( Number 12 )
"Note to self, do not get on Rita's bad side," he mused out loud as he sat down with his godfather and Remus for breakfast together, whilst he simultaneously read the morning paper and spooned cereal into his mouth.
"Right you are there pup," Sirius agreed with a grin. "At least she likes you; her bit about you is actually very flattering."
"What can I say, I'm a likeable guy," Harry voiced with a smirk between mouthfuls.
"What are you going to do today then pup?" Sirius asked, as Remus looked up from his own international newspaper with interest at the answer.
"Research project," he answered back vaguely, not wishing to share anything further with Remus within earshot. He had absolutely no desire for Dumbledore to be apprised of his magical side projects. The less the man knew, the better.
...
( Minister's Residence )
He reclined in his study chair, his study which was lavishly furnished to ensure his guests were well aware of his position's power as the head of the British Ministry of Magic. "Lucius, you can't be serious," Fudge protested to his special adviser and biggest financial backer.
"Why not, the Chief Warlock should stand trial for his failings at Hogwarts," Lucius pushed. "Even the Daily Prophet is calling for it."
"That means nothing Lucius, both of us know that. The Prophet is a newspaper, which means they'll say whatever they believe will sell the most papers, what they believe the public wants to hear," Fudge argued back rather intelligently to his old Hogwarts' housemate. "You know as well as I do that the Chief Warlock has a great amount of pull in the ministry; I'm not willing to move against him just because you say so... I rather like my job."
Lucius puffed himself up in his own chair in response, "Need I remind you just who helped you win your election Cornelius? I made you, you're Minister today because of my gold and my associates' efforts," Lucius expressed, giving him a sharp, dangerous look.
He showed his own smile, "Need I remind you that I am the only reason that Madam Bones doesn't have a ministry search warrant to investigate your shady dealings...I can change that with but a simple flick of my quill," Fudge countered with his own show of confidence, knowing that backing down to Lucius' demands now would just make the dangerous politician bolder and far more demanding at their next meeting. Lucius' eyes seemed to darken.
"However, I agree with you that an investigation needs to be launched to look into the security failings of Hogwarts and her staff. The Ministry of Magic needs to be seen as being proactive in his matter, to help counter the public's fears of Hogwarts being unsafe for their children."
"Naturally," Lucius voiced dryly, as if it was the most obvious thing in the world and then pouring himself some vintage firewhisky from a nearby crystal decanter. "Has there been any mention by the goblins of to whom the Potter estate, vaults, and properties are going to?"
He shook his head in response, since he too had made enquires on the subject. "No, they are remaining tight-lipped about the matter as always, but they have confirmed at least that there was a will left by the boy," he offered, which surprised him that the boy had even considered the matter at such a young age.
"Of course," Lucius replied thoughtfully.
...
( Ministry of Magic )
"Madam Bones, there was an enquiry made into Mr. Potter's wand activity earlier this morning by Auror Dietz," Auror Adams offered, as soon as her office door was shut and sealed and the anti-surveillance charms were engaged.
"Interesting," Madam Bones noted dispassionately, as she quickly wrote the named auror down on a nearby piece of parchment. "Continue to discreetly monitor any and all enquires made about it and anything to do with Mr. Potter. I want the names of any moles within our department."
"Yes boss," the seasoned Auror replied, before leaving her alone with her thoughts.
As soon as her office door shut, she took a moment to consider the latest developments and the identity of the newly discovered mole to her growing list of possible traitors. There were already five names on it. Five people she expected were selling and/or passing on information about current Auror activities and investigations to different parties for whatever reason, money, blackmail, to curry favour, etc.
She mentally pat herself on the back at her own foresight for disabling the tracking charms on Mr. Potter's wand and changing its official status to 'dead' in the ministry records' office to help truly sell the illusion of Mr. Potter being truly dead.
Nevertheless she planned to confront those suspected moles shortly, in fact as soon as the current sting operation was complete and not a moment before. She had no intention of ending it too soon, lest she miss anybody in the roundup. After all, she couldn't afford to have such dangerous information leaks in her own department.
Hopefully the threat of imprisonment in Azkaban would get the moles talking and maybe even allowing them to be turned against their original masters. But first she had to dispatch more of her Aurors on several false leads to keep up the appearance that she was actively searching for Peter...
...
( Slytherin Common Room )
Daphne carefully wrote her private letter in the corner of her dorm room, as she started to relay recent events taking place around the school to her friend and ally who was currently playing dead. She had to admit, it was a rather ingenious plan to help lure out his attackers, and that was something she could admire. Whilst Harry did not reveal the name of the person that had hired Peter, he had hinted that he already knew who it was who had ordered his death by Peter's under skilled hands, and had asked her to be his eyes and ears in the school whilst he was gone.
She could easily guess what Harry's private motivations were; he simply wanted to know who celebrated his death and who slandered his name and reputation so that when he finally returned to life (and school) he could mark them as the enemies they were. A sly, delighted smile appeared on her soft feminine features. Naturally, she would have done the same if she was in his position.
She enjoyed the silent thrill of the shadowy game she was playing within her house, how she closely watched all their reactions. Of course, she wasn't playing the role of spy for free; she expected a couple favours in return for her efforts and she knew that Harry always paid his debts...and collected for that matter. Gently pushing a rogue lock of blonde hair behind her ear she considered the days to come.
The school was subtly changing, shifting with the removal of the aging Headmaster and the promotion of the stern faced Professor McGonagall to the role of Headmistress. She could already tell that discipline in the school was going to become much harsher, more draconian, much like how Professor McGonagall ran her own classes.
Succinctly, but comprehensively, she wrote down an accurate description of the day's events, whilst recording the names of several of her housemates that had made insulting remarks about him and the exact words they used, if she could remember.
She wondered what the fall out of all this would be. She knew that Harry wasn't the type of person to simply forgive and forget, he was a consummate Slytherin at heart, one who would remember such sleights against him and repay them with interest.
However, the most surprising person in all this had been Pansy, who had, since the Ministry's Christmas Ball, been staying neutral in terms of Potter. After Harry's death she had joined back on Draco's bandwagon, just like the simple follower she was.
She considered the matter of Pansy and Draco again before she accurately noted down Pansy's own silly remarks about Harry. After all, Pansy was a possible rival for Harry's affections in the years to come, a minor rival to be sure, but a rival nonetheless, so she wanted to ensure that that friendship was either destroyed or fractured as much as possible to effectively remove Pansy from the equation.
Yes, it was a tad spiteful and manipulative, but her parents had ordered her to do so. Frankly, her parents were sending her a lot of mixed signals these days, one minute it was to get closer to Harry, the next minute was to back off and focus on her betrothed.
Reaching for her perfume bottle, she gently sprayed some of the flowery liquid onto the tanned parchment, just like her mother's lessons had advised, followed quickly by a drying charm. Sealing the letter with a sticking charm and carefully addressing the letter to Lord Black, she carefully poured some melted red wax on the envelope and pressed her own family heir ring to the cooling wax, leaving her house crest displayed on the envelope.
...
if you want to read ahead of the public release you can join my p atreon :
p atreon.com/loveran