chapter 5
SATURDAY, MARCH 18, 1995
Hermione Granger had a "Harry Saving Thing." She had kind have known that all the while, but it was only this year that she finally accepted that fact. It had begun almost from the moment they first met. They had first met on September 1st, 1991 in a railway compartment on the train that first brought them to Hogwarts. Hermione had only just found out she was a witch that summer when she and her parents received a visit from Professor McGonagall, the Deputy Headmistress of the School.
Her parents were about as ordinary as two people could be. They met at Manchester University and started dating. They continued to date all through University and then Dental School. They married the summer after they finished Dental School. They both received jobs at a dental clinic near Oxford in England. Their "boss" was an older man and highly popular dentist, which was saying a lot given what most people tend to think about seeing a dentist. He had hired them in the hopes they would take over his practice one day so he could retire and spend time traveling the world with his wife, which eventually happened. Hermione remembered on evening when she was a little girl when her father had a particularly bad day of it with about five difficult patients when he commented that he was sure people would rather hear from their doctor that they had some kind of serious and maybe even terminal disease than from their dentist that they needed a cavity filled or a root canal.
Hermione was born September 19, 1979, two years after her Mum and Dad started working. Her Dad's family came from some wealth. Not enough that they could afford to live in a manor or something, but it was enough to provide the best possible care for Hermione while she was growing up as her mother still wanted to work. She knew her parents loved her very much. She also knew they wanted to have another child, but had put it off until she started primary school. That was almost ten years ago and still they had not had one. Hermione wondered why, but figured it was personal and if she needed to know they would have told her.
Primary School was not a lot of fun for her. Her studies were just fine. She was always at the top of her classes and she liked most of her teachers. The other children, however, were another matter. She was not really picked on much or bullied. She was the oldest in her year and therefore bigger than most of her classmates, although not by much. Maybe that was the reason. That little fact was announced on her very first day of classes and a lot of the students seemed put off by it. Add to it her marks, and there was something else that set her apart. It probably did not help, she thought, that her parents lived in the country and she had no friends her own age to play with before starting school. She was used to adults, not children her own age and she personally found them immature. She never recalled saying that to any of them, but she now thought they probably sensed that about her too.
She never had any friends before primary school and she never really made any while she was there. Well, she made one. It was a girl who had transferred in a couple of years after she started. The girl was named Casey and was an American. Her father was spending a couple of years teaching at Oxford as part of some program or another and Casey was about as smart and well read as Hermione so naturally the two bookworms (which was about the worst thing anyone called her) would become friends. Unfortunately, Casey and her family moved back to the States two years later and Hermione was alone again.
Odd things occasionally happened to Hermione as a child. She now knew it was "accidental magic." Her mother told her that her first manifestations were what she now knew was summoning. She was maybe a year old and in her crib and her mother had forgotten to pick up her teddy when she put her to bed. So she summoned it. Ordinarily this might have gone unnoticed, except the bear was in another room and her mother had just seen it and was about to pick it up when it happened. At the time, her mother had no idea what to think except that perhaps she'd been working too hard.
There weren't really that many bouts of magic. Maybe one or two a year. When she got to Hogwarts, she heard all kinds of stories about accidental magic from others in her year and they seemed to happen much more often. Being a Muggle Born, emotionally she was worried that her infrequent bouts meant she was not as magical as the others. Intellectually, she knew this was false. Accidental magic was a response to extreme stress, usually anger or fear. She remembered her other bouts were usually when she was really angry. She wondered about that first one. Her mother later told her it was because when she was a baby, she always slept with that bear so when it was not there, maybe…
Saving Harry became her mission early in First Year. It did not start on the train, although it could have. She had read a lot about him, fortunately from the non-fiction section at Flourish & Blotts. (She later was shown Ginny's "Boy-Who-Lived" collection at the Burrow and honestly, those books made Rita Skeeter and Gilderoy Lockheart look like paradigms of factual integrity, then again those books were in the "fiction" section of the store.) The non-fiction actually said more about Harry's dead parents than him. His role in history was limited to no more than a few pages at most and in that case, most of it was about the fame he had following his parents death and his disappearance from the Wizarding World. They did note that Dumbledore had something to do with that and that he also was not talking to anyone about it.
The books she had were somewhat different in their "spin" on the facts. One stated that Harry was the sole survivor of an attack on his home that left his parents dead and "You-Know-Who" destroyed. The other one painted the fifteen month old child as more the hero than survivor. What was odd, she thought, was most people would tell you that Harry killed Voldemort that Halloween night in 1981, but she had never read that in a history book. The closest any book came to saying it was:
"After having killed James and Lily Potter, the self styled Dark Lord apparently turned his wand on the little one. As horrifying as it would seem that any wizard would stoop to killing a magical child, it must be remembered that this man and his criminal element followers had never distinguished based upon age. The evidence is sketchy, but it is generally believed he did in fact cast the Killing Curse on the boy. What happened next is nothing but speculation and conjecture, but the boy lived and Voldemort was destroyed. Magical Forensics from DMLE did, however, confirmed that there was trace magic from the curse on the boy in a report to Minster Bagnold dated 2 November 1981. The boy had spent a day at the Healer Clinic in Godrics Hollow Wales before he was placed with guardians."
Hermione liked that book. Looking back, she liked the author's wording for Voldemort and his followers and now was surprised, given the fame Harry had, that he had not used Harry's name in this section. (It appeared later in discussions of the wild speculation about what had happened and the fame of a boy few in the magical world had ever seen before he was about to go to Hogwarts.)
Looking back, she wondered what kind of first impression she made on Harry. It probably was not a good one. Harry was sitting with Ron on the train as Hermione came by helping Neville find his pet toad Trevor. Ron was about to attempt a spell on his "pet Rat" Scabbers (who they later learned was actually an animagus named Peter Pettigrew who had been living as a rat ever since he betrayed Harry and his parents, murdered a dozen Muggles and managed to get Sirius Black framed for it, although no one knew that at the time and the Ministry still denied that they could ever be wrong about Sirius). It was not a real spell Ron tried, which Hermione of course had to point out, then show off some real magic she knew and then tell Harry she had read all about him in books she had picked up in Diagon Alley. That was hardly an endearing way of making a favorable impression Hermione would later think.
It seemed that Harry never gave that disaster much thought and was nice to Hermione from that point onward. Ron was another matter. He detested her. She was still convinced the only reason he can be civil to her at all is because Harry was her friend. She considered Ron a friend too as in A friend. Harry, however, was her best friend.
She became Harry's friend and he became her best friend on what would otherwise have been the worst day of her life. She had been friendly with Harry before then, and probably was already into Saving Harry, but they were not really friends yet. At primary school, she was mostly ignored. Aside from Casey, she never had a friend and a part of her had hoped that now that she was here, she might actually make some real friends. But her roommates mostly ignored her the first couple of months. She had three. Sally-Anne Perks was a Muggle Born like herself who had to be the shyest person Hermione ever met. She never really spoke to anyone unless spoken to and even then said very little. Even four years later, Hermione knew little about her. Parvati Patil and Lavender Brown hit it off the first night at school, mainly because they both were obsessed with clothes - and later boys. Since Hermione's interests were books and homework, she was ignored for a time. Hogwarts was the first time in her entire life she had every really been picked on by anyone. She was a target of what she now knew was the Slytherin Shag Club just because of her parents and it bothered her.
