A Wrench in the Plan

"I'm sorry for asking you to meet here at the Burrow." Arthur Weasley apologized to his guests as they dusted themselves off from the floo, "There have been several late nights the past week or so," he confessed, "Molly will kill me if I were to miss dinner again, but she assured me that we would be fine to handle guests."

"Busy work at the Ministry?" Petunia asked.

"Unfortunately so, Easter and all." He answered, "Troublemakers tend to come out around muggle holidays and make mischief. Putting harsher penalties on such is the root of the Muggle Protection Act, as I'm sure you know."

Petunia frowned at that, and Andromeda stepped forward in the silence, "How did you feel about the suggestions we gave you? My cousin Sirius also thought of how to word the law in such a way that you get to keep experimenting on your car, if you would like to see it?"

"Oh?" Arthus perked up; even the suggestions of Ms. Acacia, who had advised of workarounds for most everyday enchanted items of a beneficial nature, hadn't been able to come up with a reasonable way to allow his Ford Anglia to stay.

"He has a vested interest in it." She replied with a chuckle, "Something about a classic motorbike that he enchanted to fly."

"Well," He segued, "I've taken the suggestions I received and added what I could to the bill, would you like to take a look before we see about adding in that new language from Lord Black?"

Going over the text took longer than Petunia expected. The bill itself wasn't very long; but even after being advised to fix it, it was filled with misspellings. Honestly, how the Ministry's "lead expert on muggles" couldn't spell "electricity" was beyond her!

o0-0oo0-0oo0-0oo0-0o

"Distracted, Potter?" Snape hissed as he walked by the table, taking great pains to ignore the fact that the boy was sitting and chatting with Daphne Greengrass. His snakes were becoming much too close with the other Houses. What was he supposed to tell the parents of these children, his friends, when they hear that their children are fraternizing with opposing Families?

"Our potion is simmering, Professor. It needs another two minutes." Harry answered.

"That does not mean that you may cause a distraction to the others. Five points from Gryffindor." He replied testily as he walked away.

"Sorry." Harry whispered to Daphne when Snape was far enough away, earning a raised eyebrow from the blonde girl; it wasn't like she had lost points, "I was pretty much done explaining though, do you think your father would be interested in that? If so, Aunt Andi can write to him about it."

"Is it going to be related to the bill your family got him involved in that Lord Weasley is working on?" She asked as she glanced at their potion. It was flawless; Potter's work was better than hers, and it pissed her off! Her mother joked that she was born asking for a cauldron and fire, then Harry Potter came in raised by muggles and was better at almost all the practical aspects of the class, "If so, then he will want to know about it in case he does not want to associate with such. A charity for muggleborn is a little too far from center for our Family."

"Oh, it isn't just for muggleborn." Harry whispered back, "The scholarship part is going to be for purebloods who need it too. I can't say who yet, but there are three families that Aunt Andi and Ms. Acacia are reaching out to."

o0-0oo0-0oo0-0oo0-0o

"You… are you serious?" Arthur Weasley's eyes were wide as he processed what Andromeda and Petunia had just offered him.

"Absolutely," Petunia answered, cutting him off before he could protest, "the scholarship is meant to be offered to any family who needs it to ensure that all of their magical children can go to Hogwarts. I know you were not planning to keep your daughter home, but I also understand that the lighter burden would be a tremendous help."

"We don't accept charity," Molly hissed to her husband before turning to her guests, "we have put all of our boys through Hogwarts, we can put our daughter through as well."

"I'm sure that is the case, and we don't mean to insult you by offering, but we just felt that you could use a little help with your burden." Andromeda appeased, "And please understand that this is not merely charity, it is a scholarship; something that I've learned is fairly common in the non magical world. There will be academic standards Ginevra would be held to if you accepted; and if any recipient decides to simply goof off at Hogwarts, there will be repercussions."

"Still-"

"Molly, please." Arthur interrupted her before quickly turning back to the other women, "Could we have some time to discuss this? We need to talk, as a family, and I think Ginny should have a say as well."

