Soul Searching/End Game
SS Chapter 17 - Negotiations
By Chem Prof
Chapter 17, Negotiations
Lunchtime that day was decidedly uncomfortable. After finishing their meal in silence, Harry and Hermione approached the headmistress. “Professor, we understand that you want what’s best for Hogwarts.” Hermione stated calmly. “We have some ideas that we think might help that we’d like to share with you.
McGonagall visibly relaxed. “Thank you Miss Granger.” Would you mind if Professor Flitwick joined us again?” After getting their agreement, she led them back to her office.
When the four of them had settled into their chairs, Hermione began, “In addition to our specific requirements, which we can discuss if we decide to return, we have some overall recommendations.” McGonagall nodded for her to continue. “We have concerns in three different areas – security, academics, and overall atmosphere. First, security. You have to be able to convince parents that all of Voldemort’s supporters – whether they have a Dark Mark or not – have been removed from the school. I know Professor Dumbledore wanted to give people the benefit of the doubt, but you don’t have that luxury anymore.”
Harry continued, “That attitude led to a student sneaking Death Eaters into the castle to kill the Professor. We know he was trying to do it all year, and two students almost died from his earlier efforts.” He stared into the eyes of each of the professors. “No compromise on this.”
Flitwick spoke up. “I can devise some charms to detect Dark Marks, as well as people under Imperius or taking polyjuice, but the only way to truly identify hidden supporters …”
“We cannot give students Veritaserum,” interjected McGonagall. “It’s against the law and the Ministry would never allow it.”
“Then why was Umbridge able to give it to me?” Harry snapped. “Find a way to get around it.” He was getting tired of seeing startled looks on his professors’ faces every time he revealed information like this. How could they have been so out of touch with what was going on in the castle? Hermione reached over to take hold of his arm and he calmed himself down. An idea came to him. “You might contact Fred and George. I wouldn’t be surprised if they could come up with a product you could use.”
Hermione couldn’t help the smirk that found its way to her face. “How about Truth Telling Taffy? Or maybe Veritacreams?” Harry grinned back at her, then turned back to the professors. McGonagall was fighting to keep a smile off of her face and Flitwick was beaming at the thought of working with two of his favorite former students.
Hermione got serious again. “Secondly, at least in the critical subjects you have to make sure you get qualified teachers who can actually teach. For subjects like History of Magic and Divination maybe you can get away with some, er, unusual instructors.” She noticed a scowl from McGonagall when she mentioned Divination and had to fight to keep a straight face. “But for what I would consider the four core subjects - Charms, Transfiguration, Defense, and Potions – you can’t afford that.”
McGonagall responded, “I am well aware of the miserable succession of Defense instructors we have had but Potions …”
“Was taught by a potions master who was totally unable to teach the subject to others,” interrupted Hermione. “Or perhaps unwilling to teach it. In either case, anything we learned in potions was in spite of him rather than because of him. Professor Slughorn,” she allowed, “while being rather full of himself, is at least competent. Now, what are you going to do about Defense?”
McGonagall was clearly not used to being spoken to in this fashion by a student, but refrained from objecting. Hermione had the upper hand in this discussion and knew it. She still couldn’t believe the change in the shy, respectful girl she had known for six years. “That has always been a problem, and we are not any closer to solving it than we have been in past years. Do you have any suggestions?”
This time it was Harry who answered. It was amazing, thought McGonagall, how the two of them were coordinating this discussion. They worked so well together. She wondered, not for the first time, about the extent of their relationship.
“We’ve had only one good Defense professor the whole time we’ve been students here.” Harry was saying. “Why not hire him back? I know for a fact that he’s available.”
“Mr. Potter, I would like nothing more than to bring back Professor Lupin. But do you really think parents would accept him? With all of the attacks by Greyback, people are more concerned about werewolves than ever.”
“What about the fact that Remus Lupin was the one who captured Greyback? Combine that with my wholehearted endorsement. The upperclass students certainly know how good he is. And before you bring it up, I know he’ll need an assistant for the times during the full moon. So you partner him with an Auror, namely Tonks, and you have a great combination.”
“I see you’ve put a lot of thought into this Mr. Potter,” interjected Flitwick, warming to the idea. “But do you really think Miss Tonks has it in her to be a professor?”
