Disclaimer: δῶς μοι πᾶ στῶ καὶ τὰν γᾶν κινάσω
*****
Neville and Harry took the Floo in McGonagall's office and arrived in the large London townhouse that Hermione referred to as her 'weekday home.'
"Welcome to the second house, Mr. Harry, Mr. Neville," one of the Granger maids greeted them upon their arrival. "Mrs Granger is waiting for both of you in the dining room. Do you know where that is or would you like a guide?"
"This is my first time in this house," Harry replied.
"This way," the maid said, leading them down the hall.
"This house?" Neville muttered.
"According to Hermione, this is her house for the week. The castle they own is just the weekend house, so it doesn't count."
"Oh," Neville replied. "I think we've got a house in London too, but Gran never uses it. Says it'll be mine when I get out of Hogwarts and want some space to myself."
"Does it have a greenhouse?"
"Merlin!" Neville gasped. "It has to... doesn't it?"
"Might be something you want to check on, Neville," Harry stated. "Even if it does have one already, what are the chances of it having one that meets your standards?"
"Good point, Harry. Thanks." The boy's eyes unfocused as he started making a mental list of what he would need.
"No problem, Neville."
"Uh, Harry?" A sudden thought caused him to snap back to his current predicament.
"Yeah, Neville?"
"What exactly does one do on a date?" the boy asked. "Do you have any idea? I've never been on one before."
"Not sure myself, Neville," Harry confessed. "I've only gone on one official date myself and it was a bloody disaster."
"Oh."
"Don't worry. Remember how Hermione said her uncle would be here?"
"Yeah?"
"He's here to help us," Harry said.
"Oh. Great." They walked into the dining room to find Hermione's mother seated at the table. "Thank you for having me, Mrs Granger," Neville said formally, snapping off a quick bow.
"Though distant, we are family, Neville," Anne stated with a smile. "You are welcome in our home and may call me by my given name."
"Okay," Neville agreed, blushing in pleasure.
"Did you manage to get something to eat, or did my daughter chase you away before you could get to that part?" Hermione's mother asked with a raised eyebrow.
"Didn't get a chance to eat at Hogwarts; managed to distract Hermione before she could chase us away," Harry replied cheerfully.
The woman nodded to one of the servants. "Breakfast will be here shortly. My brother will be here in an hour or two if we are lucky. If we are not lucky, he will arrive at some point after noon." It all depended on how hungover the man was and how quickly he could disengage himself from the tart of the night. Hopefully the degenerate would take into account the fact that everything he taught the two boys would likely be used on dates with two of his nieces after he found out why he'd been asked to come.
"Thank you," Harry replied.
"No, Harry, thank you for agreeing to show Neville around the normal world for us," she replied. "I'd like to add my thanks, Neville, for agreeing to go on a date with my niece."
"Um... right," Neville said. He hadn't been aware he'd had a choice.
"Suppose the first thing to learn is money," Harry said. The boy pulled a handful of change and a couple of notes out of his pocket. "As you can see, the value is printed on each one."
"What's this one worth?" Neville asked, pointing to one of the coins.
"Five pence," Harry replied.
"How can you tell?"
"It has five pence stamped on it - see?" Harry pointed out the number and word.
"What about this one?" He pointed to another coin.
"One pound," Harry said, pointing to the writing.
"What comes after pound?" Neville asked hesitantly.
"Nothing. Just two things to remember - pence and pounds," Harry replied. "One hundred pence to one pound."
The pure-blood sighed in relief. "That sounds straight-forward enough."
"It can get more complex than that, but we'll save that for later," Harry stated, thanking all that was holy that they'd been born after Decimal Day.
"If it helps, all the paper is pounds," Anne added helpfully.
"Thanks," Neville said. "I think I understand."
"Which reminds me," Harry said. The boy pulled a roll of bills out of his pocket. "Just in case you don't get a chance to go to Gringotts."
"Thanks, Harry. I'll pay you back as soon as I can," Neville said.
"Whenever it's convenient for you," Harry said with a shrug. "We're friends, Neville. I'm not worried about it."
