The manor was just that, a manor, it was huge! It hosted 15 bedrooms each with their own ensuite, a fully decked out library, and ballroom to name just a few. It was also richly decorated but yet very homey, it felt like the Gryffindor common rooms to be honest, which wasn't that surprising considering the Potters are descendants of the Gryffindors.
Once everyone arrived, they split up to find their rooms, each had an elf leading the way. Dobby had just shown Harry and Hermione to the master bedroom when Harry realized that the elves haven't changed a thing since his parents' departure, there were little bits of them everywhere. Lily's hair tie collection on her bedside table, James's spare glasses on his side, even their clothes were neatly folded and placed in boxes on the side of the beautifully carved armoire. Raising an eyebrow Harry turned towards Dobby for an explanation.
"Dobby didn't think you wanted to get rid of your parents stuffs Master Harry sir," Dobby started, "we's wanted to make room for yous stuff but we also didn't know what to do with theirs." He finished sadly.
With a tear in his eye Harry walked over and picked up his dad's glasses while smiling at Dobby. "You know Dobby, you are one brilliant elf, thank-you."
Hermione suggested that they place the boxes in a spare room to go thru later, she might even adopt a few pieces of Lily's clothing as they will eventually be roughly the same size, she could always resize as needed. Harry decided to keep his dad's glasses and mom's hair ties out and placed them in a spot of honor on their dresser.
The elves had everything unpacked and beds turned down as everyone got into pj's and decided to meet up in the living room for a short family meeting, it seems that the Holidays have changed slightly. Once everyone was seated Dobby arrived with cups of hot chocolate for everyone. Sirius was abnormally quiet while he ran thru happy memories in this very spot, sleep overs with the marauders, getting "the talk" from Euphemia, Fleamont gifting him his pocket watch which he still had.
Remus too was lost in his own memories while he sat and stared at the fireplace with tears tracking down his cheeks, a small smile lifting his lips.
"You two look like you've just arrived home after a very long, gruesome day. Are you both okay?" Jean asked, not wanting to interrupt their memories but also wanting to make sure the men who she was starting to think of as family were okay.
"We are fine Jean, really, we are just caught up in memories of this place. Those are stories for later though, right now we need to get things squared away." Remus said while looking towards Harry and Hermione.
"Right, now that we are all safe let's go over what needs to change for our holidays." Harry started off.
Hermione followed right behind and asked Sirius the plans for her and Harry at Gringotts. "We never got to speak with Bogrod about the procedure Harry needs to go thru to get the horcrux out of his head for good."
"Righto, okay pups, so tomorrow I will bring both of you to Gringotts to undergo the ritual to remove that nasty piece of yuck. The goblins advised to wear loose fitting clothes that you don't mind throwing away." Sirius started.
"Right after they dispose of the one in your head they will handle the locket, the cup and the diadem. After that the only one left would be the ring." Sirius still couldn't contain his shivers thinking about the horcruxes.
Thinking that it might be beneficial to get rid of all the horcruxes in one go, Harry very much wanted to rush out and get the last one, but the truth of the matter is that he just didn't know what traps lay around that fabled ring, making obtaining it too great of a risk.
"Do we even know what will become of Voldemort when all the horcruxes are gone?" Hermione asked following up with a thought Harry was having.
"I did ask" Sirius said rather demurely. "No one really knows, as Voldemort was the first known person to make more than one." Sirius once more shivered.
"When a person makes a horcrux they are essentially cutting their soul in half and storing one part in a container and the other with them so when they pass they are tethered to the earth by the remaining half of their soul, they become a wraith like creature that doesn't necessarily need the horcrux to recreate a body." Sirius looked to Remus to finish so he could take a breather.
"The reason the wraith wouldn't need the horcrux is they have enough of their soul and essentially magic left to go about other means. Voldemort on the other hand kept splitting that remainder of soul, diluting himself and essentially any horcrux made after the first one." Remus loved teaching, however there was never a moment he would want to teach anyone about horcruxes after this, they just simply creeped him out.
"We can tell with fair certainty that the diary would have been the strongest horcrux as it was most likely his first, made while still in Hogwarts, afterwards would all just be speculation. We are completely guessing here, but we think his wraith is losing power as we kill all of the anchors." Remus said as he nodded back to Sirius to finish up the lesson.
