everything he had tried had failed.

He had stood to one side, the Deathly Hallows stone in hand, and spun it three times. After a pause, a ghostly image had appeared. "Why did you call me?" Merlin had said. Harry had smiled grimly, "I had little choice. I need the help of those much better versed than I am in this sort of thing." He had pointed at the Witch's arm and the brand on it. "I need to remove that brand, but no spell or potion I can find will do the trick. Examine it and advise me. It is related to the protean charm. A similar mark is created in the sky with the spell morsmordre."

The ghost had drifted over to the woman and studied her arm. "You cannot use magic alone. You must use a potion as well."

A long conversation had ensued and involved several more ghosts responding to Death's Ring. The result had Harry saying, "Fawkes? Can you help me?" He had tried several times and had been about to give up when the Phoenix had appeared in burst of flames and a trilling song. Harry grinned broadly, he had always enjoyed talking to the exotic creature. "Thank you so much for coming," he had said, reaching over and stroking the bird now perched on the back of his chair. "I am trying to remove the Death Eater tattoo from Bell, here." He had pointed at her arm. "The advice I've been given is a combination of magic and potion, but for the potion I need Phoenix Tears. I have some of your favourite treats, those lemon drops Dumbledore kept at his desk." He had pointed to a small bowl piled high with the sweets and sitting on the table beside Bell's bed.

He had managed to coax the brilliant bird into filling most of a tenth-ounce potion bottle — almost forty drops of the precious liquid. "Again, I thank you Fawkes," Harry had said. "I hope to accomplish much good with these tears." He had paused a moment thinking as the bird downed a few more of the lemon drops it loved. "Fawkes, if I need more tears to save others, would you be willing to help me? Perhaps as a remembrance to your friend Dumbledore?"

The bird had looked at him for a long moment, and then bobbed its head.

Harry had grinned. "Bless you, Fawkes. If this works, I shall tell everyone that the Great Dumbledore discovered the method for removing the Death Eater mark. It will provide an extra incentive for Death Eater's to repent their evil ways. Perhaps Madam Bones can use it as leverage into getting spies into the Death Eater camp by promising her spies that she will remove the mark in exchange when the fight is over."

Fawkes had seemed to think that was a splendid idea. He flamed out after finishing off the entire bowl of treats. Harry had shaken his head. He had read Phoenix's lived off spices and morning dew, but still, an entire bowl at once? He would have to keep a barrel on hand. He had wondered if the bird might like cinnamon and curry, as well.