IIIIIIIIII
When Hermione arrived at the workspace that had been set aside for them in the engine shed, she found Luna staring at one of their engineering texts with a look that was a perfect mix of concentration and confusion.
"Hermione, would you mind taking a look at something for me?" the little blonde asked, not taking her eyes off the book.
"Sure, Luna," Hermione agreed, walking over to the other witch's side.
"Am I imagining things, or is this man holding a Higgs Type SR Automatic Arithmancy Calculating Device?"
"I... I don't think it's your imagination," Hermione said. "Would you please copy the page for me, Luna."
"All right, Hermione," Luna agreed. "Are you going to send it to the Ministry to report a possible breach of the Statute of Secrecy?"
"I'm going to send it to my father with a request that he find out what it is," Hermione replied. "If there was a breach, it happened ages ago, judging by the clothes they're wearing." She flipped to the beginning of the book. "And the copyright date."
IIIIIIIIII
Hermione's favorite uncle arrived as they were finishing their breakfasts and took an empty chair next to his younger sister and promptly stole a scone from her plate.
"I can have the staff get you something if you'd like," Anne said as she directed a glare at the stolen baked good.
"No need to trouble yourself," her brother said with a suave grin. "You know that I don't like to cause anyone any trouble on my account."
She snorted, half in exasperation and half in amusement at his remark.
"Good morning, Jim," Harry said greeting the man. "This is Neville. Neville, Hermione's Uncle Jim, your distant cousin."
"Good to meet you, cousin," the big man said calmly.
"Good to meet you too, sir," Neville replied.
"Call me Jim," the man continued.
"Thanks for agreeing to help, Jim," Harry said.
"Always happy to," Hermione's uncle said with a grin. "Particularly when I know what I'm helping with."
"Neville's got a date with one of Hermione's cousins, and I was hoping you'd be willing to give him some pointers on how to behave," Harry explained.
The man eyed the short, slightly pudgy boy standing next to his niece's paramour. "Which one of my nieces?"
"Juliet."
"One of the few I can stand," the man said honestly. "That means if you hurt her, I'll hurt you. Severely. Understand?"
"Yes," Neville gulped.
"Good. Now that the threats are out of the way, we can get down to business." A wide grin split the man's face. "How likely are you to have to deal with an assassination attempt while you're out on your date?"
"Less than Harry, but more than the average bloke," Neville replied, starting to feel at ease, as Hermione's uncle reminded him a bit of some of the Aurors that used to drop by to check on him when he was younger.
"Right," Jim agreed. He shared a look with his sister while making a mental note to request that extra security be present when the lad was out with his niece. "We'll worry about it later. First, I think, we'll visit my tailor."
"Um, can we stop at Gringotts first to convert some of my Galleons?" Neville asked. "Harry's given me a bit of mu- um, a few pounds, but I don't think I have much."
"My treat." The big man's smile deepened. "Actually, I have a much better idea. Let me ask you a few questions about pure-blood society and the wizarding world and I'll charge everything to my employer as a business expense."
"Harry?" Neville looked over at the other boy.
"If it helps, his boss is friends with Madam Bones and knows about magic," Harry stated. "Up to you, Neville."
"So long as you don't want me to violate the Statute," Neville said slowly. "But are you sure? I really can pay if I can go to the bank first."
"How 'bout this? I'll treat you to a tour of my world, and you do the same for me in your world at a later date?" Jim offered, eager to get a chance to pick the boy's brain.
"Okay," Neville agreed. "But only if I can get you a new set of robes when you do."
"Deal," Jim laughed, sticking his hand out.
"Am I supposed to spit on it before we shake?" Neville asked, having a vague memory about Muggle handshake etiquette.
"No," Jim replied. "People do it, but they don't tend to do it often these days, and almost never when they come from our social class."
"Right." Neville shook the large man's hand.
"Coming, Harry?" Jim asked. "Before you answer, you should remember that my brother-in-law will never forgive you if he finds out you had a chance to screw Charlie out of a few pounds and didn't take it."
"Sure," Harry agreed.