"That is perfectly alright." Petunia answered, "If you have any questions, just let one of us know. We hope you will say 'yes.'"

o0-0oo0-0oo0-0oo0-0o

Professor Quirrell cursed under his breath as he finally made it back to his room and lifted the extremely taxing, but equally obscure, variation of the Disillusionment Charm he had learned during his travels. The Defense Professor was rather sure that the headmaster had never heard of it, and thus would be unable to see through it. Wandering the castle under such a draining spell off and on for an entire week had been exhausting, and he really had nothing to show for it. The enchantment placed on the Mirror of Erised was simply too strong, Quirrell's master was at a loss as to how Dumbledore could be so powerful without undergoing Dark rituals to increase his magic; and there was no way of retrieving the Stone except the loophole the headmaster himself had selected.

The only person who could take the Stone from the Mirror was someone who knew what they were doing, and had no desire to use the Stone for their own benefit. Since the Stone was Quirrell's only chance at being separated from his master without dieing, he couldn't be said to want it for no personal benefit. Similarly, he could not threaten, bribe, or Imperious a student to get it; he had tried all three while Dumbledore was away from the school on personal business, and had to obliviate the children involved after each attempt failed.

Classes began that morning, putting a damper on his work towards getting the Philosopher's Stone. But if he couldn't figure it out by then there was always the final solution: absconding with his prize, Mirror and all, and figuring out the rest later.

o0-0oo0-0oo0-0oo0-0o

"Thank you for joining us Mister Potter." Dumbledore smiled cordially as Harry and Minerva entered his office, "Professor Vector here would like to be present to observe you and your familiar while we work, if that is alright with you both. Now that you have become proficient at casting the body-shrinking charm, she would like to observe the transfer of magic to see if we can determine just how large Najash will grow to be before all is said and done."

"That would be nice," Harry answered the headmaster before turning to the other professor, causing him to miss her questioning look at Dumbledore, "he's already growing faster than we thought he would at the beginning of the year."

"Well, let us see what we can find out then, shall we?" She said, wiping the confusion from her face, "I shall be standing to the side with my wand while you undo the charm and then renew it."

"Um," Harry deadpanned as he walked over to a small table near the window and held his hand out for Najash to slither onto it, "I don't normally keep him under the charm, his size doesn't really bother me."

"Oh my." Septima Vector muttered under her breath as the serpent coiled itself on the mahogany table. It was far larger than she expected after looking up the species of snake, a little over three feet long and more than an inch thick now! It was a good thing that Hogwarts' robes were so bulky or he would probably frighten students in the halls.

"Sorry to startle you professor," Harry apologized as he stepped back from the table for a moment, "is there anything you need to do to prepare? I feel bad dragging Professor Mcgonagall here since I don't need your rune circle to use the bond anymore."

"Thank you, Mister Potter," The Professor in question interjected, "I do not think this should take so long that it is an inconvenience."

"I just need to get this crystal primed," Septima explained as she withdrew a very clear quartz crystal from her pocket, "It has runes carved into the surface that allow it to record magical emanations when activated. The Headmaster has kindly put up a temporary array that will keep most of the magic in the rest of the castle out while we record your casting." She explained the last as she pointed out a few pieces of parchment in the corners of the room with a bunch of complex runic squiggles on them stuck to the walls.

So Dumbledore is going out of his way to do this? Harry thought, confused, "Sir, should I tell her about… um…"

"That is up to you, Harry," Dumbledore answered, "I will say that I trust Professor Vector not to say anything to others if you do not want her to."

"Professor Vector was a Gryffindor, Mister Potter." Mcgonagall offered, "I'm sure she would not gossip if you told her. What's more, I think you could ask her some of the questions you and Miss Granger had about magic and language."

"If you say so, ma'am, I'll trust you." Harry said with a nod of his head before turning back to the new, to him, professor, "Professor Vector, I can speak Parseltongue; and the day we left for spring break I accidentally cast the body-shrinking charm in it. Is it possible to do your test both when I'm casting normally and when I Speak?"

To her credit, Septima merely blinked in surprise before answering the boy's question, "It would take a few minutes to wipe the crystal after we've used it, but if you and Minerva do not mind waiting then I would be intrigued to look for differences in the casting as well."