The truth was, while it was not totally awful, Hermione was terribly homesick and not having a friend made it even worse. She was feeling particularly down about it that morning. October 31st was her Mum's birthday and was always a big thing at home, ranking right up there with Hermione's Birthday (which only her parents remembered, then again it was not like she told anyone at school about that at the time) and Christmas. So of course, Ron has to be a loud mouthed idiot and comment upon her lack of friends. When she heard that all she wanted to do was go home and never leave again.
Parvati actually tried to get her to calm down and come to dinner that night, but she was too upset and stayed in the girl's bathroom fighting the urge to write her parents and beg to come home. Intellectually she knew that was not what she needed. Emotionally, however, she wanted to be with them again. Right about the time she decided that she was not going to run home, a troll came lumbering into the bathroom and Hermione was sure she was dead. Then Harry came in, jumped on the troll and convinced Ron (who had reluctantly followed him) to do something and by some miracle, Ron actually did a decent spell (his first of the year) and as a result the Troll was knocked out by its own club. To this day she did not know why she lied to Professor McGonagall when she told the Professor she had come looking for the troll herself only to get cornered. The truth was just as amazing if not more so. But she did because she didn't want to admit she had been crying her eyes out for hours and hours.
Hermione knew enough about life debts. She owed one to Harry at that time. She wondered if she still did given their adventures. But she also knew that while such debt could account for her Harry Saving Thing, the truth was that began before the troll. She had already taken to helping Harry with his homework if he ever asked and she had tried to keep him from getting in trouble in that stupid midnight wizard's duel with Malfoy (which was actually a trick to get Harry in trouble as Malfoy sent Filch to catch them). But ever since the Troll, she would always do whatever needed to be done to keep Harry as safe as possible, which was difficult as it seemed every year someone or something wanted to kill him. She even would defy him, if that's what it took. Last year Harry had received a brand new Firebolt, said to be the best flying broom available bar none and wickedly expensive as it if you had to ask the price, you had no business buying it. Hermione was convinced Sirius Black had sent it (and was right about that.) At the time, everyone was convinced Sirius was trying to kill Harry so Hermione was convinced the broom was an attempt on his life and against Harry's wishes and to Ron's horror, she told McGonagall who confiscated the broom until it could be thoroughly tested. Harry was angry with her for about a week. Ron wouldn't even speak to her until the broom was returned.
Hermione had been thinking about her friends a lot over the last week, especially after Lucinda had shown her the law books proving her idea was legal and was probably the only way that Harry was going to get out from under whatever Dumbledore was up to. She had already made her mind up about this. If Harry's life were normal, she would probably sit back and wait for Harry to make his own decisions about his life and all she really wanted and needed from him was to be his friend and for him to be happy. She could tolerate his being married to someone else on that condition. But to lose Harry as a friend for any reason was something she did not think she could bear.
Ron on the other hand was another matter. She might get angry or frustrated with Harry from time to time but she had always really liked him. She liked Ron when he was not being lazy, insensitive or stupid. Basically this meant she liked Ron a few hours a week, usually on Mondays and Tuesdays before his homework began to pile up and he started to expect her to help. He was really pissed at her right now. She was so busy with all this stuff and he came up expecting help with six assignments, two of which are already overdue and she refused. The truth was she was too busy to help him right now and it was, as usual, his own damn fault for not even trying to get it done himself. Harry never did that. Harry would ask for help as well, but always long enough before a deadline so as not to get under Hermione's skin. Even then, what he usually asked for is for her to look it over, to guide him through it not do it for him like Ron always expected, and always got told:
"Every time, Ronald," Hermione said raising her voice, "every time! Every time you come basically ask me to do you homework for you and every time I tell you I'll look it over when it's finished! For almost four years! Do you honestly think I'm going to change my mind on this? You honestly think I've got nothing better to do with my time tonight than to practically do your homework for you that you should have started last week?"
"You'd do it for Harry!"
"No, Ronald. Harry does not usually come to me the night before a paper is due and ask me to practically help him write it! When he has no idea about an assignment, he asks me DAYS before it's due. Usually, all I do is look it over and suggest corrections! On the RARE occasions where it's the night before, he has a really good excuse - usually a few days in the Hospital Wing - and I know that before hand."
"But Hermione?" Ron begged trying not to totally lose it although Hermione knew he was going to fail spectacularly.
"FINE!" Hermione said.
"That's great!"
"But first you'll have to hire me as your private tutor. I believe the going rate is twenty-five galleons a month."
"WHAT?"
"I have things to do to, Ronald. I don't spend half the week playing chess or exploding snaps and I still have a lot to do! If you want me to fit your homework into my schedule, I expected to be compensated for my time!"
"You're mental! Completely mental!
"No Ron, I'm BUSY!"
That had been a couple of nights ago and knowing Ron, it might be a week before he spoke to her again and of course he would not apologize and would act as if nothing happened. If he was not Harry's friend, she would probably have little to do with him. Aside from being Harry's friend, they really had nothing in common. She was a Muggle Born. He probably could not spell the word Muggle, much less tell you anything about them. She liked to read. He only read when he had to - as in when Hermione would not give him a verbal summary. Her parents were well off. His family was not. This was not as big a deal in the Wizarding World as they were more concerned about blood status than anything else, but that was a factor in the Muggle World. He liked Quidditch. Hermione liked Harry Potter who played Quidditch really well. She was at the top of her class. Ron ranked 28 out of 39. Academics was important to her and he could care less.
Harry on the other hand was Muggle raised. Admittedly, his relatives were abysmal, but he knew that world. Harry did not read for fun as far as she knew, but he probably had never been allowed to and certainly never encouraged to. His homework showed he could read very well as he was 18th in their year (mostly due to History of Magic which he hated and Potions which Professor Snape had long before made intolerable). Harry played Quidditch, but it was not his world the way it was for Ron. If Britain banned Quidditch, he'd probably shrug. Ron would die of a heart attack. The truth was, she had always enjoyed Harry's company more and they certainly had more in common. The truth was the girls were probably right. She loved Harry Potter and had for a long time. If Harry had and was going to have an ordinary life, she could live with that so long as she remained his friend. But Harry was not going to have an ordinary life. If this bizarre plan was his fate, she would be beside him every step of the way. She knew what that meant. She knew it meant she was going to marry him. It surprised her how easy that thought was. It did not scare her in the least. It seemed like that was what was meant to happen anyway, it's just a little more complicated than she had expected.
She was waiting in the "Clubhouse" for the other girls to arrive wondering how this meeting was going to go. She had some ideas and knew they probably had some as well. So far, there was no word about what the Third Task would be, so Hermione's Harry Training time was down to about five hours a week where they practiced whatever new spell seemed useful. This time, they would know what was coming up. They would be told on May 24th, a month before the task itself and Harry had agreed that they would then know what he needed to learn.
