Part 12

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The school year was coming to an end. But not everyone was happy about it. Or rather, they wanted to get out of the castle. You bet: an attempt on the students, on the headmaster, an incomprehensible wave of magic, constant fights among the students on the grounds of suspicion - all this did not contribute to a pleasant and friendly atmosphere.

Meanwhile, Mephistopheles had made his way unhindered into Gryffindor tower and pulled out Tom Riddle's diary. Snickering at the diary's attempt to subdue him, Mephistopheles channelled a small pulse into the black notebook. This should have warned the Horcrux not to snark. Upon reaching the secret room, the Prince saw a tired but pleased Hermione, who was conjuring and delighted with the power of the spells.

- Hermie, be careful at first, your body isn't used to such strain," Mephistopheles stopped her friend.

- Harry, this is so... so cool, I'm so strong. - Hermione was running around unable to keep still, but stopped when she saw the notebook in her boyfriend's hands.

- We're going to do this now, aren't we?

- Why the ceremonies? - Mephistopheles was surprised and threw the notebook on the floor, pouring some magic into it. The diary opened and a ghostly figure stepped out of it. Tom Riddle looked around. Saw the two children and frowned.

- 'So it's you again, Harry Potter,' the ghost walked round in a circle and stopped his gaze on Hermione, 'and a mudblood,' Riddle barely finished speaking and fell to the floor, writhing in pain.

- I didn't let you speak, you brat! - Mephistopheles spoke softly, but his voice clearly exuded menace," You pathetic little brat, now, you're just a ghost, albeit a somewhat tangible one.

Tom Riddle tensed. His options were indeed limited, and he didn't have his wand. There was no point in applying moral pressure, for the ghost was sure it wouldn't work.

- So, Tom, when I was a year old, you killed my parents and tried to kill me. As you can imagine, I have a few complaints about that.

- Crucio Tantos," and Riddle rolls on the floor, howling in pain.

- How do you like that from a mudblood? - Hermione asked vindictively, lowering her wand.

- Now, Tom, you're going to tell me everything: your inner circle, the coordinates of the Eater Menorahs, your plans, connections, identities, everything. Or you die.

- Ha, you're not as clever as you first appeared! I made that Horcrux when I was 16 and I have no idea what I did next. I won't tell you that either. You can't kill me. I'm the Lord of the Fates and you're just a slug with powers. But sooner or later I'm going to kill you, Harry Potter, and I'll-" he was prevented from finishing by a beam of torture curses. This time Hermione held the spell for about 30 seconds.

- Well, if you don't want to be nice...

Mephistopheles raised his hands and chanted in an unknown language. A dead language that was known well if the creatures 10 of his world, an old language, consisting, in fact, not of words, but of sets of sounds. Those who created the language relied mostly on learning curses, but the complexity of the spells did not always justify the results and after the extinction of that race the language became dead. The wave of magic from Mephistopheles engulfed the ghost and it screamed and began to thin out. As it thinned, images of thoughts, echoes of emotion came into Mephistopheles' head. This was not memory absorption, though it resembled it. Specific memories clung by association and could be pulled out at the right moment. Trouble was, Mephistopheles miscalculated the power and Riddle dispelled before all the information passed to the Prince. The diary rotted and crumbled to dust.

- What, that's it? I was hoping for a fight," Hermione's eyes burned, "and this is the Dark Lord," she said disappointed.

- You be careful what you say, Hermie. What we've seen is just shards, the real Lord can be a serious threat even on his own, and he has followers, as you realise. Luckily, I was able to get a lot of things out of his head, including the knowledge of how to affect the markings of the eaters. I didn't learn much, but I'm sure it's enough. And if you want to fight so badly, call Malfoy and beat him up.

- He's boring, he whimpers, he's weak," Hermione grimaced, "Come on, let's go, we have exams tomorrow and then we can go home.