“The two of them have been training us for the past month,” responded Hermione, picking up the argument without skipping a beat. “They’re great together.”
McGonagall was impressed with the rationale the two had put together, but had one more concern. “Unfortunately, I seriously doubt that the Ministry will want to give up any Aurors during these times.”
“If necessary, she would resign her position,” countered Hermione. “She knows,” she continued looking directly at Harry, “how important this is and is willing to make whatever sacrifice is necessary for Harry to succeed.”
“And besides,” finished Harry. “Certain things are about to change at the Ministry, and the Minister owes me a favor.” McGonagall just sat looking back and forth between the two students, finding nothing more to say on the matter. Clearly there were even more facets to Harry Potter that she knew nothing about. She was beginning to wonder just who was in charge of this war.
As she continued to consider them thoughtfully, a shrewd expression suddenly appeared on her face. “I think we just might be able to work something out. Let me see what I can do.”
Hermione then brought up their ideas about other courses. McGonagall immediately saw the value in an orientation course for muggleborn students and promised to implement it at once. Hermione pointed out that it would be best to have it before September 1, perhaps a session the week before in Diagon Alley, and McGonagall agreed.
The headmistress was not instantly convinced about the need for changes in Muggle Studies. It just wasn’t that important of a course. She was astounded to hear that Hermione and Harry both felt that in the long term it was the most important course in the school. She was impressed by the case they made about how ignorance of the non-magical world could only be harmful to the wizarding population. While it did make sense that greater knowledge of a different culture, especially for pureblooded wizards, could help lessen misunderstanding and distrust, she found it hard to believe that wizards could be helpless in a muggle situation. Hermione would not be deterred.
“Which students normally take Muggle Studies?” she asked, beginning a new line of reasoning.
“Primarily half blood students who want to learn more about their muggle parent’s heritage.”
“So the pureblood students who need it the most never take the class. Not that it would do them any good anyway. Muggle Studies here is a joke!”
McGonagall clearly was not happy with that statement. She did not appreciate hearing disparaging remarks about her curriculum. “Miss Granger, surely that is an overstatement.”
“Professor, I took that class for my whole third year and learned absolutely nothing. Any first year muggleborn student knows far more about muggles than the professor who teaches that class. Why, it hardly even mentions electricity!”
“So, I take it that elecktricksity is important then?”
Minerva McGonagall had perfected the scornful stare that caused students to cringe before her. Never had she had it used on her by a student. Until now. The look that Hermione sent her way made her squirm as uncomfortably as a first year.
“Madame Headmistress, with all due respect, you have no idea what should be included in Muggle Studies, and neither does any other pureblood, nor do they have any desire to find out. It makes absolutely no sense to have that course designed and taught by anyone other than a muggleborn. It would be like you teaching Divination,” she paused, knowing the reaction that statement would get from McGonagall, then concluded with a dig at her best friend, “or Harry teaching Potions.”
“Or Hermione giving flying lessons,” countered Harry in return. The two pretended to glare at each other, but quickly broke into smiles.
McGonagall knew when she was beaten, and could not muster any indignation while Flitwick was chortling next to her. Since the two students acknowledged that this would be more of a long term problem, she agreed to begin working on it and they were satisfied. She was also intrigued by the final item on their agenda, their contention that the atmosphere created by the house rivalries was to a large extent responsible for the divisions in the school that the Sorting Hat persistently urged them to try to overcome, and they all agreed to try to think of ways to alleviate that situation.
Before they left, Harry and Hermione had an unusual request – the names and occupations of the parents of muggleborn students. Their desire for telephone numbers was met with blank stares from the professors, however. By way of explanation they stated that they wanted to visit these families and offer their personal reassurances and to ask them for assistance. Neither Flitwick nor McGonagall had any idea how muggle parents could be of assistance, but had learned during the past two days not to question the two Gryffindors. The professors agreed that personal home visits were an excellent idea, and began planning to call on the pureblood and halfblood students as well.
They both smiled as they watched Hermione drag Harry back to the library, but noted that he did not seem to be protesting as much as the student they remembered from prior years. Finally Flitwick turned to McGonagall.