"It would be a fair assumption that Voldemort would die after we destroy the last horcrux, however the goblins have a theory as well and it pertains to his followers. You see they believe that Voldemort might also be getting life sustaining properties from his tie to his death eaters." Once more Sirius shivered and looked towards the group to see if they had any questions.
"The dark mark?" Hermione asked right before sucking in her bottom lip and holding it hostage between her teeth while twirling a piece of hair around her index finger. "I wonder if there is a way to be able to tell if Riddle dies after we are done with the horcruxes… do you think something would happen to his followers?" The questions were piling up in Hermione's head as she asked.
Harry was busy thinking about the prior timeline, he knew that Draco Malfoy was still alive after the fall of Voldemort so the thought of the followers dying was out, he said as much out loud to the group. No one really asked or cared about their dark marks much to notice if they faded or disappeared completely. Thinking about the death eaters made Harry think of another loose end they needed to tie up.
"After everything tomorrow, I would like to invite Amelia over, I'm not sure if Barty made his great escape yet but we need to let her know about him either way." Harry stated while Hermione took out the ever growing to do list to add Barty Crouch Jr. to it, she couldn't believe she forgot about him.
"Enough about all the to do lists and changing times, we will have a full overview tomorrow after we know where Harry stands with the horcrux. Let's get some sleep and then we can discuss the changing holiday plans over breakfast." Jean said to sleepy eyes.
With that the group headed off to bed, extremely tired from a very long day, it was just after two in the morning.
Delores Umbridge was sitting in a cell cursing the name Harry Potter to the ends of the earth, she didn't understand how he could be ahead of her at every turn. She wasn't worried about the trial coming up, her own peers wouldn't force a member of the Wizengamot to drink veritaserum against their will, that was one of the reasons she conned her way into the governing body. Everyone knew the Selwyn family, and that they were descended from Salazar Slytherin himself, what they didn't know was that the family died out many years before Delores was even born. A few well-placed memory charms and no one ever suspected a thing. Truth of the matter was that Delores, claiming her blood as pure as Lucius Malfoys, didn't know who her father was, she could be a half blood for all she knew which is why she made up the Selwyn family ties.
It was quite easy in fact, which is how she planned to get out of the charges put against her. She considered herself the best conwoman in the magical world, even better than Mundungus Fletcher who she ironically was actually related to distantly. After she got out of this hell hole she would have to tread carefully, it gets harder to con people when you are constantly up to bat defending yourself.
Smiling Delores got to work thinking up her next plans, she would have to be sneaky, she also decided Potter wasn't worth going after until after she had the power needed to smash him into smithereens. Yes, she would need to be minister first, Fudge, he would be her next target.
Delores would faint if she knew what was happening at that very moment, history was being made up in the Chamber that would affect the way Delores' outcome would be.
"Mister Parkinson, you are here on more than just your recent counts of crime against the wizarding world, which is why we decided to start with you." Taking a deep breath Amelia started in on what was going to be known as the trial of the century. "Known death eater ties that were swept under the rug after your plea of the imperious curse, conspiring with other known death eaters once more this time against Harry Potter, sending a curse like potion to your daughter to go after Draco Malfoy, the new head of the Malfoy family, and now ties to a case in which you have sent not one but three dementors into a muggle neighborhood to go after a 'fake' criminal and almost resulted in the death of Sirius Black, Remus Lupin and Harry Potters new in laws, both of which are under the protection of House Potter." Amelia said all these charges thru gritted teeth. "How do you plead?"
Edmund was sweating bullets, he knew he would be busted for conspiring with other known death eaters but planned to come up with some cock and bull story to explain that away, how the hell did she have the dirt on the other charges?! After Lucius' trial there was no way to protect from the 'I was under the imperious' plea, not after he told everyone he took the mark willingly, they would require veritaserum to prove that alone, not to mention that potion he sent Pansy would be as if you applied that curse to anyone who drank it.
"Madam Bones, I am appalled that you think so lowly of me! Have I not given multiple donations to St. Mungo's on behalf of finding a cure for the Longbottom's? Have I not served justly on this very governing body to help bring Pettigrew and Malfoy to their knees and vote to have charges against them?" Edmund was really pulling at straws by this point, he did both of those things by means of survival, but as they were intended to do, they painted himself in good light.
