It was at the end of the next week that Remus and Tonks went to collect Hermione from her parents’ house. Ron had tidied himself up for his girlfriend’s return; he had combed his hair, put on a set of his smart robes and had a rather pungent aroma. Hermione returned just before dinnertime, they all heard the many locks of the front door clicking and the sound of footsteps echoing in the hall before she appeared in the kitchen with her bushy hair sleeked back into a ponytail and looking very bronze. Naturally Ron was the first to welcome her home, ignoring the huge family crowd around them; he swept her up in to a kiss and didn’t release her for several minutes. When he eventually did all eyes were on them causing Ron’s ears to burn red and Hermione to grin madly. “It’s good to see you too,” she blushed.
“How was Italy?” Ginny asked as she greeted Hermione with a hug.
“It was wonderful!” she glowed.
“So you had a good time then? How are your parents?” Harry asked rising to meet her himself.
“We’ve had a good long chat and I think they understand my predicament a little bit better and yes, I had a fantastic time,” she continued to beam.
“Did you visit Florence?” Ellie now took her turn.
“It was so picturesque, and the language is so beautiful. We went to as many places as possible and I learned a few more things in Italian,” she said proudly.
“Such as…” Ellie quizzed.
“Il vero eroe Ÿ sempre il eroe da travisare , egli sogni di essendo un onesto codardo simile tutti altro,” Hermione said slowly.
“The real hero is always the hero by mistake, he dreams of being an honest coward like everybody else. Umberto Eco if I’m not mistaken,” Ellie replied after a seconds thought.
“It is!” Hermione was obviously ecstatic that she had got it right.
“Your accent’s not bad for someone who’s only been there on holiday. If you practiced you could be fluent before long.”
“Would you teach me?”
“If you like, but I think you need to relax a little bit first. Tell me more about where you went.” Elizabeth patted the chair next to her and for the next few hours the girls were lost in conversation about places that neither Harry nor Ron could pronounce. During Dobby’s extravagant dinner, Harry, Ginny, Neville and Ron filled Hermione in on what they’d been up to while she was away. She nearly let out a scream of delight when she found out about the visits to Godric’s Hollow and Potter Hall.
“Oh Harry, that’s wonderful!” she had called. “And so close to your birthday as well.”
The ritual whispering once again came to life during the week before Harry’s birthday. Every time he stepped foot in the kitchen Mrs. Weasley started to frantically shush every one and would unintentionally scowl at him. The worst part was his friends’ whispering. Neville, whose birthday was the day before Harry’s, was staying with them for the day itself and leaving with his grandmother later in the morning. Harry found himself and Neville left alone fairly often as the other three disappeared to quiet corners of the house to discuss their presents. It was beginning to annoy him that every time they walked into a room people stopped talking dramatically and sat on edge until they left again. Ginny, Ron and Hermione often did their best to finish conversations quickly or encourage Harry and Neville to go and do things together in other parts of the house. Ellie was apparently the only person who was organized in the approach to the day; she spent as much of her time as possible with the young pair. She often pulled them out in to the garden for Quidditch practice, her influence on Neville continued and she convinced him that when school started back he should think about trying out for the empty chaser position. They were ushered up to bed straight after dinner the night before their birthday party, along with the other three, and as they traipsed up the stairs they heard Mrs. Weasley closing over the kitchen door and shouting orders at everyone else.
The next morning there was a lot of commotion in the downstairs hallway, the kitchen door was still locked and everyone was bundling into the small staircase with some difficulty. After several minutes of very loud complaining and banging on the door Molly’s head appeared in a very thin gap. “Whatever is the matter?” she asked irritably.
“In case you hadn’t noticed, we’ve got nine hungry people on a tiny staircase! If the rumbling in Ron’s stomach gets any worse it’s likely to cause an earthquake!” George grumbled.
“Why don’t you use your brains for once and go and wait in the sitting room?” she snapped and shut the door on them once again. They retreated back up the stairs as advised and waited. Twenty minutes later Bill’s voice called up the stairwell.
“You lot can come down now!”
“Finally!” Fred yelled.
If you had asked Harry his honest opinion he would have told you that nothing could surpass his last birthday party, the decorations had been top notch and the presents had been better and more numerous than ever before. But even last year’s party paled into insignificance when compared to this year’s spectacular event.
Fluorescent coloured balloons were arranged on the ceiling in bunches, complete with streamers and ribbons, an enormous multi-coloured banner was hanging on the fireplace wall read ‘Happy 17th Birthday Harry and Neville!’ The magical windows were filled with fireworks that spelled things like ‘Hip Hip Hooray!’ and ‘Congratulations!’ the birthday cake was in two parts and shaped in to the numbers one and seven with seventeen candles in each cake. There were two piles of presents on either side of the currently extinguished fire with two chairs sitting in the middle. “Happy Birthday!” everyone cheered. Harry and Neville stood speechless amongst the crowd, not knowing where to start. This year was more of a family affair than last, this time there was a distinct lack of Order members, Professor’s Dumbledore and McGonagall were the only people outside of the families that were in attendance. Neville’s Grandmother, Great Uncle Algie and his wife Enid had come along for the day as well. The birthday boys didn’t have a chance to decide where they were going to start before they were hurried towards the chairs and a present to thrust into their hands.
