Chapter 27
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Time flew quickly, erasing from the minds of Hogwarts students all the vivid and unpleasant memories of the tragedy that had occurred during the first round of the Goblet of Fire. Those memories, of course, had not disappeared completely, but they had faded into a haze, making them less and less frequently recalled. The Commission was already taken for granted and its actions did not occupy the students' minds. Something else reigned in their minds now, namely, thoughts of the approaching Christmas Ball. It was open to all students from fourth to seventh year, guests from other participating schools, and the younger students of Hogwarts who their older mates wished to invite. The boys had the dilemma of who to invite, the girls had the dilemma of what to wear. Only the tiger team didn't bother with that question. Harry was going with Fleur, Neville with Millicent, Draco with Daphne, and Ron with Astoria.
Potter didn't even need to ask Delacourt, the answer was already clear. In fact, if he had doubted that the girl would respond to him with anything other than agreement, he would have learnt a lot of good things about himself and received a couple of affectionate slaps. Neville did not wisely put Butlestrode on notice that she would be his date to the ball and left before the girl could find anything to say to him. There wasn't much trouble with the Greengrass sisters either. Daphne and Astoria had agreed to Draco and Ron's offer to accompany them to the feast almost without hesitation. Harry suspected that the older of the Greengrass sisters was accommodating because she had some feelings for Malfoy. The younger one, on the other hand... Ron was aware of the fact that the girl was rather windy and would seek advantage in everything when she grew up, but.... He liked her, that's all. Apparently, the Greengrasses were destined to give at least one of their daughters to the red-haired wizard, not Weasley, but Pruett. The friends had taken Ron's choice calmly, deciding that the heart could not command it. And in fact, if anything, they would quickly reeducate her. It's not for nothing that they say bears can be trained.
But apart from the Holy Ball, the boys were in danger of seeing Mrs Weasley at Hogwarts. The last letter Ginny had sent to her mother, as it turned out, had not reached its destination. Old Earl, one of the family's two feathered postmen, had passed away on the way from Hogwarts to the Nora. Thus, the 'old man' had provided Ron with a reprieve from the scandal that the Weasley matriarch was sure to cause.
As we know, all good things come to an end one day. And so the reprieve ended. Minerva McGonagall had finally found the time and summoned the Weasley couple to Hogwarts to set their son straight. So now Ron was on his way to the Headmaster's office, where a thundering Mrs Weasley was waiting for him, and Draco, having snuck out of the castle through a secret passage, was hurrying Fudge, or rather Regulus, to hurry to Hogwarts. After all, with the first face of the magical world, no one would be able to do any harm to his friend. Harry, however, decided to be on the safe side and beckoned the Pruett family solicitor to go to the school to protect his client and his fortune from the greedy clutches of Molly and Arthur. Meanwhile Neville was explaining the situation to Sirius and Lucius.
The red-haired young man stopped at the gargoyle. Taking a deep breath, he was about to say the password, but then the stone statue gave him a sympathetic look, as it seemed to Ron, and silently moved aside. Pruett stared at it in surprise; for as long as he could remember, the gargoyle had never opened a doorway without a password, and it had always been accompanied by a grinding sound. Something inside him twitched and the young man felt a strange, tugging sensation inside his stomach. He stepped onto the stairs and slowly made his way up. Another oddity-the spiral staircase remained motionless. Ron froze outside the study door and listened.
Who said the castle was undead? The boy was ready to spit in the face of anyone who said that. Hogwarts had given him the opportunity to find out the answer to a question Ron had been wondering about since his last life. Now he knew why he was on THAT list that contained the names of his friends and many other purebloods. The young man slid down the wall, trying to digest what he had heard. Turns out Ron Weasley was never the son of Molly and Arthur Weasley, he was the son of Gideon Pruett and his fiancée. His father had died before Vanessa herself had even found out she was pregnant. And later, barely in time to give birth, she herself and her parents were murdered by members of the Order of the Phoenix. The Weasley couple were responsible for the death of his mother, and Dumbledore for the death of his maternal grandparents. The Weasley's took him in, expecting to get their hands on both fortunes, but it didn't work out. That's when Dumbledore suggested they adopt Ron outright. By some ritual they were able to cut him off from his mother's and father's bloodline, and then brought him into their own. That way, both states were not supposed to go to anyone. But apparently the magic had found a loophole and named the young man heir to the Pruett family.
Ron went downstairs in shock, where Snape intercepted him. Seeing the state he was in, Severus towed the lad to the apartments allocated to Lucius. When he saw Neville, he seemed to come to his senses, even making his own way to the sofa under the worried glances of his elders and drinking the calming potion Snape had shoved under his nose without argument. And then Ron spoke... The mage's hair stood on end as the redhead recounted what he had just overheard. Molly, Arthur, and Dumbledore, in what they thought was a private conversation, were keeping the details straight, trying to figure out what they had missed and what had caused Ron's name to change. The end of the conversation was caught by Harry, Regulus, Draco and the Pruett family solicitor. The goblin, for the most part, didn't care about how the wizards dealt with each other. But the fact that the money was lying around idle really displeased this folk. The goblin's eyes glittered unkindly. Those blood traitors and the headmaster had acted to the detriment of Gringotts. They had deliberately hidden the heir of two ancient families from the guardians of the money. The goblins could not forgive such a thing, for because of these three they had lost so much gold, which could have brought them the working fortunes of two not at all poor families. It was because of these three that the money was lying dead weight, and if the heir himself would not have found out about it, then surely this information would have been buried in the memory of the direct participants of those events. Well, the head would need to inform the head of Gringotts as soon as possible.
