The Burrow - June 27, 2004
The evening after the kids came home from school Arthur was ready to set his plans into action. Ron and Ginny were going to get the help that they needed. Whether they wanted it or not.
Arthur just couldn't let them carry on as they had been. Something was clearly wrong, he was just ashamed that he had let it carry on as long as he had.
The week before he had gone and made arrangements with mind healers for each of the kids. Ron would be seeing Healer Morrison, while Ginny would be seeing Healer Lane. Both specialized in dealing with children that had difficulty in differentiating between fantasy and reality.
From what both healers had told him while he was making the arrangements and giving them a background on Ron and Ginny's issues, disassociation with reality was over 50x more common in the magical world than the muggle one. Because they had magic, and lived in a world where almost anything was possible, their children were naturally more open to the impossible and some never learned that even they had limits.
Because it was so common there were already in depth programs of mind magics and potions as well as traditional forms of therapy that could help to teach children to recognize reality and identify what is fantasy.
Arthur felt that that wasn't exactly the problems Ron and Ginny were having, but it was the best he could find. Both Healer Morrison and Healer Lane said that the program was just a starting point. They wouldn't be able to properly diagnose either child until after they had met with them at least a few times. It was only after they were properly diagnosed that a more personalized treatment plan could be created.
"What do you want?" Ginny demanded from the couch where she was sitting with Ron. Their father had demanded they come downstairs before dinner because he had said he wanted to talk to them.
"There are a few things that we need to discuss about what you two will be doing this summer." Arthur sighed.
"What's that supposed to mean? It's summer. We get to do whatever we want." Ron said in confusion.
"Yeah. That's the point of summer." Ginny said. Her voice clearly showing just how stupid she thought her dad was being.
"Not this year for the two of you." Arthur gave them both critical looks. "I was contacted by a few of your teachers. Both of you will be attending summer school."
"WHAT?"
"YOU CAN'T MAKE ME!"
Both of the children shouted.
"You don't have any other choice. Ron, you failed arithmancy and history of magic, and you barely passed ancient runes. If you want to take spell crafting then you are going to need to make up arithmancy and improve your grades in ancient runes. You are also going to need to make up history or else you will be held back a year in that class.
Ginny, you failed herbology and magical theory. You are going to need to make those up in summer school, or else you will be held back a year in those classes."
Arthur was truly disappointed that both children had failed two classes. He knew that Ron and Ginny were clever, in their own ways, but they were lazy and had never learned to work for something they wanted. He had been shocked to learn about the childrens grades when he had been contacted at the end of the year.
Apparently, the teachers had been speaking with McGonagall about it, but she didn't do anything, and by the time he was informed, it was to late. Arthur was glad that Sirius was going to be co-head of Gryffindor next year. He knew he could trust Sirius to keep an eye on things and tell him about any issues.
"But that's not fair! Everything has been all messed up this year. First you divorce mum. Then you get remarried. And then… That." Ginny motioned towards Arthurs stomach. "How were we supposed to do everything?"
"Yeah." Ron started. "Then there were the teachers. They just kept giving us detention for no reason. Then they just kept giving us more and more work. There was no way we could do everything. They expect way to much from everyone."
Arthur almost sighed again. He could practically hear Molly's voice during Ron's little speech. Molly had obviously been making excuses for them again.
"First of all, Ginny." Arthur ran his hand over his growing stomach. "This, is not a 'that', these are your younger siblings.
Second, the detentions. From what I have heard from your teachers about them, you both earned every single one of them due to your bullying and harassing other students."
"We didn't." Ginny shrieked.
"Yes, you did. Mocking, belittling, or pushing around the other students is bullying, so you got detention. Which you deserved. Bullying is not acceptable from anyone, and that includes the both of you.
Third, the teachers are there to teach. That is their job. They haven't been giving you any more work than they give any other student. If you aren't keeping up, that's on you, not them. Do your homework when you get it rather than waiting until the last minute and you will probably find things are a lot easier.
And, lastly. I do understand that this has been a very stressful year for the both of you. That is why I have made arrangements for the two of you to talk to someone.