"I feel ashamed that you would think I could be involved with such plots willingly. You see, it was all in relation to that Umbridge woman, she is the whole reason I find myself in this position that I am in today." Taking a deep breath Edmund fought for his life.
"She conned me into helping her with the dementors, threatening the life of my wife and child. She told me that she could make people go missing and no one would go looking for them. She gave examples, like Emil Price." Edmund of course knew what happened to Emil, and Delores had nothing to do with it, he actually doubted whether she even knew who he was, but no one besides himself and Pettigrew knew what happed and Pettigrew wasn't going to be talking now that he was dead. Just another reason to pass that verdict against him.
"As for the potion, it was a simple love potion I bought from an owl post magazine, it wasn't supposed to even work but I wanted to give Pansy every chance to be protected, and if she was still betrothed to the Malfoy boy she would be protected from anything that Umbridge could do." He thew in some fake tears here to make it seem more realistic, no need to know that he brewed that potion himself and wanted to use it to gain control of the Malfoy gold.
"So, to answer your initial question Madam Bones, I plea not guilty." Edmund thought he had the case won, he could see he made lead way with the group, several members were looking shocked by all his plausible explanations, which is exactly what he needed.
"Very well Mister Parkinson, I will notate your plea and your explanation of events." Edmund smiled at her words.
"We will verify these facts via veritaserum, you have already been given the flushing potion in your cell, I have a documented proof from the St. Mungo's employee who administered it." Amelia watched as the color drained from his face, she didn't want him to put up too much of a fight in the chamber so had the medical professional dressed in auror recruit robes. "That same healer is here now to apply the three drops of veritaserum so that we can verify that everything you stated is the truth."
"I have the right to forego the option of taking veritaserum as I am a Wizengamot member! My word should be held as truth by my peers." Edmund tried to sound unperturbed, but it came across more as frightened.
"You are misinformed Edmund, as just before this trial we held a meeting to discuss such things, we have come to an agreement that in cases with such severity as this, we, as members of society would face the same rulings and regulations as normal citizens would. I found it complete and udder madness that just because one was on a board that passed rules meant that they were above them, Lucius Malfoy being a prime example of this." The evil gleam in her eyes caught Edmund off guard.
"We have stipulated that past events wouldn't be cause for testifying now in the present but that each member would start off on a clean slate. Any cause afterwards would be up to that person as if you give cause to examine the past we will." Amelia thought this was brilliant, Hermione was one of a kind and would have a very positive influence on this governed body when she was older and ready to take up the mantle.
By giving members with past discrepancies an out, made the motion easier to pass, it also ensured that anyone who planned to try something against them now, thought twice, because if they were caught in the act then previous crimes could be brought back up and revisited under truth serum. She really didn't understand the whole 'Wizengamot members equal no veritaserum' ruling. She knew it was most likely put in place by death eaters to protect death eaters but was appalled none the less by it.
Harry and Hermione had given her information on every death eater they knew, and even a list of some people to watch more closely, she couldn't believe how deep the deception ran. Edmund screaming obscenities drew her out of her contemplation, the once sympathetic faces of the other members have now morphed into ones of shock that such a display would be coming from one of their esteemed members.
After a few minutes of waiting to let the potion take hold Amelia started out with the normal questions to determine that it was working, then started to use Edmunds lies against him.
"Mister Parkinson, you stated that Delores Umbridge threatened harm to your wife and child, is that correct?" Amelia asked.
"No." was the one-word dull emotionless answer coming from his mouth.
"How did Delores Umbridge get rid of Emil Price?" this question Amelia was very interested in as the case of Emil Price was still open, however it has gone unsolved for almost a decade.
"She didn't." Edmund new that the potion would compel a person to tell the truth, it didn't however, make a person explain that truth without being asked.
Amelia though was smarter than that and knew exactly how to play this game. "Where you involved in Emil Prices disappearance nine years ago?"
"Yes." Was all he said.
"Well then, what happened to Emil Price?" Amelia asked, she couldn't believe this was happening, Emil was her mentor back in the day, a real stand up auror.
"He knew too much, he had been discovered as a spy and was murdered like the traitor he was." Edmund said still in that dull emotionless voice.
"And who murdered him?" Amelia asked while trying not to tear up. She could finally give his wife and son an explanation.