Harry took his time feeling out and opening the bond between himself and Najash, like he always did when he intended to cast a spell. No reason to rush things and risk hurting his friend. Just before Professor Vector opened her mouth to ask if everything was alright, the bond flared to life and her crystal flashed as it started recording.

The Professor's eyes widened as Harry incanted the spell and almost effortlessly shrank his snake by more than a foot, while also causing him to become about a quarter inch thinner. She had expected it to take significantly longer than that once he began, the strength of their connection was impressively strong if the spell could take instantaneously.

"That was well done Mister Potter." The Professor offered as she dipped the crystal first into an inkwell and then onto a blank parchment once he'd finished. "While we wait for those results, are you aware of what we are measuring? Why casting spells like that is different than normal?"

"Not really ma'am," Harry answered with a confused look to Professors Dumbledore and Mcgonagall, "I know that if I want to cast certain kinds of spells on Najash then I need to do it through the bond so I don't accidentally hurt him or do something I can't undo."

"With so many other things going on, and this being his first year of magical study, I felt it was better not to fill his head with too much theory that he could not do much with at the moment." Dumbledore explained, "It seems as good a topic as any while we wait, I suppose."

"The most important distinction," Septima began, "is that, since they are magical creatures themselves, it is necessary to overcome a familiar's personal magic in many cases. This is especially true for physical alterations, magical creatures do not enjoy being transfigured."

"Casting through the bond," Dumbledore continued when Professor Vector seemed unable to come up with a layman's explanation for the rest, "is more than simply tricking Najash's magic into not rejecting the changes. By casting your spell along the link between you, you actually attach the spell to Najash's magic. While you are the one to cast the spell, it is Najash's own magic and acceptance that keep there from being any degradation of the effect. If you cast the body-shrinking charm on Najash like one of us would then, even if you succeeded, the spell would fail much sooner than you are accustomed to as Najash subconsciously fought against the change."

"That makes sense, sir." Harry said thoughtfully, "So does that mean if I wanted to cast multiple spells like that, maybe to give him even better senses on top of the size change, I would need to know how much magic he has so he isn't trying to maintain too many things?" When he saw the Headmaster's shocked expression Harry explained his question, "I saw in the book you recommended Hermione about familiars that some people will do things like that, but nothing about why it could be done with familiars and not with regular pets. I thought Najash would find a stronger sense of smell or vibration cool."

"I wager that he would." Dumbledore returned as he glanced at the sheet that was filling in with the information gleaned from Harry's casting. It took a bit of control not to react to what he saw, and a bump from his foot accompanied by a casual nod of his head alerted Septima to check the results quietly.

"I'll let you know what my conclusion is about how long he'll get soon, Mister Potter." Professor Vector said, fighting to keep her face neutral as she moved the parchment out of view, "It will take a few minutes longer for the crystal to be reset, just give us a moment."

During that time, Harry asked her several questions about language and magic, "Hermione even ordered a book on magical languages through Gringotts, but it hasn't come in yet." He concluded.

"It sounds like I can look forward to seeing the two of you in my class in another year." She said with a happy grin, "Honestly, I've always been much more fascinated with the raw mathematics of spell theory than the linguistics, but our course will cover a little language as well. Not as much as Ancient Runes, but even that course mainly keeps to European languages. A bunch of Norse and Celtic runes, with even more Greek and Latin ones."

While they spoke, Dumbledore frowned behind his crossed hands, Arithmancy and Ancient Runes? How am I supposed to convince him to take Divination if his head is too focused on logic?

Behind him, Fawkes made a clucking sound he knew to be laughter that drew him out of his thoughts. Glancing back at the bird it smirked at him. Merlin, how he hated that overly flashy turkey sometimes.

~Sorry to keep bothering you with this, friend.~ Harry hissed to Najash as he undid the previous shrinking charm, ~It can't be comfortable to keep changing sizes like this.~

~Not as bad as you think, Harry. It does not bother me, you are learning to use your magic. Soon, we will learn how to heal.~

Nearby, Professor Vector shivered as she heard Harry hiss at the snake. She had known a parselmouth in her youth when she visited the Middle East, but had never been able to get over the creepy feeling she got whenever she heard the language.