"Finished eating?" the big man asked, upon receiving affirmative nods, he continued. "We'll take my brother in law's car for three good reasons," Jim announced. "The first is that it will annoy him to discover that I took the opportunity to steal every drop of good booze he had in it. The second is because it's large enough for the three of us, which my Aston is not. The third is that you won't accidentally activate the ejection seat or the hidden machine guns if you hit the wrong button by mistake." The two boys laughed in appreciation of the Joke. Jim snapped his fingers, summoning one of the servants. "Get a driver for whatever my brother in law's newest, biggest, toy is and bring it around front."
"At once, sir," the servant agreed after a quick glance at the lady of the house for approval. "I shall have it brought around front."
IIIIIIIIII
Phil's eyebrows went up when his driver arrived with a letter from his little girl. One advantage to having people in Hogsmeade was that it cut communication down from the time it took from an owl to fly from Scotland to London to the time it took a dedicated messenger to get from the school to Hogsmeade and from Hogsmeade through the floo. His eyebrows went up when he read her request and saw the image that came along with it.
The man picked up the phone and dialed a number from memory. "It's me. I've got a bit of an odd request, something I'd like you to fill as quickly as you can. Today if possible, soon if not."
IIIIIIIIII
In a few minutes, they were on the road and Jim was exploring the liquor cabinet, a look of profound disgust adorning his face. "That bloody bastard!"
"What's wrong?" Harry asked.
"My no good brother in law took out all the good stuff and replaced everything alcoholic with the garbage the government uses to strip the paint off old navy ships," Jim replied. "I'm not sure this is something I can forgive. There are jokes and there's depriving a man of the finer things in life." The big man pulled three bottles of ginger beer out of the fridge and handed one to each boy. "Still, they say sacrifice is good for the soul."
"Where are we going first?" Harry prompted.
"Savile Row to meet with my tailor," Jim replied. "Haberdasher or barber after that."
IIIIIIIIII
Anne summoned her maid after she was sure that her brother and the boys were gone and unlikely to return any time soon.
"Suzanna. Please send an invitation to Dame Longbottom for afternoon tea at her earliest possible convenience," Anne ordered. "I'm a bit worried by young Neville's belief that he's a possible assassination target and I would like to hear her thoughts on how accurate that belief is before deciding on any action."
"Yes, ma'am."
"Thank you, Suzanna."
IIIIIIIIII
Jim spent much of the ride skillfully and subtly extracting every bit of information about wizarding society and government from Neville. It was a novel change, being on the collection side rather than the user side for once - not one he thought he'd enjoy making permanent, of course, but certainly worth doing again at some future point.
He seamlessly switched to a more mundane subject the instant they stepped out of the car.
"Juliet is very shy and very intelligent," Jim said as they walked into the tailor's shop. He glanced at the proprietor. "Put a rush on this one. We'll come back in an hour for the first fitting, and an hour after that for the second."
"Yes, sir," the tailor agreed.
The boy's did their best to imitate Jim's easy manner as they endured being measured. "Her current obsession seems to be natural science; botany, biology, that sort of thing."
Hermione's uncle switched from dispensing advice to asking questions and back as they hit his favorite barber shop, haberdasher, and to the club for a meal. All interspersed by return visits to the tailor for more fittings.
As they returned to the Granger family's townhouse later that evening, Jim couldn't resist dispensing a few last bits of advice to ensure that his niece's date with the shy magic-user would be interesting, if not enjoyable.
"If nothing else, remember to make a witty remark after you dispose of an assassin," Jim continued. "For example; if you throw one into the back of a garbage truck to be compacted, you might say something along the lines of `What a crushing bore.' Or if it was an industrial shredder, one might say something like `Oh my, he's gone all to pieces.' I find it helps to think up as many situations and remarks as possible beforehand."
Neville turned his laughter into a cough as the man trailed off. "I'll try to remember that if I ever have to dispose of an assassin."
"I'm completely serious," Jim stated. "It does help to think up situations and remarks ahead of time. Just remember that you can't think of everything and don't worry about it too much. The act of thinking and practicing ahead of time will make it easier to think up things on the fly."
"Okay," Neville agreed.