Starting next week, your Aunt Muriel will be taking you both to see mind healers for an hour every Monday and Thursday.
Ron, you will be seeing Healer Morrison, Ginny, you will be seeing Healer Lane. It's a chance for the both of you to talk through anything and everything that has been bothering you."
Ron thought the idea sounded silly, but Ginny was thrilled. Finally, she was going to be able to tell someone everything that her father was doing wrong. And, not only were they paid to listen, so they had to, they would probably be able to do something to make things better. Surely, a mind healer would be able to override her fathers stupid decisions over the past few years. This Healer Lane would surely be able to make her life better. Whoever she was could force her parents to get back together. Maybe, even offer some relationship counselling for her and Harry, to teach him how to be a better boyfriend and future husband.
"We'll go." Ginny chirped happily before her stupid brother could say anything and ruin her plans before she even started.
Arthur was slightly surprised at how easy that was. He knew that it was a little pessimistic of him, but he knew from experience, when something was easy with Ron and/or Ginny, it meant they were up to something.
Crouch Manor - July 5, 2004
Bartemius Crouch Jr. sat silently in the dark living room in his fathers house, watching as the clock slowly ticked down to the time his father would come home from work.
Everything had fallen into place perfectly just this morning. Ever since his mother had arranged for his escape from Azkaban, his excuse of a father had renewed the imperious on him every Monday before he left for work.
Like clockwork. In all these years, he had never even been a minute late. At 7:45, just as he sat down to breakfast, he would reapply the curse over top of the last one.
Until today.
Hogwarts was set to host the Triwizard Tournament this coming year, and there was a lot of work that needed to be done. As the head of the Department of International Magical Cooperation at the ministry, a lot of that work involved his father.
For the most part, the great Albus Dumbledore was managing everything that would be public once the games were announced, but he didn't want anything to do with anything that would happen behind the scenes. That meant that Bartemius Crouch Sr. was more than a little overworked.
And then, just this morning, at 7:44, Albus Dumbledore himself had floo called his father. From what he could hear from the other room, Dumbledore had had something come up and wouldn't be able to attend one of the meetings with the other schools. He requested that his father take his place. What had completely thrown his father off was that the meeting was scheduled for 8:30 and he was going to need paperwork that he had left at his office.
His father normally didn't have to be at work until 9, so he was more than a little rushed. He had had to skip breakfast and rush off to the office almost as soon as Dumbledore ended the call. Since he was skipping breakfast, he seemed to have forgotten to reapply the curse.
Winky had been in the kitchen, so she hadn't seen. Since the curse was freshest on Mondays, that was the day she ran errands. After his father had left, she had made sure to feed him, got his lunch ready for when he wanted it, and then she left. She had to get some supplies for the house, and then go to the grocery store for this week. She wouldn't be back until well after lunch. Normally, she didn't arrive back until around 4 in the after noon, just in time to start dinner.
He was still covered in layers of imperious curses, but he was fighting. A few years before, Barty had secretly been contacted by one of his former school mates, Quirinus Quirrell. Quirrell had been a few years above him, and although they hadn't been close, they had known each other. While Barty had joined the Death Eaters, Quirrell had just been a secret supporter. He had been told by another one of their classmates, Bertha Jorkins, that Barty was being kept prisoner.
Quirrell had told him that he had found the dark lord and was planning on going to go and get him. He wasn't strong enough to free Barty, so they were going to have to wait for their lord to free him. Quirrell had told him about his plans, and, if anything went wrong, he told Barty where he was going to arrange for their lord to go.
It was less than a year later that Barty had heard his father talking about how that idiot had been captured attempting to break into Gringotts. Clearly, the idiot had messed up. But, ever since then, Barty had been working on breaking through his fathers curses. In the past few months, he had started to have more and more success. He had figured that he would be able to break free with in the next few months.
That was until this morning.
Without another layer of the curse, Barty had been able to force his way to the surface. It was still a bit of a struggle, but he had managed it. Thanks to growing up with a father like his, Barty had plenty of practice in throwing off curses.