"I did, with the help of Peter Pettigrew." Edmund knew his goose was cooked. Now it was just how cooked it was going to be.
Amelia had walked Edmund thru the death of Emil Price, verified he took the mark willingly, and collaborated that he was in fact trying to kill Harry Potter along with the names of the other three people in custody. She got him to explain his role in getting the dementors to Crawley and explained that they didn't know Sirius or Remus would be there. He even explained Delores' plan to torture Harry Potter's 'mudblood' wife. She walked him thru the whole Pansy debacle in Hogwarts, found out that she knew exactly what the potion was and how to use it properly. She too was looking at charges because of this.
In the end Edmund Parkinson was sentenced to the same fate as Peter Pettigrew and would be passed thru the veil at midnight after receiving a dementors kiss. Quite fitting Amelia thought.
Gregory Pucey's trial went much the same, he was in it for the power and the money, which is how Amelia tracked him to begin with. That amount of gold moving vaults could never stay quiet in Gringotts. Pucey didn't know anything more about Emil, he did explain that he was coerced into taking up the Dark Mark by his father, but still willingly accepted it after he discovered he could mess around with attractive muggles, never mind the gender nor age. He too was found guilty and given the dementors kiss for his crimes.
Delores Umbridge was now sitting in the accused chair, her wrists chained to the arms with a smile on her toad like face. Amelia had decided to have Delores testify before Bulstrode so they wouldn't lose the momentum, Amelia wanted this witch put away, she was also curious to see what her motive was.
"Delores Umbridge, you have been brought here today to face trial for 3 counts of attempted murder, treason, and line theft." Amelia almost broke her façade by laughing as the happy smile on her ugly toad like face dropped into a fairly spot on impersonation of a ghost. "We now also have several counts of murder to go over as well.
"PERPOSTERUS!" Delores screamed, spittle flying from her mouth. How dare this bitch have the nerve to claim line theft!
"I would like to know on what grounds you have to declare any of those charges!" Delores stated with so much hatred the devil himself would back up.
"We will explain that shortly Madam Umbridge, how do you plead?" Amelia was now looking forward to getting some veritaserum into her.
"I plead not guilty to all counts!" Spit flying from the mouth of the soon to be dead witch.
"Thank-you" Amelia said while waving for the healer to bring in the tiny clear bottle filled with the truth telling potion. It was at this time that Delores really lost it. Claiming her right as a Wizengamot member and screaming that this was an injustice to not only herself but any other pureblood who would stand trial.
Amelia once more explained the changes in rules only this time to Delores, who could care less about the whole dark mark policy as she wasn't a marked death eater, what she cared about was past crimes and that she would now be forced to answer them if asked the right questions.
Although Delores wasn't a death eater, she sympathized with them very strongly, and if given the chance she would have gladly taken the mark. She not only cheated her way into society but made sure she was needed while in that position, this meant that she was an asset to death eaters and politicians alike.
Still fighting with everything she had, Delores attempted to talk her way out until the very end. Once those three drops of liquid hit her tongue she stopped resisting and just sat there quietly. The only thing she could do now is pray that Amelia didn't ask anything too incriminating.
All that praying went as far as the first question, "What can you tell me about Emil Price?"
Even though Edmund didn't think that Delores would know anything about Emil, he was proved very wrong. She had information on several open cases, had her hand in all of them, every spy that was missing was because of her. She hand fed information to the right people to get her way and move herself into the position she was currently in.
Harry knew that the Selwyn's weren't related to her, she said as much in the last timeline during her 'Muggleborn Registration Act' nonsense, causing Amelia to do some digging. What she found was not only disturbing but very, very illegal.
"Delores Umbridge, can you tell us how you are related to the Selwyn's? A minor noble house that's bloodline has been declared extinct?" Amelia asked.
"No." Said the dull emotionless voice of Delores Umbridge. "Because I'm not related to them to my knowledge, it's a best guess as I don't know who my father is/was."
"Do you know there is a way to determine a family's lineage, we will be performing this spell in order to determine if you are in fact guilty of line theft. Because you chose a family that has no existing members this is the only way, they obviously would not be able to charge you, however you have been claiming their head of house status and their seat within the Wizengamot, meaning the Wizengamot itself will be charging you with the line theft." Amelia was keeping a sharp eye for signs of shock but saw nothing of the like in Delores' eyes, however dread was heavily prevalent.