Parvati had come up with a very interesting idea about how to make their "plan" work, but at first Hermione thought it might not work. There was not enough time. If only they had Time Turners, she had thought. That, of course, led her to the Library and she found something interesting. She would need to run it by the others, of course. But that trip to the Library also led to an interesting conversation with an odd House Elf.
Prior to the Quidditch World Cup, Hermione had never seen a House Elf before. She had heard about them from Harry after Harry's encounters with an Elf named Dobby. Still, had it not been Harry telling her, she would have thought someone was having her on. Then there was the World Cup where she met her first House Elf. The elf was named Winky and "belonged" to Mr. Crouch, Head of the Department of International Cooperation. After the game, Hermione was present when Mr. Crouch "fired" that elf. As far as Hermione knew, he really had no cause. True, she had disobeyed and order, but who could be expected to obey and order where you might get killed? She was a servant, not a soldier! It really upset Hermione and when Ron seemed to think that was normal, she was even more upset! The real reason Winky was fired is something happened and Crouch was concerned about his reputation. Hermione had no idea what that something was, but was pretty sure it was not what it appeared to be. The whole incident incensed her and then learning that there were perhaps hundreds of House Elves at Hogwarts made her more upset and she could not understand Ron's attitude! Still, she admitted she knew nothing about them except what Harry had told her and what she had seen at the World Cup. She had thought about seeing if there was something in the Library about them, but had forgotten to look. After all, once Harry's name came out of the cup it was a minor thing really. She was here for another idea, and now was looking at a book about House Elves wondering whether she should check it out too. Just as she was about to reach for it, she heard a "pop."
"Is you being Miss Grangy?" a high pitched voice asked. Hermione turned and saw a sight that would have made her laugh. It was clearly a House Elf, but this one wore clothes. Given that fact it would be odd as she heard they did not. But add to it this elf had the oddest sense of fashion. He wore one neon yellow sock and one bright red sock on his feet, what looked like a pair of lederhosen tucked into which was what was obviously and AC/DC tee shit. Hermione seriously doubted the elf had any idea who AC/DC were.
"I'm Hermione," she said.
The elf nodded excitedly. "The Great Harry Potters Bestest Friend," he said as if it was a title. "Miss Grangy also being the one who wants niceness for House Elves?"
She nodded.
"We needs to talk, Miss Grangy," he said and before she could do a thing, she was somewhere else.
"Where am I?" she demanded. It could be anywhere in the castle by the looks of the place.
"We Elves calls it The Come and Go Room. What wizards and witches who knows of it calls it the Room of Requirement, though fews do know of it. Professor Dumbles has been at this school longer than anyones alive, yet he be's here but once to use chamber pots. The Professor with thick glasses is here often to hides her empty Sherry Bottles in the Hiding Room. Nasty Filch been here a couple times for cleaning supplies. Asides from that, Miss Grangy's roommate brings boys here to play naked games."
"Parvati?"
"No's. Other one."
"Lavender?"
"She should. She keeps getting caught in Broom Closets by boy prefects. But other one."
"You're kidding!" Hermione really did not want to think about that. "Wait, you said there are chamber pots, empty Sherry Bottles and cleaning supplies. I don't see anything!"
"The room is what's you asks it to be, Miss Grangy. It can be's huge or tiny, filled with things or empty. It's very magical."
"Why am I here then?"
"Because Dobby needs to talk with Miss Grangy aways from the other elves and witches and wizards. Dobby's needing help and…"
"Are you in danger?"
"No. Dobby is happy. Dobby's friend Winky is not."
"Winky? Mr. Crouch's elf?"
"Winky be no ones elf, and Winky be dying from it Miss Grangy."
"Dying? What? Why? Where is she?"
"Follow Dobby," Dobby said.
Hermione followed the elf to a door at the back of the room. Dobby opened the door and Hermione looked inside. It was a small room with only a small bed. There was an elf in a dirty blue dress lying upon the bed and Hermione would have assumed the worse had the elf not been snoring.
Dobby closed the door and looked at Hermione. "Winky be sleeping now," Dobby said sadly. "Dobby brings Winky here when Winky be too drunk."
"Drunk?"
Dobby nodded. "House Elves don't be drunk normally. We can'ts work like that. But Winky be drunk all the time now."
"Why?"
"Being drunk and Winky not be feeling the pain so much."
"Pain? What pain? Surely a healer or something could do something?"
Dobby shook his head sadly. "Winky be in pain 'cause Winky be a free elf, Miss Grangy. Free elves die froms it."
"But you're a free elf! You take wages and have a day off and wear clothes! You're saying you're dying as well?"
Dobby shook his head again. "Winky be the onlyest Free Elf in Hogwarts, Miss Grangy."
"But Harry freed you! Are you telling me someone made you a slave again?" And if this was true, Hermione had a very good idea who that someone was: Dumbledore!
"No Miss Grangy. Dobby be here because the Great Harry Potter wishes it. Dobby has clothes because the Great Harry Potter wishes it. Dobby is being paid because the Great Harry Potter wishes it."
"You're his slave?" Hermione exclaimed. "When did he … I'll kill him for doing that!"
"Dobby is being no slave. Dobby IS being bonded to the Great Harry Potter. But Dobby is being no slave. Dobby is being the Great Harry Potter's friend. The Great Harry Potter frees Dobby from bad wizards and asks nothing more from Dobby. Dobby can then chooses Dobby's wizard and chooses his Great Harry Potter. But Dobby knows that the Great Harry Potter not wants being chooses. Like Miss Grangy, the Great Harry Potter knows nothing of Dobby and elves and woulds cast Dobby away for choosing. So Dobby chooses and is now the Great Harry Potter's elf, but Dobby not tells. Dobby not wants another wizard." Dobby snapped his fingers and a book appeared in Hermione's hands. "Miss Grangy being the Great Harry Potter's bestest friend. Dobby being the Great Harry Potter's friend knows Miss Grangy needing books to believe. Read and Miss Grangy learns the truth about elves."
Hermione, being the reader that she was, could not say no. It was obviously a book she had never read and was not the book she had almost pulled from the library shelf. She wondered if that was a coincidence or if it was just a quirk of the odd elf before her. She read. As she read and learned, she did not abandon her notions of S.P.E.W. altogether. The "Society for the Promotion of Elfin Welfare" remained. But its goals shifted. If the book was right, freeing them was extermination. But a plan to stop their abuse - and the book said most were not abused - that was worthy, wasn't it? That would be her new goal, she thought before turning to Dobby.
Hermione stood up and began pacing the room. In a way she was furious! They have to be bound to us or they will die! Yet they are treated as slaves! Not all, to be sure, but many are! They are - they are - they are and can be so much more than most their wizarding bondmates allow! Many look upon them as just above dirt! That's what's wrong! And Winky is dying from lack of a bond and Dobby's afraid Harry will reject him. Not while I'm around! If necessary, I'll allow Winky to become my elf! And if Harry has any issue with Dobby being bonded to him…
"Dobby?" she asked.
"Miss Grangy?" he replied.
"Is this book true?"
"It is, Miss Grangy. It coulds say more, but it's true. Dobby wouldn't gives it to Miss Grangy if it was lies."