“I never thought I’d say this about mere students, but I’m actually feeling confident about them leading the fight against You-Know-Who. Does that make sense?”
“It wouldn’t if they really were ‘mere’ students, my friend. But that term no longer applies to those two, if in fact it ever did.”
-ooOoo-
“Well, that went about as well as could be expected,” Hermione said enthusiastically as they headed for the library.
“Yeah, you were brilliant in there.” Hermione smiled at this. Somehow receiving approval from Harry made her feel better than when it was from anyone else.
“You weren’t so bad yourself,” she responded. “Do you really think we can do something about house rivalries?” Harry noticed that she was still holding his hand, and realized that it felt perfectly natural. He gave her hand a squeeze before answering.
“We have to. There’s no way the school can unite if we all distrust each other because we never really get to know each other. I had no idea what Cedric was like until we were champions together and I actually talked to him a few times. I would have loved to have been able to know him better. And Cho was nothing more than a pretty face on a broom. I never knew her very well at all before we started dating. When we started the DA there were kids there who I didn’t even know the names of, and they’d been in my year for four years!”
“We really need more activities like the DA, that bring different houses together,” Hermione mused. “Should we start it up again, do you think?”
“If we come back we should give it serious consideration,” Harry replied, reminding her that their return was by no means certain. But I think it’s a good idea. Maybe Neville, Ginny, and Luna can start it up again.”
“Maybe, but without you leading it I doubt that it will be as good,” Hermione pointed out. Harry glanced over at her sharply, suspecting that she was teasing him. “No, really,” protested Hermione, sensing his concern. “You were great at it! Everyone was willing to listen to you because they respected you …”
“Only because of you talking me up to everyone!”
“In any case, it’s true. And you were also great at showing us how to do spells. You were always going around helping people out individually.” Harry was looking down sheepishly shaking his head. “Really, Harry, you are a great teacher. You know how well everyone did on their OWLs just because of you.”
“Because of us you mean. You helped out a lot too, looking up all those spells.” Hermione smiled happily, satisfied that she had finally convinced him, even if he had insisted on sharing the credit.
“Do you want to stay another night?” Harry asked. They had finally reached the library, and paused before going in.
“Not really. I don’t fancy sleeping in an empty tower, even if I can talk to you on a mirror. Let’s do as much in here as we can for the rest of the day, then go home.”
“Sounds good. Too bad I didn’t get a chance to ask Dumbledore’s portrait about my mum. Strange that he wasn’t there today.” Shrugging his shoulders at the thought, Harry followed Hermione into the library and was soon busy carrying books for her.
-ooOoo-
With the slightest of pops Harry and Hermione appeared in the back room of Weasley’s Wizarding Wheezes, startling Ron who had been retrieving some stock.
“Augh! Bloody hell, mate, don’t do that!” Quickly Ron regained his composure. “How’d it go with McGonagall yesterday?”
“Pretty well. We’ll tell you about it later. Get Fred and George back here, we need to talk.” As Ron left the room, Harry called Dobby. When the enthusiastic little elf appeared he asked him to try to find Viktor Krum and ask him to join them. Then he stopped to look around, remembering the last time he had been in this room.
“Hey partner, what’s up? Want to see our new products? We have …” Fred stopped quickly as he noticed the look on Harry’s face. George moved alongside him and was about to ask what was the matter when Harry spoke up.
“How’s Lee?”
Fred and George immediately became serious. “Not good at all. He’s still in a coma. They said there are some specialists that might be able to help, but his family’s not that well off. We’ve been trying to help out.”
By this time Dobby had returned with Viktor, and the Bulgarian stood silently listening to the conversation. Harry responded immediately. “No, let me take care of it. Dobby, go see Griphook and tell him to make sure that Lee Jordan in St. Mungo’s has whatever medical care he needs.”
Turning to Viktor, he added, “That goes for anyone who you hire. If they get injured, we pay all of their healing expenses. Whatever it takes.” Viktor simply nodded. His respect for Harry Potter continued to grow every time he saw him. He felt even more certain that he had made the right decision in joining the younger wizard.