Harry took his time once more in feeling out the bond, though when he cast the spell in Parseltongue it took a noticeably longer amount of time to complete. Septima Vector was prepared for unusual results this time, and once the ink she dipped onto the crystal finished filling out the parchment with data she went ahead and moved both off the table.

"Casting the spell in Parseltongue had a minor effect on the speed of the transfiguration," She said after Harry confirmed everything was alright with the snake, "I would ask that you try and keep track of how long the spell lasts this time, don't cancel it early. That way you can know if duration is affected by language."

"Yes ma'am," Harry said as he picked Najash back up and allowed him to slither under his robes, "thank you for coming with me again, Professor Mcgonagal."

"It was no problem, Mister Potter." She answered, "Feel free to rejoin your friends for lunch, I have something I wanted to speak to the headmaster about while I was here."

As soon as Harry left the room and the door closed behind him Minerva turned back to her two colleagues, "Septima, I have known you for over half a century and have never once seen you conduct a test without preparing all the research needed ahead of time."

"Indeed," she replied, "I did all the research on serpent familiars and species last night. But the results were rather shocking. The Headmaster indicated he wanted to wait to tell young Harry; personally I think we need to discuss how we are going to tell him."

"If you recall from last term," Dumbledore explained, "the size of the magical core in Harry's familiar was staggering considering how young he was when the bond was made and how powerful he still is." Septima gasped at that, not even considering until then that the bond could have been established before he arrived at Hogwarts, "Specific values are impossible, quantity of magic can only be determined by comparison after all, but when I sensed Harry and Najash with their bond open I… Septima, do your reports show what I felt?"

"I would think so." She answered as she reviewed both sheets of parchment, "Najash has a magical core that is more comparable to that of a weak wizard than a magical familiar."

"What does that mean?" Minerva asked, "Will it start casting spells or something?"

"I highly doubt that it will ever be capable of actually casting magic, regardless of the core size," she returned, "but I cannot even imagine how such a thing came to be. The magical core of a familiar is supposed to be created by permanently taking a little of the magic in the wizard, however anyone who gave their pet this much magic would be a squib if they weren't killed." She shuddered, "But the thing that Mister Potter will be most worried about is the fact that with so much magic involved there is a strong possibility that his snake never stops growing. Or that he will be as much as twenty or more feet long before he finally does."

"Sweet Merlin and Morganna," Minerva muttered under her breath before looking back to the others, "Will it become distressingly large while still in Hogwarts?"

"Probably in a few years," Dumbledore mused, "By Harry's fourth or fifth year, Najash will likely be too large to be comfortably shrunk enough to be hidden."

For hours after the other professors had left his office, Headmaster Dumbledore continued to muse over the problem presented to him. Harry Potter, The-Boy-Who-Lived, was practically a magnet for the impossible and paradoxical. If the snake in question had belonged to anyone else, if any Slytherin in the school possessed a familiar with this large of a core; Dumbledore would have assumed the child to have committed some dark, sacrificial ritual on another wizard to achieve these results. It was actually the only answer that the aged headmaster could come up with to make a non magical snake into a familiar of this caliber, to have sacrificed the magic of another being in the process.

But not Harry, having grown up isolated in the Muggle world and with the soul of a healer. He would not even have been able to learn such a thing was possible; and would not have had access to another person's magic even if he were inclined to do such a thing. How is Harry Potter still so powerful then? Dumbledore asked himself, If he gave most of his magic to his snake, then how can he still be among the top students in his year for practical casting?

Unless, Dumbledore thought as a cold chill ran down his spine, it was not Harry's magic that they were seeing in use during class?

o0-0oo0-0oo0-0oo0-0o

"We cannot allow this charity foundation to go forward. I have not gotten all of the specific details yet, but I know enough to understand the gist of what they want. Mudbloods being given special privileges and opportunities, which will slowly leech from us the power that is ours by right. It must not be allowed." Lucius Malfoy concluded his speech to his allies concerning the last but, in his opinion, most important topic.

