"Any time after breakfast," Harry immediately replied. "Unless, of course, you'd like to join us for breakfast. It's your choice."
Ted thought about it and asked, "How about soon after 9.00am, then? I have to call into the office to get some documents first."
Harry shrugged, checked to make sure it was fine by the Grangers, who didn't seem to be disagreeable, and replied, "That's fine."
"Good," nodded Ted. "And you say you've practically finished with the House of Potter documentation?"
"We have," he replied.
Ted gave a nod, smiled and said, "Then I'll see you at just after 9.00am."
_‗_
―==(oIo)==―
ˇ
Dumbledore was sitting at the desk in his office and massaging his temples. His plans for what was to come over the next few months, once the students all returned to the school, were yet again in ruins.
He had planned to use young Ginevra Weasley as Harry's hostage in the Second Task, irrespective of who he took to the ball. Even then, he planned on adding a compulsion potion to see if that got past the boy's surprising immunity to mind magics and to see if he could get the boy to take the girl. His idea was to begin to set in place a relationship between the two.
Already, the young redhead saw Harry as her personal knight in shining armour and, by using her as his hostage, it would create the image in the minds of the wider wizarding community that she was the person he cared about the most. He had hoped it would also start Harry thinking the same.
He had also sent a couple of letters to Molly hoping the woman would help him. However, she'd not responded to any of them.
When he then floo called her, she abruptly cut him off and told him to no longer bother the Weasleys.
She'd flat-out told him, "We are not your dutiful little pawns, Dumbledore. We now want nothing to do with you. Leave us alone." Then she had the temerity to shut the call off while he still appeared in the flames.
That had caused him to be almost violently ejected from his own floo, sitting him back on his butt.
After the unmasking of young Barty Crouch, he knew that Tom had set in place Harry's name to come out of the Goblet and for Harry to be forced to compete. Therefore, it stood to reason he wanted Harry in a certain place at a certain time. That would either be in the Black Lake on the twenty fourth of February, or in the maze on the twenty fourth of June. It further stood to reason it was the Third Task, the maze, that was the important one.
Now he just had to figure out how to capitalise on that.
When the Daily Prophet was delivered less than a half hour later, he learned that trying to pair Harry with young Ginevra wasn't going to work, either. That plan was snuffed out before it even had a chance to progress beyond the old man's thoughts.
He sat back with a frustrated sigh.
_‗_
―==(oIo)==―
ˇ
After another filling Dobby breakfast, where Harry was now down to eating a little over the same amount as Wendell, he was finally able to read the Daily Prophet in peace without also trying to fill his stomach at the same time.
He had gotten used to enjoying a cup of tea while reading the paper, right up until the potions whacked him up side the head with its demand to eat. Being able to go back to that was pleasant.
The lead story, that morning, was the breaking news of Harry and Hermione's betrothal. Both were surprised it had taken that long.
~ # ~
BOY-WHO-LIVED BETROTHED
In surprising news, we here at the Daily Prophet have learned our young hero, Lord Harry Potter (14) the Boy-Who-Lived, has entered into a Betrothal Agreement with his close friend, muggleborn Harmony Granger (15), writes your favourite journalist Rita Skeeter.
Further, we have also learned that, unusually, young Miss Granger's magical guardian is not her Hogwarts Head of House, but is Lord Sirius Black, recently exonerated and godfather of Lord Potter.
We are unsure why Lord Potter and Miss Granger's guardians have chosen to enter the two into such an arrangement, but it is suspected it is to protect both from any shenanigans towards trying to slip either an ironclad marriage contract in future.
The Daily Prophet congratulates both children and sends their commiserations to all the other young witches who dreamed of being the one who snagged the Boy-Who-Lived for themselves.
More information on Betrothal Agreements - page 8.
More information on muggleborn Harmony Granger - page 2.
~ # ~
Harry gave a grunt of somewhat annoyance once he'd finished the article and muttered, "I'll need to let the aurors know they'll need to be especially vigilant of incoming mail for the both of us."
"Why?" asked Hermione.
He replied, "There are going to be those who are going to be quite nasty towards you, now. That line about 'all the other young witches who dreamed of snagging the Boy-Who-Lived' has me worried."
It was while he and Hermione were sharing the Prophet and talking about various articles that Ted turned up.
"Good morning," he greeted them all.
With four returned 'Good morning's he turned to Harry and asked, "Have those documents ready for me?"
.
.
.
🎉The novel is available in PDF with more than 400 chapters, visit us in our Ko-Fi store🎉
🎉ko-fi.com/sosukeaizen123🎉