Shadow Council 131C

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With most of the summer’s excitement seemingly over, the remaining days sped by for the teens as they waited for school to start up again. Harry, under the supervision of either the Weasleys or Andromeda, spent some time at his Keep in order to go through as many of the gifts left for him there as well as clean up the upper floors to something he could see himself moving into if and when he got the chance.

Wednesday spent most of her time with Xander or down in the lower floors, where she was most comfortable, though she and Hermione spent long hours in the library as they both worked to determine what books were present in the old space as well as fill out their own private research and the new research that Xander had set off with his revelation on Voldemort’s status.

Harry didn’t know what a Lich was, but he got the gist of things easily enough when it was broken down for him.

He took as much time as he could to help, but honestly found that he mostly slowed the two terrifyingly smart witches down more than he helped. So he focused instead on getting the place ready for someone other than Wednesday Addams to live in.

It was slow going, with years of gifts from well wishers to dig through, though thankfully the elves had put all perishable items into stasis, otherwise Harry legitimately would have feared for his health considering all the sweets and such he’d found on the itemized inventory provided.

“Yo, Harry!”

Harry looked up from his efforts as Xander approached, “What’s up?”

“Don’t look now, but I think we’ve got a visitor moving around the perimeter.”

Harry stiffened, rising to his feet, “Death Eaters?”

“Arguably worse,” Xander said with a lopsided grin. “School headmaster.”

“Dumbledore?” Harry blinked, surprised. “I wonder what he… wait, why is he arguably worse than Death Eaters?”

“We kill the Death Eaters all we need to worry about is how deep to dig the hole?” Xander shrugged. “Teachers shouldn’t exist during the summer.”

Harry sighed, closing up the inventory book and getting fully up.

“You worry me sometimes,” He told Xander as he walked past him. “How did you spot the Headmaster anyway?”

“Working on my bike,” Xander answered with a shrug. “He looks like he’s lost, so I’m guessing that the wards are still working.”

That made sense, Harry supposed.

“Anyway, he walked past the gate a few times, after the fourth or fifth pass I figured he wasn’t going to give up.” Xander said. “Figured I’d let you decide if you wanted him to know where you lived.”

That gave Harry a bit of a pause, because honestly he liked the idea of having a haven where he could keep even the authorities from bothering him. Ultimately, though, he sighed and started trudging toward the door.

“Best let him in,” Harry said reluctantly.

Xander nodded and joined him as they made their way outside.

“Dobby,” Harry called out.

“Mister Harry Potter Sir calls his Dobby?” The little elf asked excitedly, appearing from nowhere with a popping sound.

“Could you bring me the Keep’s access ledger, please?”

“Right away, Mister Harry Potter Sir!”

“And just call me…” Harry sighed as the elf popped away before he could finish speaking. “I swear he does that on purpose.”

Dobby popped back in before Xander could say anything, handing Harry the big leatherbound book, then popped off before Harry could even thank him.

“You’re probably right,” Xander just grinned. “Just someone else who likes to mess with you.”

Harry shot Xander a dark look, “At least Dobby’s useful while he’s winding me up, unlike certain others I might mention.”

Xander gave him a shocked look so fake that Harry was surprised his friend hadn’t broken out laughing just trying to put it on his mug. “Who would ever do such a thing? You point them out to me, Harry, I’ll handle them.”

Harry just snorted as he flipped open the book, looking for the authorized persons section of the wards.

“I’m pretty sure you handle ‘them’ plenty as it is, Xander.” He mumbled, not really thinking about what he was saying as he scratched Dumbledore’s name into the book.

Xander’s choking laughter caused him to pause and think through what he just said, which shortly led to Harry turning beat red while Xander hit the ground, wailing in laughter as he clutched at his belly.

“I didn’t mean it like that!” Harry groaned as Xander started crying as he rolled on the ground.

“Oh god, it hurts!” Xander gasped out through his laughter. “Just stop, please stop!”

Harry was seriously considering hexing his friend, which was the scene that Albus happened upon as he finally was able to locate the front gate.

“Finally, these are some very impressive wards, my bo…” Albus paused, staring as Harry stood over a writhing Alexander Harris, wand in hand as the other boy was apparently begging him to stop… doing something. He drew his own wand on reflex, “Harry?”

Harry shook his head, putting his own wand away as he looked down at Xander in ill disguised disgust.

“Welcome, Headmaster,” He said. “Ignore the idiot, impossible as he tries to make it, your sanity will survive longer.”

That just set Xander off again, and Harry was pretty sure that he was now just barely managing to gasp out the words ‘too late’ in between bouts of laughter. Harry just sighed.

“Can I help you professor?” He asked mildly, determined now to entirely ignore his American friend.

Albus looked between them for another brief moment before slipping his wand away, recognizing that things were less along the lines of what he’d initially feared and more in keeping with the old adage of boys being boys.

“Indeed, my boy, I heard that you were spending time here and wanted to stop by and see that everything was ok,” Albus smiled genially as he looked around. “I haven’t been here in… well, it was before your parents attended Hogwarts, I must admit. Your grandparents spent more time at the house in London. Pity it burned during the war.”

“I didn’t know about that,” Harry admitted, “I’m not fully through the paperwork on most of my inheritance, I’m afraid.”

Albus nodded soberly, joining Harry in ignoring the boy still laughing on the ground.

“It was a sad time, dark time in fact,” He said. “Your grandparents weren’t ones to hide and, despite excellent wards, the Death Eaters made them pay dearly for that.”

Harry looked sad at that thought, “Why didn’t my parents come here… you know, when they went into hiding?”

“Ahh, that,” Albus sighed. “It had to do with the Fidelius, as powerful a spell as it was… the casting of it was no easy feat. I very much doubt that your mother would have been able to cast it upon a place such as this.”

Xander, having sobered up by this point, was sitting up in the dirt a short distance away.

“Is it because the property is too large?” He asked from where he was sitting. “Or was it too well known?”

Albus looked over sharply, a glint in his eye and a smile tugging at his lips as he focused on the young Slytherin.

“Impressive question, young man. Do you know much about the charm?”

“Some,” Xander admitted as he got to his feet. “Mostly indirectly, the subject came up while we were calculating the arithmancy for other spells. The price for magic is… often hidden from even the caster, if they’re careless at least. The Fidelious is one of the better examples, though not the only one.”

“Indeed,” Albus nodded, “Quite correct, and I am again quite impressed. To answer the question, likely both. Additionally, the property has been expanded over generations, wards layered over wards, and many other factors played into making it an unsuitable subject for the Fidelious.”

“That’s too bad,” Harry said, taking a breath, “but I can’t say that I’m surprised. It does make sense. At any rate, Headmaster, would you like to come in? I might be able to scrounge up some tea, and we can talk about what brings you out here?”

“Excellent, I would be most grateful.”

“This way.”

*****