"What about the fact that he is making all the mudbloods he helps take a pureblood society course?" Lord Parkinson asked, "Is that not good for us, teach them their place before they go to Hogwarts and think they deserve the same treatment as real witches and wizards?"

"It is a trap." Lord Nott rebutted, "Black believes that mudbloods and purebloods are equals, his magical society courses would reinforce such nonsense and make it even harder to teach the mudbloods where they truly belong."

"Mister Malfoy, sir." Gregory Goyle Senior's tentative voice drew the blonde's attention, "'M sorry sir, but I have to stay out of this one. Won't tell anyone what you are planning, but I canno' help. And I don't think you'll get what you want."

o0-0oo0-0oo0-0oo0-0o

"Molly Weasley's temper notwithstanding, this will be the hardest family to sell on the scholarship." Andromeda explained as she, Sirius, and Petunia in her Ms. Acacia disguise walked up the path from the gate to the front door of the unkempt manor house. Sirius informed her right before they had apparated to the front gate that the fact that their hosts refused to update the floo ward to let them enter that way was a magical means of snubbing a guest without being explicitly impolite. Asking about another's wards was inappropriate, and some wards, though much less common, were harder to change to allow guests than others; so actually accusing the host of such was considered equally rude.

When Sirius had 'knocked' on the gate, something that he did by tapping his wand against the family crest in the center, a House Elf wearing a dirty potato sack appeared inside the property and asked them to follow him to the front door; which opened for them as they arrived. Inside the door, the mother of the girl they had come to offer a scholarship to greeted them with a tight smile and quietly escorted them into a sitting room.

"Lord Black, Regent Potter." Lord Goyle grunted at the two without standing from his seat on the other side of the room, his glare falling on each of them in turn before barely acknowledging Ms. Acacia and fixing his gaze on Sirius, "And someone I don' know. You know who I am. What do you want with my daughter, Black?"

Sirius winced at the tone of address, clearly Gregory Goyle was convinced they wanted something from him. That or he was misinterpreting why they had asked about his second child, "Well, Mister Goyle, we would like to ensure that she goes to Hogwarts like her brother."

During the few minutes the three had to wait for Goyle to regain his composure, he had choked on whatever he was drinking when Sirius made his announcement and his elf had popped in to clean up both himself and the mess, they wondered if this reaction was a good thing or a bad one.

o0-0oo0-0oo0-0oo0-0o

"What do you mean you 'have to stay out'?" Lucius demanded, "You owe me! Your family would have nothing if you weren't allied with mine! I've even looked for available marriage contracts for your daughter and son!"

"Black wants to put Gina in Hogwarts, sir." Goyle answered simply, "You didn't want to do that. I asked, Mister Malfoy."

Lucius' eyes widened comically; why should they care about the education of a daughter, a second child even? It wasn't like this was the Black family, who insisted on educating everyone not born a squib as a matter of Family pride! Goyle didn't have much in the way of means outside his bloodline, but when did he start emulating the Weasleys? It isn't like she was going to be anything other than an ornament for a pureblood husband, "So you are fine with being lumped in with mudbloods?"

"I want her to have a wand." Gregory replied, fiddling with his own wand in the pocket of his robe. Without it he was basically a squib, he couldn't feel magic at all unless he had it on his person; and a lot of things that a wizard should only need to touch with a hand to activate he had to touch with his wand. "Ollivander is backin' this, you should wait before you try to shut it down."

"It seems I have some research to do." Lucius spoke when it was apparent that Goyle wasn't going to keep explaining. He probably doesn't actually know anything else anyways, Lucius Malfoy thought to himself, I need to find out what is really going on with this Wolfstar Foundation; then I have to find someone who knows what Weasley is up to. The bill he was talking about proposing could be frustrating. The fact that he's kept it back for revision this long is troublesome, to say the least. At least it seems Draco has managed to stay out of trouble and keep on Potter and his mudbloods' good sides.

o0-0oo0-0oo0-0oo0-0o

"Are you alright Mister Goyle?" Ms. Acacia asked when he seemed unable to get his breathing back under control, glancing at the elf in worry, "Do you need help? Should I fetch your wife?"