Viktor briefly filled in the rest of them on what he had accomplished since joining the ministry. Fred and George were temporarily awed by the thought that the famous seeker was effectively working for their friend Harry.
Harry turned to them next, saying something that immediately brought them out of their daze. “How would you guys like to work with us too?”
“Harry!” began Fred. “Partner!” added George. “When do we start?” they both chimed in together. “You need stuff to fight Death Eaters, just let us know and it’s yours.”
“That’s only one part of it. I do want the three of you, no make that four of you,” he said, initially gesturing to Fred, George, and Viktor, but then including Ron also, “to get your heads together and develop whatever you think might be effective against Death Eaters. But I also want the two of you to think about developing weapons to use against other dark creatures that Voldemort might use.”
“Like giants, vampires, werewolves, dragons, whatever he might be recruiting,” added Hermione. Fred and George had almost forgotten that she was there, but now she joined in the conversation, smoothly filling in the details for Harry.
Fred and George thought about this and frowned. “Giants and dragons are pretty tough. Giants are especially resistant to magic.”
“This is where you need to think outside the box,” suggested Harry.
At their blank looks Hermione chipped in, “Thinking outside the box means looking at problems differently than other people do.”
At this Ron snorted. “Well, no one ever accused those two of thinking like normal people.”
Fred and George tried to look affronted at this but failed. After the laughter had died down, Harry spoke up. “We think one of the advantages we have against Voldemort and his Death Eaters is our ability to use muggle ideas. Hermione, how would a muggle attack a giant or a troll?”
Hermione shrugged. “Probably use a high caliber cannon or rocket launcher with armor piercing or high explosive shells.”
“And a dragon?”
“Heat seeking missile maybe?”
The others had blank looks but Harry pressed on. “What about a vampire?”
“Everyone knows that – a stake to the heart. You could make some sort of accurate projectile weapon that shoots wooden spears,” Hermione said, thinking aloud. Then she grinned. “I think I just described a large bow and arrow.”
Ron interjected, “Oh like Hagrid’s crossbow.”
“Exactly. Hagrid can’t use magic so he uses a non-magical weapon. If you make something like that big enough it could shoot wooden stakes.”
For the first time Viktor spoke up. “You want to use the best ideas, no matter where they come from. Apparently muggles have developed some impressive weapons.”
“You have no idea. If there’s anything muggles are good at it’s coming up with exotic ways to kill each other.”
Everyone shuddered, but Viktor continued, “then we need to make use of this knowledge. How are we going to do that?”
“Hermione and I got a list of muggleborns from McGonagall. Their parents could be of use to us. They already know about the magical world, so we wouldn’t be breaking any secrecy laws, but they also know about muggle stuff. If we can find some who are in the military, or law enforcement …”
“Or information technology, “Hermione continued. “Muggles have developed very good methods of organizing and analyzing data that could be useful to Viktor in his task of tracking Death Eaters. Harry and I are going to visit muggleborn students and their families and we’ll see who we can recruit. Meantime, we should see about leasing some office space where they can work and we can meet with them.” The others looked confused at this so she quickly explained. “We can’t bring muggles into the Ministry, so we need a different building.”
“It would be best if it were as close as possible to the Ministry though,” said Harry, picking up the thought. “I’ll ask the goblins to see if they can find anything.”
This concluded the information that they wanted to share, and Harry moved away with the twins and Ron. Viktor approached Hermione with an amused look on his face.
“You and Harry make quite a pair.”
Hermione flushed slightly. “Oh Viktor, not this again. How many times do I have to tell you, we’re …”
“You misunderstand me,” Viktor broke in, although from the look on his face Hermione was pretty sure the ‘misunderstanding’ was intentional on his part. “I meant that you work well together. Was that rehearsed?”
“Well, we discussed what we were going to bring up but …”
“You each seem to know what the other is thinking. You speak as two people with a single mind.”
“Oh.” Hermione frowned slightly, thinking about what he was saying. “That’s gone on as long as we’ve known each other, I guess. I’ve often known what he was thinking about things and he’s always been able to read me pretty well too. The taking turns talking part seems to be happening more this summer since we’ve been doing everything together. Reading each other’s thoughts comes in very handy when we’re dueling as partners,” she added, with a pleased expression.