Hermione paced back and forth for several minutes. She knew now what had to be done to save Winky. Someone had to bond with the elf. But she also suspected that Dobby somehow thought she was that someone. To bind another's life to her? Hermione could not accept that - or at least she could not have before. If what the book said was true, Winky would die unless a witch or wizard took her into a bond. If what the book said was true, the mere fact that Winky had been freed was enough to all but ensure that most would never bond with the poor elf. Crouch must have known that and that meant he had all but sentenced the poor elf to death! Hermione was there when it happened. Winky should not have been blamed or freed that way! It went against everything Hermione had been raised to believe, save the fact that if you can help someone you are morally obligated to do so.
At least that was how Hermione had been brought up.
"Would Winky accept me as a bonding?" Hermione asked after several more minutes of pacing.
"Dobby thinks Winky might," Dobby replied. "Miss Grangy's aura is powerful and good and Miss Grangy's heart is being right. But Dobby is not knowing whats Winky will do. Winky will or Winky won'ts. But you's be her bestest chance, Miss Grangy. Please try?"
Hermione nodded. Dobby seemed almost ecstatic and he took her hand and led her back to the small room where the other elf lay asleep. Then Hermione had a thought, one which the book she read quickly did not explain.
"Dobby?" she asked, "why can't she bond to Dumbledore? Aren't the others bound to him?"
"Winky won't bind to Mr. Whiskers," Dobby said. "Mr. Whiskers not be knowing about House Elves. Mr. Whiskers family never has elves before. Mr. Whiskers not be learning of them. Never considers them. We is what we is to him. We are tools, things, not more. The others be bound to the Headmaster, but not Mr. Whiskers. He be mortal and can be's replaced. Any who be's in his place, the other House Elves be bound to. Winky not being bound, she wont's bind to him. Dobby cant's 'cause Dobby's being already bounds to the Great Harry Potter. Winky's, being free, can chooses and Winky not chooses Mr. Whiskers or Hogwarts. She's be wanting a true family."
"Dumbledore knows nothing about House Elves?" Hermione said in shock.
"He knows about us," Dobby said. "But his family never knew us. They had no elves. There are those who think we are nothing, and there's then those who think nothing about us. Mr. Whiskers thinks nothing about us 'cause he never had to. We elves don't truly exist to him. He 'hired' me and let Winky in, but we mean nothing to him!"
"That's so WRONG!" Hermione said.
Dobby nodded. "It is the way things being. Mr. Whiskers being not cruel, but he being not our family. The Great Harry Potter being Dobby's friend. Miss Grangy being wanting to be friend to all elves. That is what is being. But Miss Grangy can't fight the bonds. 'Tis folly to tries it. One elf at a time and one witch or wizard be all Miss Grangy cans do. Winky be needing a Miss Grangy to saves Winky. Miss Grangy will, won'ts she?"
Hermione nodded. It took about an hour, but Winky soon became Hermione's elf and very soon thereafter her dearest of friends. One could confide in their bound House Elf and not fear their confidences being revealed to others. It stunned Hermione that many witches and wizards never seemed to figure that out.
Hermione now sat in the abandoned hall waiting for the others to arrive. With a House Elf at her beck and call, much as that still bothered her, and another who would do anything to help her help "The Great Harry Potter," she now thought the "Club" had a real chance. House Elf magic was truly amazing, especially if freely given after all. She only hoped the others - or at least enough of them - would agree.
chapter 6
SATURDAY, MARCH 18, 1995
The other members of this club began entering in ones and twos. Hermione was seated in a chair going over some notes and thinking. She had tried to find a way to avoid the marriage option, but had come up with nothing. Thanks to Padma, she had found a book that was already proving useful, the question was whether the others would agree, or at least those others willing to go forward with Lucinda's plan. She had also decided that for those girls who decide not to participate, they will still be members of this group. That was probably the easiest decision she had been faced with this week.
If they were going to do this, if they were going to use Plural Marriage to get Harry out from Dumbledore's control, get Ginny out of that marriage contract and get Harry and Neville as trained as they could, Hermione had already decided she would be one of them. She had to. Her "Harry Saving" thing meant that she had to. That and there was the annoying fact that she now knew she truly did love him and truly did want to be his wife, even if that meant she had to share. The only other one she knew about for certain was Ginny. If anything, the girl was less reluctant about this than she was which confused her at first given how upset Ginny had seemed about the implications of that contract. Hermione could not see the difference really. Either way, Ginny would be a Mum before she even sat for her O.W.L.s. But Ginny had explained her reasoning. Like any girl her age, the idea of being married and all that was daunting to say the least, but her real fear was not the age, it was her Mum. Married to Harry, who would certainly remain under Dumbledore's control either by magic, or through Ginny's Mum, Ginny would be condemned to the life of a housewife before she was even sixteen. With Neville, she figured her Mum's influence would be far less as Neville's gran was not wrapped around the man's finger. (That and Neville's gran had a career as a Potions Mistress, which Neville had told her was how he was introduced to Herbology as a boy.)
When everyone was there, Hermione began. "First off, has anyone come up with an idea that will get Harry emancipated without having to take Lucinda's route?"
"I thought maybe an aging potion," Susan said, "but they wear off."
"Even if it didn't, time manipulation won't do it," Hermione said. "I was thinking along similar lines, but the law states you come of age on your seventeenth birthday, not when your seventeen years old and it was written that way to prevent a child from doing just that – or their parents for that matter. We could age him fifty years, and he'd still be a minor until July 1997."
"The ideas we came up with are all probably illegal," Daphne said. "As important as Harry is, I don't think using an Imperious Curse on Dumbledore is a great idea, assuming any of us could cast one."
"If only he was as thick as Professor Lockhart was," Hermione said. When the others looked at him, she explained. "Back during Second Year when everyone was wondering who the Heir of Slytherin was, Harry, Ron and I figured if anyone knew it would be the Slytherins. We had no idea how to find out, but figured there might be a way. We spent weeks in the library and came up with nothing so I figured maybe there might be something in the Restricted Section, but of course you needed written permission from a teacher. We wrote a permission slip and made Lockhart think we were asking for his autograph."
"The idiot would fall for that," Daphne laughed. "Did you find something?"
Hermione nodded. "Polyjuice Potion."
"Well, that would be a bust. It's really hard to make, isn't it? And it's not like you'll find the ingredients in your potions kit second year."
"I managed to nick what we needed from Professor Snape's private stores. We made it and it worked. Problem was, Malfoy – who we considered the most likely suspect – didn't know a thing or else wasn't about to tell Crabbe and Goyle a thing. That's who Harry and Ron changed into."
"You made that Potion Second Year?" Lucinda asked.
Hermione shrugged. "That won't help us now. But, even though we can't cheat Harry's Birthday, time manipulation might."
"Okay? What are you talking about?" Susan asked.
"Even if we had not had our meeting last week, even if we had not learned what we did about Harry and maybe Neville and certainly what Dumbledore is not doing, we can all agree that Harry is at a significant disadvantage in this tournament, right?"
The others nodded.