Now, he was sitting in the dark with his mums old wand clutched tightly in his hand. He was going to make his father pay.
Only a few short hours later, his father arrived home for lunch after the meeting ended.
With a vicious smirk, Barty threw a disarming spell at his father as soon as he entered the house. A few more quick spells would ensure no one outside would be able to hear.
Advancing towards his father, Barty started the intricate movements for some of the curses he had learned during his time as a Death Eater.
Elf Market
Winky was making her way through the house elf shopping market when she dropped to her knees, gasping out in agony.
Her Master Crouch was dead.
Putting back the few things she had started to gather, Winky popped home.
Instantly, she started to scream in horror. There was blood everywhere.
Quickly, Winky searched the house. Master Barty was gone. He had done this. The little boy she had watched over for so long was a monster. He had done this. He had killed her Master Crouch.
But, Winky knew what she was to do. She had been given very specific orders on what to do if anything ever happened. She was to remove all traces of Master Barty from the house. She truly hated having to do it, she hated that she was ensuring that Master Barty was going to get away with what he had done, but she had her orders. And, Winky was a good elf.
Once all traces of Master Barty were out of the house, Winky popped to the DMLE to report her Master Crouch's murder.
Gringotts
Albus Dumbledore was less than pleased as he followed some goblin towards his account managers office. There were so many things he needed to do today, and now he was being forced to waist his time at the bank.
There really needed to be stronger controls on these creatures.
He had had his day all planned out, that was, until a letter had arrived from the bank. There was an issue with his accounts and the payments he had arranged from the Potter accounts had been halted. He couldn't have that, so he had had to make other arrangements for his day.
"What is the meaning of all this?" Albus demanded as soon as he entered the office.
"Good morning Lord Dumbledore." Ragnock said in a chilly voice.
"Well?" Albus demanded imperiously.
Ragnock was doing everything to remain in control. Half of him wanted to kill this wizard. He was a rude, demanding, worthless, thief. The other half of him wanted to celebrate. It had taken years to reach this point, but the old fool was now going to learn that he had been waisting his own money all these years and not Hadrian's, like he had intended.
"As we explained in our letter earlier this morning. All payments from the account you have been drawing from have been frozen." Ragnock said in a forced calm voice.
"And just why is that?"
"Because the account is empty." Ragnock replied with a sneer.
"What?" Albus was in shock. "That isn't possible."
"Yes, Lord Dumbledore, it is." Ragnock once again had to force himself not to smile. "There was just over 5 million galleons in the account, over the past decade, you have transferred all of it out. The account is being formally closed now that it is empty."
Albus just continued to stare at the goblin. This couldn't be possible. He needed that money. Surely, the Potters had more money than that, they were amongst the wealthier families.
"Now, what would you like us to do about the payments you arranged to others?" Ragnock asked in an all business sort of voice, the old man across the desk just stared. "Unless you wish to cancel those payments then you are going to need to inform us which account you would like us to draw those payments from.
The only account that you have access to that has any sizeable amounts is your own personal account. Other than your personal account there are a few accounts you inherited from your ancestors, but in total there is only 6,028 galleons, 196 sickles, and 36 knuts, all together in those accounts. Then, there is the business account that you inherited from your brother, but that account is almost empty itself."
"What?" Albus repeated blankly. "But that can't be."
Ragnock pulled out the ledgers of the old fools accounts. He knew the old fool had his own copies, but he clearly never bothered to manage them properly, obviously, given that he never realized that he had been paying himself for years.
For the first time since his youth, Albus looked at an accounts ledger. Gellerat had always managed their accounts during the war, Albus just hadn't really cared enough to pay attention.
But now, he was paying attention. Flipping through the books he saw just how low his finances were.
Sure, his own personal account was doing just fine, but the rest of his accounts were almost empty. Where had all his money gone.
Then he saw it. The account that he had been drawing the money from was listed as being opened by Ichabod Dumbledore. But it should have been the Potter account.
"This isn't right." Albus said angrily. "This says that you have been taking the payments out of an account opened by Ichabod Dumbledore. That money was supposed to be coming from the Potter estate. It was the payments for young Harry's care and my management of the accounts."