“You might want to pursue that ability. I have heard of a few wizards who are able to exchange thoughts. It is very rare but may turn out to be useful to you.”
Hermione said nothing, but stared thoughtfully at her friend as he walked away to rejoin the others.
-ooOoo-
The next week was a very busy one as Harry and Hermione began visiting families of muggleborn students. It turned out that thirty of approximately three hundred students at Hogwarts were muggleborn, roughly evenly divided among Gryffindor, Hufflepuff, and Ravenclaw houses. They had identified a programmer and a systems analyst among Ravenclaw parents, a police inspector parent of a Hufflepuff and a military parent of a Gryffindor. Hermione had pointed out that her father’s military service wouldn’t have turned up in Hogwarts records, so they were hopeful of finding more parents with military experience.
They had decided to start with people they knew, so their first two visits were to Dean Thomas’s family and to the Creeveys. They quickly developed a short presentation and standard responses to the inevitable questions. With regard to their own plans, they assured the families that they hoped to attend in the fall, but that they were working on an independent study project that might delay their return to Hogwarts.
Colin and Dennis were both delighted to hear that the two of them were to be Head Boy and Girl. Dean’s response was more subdued, which Harry realized was due to the situation with Ginny at the end of the last school year. Harry was not happy with the thought of what Dean’s response would be if Ginny returned to Hogwarts without him.
Hermione’s offer to ward the homes of these families in the same way that she had protected the Granger home was met with enthusiasm born of desperation. Their hearts went out to these families, who were terrified of a world they didn’t really understand, but who wanted to do the best thing for their children. They were touched by how much better these people felt as a result of their visits and the reassurance they provided, as Harry realized that they didn’t like being kept in the dark any more than he did.
In the end, every parent that they asked for assistance was willing to do whatever they could for them, even going so far as to take leaves of absence from their places of employment. There were even many unsolicited offers of any help they could use, and the duo assured these folks that they would be sure to let them know if anything came up. In each case, they concluded by pleading with the families to keep their visit quiet so as not to put anyone else in danger. They knew they were taking a chance by having Hermione along when she was supposed to be out of the country, but they thought that this search was important enough to risk it.
They did discover a Gryffindor grandparent who was a retired army officer, but they still were hoping for more weapons specialists and others with technical skills. Toward this end Harry dispatched Dobby to Hogwarts to request a list of parents of former muggleborn students going back twenty years. All in all, Harry thought as they finished their visits, things were going pretty well.
-ooOoo-
Thursday, July 31
“Good morning birthday boy!”
Harry’s eyes flew open and he looked up to see Hermione coming through his bedroom door carrying a tray with his favorite breakfast on it. His attention was drawn, however, by what she was wearing as she brought the breakfast over to him. She had on summer pajamas that consisted of a camisole top and short bottoms, both made of lightweight cotton. The top caught his eye because of a certain … movement. A movement that he found mesmerizing.
“Would you be more comfortable if I changed into something else?” He looked up to see Hermione smirking at him. Busted!
“No! … Yes! … I mean …” His face turned red as he tried to decide which answer would get him into less trouble.
Hermione smiled at him as she set the tray down and leaned forward to take his hands. “Harry, that’s OK …” she trailed off as she noticed him struggling to look her in the eye and realized the show she was giving him by leaning forward in the loose top. Now it was her turn to blush as she jumped away. “Just a minute,” she mumbled as she crossed over to his closet. She grabbed one of his tee shirts and pulled it over her head, then came back to the bed.
“Sorry,” Harry began.
“No, it’s my fault.” Hermione corrected. “It’s just that I’ve gotten so comfortable around you that I sometimes forget that you are still a sixteen year old – no, make that a seventeen year old boy.” She smiled and was happy to see him relax. ‘Admit it Hermione, you enjoyed that,’ an annoying voice in her head insisted. She shook her head slightly and saw a confused expression on his face as he noticed the motion. “But,” she quickly recovered, “you’ve seen me in a tank top lots of times.” She knew very well what the difference was but it was the best she could come up with. Besides, part of her wanted to hear what he would say.
“Well,” he hesitated, then decided he wasn’t going to get hexed. “That one’s a lot looser than the ones you usually wear and …” he gestured toward her breasts.