"And, even if we had been able to find a way to get Harry emancipated without Lucinda's plan, given what we now know about the prophecy, we can all agree that relying on Dumbledore and a normal Hogwarts education to get Harry and Neville prepared for what they will probably have to face sooner rather than later is a bad idea."
They nodded again.
"Throughout this, and even though Harry has done well so far, my primary concern is we don't have enough time what with school work, exams and all of that. We don't have enough time to do adequate research into spell or magic Harry may need for the task ahead and we certainly don't have enough time to teach him that magic and get him trained up. Harry learned one useful spell for the first task and if he hadn't pulled that off… If it weren't for Dobby, who overheard something about gillyweed when some Professors were talking about a book Neville had been given, Harry knew nothing that would have gotten him through the second task aside from what Professor Lupin taught us last year about Grindylows and Hinkypunks. We've managed so far on luck and mainly because we have always lacked the time to truly prepare! Time has been our enemy ever since Harry's name came out of the Goblet of Fire and it remains our enemy! If only we had a way to change that!
"Anyway, I'd been trying to figure out a way to change that pretty much from the start, but could not focus on it because it was more important to help Harry anyway we could than spend all our time trying to get around our time management problem. Besides, until we learned occlumency and had a place we could meet and not be overheard by anyone and I had a possible solution, there was both no reason to discuss this and a very important one as well."
"I can see the no reason," Marica said. "It would be a waste of our time and Harry's to dwell on the impossible. What was the important reason?"
"Because it's not impossible," Hermione said, "and because the reason I know this I'm not supposed to reveal to anyone, although I already had. Harry knows and he also knows why we're not doing it that way."
"Okay? What's that then?" Marcia asked.
"Last year, Professor McGonagall loaned me a Time Turner."
"A what?" Marcia began.
"Bloody Hell!" Daphne added. "Those things are ridiculously expensive, very dangerous and high regulated by the Ministry! What was she thinking?"
"What's a Time Turner?" another asked.
"It's an enchanted object that is said to send you back in time," Daphne replied.
"It does," Hermione said. "It's dangerous to get caught with one. I mean what if, for example you suddenly saw two of me?"
"Probably hex the both of you into next week," Daphne said.
"Which would cause problems because one of me had to go back in time for two of me to be there and what if both of me were still out cold when I was supposed to go back?"
"The timeline and everything would be destroyed," Marcia said.
"Actually no. That's Muggle Science Fiction. According to a book on time magic, what would happen if the version of me did not go back or existed in this timeline after she was supposed to go back is that there would now be two of me walking around. You can't afford to make that kind of mistake! We talked a bit about inheritances last week. I'm my parents only daughter and they do have some money. Which of me inherits? If there were two Ginny's, which one of her is under a betrothal contract? If there were two me's and one mouthed of at Professor Snape, do we both get detentions? And those are the least of the problems. What if one of me killed someone? Which one did it? That's why they're illegal for anyone to own."
"That doesn't make much sense. One of you becoming two?" Katie asked.
"That's the theory anyway," Hermione said. "I pretty certain it's wrong. In my opinion – and unfortunately events seem to bear it out – time is always linear even with a Time Turner. I saw my time turning as 'First Me' and 'Second Me.' First Me was the one who went through the day normally. Second Me was the one who went through the second time. Since First Me is the one who turned time and since once Second Me is back in time it already happened, the turning of time is fixed and permanent – it will happen as First Me remembered. There is always the risk something bad will happen to Second Me. Here's another way to think of it: if First Me turned time, First Me cannot be killed before turning time since she made it that far. Second Me is another matter altogether. She can die before First Me turned time, at least in everyone else's chronological perspective. And if Second Me died, that's it for me period.
"Now I believed what I read which is what I said at first. I believed I could in theory kill First Me or change things such that First Me died or that something could happen that meant First Me didn't go back after Second Me went back. Now I think that's about as silly as anything I've ever heard."
"Why?" Ginny asked.
"First, it's totally illogical and even magic has a logic of some kind. Second, it is such an alteration of time as to make time illogical and irrelevant, which would really upset the natural order of things. Third, if that was the case, why didn't someone just snuff Voldemort when he was a baby or why didn't he go back and kill James or Lily Potter before Harry was born? Because you can't. You can't change your timeline in any manner that prevents you from sending yourself back! Your time – or at least your past – is fixed and immutable from the moment it happens! If I went back and killed Voldemort before he was powerful, then First Me would come along and have no reason to do it at all! But, as I learned, Second Me CAN alter what should have happened if that alteration results in First Me turning time! In other words, I can go back and "save" my life!"
"Okay, I think I speak for all of us when I say I'm confused," Lucinda said.
She then briefly told them the story of how she and Harry and Ron learned that Sirius Black was an innocent man, how Peter Pettigrew was the real mass murderer and had escaped justice altogether because he was a rat animagus who had lived for twelve years as a rat, and most of that time as the Weasley family pet. She also told about how Snape had been there, but had been knocked out when Peter was finally revealed and how Peter managed to escape again in the confusion when Professor Lupin turned into a werewolf but how the werewolf had been distracted and ran off before he could hurt any of the others.
"Eventually, Sirius, Harry and I were down by the back lake. Sirius had been hurt and we went to help and suddenly we were surrounded by all the dementors that were guarding Hogwarts. While Harry could do the Patronus Charm, I couldn't and apparently it's really hard with that many dementors trying to do you in. We all passed out. But someone did cast a very, very powerful Patronus that drove all the dementors away. Snape saw it. Anyway, we were brought back to the castle and Fudge was getting set to leave Sirius to the Dementors. Ron's leg was broken, but Harry and I were okay for the most part. Dumbledore knew of my Time Turner and suggested I use it.
"We – Harry and I – went back before it all happened. It was I who's howl called off Professor Lupin, although we then had to run from him the second time. It was after we got away that we found ourselves watching our First Selves as the dementors closed in. They never sensed us. To be honest, I don't think I even felt them – not entirely. It was Harry who cast that Patronus that drove off the dementors. He said he knew he could because he realized he already had. At the time I thought that made no sense. But, if you accept that time can only be linear – that the Time Turner cannot really change that, then it made sense in a way."
They still looked confused. "What happened to Black?" Daphne asked.
"Well, in the course of our Second Time, Harry and I rescued Buckbeak – the hippogriff who Malfoy annoyed…"
"Pity it didn't kill him," Tracy said.
"And then Sirius. Sirius escaped on the hippogriff."
"Interesting story." Lucinda began. "But why was it necessary for Dumbledore to suggest using it?"
"Probably because he suspected I did. No one else had cast that Patronus. Snape was the only other wizard around at the time, so someone else had. There had been enough time for Dumbledore to ask around. He didn't tell me to use it. He made one of his odd comments talking about time in an abstract sense and reminded me I knew the rules. I think what he was telling me was sometimes rules are meant to be broken."
"How'd you get one?" Ginny asked. "A Time Turner I mean."