"It's likely my sister will provide the car and give the driver a schedule for you to follow. It's not good for her to get used to having her plans work out, so I'm going to give you a list of acceptable places. Chose one of them and have the driver take you there. Juliette will be happy to go along with any of the meal locations, I'll also include a list of possible follow up locations that she might enjoy. I would highly recommend asking her input before choosing one of them. Some women like it when you take charge, others like to be consulted. Juliette is usually happy to go along with everything but she also likes to be consulted first."
IIIIIIIIII
Lucius' face was impassive as he listened to his spymaster's report on the Department of Magical Law Enforcement. The information was both troubling and too stale to do anything about.
"I want more information on the Granger family," Lucius said after a moment of thought. "How possible do you think it would be to get someone on the inside?"
"The staff consists of Muggles, Muggle-born, Half-bloods, and pure-bloods ostracized from normal society for having close relationships with the first three," the woman spoke. "Close enough to impossible to not be worth the effort."
"I see." Lucius wanted to scream in frustration, how could something so big have come out of nowhere? His son was supposed to have warned him about things like the bloody girl's family! Keeping an eye out for things like that was one of the reasons the little bastard was in Hogwarts in the first place. "See what you can learn about the Grangers and try to get more information on what Bones is doing."
"All right. Anything else?"
"See if we can get someone into Hogwarts," Lucius ordered. "It looks as if Severus and Draco aren't performing to expectations. I want to know if it's a case of incompetence or treason."
IIIIIIIIII
Amelia had a frown on her face as she supervised her security detail laying demolition charges. Hell of a thing to have to destroy what had, in a very real sense, been her home since leaving Hogwarts but she'd be damned if she let the bastards get the department intact.
"My office next," she ordered. "Be sure there's a way for me to activate all the charges from there if necessary."
"I'm not sure that's a good idea, boss," one of the Aurors said nervously.
"I think it's a great idea and, since I have more rank than you do, it means mine is a better idea than yours," Amelia said calmly.
"Yes, boss," the Auror said glumly.
"Cheer up," she ordered. "I don't plan to use it, I just want to have options if the worst happens." She'd already decided not to be taken alive, the thought that she might be able to take a whole lot of the bastards with her was more than a bit enticing. "With even a few seconds of warning, we can all be out of here and a safe distance away to watch the Ministry turn into a sinkhole."
"You say so, boss," the Auror said doubtfully.
"I do," Amelia agreed. A shame she couldn't move all of her people out of the Ministry and into one of the secure annexes she'd arranged ahead of time but the trap wouldn't work without bait. It was a shame but not even the dark lord was stupid and arrogant enough to march his forces into an empty building and an obvious trap.
IIIIIIIIII
Phil put down his newspaper as a nondescript man in a grey suit opened the door to his Rolls-Royce and slipped in.
"What have you got for me?" Phil asked.
"Quite a bit," the man replied. He handed his sometimes employer a shoebox. "Took longer than your day but I found an old warehouse filled with this stuff. Short yellow ones are Pickett N600-ESes, s'what the astronauts carried to the moon. Thought that girl of yours would find 'em interesting if she's developed an appreciation for slide rules."
"And this?" Phill pulled what appeared to be a black rotary pencil sharpener out of the box. "What's this?"
"Curta calculator in poor condition. Figured she could take it apart and keep the unused ones intact," the man explained.
"Ones?"
"Like I said, whole warehouse filled with this stuff. Seems like they just locked the door and forgot about it after electronic calculators got cheap enough to displace the mechanical stuff."
"You bought the lot of it?"
"Figured she'd be interested in this stuff too if she's interested in slide rules," the guy said calmly. "If not and you don't want this stuff, I know a few places I can flog it off."
"No, I'll take it all," Philip stated. "Keep an eye out for similar items."
"Will do." The guy scratched his chin. "You want the warehouse too or should I just have the merchandise shipped to the usual place."
"Get a good sampling of what's available boxed up to send to my daughter right away. Leave the rest in place and get me an inventory when it's convenient. To answer your question; Yes, I'll take the warehouse." Phil grinned. "If I can't use it myself, I'm sure I can always flog it off on someone," he echoed his fixer's words with a grin.