***

The exams went by too quickly. The programme was elementary, so both Hermione and Harry passed all the subjects with top marks. Their classmates were also keeping up, but understandably lagging behind. Ginny Weasley returned to school just before the exams. It was explained to the students that the girl had been bewitched, but the residue remained. But the first avengers, some third year Gryffindor students, had met with an unexpected rebuff from the redhead and ended up in the hospital wing with fractures. Apparently, some of Ginny's powers had merged with Tom's during their mind-meld, when the girl had had a particularly long chat with the diary. Her temper had become a little more rigid, but her brothers paid no attention to that.

Ginny herself walked around in creepy irritation. Her brothers, professors, classmates, and her parents pissed her off. But the girl realised that sticking out now was not in her best interest. She was preparing for exams, constantly catching herself on strange desires that were not distinguished by morality. At the potions exam, she brewed a potion against insomnia, and when the examiner gave her a grade, she snatched a small portion without anyone noticing. A few hours later Ron found himself in the hospital wing with poisoning. Ginny was amused by this. Looks like Mephistopheles had overdone the curse a little too much.

***

Malfoy-Menor.

Lucius Malfoy had already knocked over his fourth glass of whiskey. He had been thrashing around the Ministry for the last twenty-four hours trying to make amends for the scandal. He was sitting at the Minister's office when the results of Ginny Weasley's examination were placed on Farage's desk. In addition to an unknown curse, the girl had a mental fixation on falling in love with Malfoy Junior. Lucius simply turned white with rage, and then with the realisation of what the aristocrats might think of their kind if this information was leaked to the masses. Lucius didn't believe for a Knut that his son had done it. At least not willingly. So his masters were involved. But why? Obviously he'd cover up the scandal, but why? To divert attention? But from what?

To cover his tracks? Perhaps, but then who was behind the assassination attempts? These questions demanded answers that Lucius didn't have. The scandal had been nipped in the bud by a mountain of gold, but Malfoy was used to throwing money left and right. The only thing they found on the paperwork was the curse. The holidays were about to start and Lucius would try to get any information he could out of Draco. Anything that would put him on target.

***

Hogwarts Express.

The train was hurtling towards a rainy London. The children were glad that the year was finally over. Some wondered what would happen next year.

Harry and Hermione shared a compartment. Hermione talked about her plans for the summer, Mephistopheles listened and agreed to visit her. He himself was contemplating how to patch things up with his uncle and aunt. Certainly the money Vernon had received had lifted his spirits a little, but Mephistopheles knew that money was not enough. Something more substantial was needed and for that he was carrying a bunch of storage crystals from school. The Prince had ideas on how to use it. Why be friends when you can intimidate? Mephistopheles just needed a safe haven where he could rest or stash himself without arousing the suspicion of the headmaster.

Ron peeked into their compartment, but when he saw Hermione's furious look, he quickly vanished. Draco, who had been summoned by Hermione over the comms, stopped by. She began to instruct the white-haired boy on his actions during the holidays. He was to keep an eye on his father, his actions and reactions to certain events. Mephistopheles agreed with Hermione and inserted lines as the dialogue progressed. Malfoy didn't like the prospect of being a spy in his own house, but Hermione stimulated the Slytherin with a light poke under his knee, causing Draco to collapse at the girl's feet. Humiliated once again, Draco wandered away from the compartment.

The train pulled into the station. Harry and Hermione said goodbye warmly, with the agreement that Potter would visit the girl in mid-July. Draco headed towards his father and mother and here Mephistopheles once again decided to make a joke. Activating Draco's collar, securely covering the seventh year boy's back, Mephistopheles watched as Malfoy turned pale and grabbed his neck. When Lucius tried to apply the search spell, his mark was burned with fire and the blond turned pale. His mind was already spinning with theories, one scarier than the other. Laughing to himself, Mephistopheles decided that he would tell Hermione about it and hurried to the car park, where his uncle was waiting for him.

Vernon had arrived in a new car and looked very impressive in his work suit. After saying hello, Potter climbed into the front seat and the car started gently. There was no silence on the journey. Vernon asked Potter about school, which was somewhat surprising - after all, the fat man hadn't tolerated magic before. Apparently, having seen the financial benefits, Vernon had reconsidered his attitude to magic. Harry told his uncle how everything went at school only in general terms, for obvious reasons. Vernon wondered what else Harry had to offer as income and was surprised to see the all-black crystals.