“Hurry up, I’m getting hungry!” Ron called from the table where he was looking desperately at his empty plate.
“You’re always bloody hungry!” Bill silenced him. Hermione and Ginny looked at him reproachfully, while Mrs. Weasley looked fit to explode.
“Well, I suppose we best get on with it,” Harry said more to the room at large than Neville, he saw Mrs. Weasley’s features soften immediately. They began to rip open the wrapping zealously. The first presents were from Mr. and Mrs. Weasley, they both received a new travelling cloak and this puzzled both of them until they gave them closer inspection. The cloaks had their family crests sewn in to the right hand side and the back.
“Thanks, Mrs. Weasley,” Neville breathed.
“These are great!” Harry and Neville were now holding the cloaks up for each other’s inspection. The next lot was from Ron; he had purchased a complete chess set, board and men, for Neville and had bought Harry a brand new set of lead Chessmen to replace the set from his grandfather. He was very proud of the fact he had brought them out of his own money (that which Sirius had kindly supplied). Typically Hermione’s presents were books, she had bought them identical copies of ‘Aurors: The Guide to Dark Wizard Catching’. Fred and George had given them a new product called ‘Animal Amazement’.
“What do they do?” Neville inquired.
“Slip one of those little goodies in to a goblet of pumpkin juice and ta-da! Your favourite enemy will turn in to the animal that best suits their character. Guess where we got that idea from?” One of the twins winked at Harry.
“YOU WHAT? BOYS HOW COULD YOU…” Mrs. Weasley instantly began to berate her sons, she had adjusted to the idea that they were going to run a joke shop but apparently the Animal Amazement was one step too far.
“Mad-Eye,” Harry said over Mrs. Weasley. She stopped shouting and looked at Harry peculiarly.
“What about Mad-Eye?” she demanded.
“It was him who gave Fred and George the idea, he turned Draco Malfoy in to a white ferret during our forth year,” Harry disclosed.
“Ah yes, I remember it so well… Malfoy the Amazing Bouncing Ferret…” Ron said with his closed eyes and dreamy expression.
“Well I never…” Molly uttered in disbelief.
“It’s true, Molly,” Professor McGonagall confirmed. Harry ended their conversation by swiftly moving on to the next present, Neville caught on quickly and followed suit.
Charlie had purchased shiny new dragon hide wallets.
“They’ll be no dragon’s left if you keep up at this rate!” Harry exclaimed. This was the second year in a row that the Weasley brother had provided a dragon skinned present.
“I’ll make sure that we don’t run out,” he said. Up until recently Charlie had been a dragon keeper in Romania but he hadn’t been back there in almost a year and a half, his role with the Order had demanded that he spent more time at home. The next present came from the oldest Weasley brother, Bill. They were particularly heavy packages; the boys unwrapped them to find dark wooden boxes with a golden initialling on the lid.
“They’re security boxes, they’ve got charms on them to stop anyone but the owner opening them and they’re guarded against things like floods, fires and stray curses,” Bill enlightened them. Harry’s box had a shiny H on the top and when he opened it up there was a large key sitting in it. “You can put just about anything you like in it, even stuff that looks too big for the box. It’s got an Enlargement Charm on the inside so it grows to fit whatever you need it for.”
“Thanks, Bill!” Harry and Neville had called in harmony. They reached for the next package on the pile, which was Remus’s present. He had bought them a bottle of Firewhiskey each.
“Remus!” Molly complained, “I would have expected it of Sirius but not of you!”
“Sorry, Molly,” he replied with a scheming glint in his eye. Ellie was standing behind him with a guilty smile on her face; Harry had a suspicion that she had colluded with him. Harry and Neville didn’t say anything but they grinned from ear to ear. As Harry was pushing the wrapping to one side he noticed a letter lying in the torn paper, he looked up at Remus who gave him a little nod in return; he put the letter inside his new security box and decided to leave reading it until later. The next in the pile was from Dumbledore, who gave Neville a picture of his parents in a beautiful solid silver frame. Harry unwrapped his present to find a worn Ollivander’s box, he removed the lid to find a wand rolling around the rectangular container; he looked up at his headmaster bewildered.
“It was your father’s wand, I thought that you might like to have it,” Dumbledore answered. Harry just nodded and set the box to one side carefully.
“Thank you, sir,” he said softly.
“You are quite welcome,” Dumbledore replied with a twinkle.
Neville and his Grandmother had provided Harry with a special new Wizard’s camera so that he could take his own pictures. While Harry had bought Neville a new set of Gobstones after he had frequently complained that his set was worn out. The last present came from Ellie, she had bought Neville a book entitled ‘The Science of Herbology’. “Thanks, Elizabeth,” he said gratefully, he had only stopped referring to her as Professor Potter the day before.