Harry, Neville and Draco frowned at their upset friend. It's not easy to live with the knowledge that your parents don't love you and are doing everything they can to take away your power. But it's even harder when you realise that the people you once loved and called mum and dad are actually the murderers of your real parents. Ron was silent, and the others were silent as well. A second, a second, a third of silence and suddenly it was interrupted by a wild cry of pain, anger, despair. A man who was living his life for the second time, who had seen a lot of blood, who had been a murderer himself, and who had not broken down when betrayed by those closest to him, felt the full extent of how cruel life was. Ron screamed, falling to his knees and smashing his fists into the floor. He tried to dull the pain of his soul with the pain of his physical wounds. But was that possible? The mages froze, staring at him, not knowing what to do. The three of them here knew and understood what their friend was going through. But they could not help, it was beyond their power. Such mental wounds can only be healed with time. And no one could predict how long it would take before he was fully recovered. Finally, Harry shook off his stupor and walked over to his friend. Squatting down, he placed a hand on his shoulder, squeezing it rather hard. Support, that was all he could offer Ron right now. The memory of that red-haired mage rushing after him into Azkaban came to mind. Harry closed his eyes, remembering. And then he spoke quietly. Ron didn't seem to hear him, but it only seemed that way. The support of a friend and leader was what he needed most right now. The quiet, calm words fell as icy drops on the fire raging inside his soul, gradually extinguishing it. Carrot began to calm down. He knew for certain that Harry was on his side and would always support him, and that everything he had promised him would soon be realised.
Severus walked silently over to the boys sitting on the floor and handed the brunet a vial of dreamless sleep potion. One look at the contents of the crystal vial was enough for Harry to realise what was in it. He nodded to the potion maker and held out the vial to his friend. He drank it without a second thought. A few minutes later, Ron was already asleep on the couch.
- I think we can go to Dumbledore and solve the problem ourselves," Lucius said softly, though there was no point in lowering his voice; the redhead wouldn't wake up now, even if a cannon started firing over his ear.
- I agree with you, Lord Malfoy," the goblin reminded himself in a squeaky voice.
- Mr Jarozorg," Harry turned to the solicitor, thanking Merlin that he had managed to remember his name on his first visit to the bank in THIS life, "we would be most grateful if you could defend Ron's interests to Dumbledore and Weasley.
- It is my duty, Lord Potter-Evans," the goblin replied, grinning.
It was obvious that he was already anticipating how Dumbledore and Weasley would react to not seeing the Pruetts' money.
- Harry, Draco, Neville," Regulus addressed the boys in the guise of the Minister of Magic, "take Ron to the Hospital Wing and try to get Madam Pomfrey to come up with a reason for him to be in her fiefdom. And we'll pay Dumbledore a visit. After all, Lucius can represent Ron's side as a member of the board of trustees, and the honourable Jarozorg as the family's solicitor.
- And I, as a representative from the council of aristocrats, because Ron is the heir to an ancient, pureblood family and will be given the title of lord in the future," Sirius said.
Harry looked at the older mages carefully, then nodded. The boys left Malfoy's chambers, taking their red-haired friend with them, while the rest of the group went to Dumbledore's room. All except Snape, who headed for his apartments. It was too early for the Headmaster to know that his tame Eater was now playing on the other side.
Madam Pomfrey listened to the boys carefully and decided to help them. The woman had long ago noticed that Dumbledore was using the students for his own purposes and she didn't like it. But there was nothing Poppy could do against him, after all she was only a school wizard. And there was another reason why she had decided to help the boys. The request came from a young boy who she would have loved to help treat his ailments after the summer holidays, but she couldn't. It was Dumbledore's order. The woman felt guilty in front of Potter, and so she was going to at least partially redeem herself in this way.
Meanwhile, in the Headmaster's office, passions were raging. Lucius and Sirius were zealously defending Ron's rights. And the goblin was ready to declare war on the Weasleys and Dumbledore for demanding that they transfer the Pruett fortune to the redheaded family's safe. In the end, Jarozorg angrily shrieked that the head of Gringotts would find out about the unlawful demands of the trio and left for the bank through the fireplace. Whereupon the Minister of Magic stepped in. Yes, Dumbledore could not have expected such a decisive pressure from Fudge. He literally fell into a stupor, which was the decisive moment in their confrontation. As cocky as Albus was, he was well aware that if the Minister carried out his threat and made a public speech, his, Dumbledore's, influence would be shaken. Especially in light of past events. All Molly and Arthur could do was gulp for air like beached fish. And what could they do against the first face of England's magical world? Arthur realised that if he went against the Minister now, he would be unemployed tomorrow, and his family would need something to support. And Fudge finished his speech with an unprecedented news. It turned out that the Minister of Magic himself was taking young Pruett under his protection, and now no one would be able to decide anything for Ron without first agreeing the decision with the young man himself and Fudge. With that, he and the aristocrats left Dumbledore's office, leaving the old man and his acolytes to digest the news.