"I - don't know what any of that meant," said Isabel. "But it sounds as if you've a way to find other heirs of perceived extinct Houses."
"Yes," said both Monica and Harry.
"A computer is a machine that can count and compare data - little pieces of information - extremely fast," said Monica. "Database management, as Harry described, is one of the main reasons computers exist in mainstream life today. It's what they're built to do.
"I even have the perfect piece of software already installed on my computer to do the job. The longest, and most tedious part, will be taking the information from this Book of Bloodlines, and the magical census you mentioned, and entering that data - information - into the database. However, once it's in, it'll only take minutes for the computer to make the matches."
"You can do this?" asked Isabel a little shocked.
"Yes," replied Monica. "Easily. And I can even show you, on the computer, how it's done. It's just tedious to enter all the data information."
"If you do this..." breathed Isabel, thinking furiously.
Harry laughed and asked, "How many extinct Houses being reactivated due to your combined research do you think it will take before the Minister wants to hang an Order of Merlin around your neck? And how do you think he'll react when the Wizengamot find out it's a muggle involved?"
Turning to Monica, he said, "Trust me on this. If you pull this off, and I've no doubt you will, she'll be begging Daphne and I to name our first born daughter after you."
"Yes," said Isabel glaring at him with a smirk. "I will."
That had everyone laughing.
"And what about my poor hand, writing it all out?" asked Cygnus.
Harry grinned and shook his head. "Monica only needs to be able to read the pages to transcribe the information into the computer.
Turning to Wendell, he said, "How about you purchase a little pocket camera with an automatic flash for Cygnus and show him how to load the canisters and batteries?"
Grinning back, Wendell said, "Then all he needs to do is photograph the relevant pages and return the canisters to us for developing. That'll speed the whole thing up immensely. Good idea!"
After ordering lunch, and engaging in further discussions and arrangement of times for various visits, they were finally able to get to Christmas shopping.
Harry was glad when they finally returned to Greengrass Estate to rest. He wanted to just collapse on his bed and snooze, but he also wanted to get his gifts for others wrapped first.
He wouldn't tell them to their faces but he didn't trust either Astoria or Sirius not to peek before they were wrapped. Both thought it was part and parcel of the Christmas present ritual to try and find out what they would be receiving in advance of the day.
Harry was even using the idea of placing small gifts in large boxes and wrapping them; and shrinking large gifts beforewrapping them; just to try and throw the two sneaks off.
Luckily, he had all the unwrapped gifts inside his emptied-for-the-purpose trunk, and was only taking out one gift at a time to wrap it, when Astoria came bursting into the room without knocking.
She had a wide, excited grin on her face that quickly fell when she didn't catch Harry with her unwrapped present out in the open.
"Tori!" he yelled at her.
Not catching Harry unprepared, she pouted, stamped her foot and stormed off in a huff.
Harry just grinned at her retreating form. She may have almostcaught him the previous year, but not this one. He'd learned and prepared. Harry had just banished the door close behind her, when Daphne opened the door back up and came in. "I take it Tori just came bursting in without knocking to see if she could catch you with all the Christmas presents you'd bought out in the open?"
"Right in one," replied Harry.
Hesitating for just a moment, she then 'slinked' over to Harry, throwing her arms around his neck and, with a breathy whisper, asked, "Any clues you want to give me about mine?"
Though all the hairs on the back of his neck and arms all stood up from her breath on his ear, Harry emotionally fought through the effect it had on him and squeaked, "No."
She pulled back from him with a frustrated frown. So, turning the tables on her, he spun in her arms and, pulling her in close chest-to-chest, lightly nibbled on her earlobe before asking, "And what did you get for me, dear heart?"
As he lightly nibbled on her ear, Daphne felt the effect right down to her toes and everywhere in between. She moaned ever so slightly before she was able to gather up her own courage and say, "No. You won't get it out of me. That's unfair!"
Pulling back, Harry chuckled and said, "I'm only using your own tactics against you."
She pulled completely out of his arms and, with a frown, said, "I'm a girl! We're allowed to use our feminine wiles on you males."
"Oh?" asked Harry, before quickly darting across and scooping her back into his arms. Once he had her firmly within his grip he bent forward and lightly kissed her neck over and over. After about half a dozen kisses, with Daphne lightly squirming in his arms and mewling a little, he asked, "Is that the way you really want it?"
"Oh, Merlin, no!" she moaned.
Harry quickly pulled back, out of her arms and reach, and with a grin said, "Good." Before turning around and walking back to his trunk, pretending to ignore her.
He had his back to her because, what he couldn't ignore and suspected she would notice, was that she had an effect on him; a very physical effect on him.
For her own part, it's likely Daphne wouldn't have noticed, anyway. Because she, too, felt the effects of his kissing on her own body. When she did notice it, she just squeaked a little and fled his room.
After she left, Harry used his wand to, once more, banish the door close. 'Damn,' he thought, thinking of his own bodily reaction within his pants. 'I didn't expect that to happen just yet.'
But he was pleased that part of his life was finally starting to occur. He was getting worried something was wrong because he noticed the other boys in his dorm were beginning to have bodily changes. Hair was starting to grow.
"So, each rhythm of the flash, and each colour of the flash, show different things," said Hermione.
"Exactly," replied Cygnus.
Harry and Hermione were in the informal dining room with Cygnus. He had laid out parchment and various drinks that had been potioned in one form or another, or charmed in one way or another, or any combination of the two. Each taking turns, Harry and Hermione were able to identify various potions and charms placed on or within each. A parchment had a Compulsion Charm placed on it, a drink was spiked with a Loyalty Potion, a letter had both a love potion and a Compulsion Charm on it, and others included various poisons.
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