“Stop calling me Elizabeth, it makes me feel old,” she complained. “Come on, Harry, time to open yours as well,” she said eagerly. Naturally he did as requested; a small green velvet pouch and a wad of parchments fell on to his lap. He immediately went for the pouch, assuming that its contents would be more interesting, he was only half right. In the pouch was a small box, roughly three times of a matchbox, an intertwined J and L were engraved in to the lid. He opened the box and found his two gold bands snuggled in the cushion; they had a little red ribbon binding the two together. One ring had a diamond lily set in to it whilst the other had the same stone shaped as a Snitch. Two silver plaques were set in to the lid; each had one of his parent’s names printed on to it. They read, ‘Lily “ The only flower in my heart, love James x’ and ‘James “ My mind, body and soul are yours, love Lily x’.
“Wow…Ellie…Thanks.” For some unknown reason and completely on instinct he handed the box to Ginny who was sat quite near to him.
“Have a look at the rest of your present,” she urged. He quickly obliged, he unfolded the parchment and allowed his eyes to wander over the very neat calligraphy.
’ I, Elizabeth Alexandra Jane Potter, the appointed guardian of the Potter Estate, do hereby bequeath to Harry James Potter all that is rightfully his under Inheritance Decree number 210 enforced by the Ministry of Magic in Great Britain. This inheritance includes the following:
- The residence known as ‘Potter Hall’, situated in Speyside, Scotland along with all grounds, fixtures, fittings and belongings therein.
- The residence known as ‘Potter House’, situated in the village of Godric’s Hollow, Wales along with all grounds, fixtures, fittings and belongings therein.
- Half the sum of gold held in vault 439 at Gringotts Bank, Diagon Alley, London, England, which totals 53,385,120 galleons.
- The contents of security box 702 held at Gringotts Bank, Diagon Alley, London, England.
He thus gains full ownership and control of that property aforementioned, it belongs solely to him and all decisions regarding its usage, care and dispensation should henceforth be addressed to him.
I also grant him full control of his half of the Black Estate, under Emancipation Decree 25 enforced by the Ministry of Magic in Great Britain. This includes the following:
- A half share in the property number 12 Grimmauld Place, London, England.
- One of the two remaining shares from the vault 711, Gringotts Bank, Diagon Alley, London, England, formerly the Black Family Vault, totalling 10, 500,000 Galleons.
This, is as bestowed to him by the last will and testament of Sirius Black, the sole heir of the Black Estate. He thus gains full ownership and control of this property and all decisions regarding its usage, care and dispensation should henceforth be addressed to him.
This is a formal legal document and satisfies the Requirements of Writing Decree of 1701 enacted by the Ministry of Magic in Great Britain.
Signed
Miss Elizabeth Alexandra Jane Potter,
The sole heir of Andrew Thomas Potter and Guardian of the Potter Estate.’
“Ellie…I can’t accept this…it’s not right… Potter Hall should be yours…it was your home…it belongs to you…I really can’t accept this…” he stuttered.
“Stop right there, Harry, you can accept it. My father would have inherited Potter Hall, but he died before it could be passed on, therefore it passed on to your father and subsequently on to you. Potter House was your mum and dad’s and that automatically passed on to you when they died. None of what’s on that list belongs to me, it’s rightfully yours, besides that’s a legal document you’re holding in your hand and we can’t go back on it. You’re of age now and it’s all your responsibility,” she smiled at him comfortingly.
“I don’t know what to say…” Harry was at a complete loss for words.
“Say you’ll accept it, that’s all I want.”
“But where will you and Charlie live?” He had no desire to make his cousin homeless.
“We’re going to buy a place of our own, Weasley Manor has a certain ring to it doesn’t it? Besides I still own half this place,” she said brightly. “So will you accept it?”
“I will. Thank you, Ellie.” He shifted through the crowd and hugged her tightly.
“You might be needing a big house someday soon.” She gave Ginny a fleeting glance and then winked at Harry mischievously.
“I just might,” Harry, replied equally playful.
“That’s what I like to hear! I quite like the idea of being an aunty and if I lay all my hopes on this lot of Weasley men I could be waiting a long time,” she grinned.
With all the presents opened the family sat down to breakfast together. Once it was over Mrs. Longbottom rose from the table. “Are you ready to go, Neville?”
“Yes, Gran,” he replied dolefully.
“Well, go and get your trunk then and you can pack all your presents away. I thought we might go and see you mother and father today,” she said firmly. Neville fetched his trunk, taking twice as long to retrieve it than he had originally at Longbottom Cottage.
“Thank you for having him, Elizabeth, Molly.” Mrs Longbottom nodded appreciatively at Mrs. Weasley and Elizabeth.
“Yeah, I’ve really enjoyed myself, it was great fun. Thank you,” he smiled.
“You’re welcome anytime, Neville,” Ellie gave him a quick hug. “Perhaps you could come to stay again, sometime nearer school starting?” She looked to Mrs. Longbottom for consent.
“A very good idea, we’ll be in touch,” the matriarch of the Longbottom family replied. Great Uncle Algie pulled a teacup from his pocket and in a blink of an eye the Longbottoms had disappeared.
A/N: I knew that law degree I was studying for would come in useful one of these days, that Requirements of Writing Decree I was talking about came from the Requirements of Writing (Scotland) Act 1995.
I hope you all enjoyed that; the next chapter is …Fatherly Advice. Until then!