"No, you specifically stated that you wanted the money to be transferred from the account that was checked on the least by it's owner." Ragnock couldn't hold back a small smirk. "The account that you have access to that, at the time, was checked on the least by it's owner, was the account opened by Ichabod Dumbledore."
"But the money was supposed to be coming from the Potter estate. You will just have to fix your mistake now." Albus demanded.
Ragnock forced back the growl at the idea that the bank had been the one in error. "That isn't possible. You have no legal right to anything from the Potter estate. Only a legal guardian of young Hadrian Potter has any legal right to access the Potter estate. You, are not, nor have you ever been, one of those guardians. As such, you have no right to make demands about his money." Ragnocks tone was flat, he wasn't going to let this fool have any control over the youngling he had become so fond of.
"I was given permission to manage the accounts by James Potter." Albus tried. He needed that money.
"We have no record of that." Ragnock said blandly. "The facts are simple Lord Dumbledore. You only have access to these accounts." He waved his hands to the ledgers in front of the fool. "According to our records you were issued self updating copies of these ledgers when you first took over your families estate. If you have lost your copies we will be able to issue you replacement copies, at a cost of 25 galleons each. You have all the information you need to properly manage your accounts, so any mistakes or mismanagement is your responsibility and not the banks.
With that said, what would you like us to do in regards to the payments you have been making to others? You will need to tell us which accounts you would like us to take the money from, or if you wish to cancel the payments."
Albus just sat for a moment. This couldn't be happening. How had his finances gotten so bad? As much as he would like to cancel the payments he had been making, he knew he couldn't.
If he stopped the money going to Molly and the kids, the woman would never let it go. He was going to need to find a way to make that woman less dependent on him. Previously, he had enjoyed her devotion, but now it was just getting in the way. Maybe he could somehow get Dedalus to take over looking after the woman.
Then there was Ron and Ginny. Albus really didn't want to have to pay them. He still couldn't figure out just how any children of his could be so pathetic. Albus had originally thought that the children would be more like him, but it was clear they had both inherited Molly's intelligence and temper. Such a waste, all he could hope was that they might grow to be better in time. But, he couldn't stop payments into their accounts in the meantime because, once again, Molly would throw a fit.
Hermione was the only one he could conceivably stop paying given that the agreement had been for her to be friends with Harry, but that would just bring up new issues. As difficult as the girl had been, she still had her uses. If he stopped paying her now, she would be less likely to do anything for him in the future. That and the girl had a temper all her own, and was proving to be even less stable than Molly.
There was no choice, he was going to have to keep up the payments. He was also going to have to look into the restaurants finances clearly. Just the quick glance showed just how much money the place was losing. In spite of the less than inviting atmosphere Aberforth had created, the bar had actually made a decent profit, Molly clearly wasn't doing that.
Ragnock took great pleasure in Dumbledore coming to terms with the fact that he had been, and was going to have to continue, having to waste his own money.
Albus sighed deeply as he made arrangements for the payments to come out of his own account. He was going to have to figure out a way to improve his finances. Or, find a way to gain some control over the Potter estate. Maybe, he could get Lily to go to the bank and use her position as Harry's mother to get the money. The bank had extremely strong privacy rules. Even if Lily had to reveal she was still alive to them, the goblins would never tell anyone, and no one would believe them even if they did.
Peverell Manor - July 8, 2004
It took a full three days for Winky to leave the DMLE after she had arrived to report the murder of her Master. Most of the aurors had been nothing but kind, but Winky was beyond traumatized.
The forced breaking of a bond through something like a violent death was different from any other form of unbonding. In the event of a natural death, the bond between house elf and its master simply dissolved away slowly. Giving the elf time to come to terms with the loss. When an elf was freed, the bond is simply severed. It is sharp and shocking, but it is a clean break. Most elves will become depressed for a while, but given enough time, they will recover.
But, in the case of a murdered master, the bond is torn and shattered. It leaves behind a gaping hole in the elves core. Their magic starts to pour out of them in torrents. A clean wound heals a lot faster than a jagged one.