If Delores wasn't related to the Selwyn family then the charges of Treason would be unfightable, taking control of a house that had a seat on the Wizengamot just to better your position in life doesn't look to hot. On top of that Delores wasn't sure she wanted to know where her real lineage lies. What if she had ties to muggles or mudbloods, or heaven help her a blood traitor like the Weasleys.
There was no time to think about it anymore, the healer that had applied the veritaserum was back and performing the spell before Delores could even argue. To everyone's surprise, the test results came back in the positive, Delores Jane Umbridge was in fact in some way related to the Selwyn family, it was very slight but there none the less, and no one was more surprised than Delores.
"Well Madam Umbridge, it seems that you have just gotten lucky, however by your own admission you claimed that household in order to gain entry to the Wizengamot without knowing if you were in fact a member of said house, but because there are no other challengers to the house of Selwyn we will be dropping those charges against you." Amelia said bitterly.
"However, you will still be charged for attempted murders, you will also face charges for all the prior aurors you helped bring to their demise and in turn treason." Amelia then took the vote to decide what Delores' punishment would be.
"Delores Jane Umbridge, you are here by sentenced to a dementors kiss after which time your body will be passed thru the veil following your cohorts to your death." Amelia stated happy with the sentence, being told what happened in the last timeline she didn't want a repeat on any harm to any of the children.
Delores descended into the floor still attached to her chair, weeping.
Amelia though saddened to end the line of Selwyn once more, had just turned to the governed body to address them before the final trial took place for Bulstrode.
"Ladies and Gentlemen, something needs to change." Taking a deep breath Amelia tried to steady herself, "Today we have learned about not one but four brave aurors who have had their lives forfeited for someone else's gain. Four brave souls who risked everything to cross into enemy lines to help end a war they didn't ask for."
Amelia had the chamber now; everyone was focused on her. "And how do we repay them? We allowed their names to be forgotten, allowed hundreds if not thousands of people to lose loved ones. And for what? So that these deranged death eaters who thought they were better than everyone else could go free!"
Amelia was breathing heavily now, knowing that she needed to keep her composure for the last trial she left off on something that will stick with everyone in the chamber for the rest of their lives as well as make the headlines of the prophet.
"I stand here today as one of two remaining members of the house of Bones; I know several of you are in a similar boat. Rules were changed right after the war to benefit not those families that lost so much but the murderers that caused all the trauma. I would hope that after today we will sit and look at all those reforms, however right now we have the final trial today to get over with." At that Amelia watched as Conrad Bulstrode raised up in the chair that once held Delores.
Bulstrode's trial was pretty straight forward, he didn't carry the dark mark, he didn't know anything about the missing aurors, nor did he even know Umbridge or Parkinson's reasonings behind wanting to kill Harry Potter. He was simply coerced into doing Umbridge's wishes simply because he was caught cheating on his wife and Umbridge used it against him.
His main contribution to the dementors was the address of the Grangers, and he only got that because the lady he was messing around with was a muggleborn with knowledge of how to use a phone book. All in all he got off with the easiest sentence of the day, five years in Azkaban with a heavy ministerial fine placed against him.
His wife chose to leave him to be absorbed back into her family due to the dishonor, his daughter Millicent would be given the option on how she wanted to proceed.
Amelia left the chamber happier than she has been in quite a long time, she set out to capture the people who went after Harry and his family, and left with four unsolved cases being solved, a nice little boost in funds for the auror department, and down two death eaters with the other ones tamed into a corner. Come summer holidays she planned to put in place new reforms making it fairer for everyone to be prosecuted. Yes, it was a very successful day, Harry adding his two knuts of confidence in both the aurors and Fudge's ministry went along way to making the politician happy as well.
Fudge thought things were going swimmingly, glad to have escaped any kind of scuffle thanks to Narcissa Black. From here on out he will be taking the council of that very wise woman, along with the help of Madam Bones. He would be a fool not to, his ratings were better than anytime in his career and he didn't have to feel like a flobberworm to get there.
Albus Dumbledore was shocked, almost as much as Delores was when testifying. There were four trials today, none of which was Albus Dumbledore asked his opinion on strategy, sentencing, or reforms. What good was being the head of the Wizengamot if all he did was open the session and close it. Given that these were all cases that Amelia cultivated herself and she asked for permission ahead of time to walk thru with the whole trial, Dumbledore was nothing but a mere spectator in the room.