IIIIIIIIII
It was evident to one and all that Hogwarts' resident professor of arithmancy was in a foul mood. Students ducked into side corridors and unused classrooms to avoid crossing her path and risking her wrath as she stalked through the castle in search of her prey.
"Mr. Potter! I need to speak with you," Professor Vector shouted, freezing the boy before he could make his escape.
"What can I do for you, professor?" he replied, wondering what had caused the woman to go on the warpath.
"Were you aware that I had called in a team of specialists to aid me in my research on how you did what you did with Hermione's train?" she demanded.
"Hadn't a clue, professor," Harry replied.
"Were you aware that they've expelled me from their team and told me that they were professionals and had no need for a mere school teacher?" Vector growled.
"Wasn't aware of that either, Professor," Harry said, his voice hardening a touch.
"What is your first thought upon hearing that information, Mr. Potter?" she asked, clearly pleased by his reaction.
"That there's no way in hell that they're getting any help from me," Harry said firmly. "Second is to find them and give them a first hand demonstration of some of the spells I accidentally created." See how the bastards liked having their arms switched with their legs for a week or two.
"Minerva said you were a good boy," Vector said with her first smile of the conversation. "The lead researcher on the other hand said that you were, at best, an idiot savant, that you lack both the knowledge and the intellect needed to be useful and that you have little or no value outside your propensity for creating strange effects."
"I see." Harry was having to exert real effort to restrain himself from marching down to show the bastard a few 'interesting effects' first hand.
"I, on the other hand, believe that you have at least some clue as to the mechanics of your effect, maybe not all of it, but enough to point us in the correct direction," Vector continued. "Which one of is correct, Mr. Potter?"
"I don't always know how I do things, Professor, but in this case it's easy. I'm surprised you haven't figured it out yet," Harry replied.
"Enlighten me," she demanded.
"Borrow your quill?" Harry took the quill from the woman's hand and settled down. "I melded three charms together with a fourth that I came up with on the spot." He wrote down a few equations, dozens of hours being forced to aid the Professors in their research coming in handy. "See? Simple enough, professor."
"The first two were not unexpected, but a feather weight charm on something so large?" She shot him an odd look.
"Every little bit helps," Harry laughed. "Not a lot in this case, but enough. It's the last part that allowed me to do it." He jotted down a few more notes.
"A lever," she said dumbly.
"Basic stuff," Harry agreed. "Bit less impressive than brute forcing it."
"But much more elegant," she replied. "Would you mind doing me a favor, Mr. Potter?"
"Sure, Professor."
"Allow me to expand on this," she asked.
"Sure," Harry agreed.
"Thank you, Mr. Potter." Vector examined his equations. "You made a mistake here."
"I did?"
"Yes," she agreed cheerfully. "It seems you underestimated the power requirement by at least a factor of ten." Meaning the boy's feat of magic was still fairly impressive despite no longer being legendary. "Watch those decimal points, Mr. Potter."
Unnoticed by the Professor or her student, hidden inside a classroom that hadn't been used for a dozen decades, a second year Hufflepuff's eyes widened in shocked wonder as she heard enough to get precisely the wrong idea.
Within hours, a dozen rumors raced through the castle, each competing for dominance and each bearing only the merest sliver of the truth.
A hush fell over the Great Hall as Harry walked in and, seeing expressions of shocked awe on the faces of his classmates. Without breaking his stride, Harry walked across the Great Hall to the nearest exit and on to the kitchens for his sustenance. Seemed like the sheep of the wizarding world were going through another of their phases again, nothing for it but to avoid the lot as much as possible till everything had a chance to blow over.
IIIIIIIIII
Lucius found his wife in the conservatory engaged in some useless activity she no doubt thought suitable for a pureblood matron to pass the time. Sometimes he wondered if the trouble she brought outweighed the prestige that came with her family name.
"Narcissa, I need you to tell me everything you know or suspect about the Granger family," Lucius said seriously.
"I thought you weren't interested in the social scene?" his wife replied archly.
"I've come to the realization that since it is important to you, it should be important to me," he said with a smile. "I'm sorry I've been so neglectful, darling."