"Does Master Golye be needing his tonic, sir?" The elf finally asked, having been forgotten due to being so quiet, his eyes appearing even larger than they already were due to fear. He popped away instantly when his master rapidly nodded his head as his face grew redder from coughing.

Only a moment later, the little elf returned with a vial containing a faintly glowing, orange, liquid that had the viscosity of molasses. Goyle waved off the offer of assistance from his guests as he fought to keep from spilling anything while taking a quick swig of the tonic. After downing a swallow of the orange medicine he began exhaling a thin orange mist that he then re-inhaled. Each breath of the mist made his cough lessen, and after three breaths he was back to normal.

"Dragon Lung, Sir?" Andromeda asked, "If you would like to take a moment and drink something cool, we understand. I'm a healer, so I have an idea of how that feels."

"Dragon Lung?" Sirius whispered to her while Goyle drank a glass of ice water his elf brought him.

"A lasting side effect of Dragon Pox that sometimes presents itself after the Pox Cure is given." She explained, "It's very rare, and there is no way to cure it. That potion alleviates the painful episodes, but it's pretty expensive to brew since dragon saliva is an ingredient."

"If you're done talking 'bout me," Goyle said, annoyed, after finishing his water and cooling the burning sensation in his stomach a little, "I have the Lung; but my daughter is fine. No Pox or anything, she-"

"Lord Goyle, please don't misunderstand." Sirius interrupted him, "None of our families are interested in your daughter in that way. When I said we wanted to help her go to Hogwarts, that is what I meant."

"The Potter and Black Families are starting a charity foundation whose goal is to offer support so that every magical child in Britain can learn magic." Ms. Acacia added quickly, drawing his eyes to her, "One aspect of that support is a scholarship offer to attend Hogwarts for students whose financial situations would otherwise disallow it. By the way, please forgive my rudeness. I am Peony Acacia, a relation of the Potters."

The elder Goyle stared at her with a look of utter confusion as he tried to understand what she was talking about. When he replied, however, he did so to Sirius, "But what will she have to do for this then? I owe Malfoy, I don't want to owe you too; and Malfoy would not be happy if I got her a contract after he offered to look around."

"She would have to maintain good grades," Sirius answered, a little perturbed at Goyle ignoring Petunia, "and in her later years will be expected to help younger recipients of the scholarship if they need it. The Wolfstar Foundation will provide for any basic expenses associated with her schooling, as well as a few extra curricular summer courses. In particular, all the children receiving the scholarship will be receiving a wand from Ollivanders Wand Shop over the summer. We intend for the Daily Prophet to be there as well, Mister Ollivander is using the opportunity to promote bringing more young witches and wizards into his shop to claim their wands."

"She could have a wand?" Mrs. Goyle's voice was heard from the door, having come to check on her husband due to his coughing, "Milord, please."

"I will handle this Annis." Lord Goyle glared at her until she retreated back out of the room and closed the door, "Is this a joke? Some trick to get me in your debt? What other families are you going to?"

Sirius shrugged at that, the other families' names would be known at some point. If not sooner, then when the event at Ollivanders happens, "I won't lie to you, we have extended the offer to the Weasley Family for their last child. The same offer we are making to you. Aside from them, the only family with a child who is the age for Hogwarts is the Oakes family. I don't know if you've heard of them, but they grow wand quality trees in Scotland. The Weasleys haven't confirmed with us yet, but the Oakes have already agreed."

It was obvious that the man was thinking, but his guests couldn't be sure if he was going to accept the offer or not by looking at him. In truth, he wasn't thinking about the offer, directly, anymore; he was thinking about the length of wood he had discreetly palmed before they entered the sitting room. A length of oak wood, Oakes Oak. Goyle still remembered how glad he was that his wand was made from the same type of wood as his father's; so excited that Ollivander had seen fit to inform him that it was the same tree, and where it came from. It was actually a little disappointing when his own son hadn't followed suit, instead having a willow wand.

"Do you think my Gina can do it?" He finally asked, "What if she's not smart enough? I'm not that smart; and her mother didn't get any Hogwarts, either."

"She will have help from Harry Potter and his study group." Ms. Acacia answered, causing the man to frown in annoyance.