It seemed his days of being the Leader of the Light were fading into the unknown, but his ticket back into the spotlight had just walked past.
"Amelia, a word if you would please." Albus asked politely.
"Sure Albus, but it will have to be a quick one, I have another meeting coming up soon at Gringotts, and you know one must not be late to a meeting with a Goblin." Amelia said while smiling, if Albus only knew.
"Understandable, I just wanted a quick word on the sentences." Albus didn't notice Amelia's eye roll, "I have been a little worried with the severity of the sentences handed out here recently, essentially you have now killed five people. I know that must be a heavy burden."
"Albus I think you are forgetting that I killed no one." Amelia almost laughed at Albus' shocked face. "Each and every one of them killed themselves when they decided to partake in killing others. Now tell me why I should feel any sympathy for them? Especially Delores Umbridge who is the sole reason four top notch aurors are dead?"
Amelia was done playing games, "I think you need to take a look at your priorities and decided where your loyalties lay, are you really trying to tell me that we should have given any of them a slap on the wrist and expect that they would behave from here on forward. Because frankly that has already happened, and they screwed it up, again, didn't they?!"
Albus couldn't argue that point, and he knew in his heart of hearts that each and every one of them got what they deserved, he just didn't like killing people, period. He also didn't like feeling like he was on the road to being a no name wizard who was once the greatest of all.
Amelia excused herself from the walking headache that is Albus Dumbledore and floo'd over to Gringotts, no matter how much she didn't want to be in the same vicinity of any bloody horcruxes again, the ministry needed a witness to the events, and she trusted no one else right now.
Harry had awakened to his favorite sight in the whole world, the chocolate colored mass of curls that is his wife's beautiful hair. He never thought it was possible to feel so loved, not even when he was with Ginny in the past timeline did he feel like this. He guessed it had something to do with being soulmates, even though he still had a hard time believing that this is his life now. Feeling Hermione's kiss to his cheek slowly pulled him out of his daydream.
"Good morning love, you looked a million miles away right then, you weren't even projecting your thoughts to me. Is everything alright?" Hermione asked with a questioning look in her eyes.
"Just thinking about how much better my life is this go around and knowing exactly who I have to thank for that." Harry replied while placing his own kiss on her temple. "Plus, I think Sirius' training on controlling our legilimency is pulling its weight, I naturally didn't want to wake you up so put up the shield so that you could continue to sleep. What time is it anyway?" he asked while sitting up.
"Little after six o'clock. Guess we should get up and get ready for the day." Hermione said this while getting up and grabbing clothes from the dresser, pausing to grab one of Lily's hair ties and her blouse. She figured Harry would need the love of his Mom today as well.
Walking down the stairs hand in hand, Harry noticed the full table and suddenly felt the weight of what he was going to be undertaking today. Amelia walked right up to him and gave him a hug, I just wanted to pop in before the trials today, I don't think we will have much time afterwards and wanted to make sure you know how much I care Harry.
Her hug shocked Harry so much he was speechless, Hermione answered for him. "We appreciate that Amelia, Harry would tell you himself if you hadn't just knocked the words out of his head." Hermione's giggles brought Harry back to the here and now as he returned her hug.
"I think what my beautiful wife was trying to explain was that before her I never really got hugged. Even in the last timeline I could count the number of hugs I've received on both hands. Hermione being the one who would hug me the most." Harry said blushing.
The blush grew with intensity as a line formed to give the boy who lived a hug. First Jean, then Mick, followed closely by Remus, Sirius, and Dobby. Everyone had tears in their eyes as Amelia took off to the Ministry to start the trials, they had an appointment with Bogrod and Griphook later that afternoon, until then the Grangers had decided to figure out what the kids wanted to do for the holidays.
If she had her way, and Jean very much wanted to get her way this year, they would have a big family celebration. Normally it was just the three Grangers celebrating, this year she had a son, two pseudo brothers, and an extended family to plan for. To say she was excited was an understatement. Visions of a giant tree with loads of decorations, and tons of presents filled her mind.
"Take a seat kids, and let's talk about the holidays!" Harry just had to laugh at the gleam in Jean's eye.