- Is that jewellery?

- No Uncle, they are magical batteries so to speak. I'm sure I'll find a use for them.

Arriving home, Mephistopheles unpacked and was surprised when he was called to a celebratory dinner. It was celebrating the end of his school year and the dinner went off without incident.

The next day, Mephistopheles was concentrating on rummaging through Uncle Vernon's car. When Vernon found his nephew at his brand new disassembled car, he nearly had a heart attack. But Harry calmed him down by explaining his plan. Since the crystals contained universal energy, one of them could be adapted as an infinite fuel. Of course, not exactly infinite, but 1% of the entire charge was equivalent to about 1300 litres of fuel. Uncle, hearing about the possibility of not spending any more money on petrol disappeared from the garage and didn't look away.

By late afternoon, the Prince was finished. He had modernised the engine and the fuel system. The car could now easily carry up to 1.5 tonnes of cargo and reach speeds of 280km/h.

- Well, Uncle, you now have the world's only car with an infinite charge. By the way, if anything happens, you'd better text me at school, I'll keep the owl. If the service staff get under the bonnet, they might think you've stolen a ship from aliens.

The next morning Harry moved out of Dudley's old bedroom and into a separate room in the attic. His uncle had put a telly and a console in there and stuffed the room with other things useful to a teenager. In his opinion, of course. Mephistopheles, on the other hand, was happy to have a separate area. Here he could do small rituals, brew potions and much more. But the first thing the Prince did was draw blood Runes that would restrict magic and keep out signals of witchcraft outside of Hogwarts if he had to conjure with his wand.

For the next few weeks, Mephistopheles was busy making various potions, mostly for the Dursleys. But he saved a few for himself and Hermione as well. It was nearing the end of June, and Hermione was due in a couple of weeks. Mephistopheles wanted to go to Paris, to see their magical quarter, to do some shopping. On the television they announced the news - Sirius Black had escaped from prison. At first Mephistopheles didn't understand what a fugitive from Azkaban was doing on the Muggle news. Only then did he realise that the Minister had contacted the Muggles to take it easy on his own. Determined to find out more about Black, Mephistopheles raced to Diagon Ally and ordered a full dossier on Black from the goblins.

From the dossier.

34th generation pureblood mage, alive.

Ancestral gifts: berserker, animagus, potion maker, elementalist.

Black's heir is by right of blood.

Harold James Potter's godfather by will of magic.

Status: 700,000 Galleons + family safe, open only to the head -?

Wanted for the murder of 12 muggles and Peter Pettigrew. Reportedly betrayed the Potters and led the Dark Lord into the protection of the mansion. 12 years in Azkaban on level 3. Escaped in early June by unknown means.

***

Mephistopheles thought for a moment. If Black was his godfather by the will of magic, he would be torn by the backlash for betraying him. So there are only two possibilities here. Either the goblins are wrong, or the mistake was made by the court 12 years ago. The 2nd option, of course, is more likely.

Hermione called, I guess she heard about Black, too. Yeah, she did, poured a ton of information into his ears. Mephistopheles calmed the girl down, agreeing to discuss everything when they met. They also agreed on a date. On the 13th of July, they were to meet at the Grainger's house, there to make arrangements with Hermione's parents. The meeting was still a week away and Mephistopheles began to instruct his uncle, aunt and Dudley about the potions they had brewed.

- This is for weight loss, just be warned, it will all come out naturally so to speak.

- This is for you, Auntie, a rejuvenation potion.

- Dudley, here you go. When taken, it takes about an hour to take effect. Whatever you tell the teachers, even if it means the earth is flat, they'll believe you. It'll come in handy in the exam.

-I also prepared this for you, uncle, -the guy put a pile of coins on the table, obviously ancient. - They're regular gold coins, but I've adjusted their age a bit. Ordinary collectors won't realise the trick. I don't know how they'll be valued, but I'm counting on your discretion.