"Well, they debuted at one of the Longbottom soirees in the company of Harry Potter, the first social event he's gone to," Narcissa began happily.
Lucius was able to harvest several gems of information from his wife's prattle. The first was that the Granger family had at least two houses, one of which was rumored to have a stable larger than his manor. The second was that it was rumored the Grangers could buy and sell most of the magical world with pocket change, something he needed to be sure his pet politicians never looked into, lest they decide they weren't of the honest variety. The third was that his wife's interest in high society wasn't quite the waste of resources he'd once thought it to be.
IIIIIIIIII
Neville's breath caught in his throat when he caught his first glimpse of his prospective date. She was dressed in clothing that would not have been out of place on a girl of her station one hundred years before. A pale blue dress and hat. Her right hand was empty, her left held a folding fan. One look at her face betrayed a strong family resemblance to both her aunt and cousin Hermione. All three had the same jaw, all three had identical looks on their face when regarding something that had caught their interest, and all three had similarly perfect teeth. He was both pleased and nervous at the fact that her picture did not do her justice.
The girl reached up and brushed a strand of auburn hair behind one ear as her bright green eyes focused on him.
"Neville?" Anne Granger said with a smile. "I would like to introduce you to my niece, Juliet Bynder-Aldham."
"A pleasure to meet you, Neville," the girl said almost too softly to hear.
"Li-likewise," Neville stammered.
"Why don't I let the two of you get to know each other while the driver gets the car ready?" Anne suggested, taking her leave.
Neville spent a very uncomfortable few minutes trying and failing to think up something to say to break the silence. Just as he was about to comment on the weather, the girl spoke.
"How do you know my cousin?" she asked calmly.
"We go to the same school," Neville mumbled.
"I see." Juliet opened a folding fan and raised it to conceal the majority of her face. "Does that mean you can do magic as well?"
"You know about that?" Neville blurted. Shouldn't have said that, he thought to himself, should have played dumb until he was sure she actually knew something.
"Of course," she agreed. "You are aware of the fact that there are two other girls in the family that my aunt and your grandmother considered matching you with?"
"Yes," Neville agreed.
"Annabel is a bit younger, Elizabeth is a bit older, while Hermione is nearly the same age as myself. Being that we are of similar age, Hermione and I were playmates for much of our childhood. As such, I was in a prime position to witness her perform all manner of unusual phenomenon," Juliet explained primly. Not to mention the fact that the slightly older girl was not nearly as careful with her books as the magical government would have liked. "Set your mind at ease, Annabel would not have noticed and Hermione does her best to spend as little time around Elizabeth as possible so it is unlikely that she would notice anything amiss either."
"Oh." Neville let out a breath. "Um . . . do you have any questions?"
"Oh, a fair few," she agreed, eyes dancing. "But I suppose that I can contain myself until our next date. In the meantime, why don't you tell me about yourself?"
"Alright," Neville agreed, taking the girl's certainty that there would be at least one more date as a good sign.
IIIIIIIIII
Seeing as how she roomed with the two biggest gossip mongers in the student body, it didn't take long for Hermione to get a garbled account of Harry's meeting or the conclusions the student body had drawn from it. Upon receipt of a piece of information that seemed to contradict everything she knew about how magic worked, Hermione grabbed her partner in crime and went off in search of the boy of their mutual admiration to get to the root of the matter.
They found him in one of his usual hiding spots. The way his grin deepened as they explained what they'd heard indicated that there was more to the story than student gossip would normally lead one to believe.
"You think I did it the hard way?" Harry raised an eyebrow. "Really?"
"What did you do, Harry?" Hermione asked.
"Surprised you and Luna didn't figure it out right off." Harry laughed. Even more so than he was that the Professors hadn't considering the two girls' latest obsession with all things mechanical. "It's dead obvious and dead easy when you think about it."
"Would you please tell us, Harry?" Luna requested.
"You'll be annoyed enough when you figure it out, you'd be filled with rage if I had to give you the answer," Harry stated. "Tell you what, I'll give you a hint, shall I?" He scratched his chin. "What was his name again? Right, Archimedes."