Winky's situation was made even worse by the guilt that she knew who had killed her master and there was nothing she could do about it. She was forbidden from speaking about it.
Doing the only thing she could think of in her pain, Winky popped to Dobby. She could remember Dobby's master saying that she should come to him if anything happened.
"Master Hadrian. Master Hadrian."
Hadrian looked up from the book he was reading in one of the cushy chairs in the library. "What's wrong Dobby?"
"Master Hadrian, Winky just arrived. She's hurt."
Hadrian instantly got up. This was unexpected. He had been trying to figure out what was going to happen with the Crouch family.
"Take me to her."
Hadrian followed Dobby downstairs and to the elf courters. There was plenty of room in the manor for the elves to have plenty of rooms, but house elves generally disliked large open spaces. They preferred small, dim, warm places to create soft nests. They were also very social when they had the chance to be, so the 20 or so elves that lived and worked in the manor all lived in one room that had been divided into small, separate, spaces.
The elf courters were placed next to the kitchen for extra warmth. Entering the room, Dobby took Hadrian to his own nest where he had laid Winky down after she had arrived in a state of near collapse.
"Winky, what has happened?"
Hadrian kneeled down next to the poor little elf. Her skin had taken on a waxy complexion and her large eyes were dull and glassy.
"M… m… my Master C… c… Crouch. H… h… he was m… m… m… murdered whens I was at the elf market." Winkys weak voice stuttered as she spoke. She couldn't even cry anymore, she was just so exhausted.
Hadrian forced himself not to panic, he had the first time he had heard the news when the paper had announced it a few days earlier, but now he was getting used to it. Something had changed, but he hadn't figured out what yet. He was sure that it had been Barty that killed his father, but he knew he couldn't confirm it. Winky would never forgive him if he tried to make her betray her former masters secrets when she was so weak.
"Shhh, rest now Winky. It's going to be ok." Hadrian pulled one of Dobby's blankets over the elf and just sat holding her hand until she fell asleep only a few minutes later. "Koby."
The elderly elf popped in as soon as he was called. Koby worked in the potions lab with his papa, and he served as a healer for the house elves in the family. Upon seeing the elf in the nest, he knew to keep his voice low. He didn't know who she was, but he knew he had been called here for her. "What can Koby bes doing for Master Hadrian?"
"Koby, this is Winky." Hadrian waved to where Winky slept, Dobby taking up his place next to her to watch over her. "Her master was murdered while she was at the elf market, is there anything you can do to help her? I don't know what's wrong."
Koby sighed sadly. All elves knew the danger of losing ones master like that. "Its is her broken bond Master Hadrian. A bonds being ripped like that is very very bad. Most elvess don't survive. All we can do is make her comfortable and hope for the best.
I's can give her some pain potions to ease the hurt, but she's can only heal with time. She's is to weak to bond now, but she will need a bond to survive."
"I have an idea for a good family for her. Do you know when the best time would be for her to bond?"
Koby went over to the sleeping elf and ran a few checks. Using his own magic to soothe and comfort the elf to make sure she didn't wake up. "Shes will need to rest and heal for at least a week, but then she will need to bond. Its would be best for her to bond in no less than 10 days. It will give enough time for her old bond to start to heal, while giving her a connection to stop the loss of her own magics. Even after she bonds, she's will still need to rest. It could take at least a month before she will be able to handle any real work. Wills this family give hers time to recover?"
Hadrian could see Koby's worry. Many families wouldn't really take time to allow for a house elf to recover. Due to the bigotry of most witches and wizards, they saw house elves as beneath them and wouldn't take any illness or injury into account when dealing with one. "Of course. I was thinking of asking the Weasley-Prewett family to take her. Arthur is expecting twins in the early fall. I thought she would like a family with young children."
Koby gave a relieved smile and explained a little more to Master Hadrian about what had happened to Winky. He had met most of the family, they had all been kind and respectful to every elf they had met. He was sure that a man like Arthur Weasley-Prewett and his husbands and sons would make a wonderful family to any elf.