"Sure Mum" Harry said while pulling out Hermione's chair, "Let me just grab a plate for us and we can talk about it."
Mick could tell that Jean was over the moon, and he didn't think Harry even noticed what his 'mum' phrasing did to her, then again Mick laughed, the twinkle in Harry's eye told him maybe he did know and purposely used it to be able to grab food.
"Okay, now that everyone is fed and or eating, can we go over who is all coming to stay and when? We have much more room now, and don't have to be limited by our space." Jean said while grabbing the pen that Dobby plopped on the table next to a notebook.
"Well, let's see…" Hermione started putting up fingers as she recounted who was all coming over. "There is Remus, Sirius, Amelia, Susan, Narcissa, Draco, Andi, Ted, Tonks, and the Weasley Twins." Holding up ten fingers because who counted the twins as two people Hermione looked to Harry. "Am I forgetting anyone dear?"
"Neville dear. Originally, we had only planned to ask Neville and the twins to spend the weekend, but since we have so much more room and aren't restricted to non-magical area's we could potentially extend the offer of hospitality to everyone invited as well as the rest of the Weasley brood.
"Even Ron?" Mick asked, even though he was told Ron had been acting perfectly fine, he still didn't trust him in the slightest.
"Dad, if we can put aside our differences and invite Draco Malfoy to our home, and even invite him to spend the weekend, I think we can invite Ron." Hermione said while crossing her arms, "besides, Molly would never let the prat become a prat, at least not in front of everyone."
"To be honest Draco surprises me more than Ron, I can't believe how much everything has changed this go around." Harry said while sipping on his pumpkin juice.
"Okay, Dobby will you have the house elves prepare eight to nine additional bedrooms we can figure out sleeping arrangements after we get a final total." Jean asked right before Dobby popped away.
"Next thing on my list … "and Jean was off, they decided to cut a tree down from outside with everyone when they arrived, that way they could decorate it all together. Mick was fascinated with the wizarding version of lights. Even though he's been submersed in magic for the last few months using actual fairies seemed amazing to him. Sirius' contribution to the planning was that he wanted to do a secret Santa gift exchange, a tradition Harry found out that his Mum started with the Marauders.
Harry and Hermione went over the fact that not all the guests will have knowledge of their past lives and to be careful what they discuss while everyone is over. After that everyone, now finished eating headed to their rooms to get dressed for the day while Harry and Hermione followed Dobby to go thru a few boxes from his family, they headed into the library so they could speak to the sources themselves, his parents and grandparents.
Walking in had a smiling Lily looking excited "nice top my dear, you look splendid in it!" Hermione blushed at Lily's praise; she had forgotten she grabbed one of her blouses to wear for Harry.
"Thanks mum." Hermione said while trying to control her rosy complexion. "I thought Harry could use a little piece of you around when he gets the horcrux removed."
Nodding the Potters spent the next few hours going thru journals and photo albums that were in the contents of the boxes Dobby popped in and out with. The little guy had just popped in empty handed to take out the most recently organized box when he alerted them that it was time to go.
They met up with everyone in the entry hall, Jean and Mick were going to be heading to Gringotts via side along apparition with Sirius and Remus, the Potters would be heading there via Dobby. Within a blink of an eye everyone was gone from Potter Manor and arrived in the entry hall of Gringotts where they were met promptly by Bogrod and Griphook.
Sirius bowed and greeted the goblin duo, "Good day Masters Bogrod and Griphook, may all your enemies perish by your blade." Both goblins bowed in acknowledgement, pleased that they received the respect of their client. Harry and Hermione also bowed, Harry adding "May all your endeavors be profitable." Laughing was heard behind the two goblins, or as close to laughter as a goblin could manage.
"My compliments on your manners." Ragnok laughed. "It is a delightful experience to encounter wizards and witches that honor us and our traditions. It's also extremely rare."
The whole group bowed at the head of the goblin nation, including the non-magical of the group. Ragnok knew this group was special, so special they didn't realize what they just did was so far outside the normal range of normal that they were getting extremely close to friendship status. Something that hasn't been bestowed upon a witch or wizard since Merlin and never on a muggle.
Ragnok was going to explain this, just as Madam Bones popped in, already bowing knowing exactly who he was. Another anomaly Ragnok thought, the head of the DMLE bowing to the head of the goblin nation.