"To be honest, I didn't ask. I wanted to take every elective last year and McGonagall realized she could not talk me out of it. I don't know how she got it, but she figured I would not abuse it or make that mistake or that I would get caught. So, she let me use one to get to all my classes. As some of you may recall, our electives in Ancient Runes was at the same time as Muggle Studies and our Arithmancy was at the same time as Care of Magical Creatures. Yet I took all those classes. Almost no one suspected because, of course, only I knew I was in both places, although Ron and especially Harry thought I was up to something 'cause I said a little too much the first time I used it. I went on about Ancient Runes following our Divination class even though that class wasn't until later in the day. Fortunately, I managed to convince them I had only been reading ahead.
"There was another problem using that thing, one Professor McGonagall did not explain. First of all, it has limits that were explained. The one's the Ministry might allow someone to use will only allow you to go back a total of six hours a day. You can do that either all at once, or a few times, but only for a total of six repeat hours. Now with all those classes, it was not just a question of getting to them, I also had to study for them. Pretty soon, I was using it for six hours every single day. What I hadn't counted on was that while I get six extra hours for class and study, I was not getting any extra time for sleep nor was I eating any more than I had been. You don't get the extra hours for free. If you use it all the time, as I was, you need to sleep more and eat more all the time. I wasn't doing that."
"That's why you looked sick!" Ginny said. "That's why you almost had a breakdown!"
"That's why you stormed out of Divination," Parvati added.
"Took time to get to that point, but yes," Hermione said, "which was why I was not about to put Harry through that. Sure he might have learned a lot more before his tasks, but at what cost? He would be too tired to think straight and, unless he picked up Ron's eating habits, weaker than he was already. Basically, what he learned would be useless so unless I figured out something that would work, I figured it was best to focus on a handful of spells to get him past the next step, rather than try and make up for the fact that he's three years behind the others. And all of this assumed he didn't make any mistakes or get caught. It's easier for one person than for two."
"So you can't really change time?" Hannah asked.
"I don't think so," Hermione said. "What's in the past is always in the past. Once you turn time, it is already fixed. Second You was as much of that as First You was. And if Second You dies, that too was part of the past. I think the real reason Time Turners are so highly regulated is not because of any notion of true temporal chaos, but because they really have little use other than to commit crimes. If First Me murdered someone and managed not to get caught before turning time, Second Me could provide First Me with the perfect and air tight alibi or at least enough of a one that I might get away with it."
"They are considered Dark," Daphne nodded. "But I take it Time Turner's have nothing to do with what you're planning, right?"
"Only insofar as it led me to what can work in our case both for Harry's training and for Lucinda's plan. We need more time and that way is not the way to get it. But it's not the only type of time magic out there. It's both exceedingly rare and next to impossible to come up with ourselves."
"That and usually illegal," Lucinda added.
Hermione nodded. "But most time magic is actually fairly easy and quite legal," Hermione said. "It's not as complicated as overlapping two of me in the same period of time. All we need to do is alter how time moves forward for us in a way that gives us more time in relation to everyone else!"
"Sounds just as dodgy to me," Katie said.
"Except most if not all of us have done it or at least know about it and know it's not dodgy at all!"
"Okay…"
"The Impediment Jinx!"
"That just slows you down," Lisa said.
"Actually, that's what the rest of time sees. To the victim, they are moving through time normally and everything else has sped up! They are moving through time at a different rate than the rest of us just as we are moving through time at a different rate than they are. The same is true for the Petrification Charm – any kind of magical petrifaction really – and Stasis Charms. For the target, time stops! Once the charm wears of or is cancelled it resumes for them exactly at the point where it stopped. By my calculations, I was 4,980 days old when I was petrified near the end of second year and was beginning to gasp. Twenty-two days later when Madam Pomfrey revived me, I finished that gasp. I was still exactly 4,980 days old. Those twenty-two days never happened for me because I was outside of that time.
"The time magic is called time manipulation, although I think that is misleading. If I can't truly change the past with a time turner, if all I can do is participate in what already happened in a different way, I'm not manipulating time itself, just my perception of and participation in time. The same is true for slowing time. I can't slow time, only a person or objects perception of and participation in time at large. In other words, magic can't change time! But, we can manipulate our time in some ways as already discussed. This brings us to another time magic that was in that book I was given Second Year. One can also accelerate their time, in other words their time becomes faster than normal time. There is no charm or hex that does this – or if there is, the book said nothing about it. But it did say one can create a ward that does just that. You can ward a room or a building in such a way that anything within that room lives life at a faster rate than the rest of the universe. Once I ruled out Time Turners, and given that Harry and I have unrestricted access to the library because of this silly tournament, I searched the Restricted Section for books on Warding and found a book that tells you how to set up what is called a Time Compression Ward. You can only use it on rooms – like stasis wards in potions pantries – or on the inside of a building, or out beyond the building by about thirty feet or so. Can't do it outside beyond that, apparently. The book says they're too many variables. And it has drawbacks, but it would give us loads of time to train. I knew I couldn't use just a classroom and didn't really think about it until I found this place."
"And what would this ward do?" Susan asked.
"And what are the drawbacks?" Daphne added.
"With the ward active, for those of us inside the warded space, we wouldn't notice a thing. Our watches and everything would seem to move forward at the same speed as always. But, time outside would be moving much more slowly. An hour to us would only be a minute of real time. Actually, you can make it go even faster. With enough ambient magic to draw upon, much, much faster. Back in January, I managed to set up a temporary Ward on the classroom Harry and I were using and a stop watch on either side of the ward. I spent four hours under Compression, and then checked the outside watch. Only twenty seconds had passed! That means, for every minute outside, twelve hours pass inside. An outside hour equals thirty days inside."
"Bloody hell! You could get years of training in like that!" Ginny said. "And all of it before the next task!"
"That's the advantage," Hermione nodded. "Now ask me why I didn't do it? Why was that classroom inadequate?"
"You age at the accelerated rate," Katie said.
"That's one of the drawbacks. If you spend years under time compression, you literally and physically are years older. But, as I already mentioned, you are not legally any older. The other drawback is that if you really want to spend more than a few hours at a time under compression, you have to think about your bodily needs. You have to eat, use the loo, sleep and the longer your time, the more stuff you need and it all has to be in there with you. If you want to spend a month straight under time compression – which would only be an hour outside – you need to have all the food, clothes, potions – heck even bog rolls, feminine products, everything you would need to live one month in complete isolation from the outside world. It all has to be in the warded space before you start the Compression. The longer you spend and the more people you bring in, the more stuff you need in storage within the warded space before you begin. Basically, the more time you spend in such a ward, the more space you need for storage and other needs."
"And I take it you were not thinking of a few fast hours here and there?" Padma asked.
"That would be no different than what I was doing with the Time Turner," Hermione nodded. "Even if we ate more than normal, sleep deprivation would set in. Originally, I was thinking not less than about fifteen minutes real time every other day or so, maybe more. That would be about one week under Compression per session. But, while that would be great for Harry training – even for Neville training – the problems that came up last week would still be an issue. Even though doing that we could, in theory, rapidly move through a pregnancy, it would be noticed. My thought is now months at one go – hours in here! And, that means even more of a supply problem than before, especially as we're talking Harry, Neville and at least eight of us if not more. That's loads and loads and loads of food, standard potions, potions ingredients and who knows what else. And, unless I'm mistaken, it's not free and I'm pretty sure someone would notice if we just nicked it."