- I'm going away in a couple of days, I won't be back until the end of August, and that's not a sure thing. Maybe then I'll go straight to school, I don't know. Uncle, can you give me a lift in the car?

Vernon agreed and two days later drove Potter to the other end of London. After dropping him off at the Grainger's house, after a respectful glance around the house, his uncle drove off, tyres shrieking.

Hermione's parents, as it turned out, had gone to Switzerland on a long holiday, leaving their daughter home alone. Mephistopheles looked at Hermione suspiciously, assuming mental interference, but it turned out to be a common situation for the Graingers.

The very next day Harry and Hermione were off to Paris. Then Vienna, Madrid. They'd been to the islands. Hermione wanted to pick up a pile of books, but Mephistopheles led her to an artefact shop and Hermione changed her priorities. They shopped for both books and artefacts, Mephistopheles bought a lot of fancy clothes for the girl, to which Hermione only smiled embarrassedly.

A small ocassion occurred in Rome. So, in one of the shops, one of the artefacts went berserk when Mephistopheles touched it. The shopkeeper glanced over to the guard and they pointed their wands at Harry and Hermione. Mephistopheles never found out what made them so furious, because Hermione, who was frightened, used her wand to nail the shopkeeper to the ceiling with needles, and the guard just vanished. After wandering around the shop and looting a bit, Hermione spilled petrol on the floor.

- What if we left footprints," the girl explained at Mephistopheles' questioning look. They left the place, and the shop was slowly but surely going up in flames. The diversionary charms were meant to distract attention until everything burned down.

So, after travelling the world, Mephistopheles and Hermione met Christopher. He was a smuggler, carrying anything that could be sold. Mephistopheles pushed him a couple of bars of gold, which he made using the Philosopher's Stone. It was simple enough. Took the most malleable metal, shaped it into bars, carved patterns, and worked the Philosopher's Stone into the bars. Christopher was a squib, he knew about the magical world, but not everything. Mephistopheles decided that such an acquaintance could be useful to them. After exchanging contacts, they parted ways.

Autumn was approaching. It was already the end of August when Hermione and Potter had a conversation about Sirius Black. Harry showed what he had bought from the goblins and shared his logical conclusions. Hermione agreed with him and they decided that they would have to talk to Sirius anyway. There was a chance that the fugitive himself would want to talk to Potter, so Hermione suggested that they keep their heads down and wait. The prince agreed with her. There were still a couple of days until the 1st of September, which Hermione offered to spend at her house. Mephistopheles agreed, despite the interruptions in his body. After all, he was in fact 2362 years old, but hormones were raging quite strongly in this body. Besides, Hermione was already turning into a rather attractive girl. After restraining himself from such thoughts, Mephistopheles entered the house.

2 days flew by, Hermione was sorting out her things and artefacts, Mephistopheles was working on the protection of the house. He installed the same restraints as in his attic. He also equipped a stash, where he put some of the charged and free storage devices, some artefacts and some gold, both created and ordinary Galleons. Just in case.

When the morning of the 1st of September came, Hermione's parents returned. A little surprised by Harry's presence, they calmed down when the Prince fed them the version that he had come to pick Hermione up a couple of hours ago. Calling a taxi, the boy and girl drove to the train station. There was a crowd at the station as usual, only this time there were also aurors who were apparently guarding the children in case Sirius Black attacked. With a snort, Mephistopheles made his way to the carriage and took him and Hermione's seat. When Hermione dragged Malfoy in, the pair gave the white-haired man a hard-hitting interrogation.

Draco had laid it all out. At the beginning of the holidays, Lucius had persisted in trying to find out the identities that had forced his son to swear the oath, but hadn't made much headway. All he knew was that there were two of them, both no older than 5th year and that one of them was a Gryffindor student. Nothing out of the ordinary happened over the summer, except that Lucius was constantly locked in his office, negotiating with who knows who through the through mirror. As they talked, Draco glanced at Hermione's shapely legs - despite the windy weather it was hot and Grainger was travelling in shorts. When Hermione saw where the white-haired man was looking, she silently shook her fist at Draco and he instantly turned away. He didn't want to come to Hogwarts beaten up.