The girls froze, staring at him in profound shock for a few moments.
"Give me a place to stand with a lever-" one girl began.
"-I will move the whole world," the other finished the quote.
"See? Easy." Harry shook his head. "You two are the ones that told me to always look for the simple answer first."
"We're also the ones that told you natural law was not immutable, just a way of describing our current understanding of the universe," Luna pointed out.
"Your lever trick still changes everything," Hermione continued. "We didn't consider it because no one's ever figured out a way to get it to work."
"Though we must admit that we should have seen that it was far more likely than our original conclusion," Luna admitted.
"Especially considering your idea about solidifying air to have a flying train," Harry pointed out. "What do you think gave me the idea?"
"Our enchantments are going to take months to cast and the amount of magical energy that we're going to need to draw on is enormous," Hermione said.
"There is also no way we'd be able to power it without leeching a good deal of magic from the environment," Luna agreed. "We'd have still been excited if you'd have taken months to lift the train-"
"-because it still would have been an impressive feat of magic," Hermione agreed. "But pulling out your wand and lifting it?"
"Fine, I get it," Harry agreed. "Just don't let slip what I told you to the people working on trying to figure out how I did it."
"Why not?" Hermione asked.
"Well, you know how a bunch of them came in and took the project away from Professor Vector?" Harry asked.
"They did?" Luna asked, clearly outraged by the lack of professional courtesy.
"Said that she'd done well to bring the matter to their attention but that the services of a school teacher were not needed," Harry continued, "she was less than pleased when she found me and told me what happened."
"You told her how you did it?" Luna asked.
"After she asked me to help her figure it out, I told her I already knew. She's been busy writing a paper on it for submission," Harry agreed.
"So you want us to let the prats struggle because they were rude to Professor Vector?" Hermione giggled. "Harry, you gentleman."
"That and she told me that they were producing some interesting theories and that it would be a shame if someone told them that their whole premise was based on a mistake," Harry admitted. "Professor Vector figures that either they waste a bunch of time or they come up with a theory that changes the nature of reality. In other words, she gets her revenge or she's so excited by the new theory that she doesn't care."
Luna giggled. "I suppose that makes sense."
"It does," he agreed. "Did you two need anything else?"
"I have got something I'd like you to look over, if you have a few moments to spare," Hermione replied.
"For you two?" He grinned. "I've got all the time in the world." Both girls blushed.
"I . . . ah, thank you, Harry," Hermione said. "We were at the engine shed earlier speaking with the crew and it came out that the current owners of the Hogwarts Express are looking to sell and, well, the thing is . . ."
"You'd like to buy it," Harry guessed.
"Yes," Hermione admitted.
"Do you have enough?"
"More than enough in the Gringotts account that daddy set up for me to use this year," Hermione agreed.
"So what do you need?"
"Could you look at some business papers for me?" Hermione asked. "Luna and I ran the numbers, but this can't be right."
"What can't be right?"
"Look how cheaply we can buy the Hogwarts Express," Hermione said. "It's below scrap value if our numbers are correct."
"This isn't just the Hogwarts Express, it's several trains, the engine shed, the tracks, and everything else."
"Yes," Hermione agreed. "Why is it so inexpensive?"
"You saw it yourself," Harry said, pointing to a column of numbers. "The current owners are losing money on maintenance, even with the fact that the Ministry pays half the upkeep on the tracks. They can't raise prices or cancel service due to their contract with Hogwarts. Owning the train means they're locked into the contract to supply transport to Hogwarts which in turn means they lose money every year."
"What if someone just wanted to buy it so they could play with the trains?" Hermione asked innocently.
"I'd suggest they buy it and then start hauling freight to and from Hogsmeade," Harry replied. "I'd guess that would at least offset some of the losses and might even bring a profit."
"So you think this might be a good investment?" Hermione asked intently, knowing he'd just given her a lever that would allow her to convince her father to give her more funding for her projects.
"It might be," he agreed. "Would have to study the issue to be sure either way."
"Thank you, Harry," Hermione said brightly.
"Happy to help, Hermione."