"And I doubt there's enough here at Hogwarts anyway if we're talking loads of people over months," Lucinda added. "Not to mention the storage. Even with an expansion charm and shrinking everything – and some things can't be shrunken and still work right – I doubt this room would be large enough for even four people over more than a month or so. That and it has no bathrooms. It'd get pretty ripe, pretty fast."
"Space may not be an issue, but it does need a lot of work," Hermione said. The others gave her doubtful looks. "The ward is rune based. I inscribe runes on a door or door frame that leads outside what I define as the warded space. I then open any doors that lead into rooms I want in the warded space and close any other doors or windows that lead outside what I want as the warded space. If there are stairs without doors or such, I place separate runes to limit the space. I then activate the ward for about an hour of ward time and it permanently defines the area to be warded – or at least until I were to redo the wards. Everything inside would be subject to Time Compression when the wards activate and nothing outside would be affected."
"Still," Lucinda said, "I'm not sure even this corridor is large enough."
"This corridor is a dead end," Hermione said. "I explored it a few weekends ago, just after the Second Task. This wing juts out on a rock or some such. Three sides of it are surrounded by cliffs leading down to the Black lake. Only one side is connected to the castle at all! Not only that, but that door we entered is the only one in. There may have been others at one time, but they are all sealed off. There are some balconies, but they don't connect to the castle and I could include them in the ward scheme. We're not taking this room, or this corridor. I'm taking about the entire wing! It's probably much larger than all the other dorms combined in total area – probably much larger. And it has its own stair wells. There's a total of seven floors and an attic like space. Space is not the issue."
"It needs a lot of work," Parvati said. "I mean it's so – primitive."
Hermione nodded. "Fortunately, I know a couple of House Elves that are willing to help."
"What? Hermione Granger wants to use the oppressed House Elves?"
"I had a long discussion with one and learned that while my intention was probably in the right place – I still don't think we should abuse them or even take them for granted – my methods and understanding of them and their plight was totally wrong. I just want them treated with respect, really."
"Not all families who have House Elves are like the Malfoys," Daphne said. "I assume it was that Dobby who got you going?"
"And another elf named Winky who was given clothes because her Master felt she had embarrassed him. I was there when it happened and he took nothing else into consideration except appearances, not even what really happened."
"I wouldn't give my Tarla clothes for all the gold in Gringotts," Susan said. "She's been my friend for as long as I can remember."
Hermione looked surprised.
"Most old wizarding families have elves," Susan said. "Some are vile to them, particularly the darker ones. But our elves are a small clan that has been with our family for over a thousand years. Their children are raised with us and later help raise our children and so on. In reality, the true old families would sooner disown their own child than cast out their elves."
Hermione noted several nods, most notably the two girls from Beauxbatons, the four from Slytherin and Hannah.
Hermione looked at Ginny.
"My family lost its elves a long time ago," she said sadly. "We used to be rather well off, but something happened and we lost almost everything. All we have left is the Burrow and the surrounding land, and that was a pig farm back before we lost it all. We owned the land and rented it to Muggles until we had nowhere else to live."
"We could get our elves to help," Daphne said. "I'd guess most of us have one elf assigned to us and they are ours when we need them." The other girls who had nodded, nodded in agreement. "Technically we're not supposed to have them here, but that rule means they can't be in our dorms or be used in a way to get around any rules a person without an elf would not be able to. Even if – er – stealing and entire wing is against the rules (and McGonagall never told you what space you could use in preparing for the tournament or how much or how little, just that it could not be in use for any other purpose, like this whole wing), you warded it off without an elf, therefore having elves as accessories after the fact would not be breaking those rules."
"Even with elves," Lucinda said, "if we're going to do the whole wing, what with furnishings and all and to make it useable for training and living, that could take months."
"Which we have, thanks to the wards," Hermione said. "But where do we get the stuff?"
"Think like a witch," Susan said. "We can't magic food, potions ingredients and some things, but furniture, wall hangings, stuff like that? What we can't conjure – or what our elves can't conjure – we can transfigure – or at least our elves can. And, as long as it is and inanimate object into an inanimate object of sufficiently similar mass and we're not talking about real jewels or precious metals, it would be permanent. We could make this place look like a palace if we were so inclined."
"Right then," Lucinda said, "Renovations not a problem. We'll get to the stuff we can't magic. First, assuming we can get most everything we'd need, had you thought about exactly how you were going to use this place? How many people? When? How long under time compression? That's what we need to know before we can even talk provisioning."
Hermione nodded. "I warded this place yesterday and spent a full day here under Compression to make sure it worked. Winky brought the food for me and there is a loo on this floor and she made a camp bed. Anyway, in addition to exploring, I also worked out a general idea.
"First, I figure the best time to really use this place both for training Harry and Neville and for Lucinda's plan is during the Spring Holiday which begins a week from Wednesday. As long as no one is causing mayhem, the staff usually is lax about many of the rules except being caught out of your dorms at night. A fair bit of the students will be gone, especially after having been here over the Christmas Hols. I won't be because the only way to go home for me as a Muggle Born is on the Express and I'm not spending two days on that train!" The other Muggle Borns nodded. "Anyone here planning on going home?"
The fifth years were all staying because they wanted to revise for their O.W.L.s. Oddly, the others were staying as well. The Beauxbatons students were staying because no one had worked out how to get them to and from France for the hols in advance. The others either wanted to stay here with their friends – who were mostly in this room – or because their families were busy or had other plans.
"Right then," Hermione said. "First of all, we all need three months to purge the contraceptive potion – at least those of us who are going to be with Harry or Neville. I'm due for my next dose on Monday. I figure if we do an hour a day in here for at least the last three days before the hols, we should all be clear of it unless you are scheduled to see Madam Pomfrey on the 27th or 28th."
"And if that's the case, we could just nick or cook up a purgative potion," Lucinda said. "Makes you violently ill for several hours, but it will flush all the potions out of your system."
Hermione nodded. She had not thought of that. "Right then. March 29th is the first day of the Hols. Fitting if you think about it. Anyway, my thinking was that those of us who are going to be the 'wives' would each spend one hour in real time – one month under compression – with Harry or Neville, not all at once but one at a time. How we get them to agree to this I have no idea, but assuming that we do, that would allow us ample opportunity to both get – er – comfortable with them and pregnant. Also, we'll come up with a training schedule for them so that the month is more than just a – er – well, so that at least some of the time is productive for them in a – er – well, not sexual way. Since we can leave the school, I figured on Thursday, we'd head to Diagon Alley by floo from Hogsmeade and go to Gringotts to do the paperwork for the wives and then any shopping we need to do. I also penciled in Friday for more shopping if needed. Saturday is the big one. All of us wives – and anyone else – would be here for several months Compression. Long enough for us to get through our pregnancies and that our babies would be too old to be placed out for adoption."
"Means at least four months of age," Lucinda said. "And that age is measured by their developmental age, not birth date. They do some kind of test. But do you really want to go through a pregnancy without a Healer? What if something happens?"
"I know," Hermione conceded. "Short of tricking Madam Pomfrey to join us, I haven't thought that one all the way through. Good thing I have more time."