Junior Technologies
After leaving Winky in the capable hands of Dobby and Koby, Hadrian flooed to the research offices of Junior Technologies. It was just before lunch, so he hoped that he might get a chance to talk to Arthur, Fabian, and/or Gideon. He knew from Fred and George, that they were extremely busy at work and more often than not ate at their desks during lunch.
Arriving at the office, he went to the office he knew Arthur shared with his husbands and saw all three of them sitting at their desks, surrounded by paper. Knocking softly on the door frame, Hadrian got their attention.
"Hadrian…" Fabian was a little lost when he looked up to see his sons soul mate.
Like his twin, Gideon had been so caught up in his work that he was a little startled to see the boy. "Is something wrong?"
"No, I just needed to talk to the three of you about something for a few minutes. I brought lunch." Hadrian held up the bag of sandwiches that he had gotten from the elves.
"Please, come in." Arthur wasn't about to pass up food. "What is it that you needed to talk to us about. Is something going on? Is something wrong?"
"Kind of." Hadrian had had all sorts of plans about Winky bonding with them, but now that he was here, he was a little lost and didn't really know how to approach the subject.
"Well.. Is there something about Fred and George you want to talk to us about?" Gideon tried. It only made sense that if Hadrian wanted to talk to them than it was most likely about the boys.
"No." Hadrian said. "It's about a house elf."
"A house elf?" Fabian was now completely confused.
"Yes. Earlier today my elf Dobby's friend, Winky, came to the house. She worked for Crouch." The three men all nodded, knowing by now what had happened to the man. "She was at the market when he was killed. She was the one that reported his murder. She needs a new family, soon, and I figured you guys would be good for her.
Winky has been through a lot in the past few days and it's going to take her a while to recover. I figured you guys could offer that to her, and she could help make things easier when the new twins arrive."
Arthur had caught how Hadrians voice tightened when he referred to what the elf needed. "Hadrian, what do you mean she needs to recover? If she wasn't there when Crouch was attacked, what's wrong with her?"
"One of our elves, Kobi, serves as a healer for our elves. He said that when a bond is broken by something like murder, it hurts the elf that is bonded to the victim. Her bond was shattered so the magic is pouring out of her. It's one of the reasons that my family tends to bond our elves to the family rather than an individual. It stops the elves from being hurt. She's at the manor resting right now.
Kobi says that she is going to need to rest for at least a week, but she is going to need to bond shortly after that if she is to survive. Even with a new bond helping to support her it's going to take her at least a month before she will be up to much.
I was hoping that you would be willing to offer her a home."
Arthur could only nod. He could hear it in his tone, Hadrian was worried that the elf would not survive. "Of course she can come and live with us. If it's what she wants. Let us know when she is ready to meet us and we will come by after work."
Hadrian smiled. He knew that he could count on Arthur to be kind.
After Hadrian had left, Arthur and the twins had no choice but to get back to work. They had a lot of work to do, and their time was running out.
Ever since a young Draco had said that he was worried about missing the football games Arthur had been working on a way to record sporting events in a way that they could be rewatched by the wizarding populous. Now, it was almost finished.
The company had made a partnership with the company that designed omnioculars to create recording devices. This year, the world cup would be recorded. Arthurs team had designed a pensieve like device. It would allow the viewer to enter the memory like they could with a pensieve, but it would be more interactive. Allowing them to pause, rewind, fast forward, zoom in, and even access information on the different players.
Prior to the war, Fabian and Gideon had both been involved with the Department of International Magical Cooperation in the ministry. Using their connections they had made contact with the two teams competing this year and gotten permission for the recordings and negotiated a distribution agreement. But, the largest part of their task was what they would be doing the next year.
As it was right now, if sales of the world cup game went well, every formal league game would be recorded during the next season. They had also started to reach out to other sports leagues about doing the same. Even some muggle sports, like football and rugby.
But right now, they only had less than two months left to get everything ready. And, despite there being entire teams working on the project, Arthur, Fabian, and Gideon were key to every level of the project, so they would be responsible for a majority of the work. If this failed, they would bare the responsibility, and they knew it.