"Good day Director Ragnok, may your bank profit greatly" Amelia said before she raised from her bow.
"Thank-you all" Ragnok said while feeling a little shocked from such a display from a ministry member. Today really is a red-letter day. He thought while walking with the group into the ceremony room.
"Welcome Lord and Lady Potter" A female goblin healer stated as the group entered the chamber proper. "We have everything set up, thank you for wearing loose clothing it will help with the procedure." She said while looking at Harry's track suit and Hermione's flowy skirt and loose blouse.
Harry and Hermione just nodded, they were busy exchanging loving words thru their bond, understandably they were both rather nervous about this procedure, it took getting hit with the killing curse last time for the horcrux to be removed from Harry.
"This is a love-based ritual, one that plays off the bonds you two share due to being soul mates. I'm not going to lie it will be painful, we have to essentially rip the soul from your body, and due to your bond Hermione will feel everything that you do, even if you could maintain a shield between you both the inevitable fact is that your souls are entwined, there for Voldemort is now attached to Hermione's as well." The healer finished.
Another healer came up next to them and introduced himself and the female goblin who was just speaking. "Pardon Healer Graplick, she's just as nervous as I'm sure you both are. My name is Healer Rogan, I'm going to be the main healer over the ritual today. Can I ask you both to take off your shoes and sit side by side in the circle we have drawn on the ground right over there." They both followed directions and headed of in the direction that Rogan pointed.
"I will ask that the rest of you take a seat in the warded area off to the left please." Rogan pointed another direction and Sirius lead the group towards the seating area. Jean thought everything in this ritual room looked very utilitarian, even their seating was nothing more than a stone bench, which to her shock was surprisingly comfortable. Seeing her confusion while looking at the stone Remus simple whispered magic into her ear with a sly smile on his face. Before Jean could comment back the main goblin started handig out instructions again.
"Thank-you, now once the ritual starts you are both going to feel a bit light-headed, it's not unusual for the main host, in this case Harry, to pass out. I will draw some runes on to you both that will monitor your vitals and magical supply." Rogan said this while painting said runes. "Are you both ready?" he asked when both Harry and Hermione had enough time to examine the runes that were placed on their bodies.
"Yes." They said together as they intertwined their fingers. Harry and Hermione stared into each other's eyes as the goblins started chanting, Hermione could feel Harry's thumb rubbing soothing circles on the back of her hand, a nervous tic she supposed. Then suddenly the runes on the floor started to light up, the atmosphere was getting charged with positive energy the chanting goblins provided. Harry immediately started to feel the sharp pain in his scar that he associated with Voldemort. Gritting his teeth, it took all his might not to scream, he didn't want to frighten Jean, gripping Hermione's hand tighter than ever, maybe it wasn't such a good idea to bring them he thought briefly right before he lost his battle with awareness. Harry held strong in that he didn't scream out in pain, he no longer had to worry about that though as he had passed out releasing the death grip he had Hermione's hand in.
Hermione didn't have the past knowledge to prepare herself for the onslaught of pain that she was feeling, at the start Harry took the brunt of the pain, but as soon as he passed out meant she was up to bat. It happened almost immediately, Hermione didn't have as much control as her husband, thankful that he passed out first, she heard his thoughts on trying not to scare her mum, she would just have to apologize when this was all over, for the gut wrenching scream she let out was more than enough to make up for Harry's amazing self-control.
It took the combined efforts of Mick, Sirius and Remus who was using his werewolf strength to hold Jean back from tearing down there to grab onto the kids. The scream only lasted for a few seconds before Hermione passed out as well, laying on top of Harry hands still loosely entwined.
Jean feared the worst but was assured by Rogan that this was normal. Shortly after Hermione passed out a black thick mist lifted out from both of the bodies lying entangled on the floor. Several goblins from different areas rushed forward and placed the black mist into a jar which would eventually be transferred into a pig, which would eventually be slaughtered. Amelia followed the jar out of the room making sure to watch as the horcrux was taken care of, she was going to be present for the others as well, thankfully the actual removal of the horcrux wasn't as bad from the inanimate objects, she didn't think she could handle hearing another scream like Hermione's again, it was a million times worse than the scream the diary produced, something she didn't think fire whiskey would be able to drown out.