"My parents are Healers," Lisa said. "That, and I think a lot of the magical parents could help us. It would be a Saturday, after all and they would be free to visit us. We just don't tell them why."
"That's so Slytherin," Tracy chuckled. "But it would be a good idea. It would probably save us the embarrassment of a Howler the next week. After all, they would already have spent months and months with us and all."
"Assuming they didn't kill Harry or Neville on sight," Ginny added. "I'm not about to ask Mum to come."
Hermione nodded. "Okay then, but I think each of us who is doing this should decided whether to invite their parents or not. They are going to find out anyway and personally I'd rather them find out before Dumbledore does. They won't be happy with me, but I'm sure in the end they'll stand by me if Dumbledore tried to use them against me."
"If we go that far, anyone else?" Susan asked. "Maybe we can also trick some of the faculty? I mean we could well be through fifth year with all that time."
"NOT SNAPE!" several voices said, including the Slytherins.
"If we need a potions master," Tracy said, "my Mum is one."
They eventually agreed on no Snape. If Lisa's parents came, there would be no need for Madam Pomfrey and she might be needed if something happened outside. They decided on the other three Heads of House and Professors Vector and Babbling because Hermione wanted Harry to at least begin to learn Arithmancy and Runes just in case it was needed on the last task.
"Right," Hermione said. "Now, if we do this we need to know who among us is considering becoming a wife. That will decide the number of parents and such and all of which we need to know before we even begin talking about supplies. I am not asking you to make your final decision. I'd just rather have too much in storage than too little, assuming we can get what we need. My thinking is, you're not stuck as a wife until your month with Harry or Neville and maybe not even then. You're not being forced to do this. But, if you say 'no' today, your family cannot be on the – er – guest list. All who are thinking of being either Harry or Neville's wife raise your hands."
To Hermione's surprise, everyone did.
"I hope most of you aren't going for Harry. That really wouldn't be fair to him…"
"Or to you or Hannah or Gabrielle," Lucinda said. "Speaking for Slytherin, we've already decided. Tracey and I pick Neville. Rosie and Daphne are with Harry." The other three nodded in agreement.
"We had a House Meeting too," Susan said. "Hannah and I already know because of our contracts. Marcia picked Harry and Andrea, not wanting so much excitement in her life, picked Neville."
"We didn't invite you or Ginny to our meeting," Katie said. "It was short. Parv said she's be okay with either one as would her sister Padma, so it was my call and of course I go with my teammate!"
"Which means I'm with Neville and Pad's with Harry," Parvati said.
"I've been friends of a sort with Neville for two years," Lisa said, "and he's been tutoring Laura in Herbology so she already knows him and likes him."
"Luna?" Hermione asked in disbelief.
"The nargles are less active around Harry," she said, "so it's Harry."
"Michelle?"
"I'm also not into excitement. Dragons were more than enough. Neville."
Hermione had been looking at her list. She now noticed that Harry and Neville each – assuming no one backed out – had the same number of Fifth Years, Fourth Years and Third Years in their prospective family. Each had a Prefect. Each had the same number of Purebloods, Half-bloods and Muggle Borns and the same number from each Hogwarts House and Beauzbatons. From an Arithmancy standpoint, that amounted to potentially significant magical statistics.
They then worked out a tentative list of others. Ginny was not inviting her Mum, which also meant she wouldn't invite her Dad as Mrs. Weasley would insist on coming. Then again, Ron was going home and that was fine with Ginny and he was not likely to want to come back early which meant one of her parents had to remain to keep an eye on him and the other two boys. She felt maybe she could … manipulate the situation a bit. Her Mum was the major concern after all. Bill was coming to visit her, Fred and George at Hogwarts that weekend, so she figured Bill was okay, but that meant she probably had to include Fred, George and Angelina and Alicia as they were secretly dating and besides, those girls could keep the notorious pranksters in line most of the time.
For Hannah, it would be her Mum and a family called the "Tonks" who were all planning to visit her that weekend. Susan was also expecting to see her Aunt as well as a Madam Marchbanks who was an old and close family friend. For Marcia and Angela, if their parents came, they would have to include their younger brother and sister respectively who were both First Year Puffs.
For the Ravenclaws, Luna's Dad would come if asked. Much as the Patils were worried about their father, they felt it best to include their parents as potentials. Laura Caldwell had a younger brother in Second Year, so he had to be included even though she thought he was a "little toerag." Katie had a younger sister in Gryffindor, who was a Second Year so she had to be included as well. Daphne and Tracy also had a sibling in a lower year. Tracy's brother was a Second Year Claw and Daphne's sister a second year Snake. Lucinda and Rosie were only children as was Michelle from Beauxbatons.
Gabrielle really through in a wrinkle. If her parents came from France, that meant Fleur had to be included. As she was a Champion, that meant the other two Champions needed to be invited because even if they were not part of the Harry training, they would have grounds to complain when it all came out. She suggested that the other two bring dates. Fleur was not dating, but to have two older boys stuck for months on end in such a shallow to non-existent dating pool with Fleur around could not be a good idea.
Hermione included the names with the five potential faculty members. She also included her parents as potentials and Neville's Gran and Sirius and Remus. This was just a potential list, but it would define their requirements.
Hermione looked at her list. "Right, that means in addition to Harry, Neville and us, we need quarters for fifteen other students and forty adults. Figure fourteen of the adult quarters are for couples, that would leave one spare just in case, and sixteen singles and single rooms for the other seven boys and eight girls. It means rations for seventy-five people for the entire weekend Compression – I'm figuring fifteen months Compression to be safe and rations for four people for nine months total for Wednesday as that will be one month for each of the – er – couples. We should also stock baby food, I suppose. I mean, I guess we could – er – breast feed the babies the whole time, but again, just in case for whatever reason. Then there's the time between now and then as at least some of us will undergo Compression to work on the renovation. To be safe, let's say six of us a day nine days, at one Month per day and all of us for one day – Tuesday night – for whatever needs to be done and to make sure the potions are out of the system."
"And to brew fertility potions," Lucinda said. "Simple enough to brew. But it's not in stock here so we can't nick it and it's illegal for any apothecary to send it here. Just 'cause we are not on birth control doesn't mean we'll get knocked up in one month. That potion makes it all but certain that we will. One dose each when we start our month in here should do although a few more won't hurt."
"Side effects?" Hermione asked. She was not familiar with those potions.
Lucinda shrugged. "Most women report being randy as hell, especially at the time of the month where conception is most likely. Otherwise, there is a slightly increased chance of fraternal twins – the not identical kind."
Hermione nodded.
"Don't forget the elves," Susan said. "They don't eat as much as we do, but they still eat."
"How many?" It turned out that if Neville had an elf involved, it would be fourteen elves total. Hermione then hung her head. "Well, it was a nice idea."
"What?" a voice asked.
"Even with just us and the elves, this is going to be an awful lot of food alone. We could be talking literally tons of it. With expansion charms and shrinking charms, storage is not an issue. Stasis charms would keep it from spoiling and all that is fairly straight forward. But there is no way we can afford this! None! It'd cost a bloody fortune!"