“Harry, sit up and eat your breakfast before it gets cold and I’ll clue you in about women’s sleepwear.”
“Breakfast in bed? I feel like royalty.”
“Well, that was always a tradition in my house. Mum and I would make breakfast in bed for Dad for his birthday …” she stopped as she thought about her parents and where they were. Harry saw her expression change and her eyes start to moisten and moved forward quickly to give her a hug.
“Hey, it’s OK. I know you miss them. I do too. It’ll be OK really. They’ll be back before you know it.” He kept hugging her until she relaxed and pulled away, wiping her eyes.
“Thanks, Harry. I know they’re all right. Sometimes certain things just remind me of them.”
“Hey, let’s call them up later. Figure out the time difference and when would be the right time.”
“Well, if we wanted to get them in the morning we should call early in the afternoon. We’ll be kind of busy this afternoon so let’s do it tomorrow.”
“Busy?”
“Your birthday party at the Weasleys, you idiot!” He just grinned at her and she realized he had been putting her on, so she threw a pillow at him. She smiled back and made herself comfortable at the other end of the bed as he turned his attention back to the breakfast.
“Now, to continue your education into women’s clothing,” she said, picking up the previous subject. He looked up attentively. “During the day, when we’re being active, we need support,” she motioned to her chest and he nodded understandingly, “so we wear a bra. Or something tight, like my workout tops or my tank tops. But that gets uncomfortable eventually so at night we wear stuff that’s looser. Almost no one wears a bra to bed normally.” She could see puzzlement on his face. “While we’re at Hogwarts most of us wear heavy nightgowns because it gets cold at night, and we usually wear robes in the common room. That’s why you probably didn’t notice before. But they’re still loose and comfortable. Think about what you’re wearing right now. You like to wear something to bed that’s loose too, right?”
Harry had been sleeping in a pair of loose shorts and no shirt. As she looked at him she realized how much his body had changed this summer. Getting enough to eat, combined with the running, swimming, and weightlifting, had developed a nice set of muscles on him. From his broad shoulders to his narrow waist he had the look of the swimmers she had admired on TV during the Olympics last year. He was certainly no longer skinny!
“Would you be more comfortable if I put a shirt on?” She jerked back, startled, and began blushing furiously as she realized she had been staring at his chest. Now it was her turn to be embarrassed. She looked up to see him smirking.
“I was just saying that it’ll be harder to keep my thoughts under control in the evenings in the common room this year, but it looks like you might be having the same problem.”
Oh, he really has me this time, Hermione thought furiously. I need to retake the initiative here. “Well, Harry, I was just noticing how much you’ve shaped up this summer. If you want to make a bunch of Gryffindor girls drool, try wearing that outfit in the common room some evening.”
At the shocked look on his face she couldn’t help but giggle. “Honestly, Harry, have you looked in a mirror lately? You’ve turned yourself into a real hunk. If you thought you had trouble with all the girls after you last year … Ginny’s going to have a full time job fighting them off.” A naughty look came over her face. “Of course, we may have to tie Ginny up to keep her hands off of you.” She burst out laughing at the mixed expressions of worry and delight that were battling for possession of his face.
Harry apparently also thought the best defense was a good offense. “Oh? Well if you want to give a few Gryffindor guys heart attacks, show up some evening in that outfit. I can just imagine the look on Neville’s face if you leaned over him helping him with his homework wearing that top.”
She looked down shyly but inside she was thrilled to hear what he thought of her. “I guess I gave you quite a show, huh?”
“Quite a show.” Harry agreed. He suddenly felt his body respond to that thought and the fact that an attractive girl was sitting on his bed in her pajamas. What’s wrong with me? Seventeen year old boy or not, I shouldn’t be thinking about her like this. What happened to that sister idea? I’m sure this doesn’t happen to Ron when he sees Ginny in her pajamas. He adjusted the blanket around himself carefully and decided to change the subject. “Do you really think we should go back?”
“I don’t know. There would certainly be some advantages, but I don’t think we can be there and not go to class. It all depends on how much time we need to spend on the horcruxes. Let’s wait another couple weeks before we decide for sure.”
-xox-XOX-XOX-xox-