"A study group that includes Lord Greengrass' oldest, as well as Lord Davis' child." Sirius interjected before leaning forward, "And, more recently, Draco Malfoy has been interacting with them some as well."

"And what kind of things are you going to make her learn?" Lord Goyle inquired, "I don't want you making her some muggle-lover."

"While some of those courses will be on muggle society," Andromeda answered his question while also trying to touch on the unspoken ones, "it will be focussing on how to function when among them. Things like how their money or public transit works. We also plan to use a muggle course in mathematics and basic sciences; but only because that groundwork helped Harry and his other muggleborn friends do better in Potions and Charms."

"Why does she need to know how to be a muggle?"

"I can probably answer that satisfactorily.," Ms. Acacia asserted with a glance to her two partners. Neither of them were present when she and Remus spoke with Mr. Oakes, but this would be even easier since the Goyles had a house elf to prove her correct immediately. One undoubtedly ordered not to waste money and only buy cheaper goods and groceries, "Assuming, Lord Goyle, that you call your elf and allow me to ask him a simple question."

When the elf, named 'Gonny,' arrived, Peony Acacia asked a question that had him quivering in terror as he tried not to meet his master's gaze, "Gonny, where do you buy the common fruits and vegetables that are served for Lord Goyle's meals?"

"Elf, what's the matter? Answer her!" Goyle growled at the terrified creature when he didn't answer immediately.

"I am sure that is unnecessary, Lord Goyle." Ms. Acacia demurred before looking back at Gonny, "You are not in trouble, I am trying to prove something to your master, that is all." She was pretty sure she succeeded in not wincing when calling the man a 'master'; though the reasons it happened had been explained to her, she doubted she would ever get used to the idea of a literal race of slaves.

"I gets the veggies and fruits from the market, miss." Gonny answered in an uncertain tone, earning a raised eyebrow from the woman that scared him yet again, "Th-th-the muggie market it is."

"Why would you bring muggle food into my house?" Goyle shouted, alarming the two women in the room as it appeared he was about to violently discipline the elf right then and there.

"Master tolds me too!" Gonny shrieked back in fear, "He says, 'Gonny, don't be's wasting moneys on expensive foods' he did!"

"If I may," Ms. Acacia interrupted the exchange, "it came to my husband's attention the last time we were in Diagon Alley that the price of those kinds of goods are a lot higher than in the muggle world. I'm not sure why it is, but it isn't like cabbage from a magical vendor is different from a muggle market."

"It be's the same, misses." Gonny added, "Wizard stores be buying muggie veggies and selling them to wizards. Fruits too! Wizards no ask, just feel better for buying from other wizards. It be's less than half in muggie store. But Gonny good elf, he no let bad wizards cheat master, I swears!"

"Lord Goyle, how much money do you think one of those storekeepers will make doing that?" Peony Acacia asked when Goyle didn't have a response to his servant's outburst, "With magic the food would never spoil, so eventually they would double their money on every restock. Families with no elf, or those who order their elves to shop only at magical grocers, would easily be tricked into paying more because they either don't want to go into the muggle world for the goods or don't know how."

Gregory Goyle Senior didn't have an answer to that, he wasn't that good at math anyways, but he could certainly tell that this was significant. Less than half? What else was cheaper in the muggle world? If he allowed these people to educate his daughter, he might find out.

"I'm sorry for how I reacted when you first arrived." Goyle said after taking some time to process what he had learned, "I misunderstood your interest in my Gina, and let my temper get away from me." He took a breath and continued, "I accept your offer to help my girl. If you three would like to meet her, she's upstairs in her room."

o0-0oo0-0oo0-0oo0-0o

"Sirius, what did he misunderstand about our intentions?" Petunia asked once they were back at Sirius' Cottage on Potter Isle.

"I didn't think about it when I made the original offer by letter like I did," he replied, "but I guess he probably assumed I wanted to pen a marriage contract for Harry and Gina; it's well known that I'm his godfather now, after all. When I showed up without Harry, he might have assumed that I was trying to continue the Black line instead."

"So he thought we were there for what? To pay him off to let you adopt his daughter?" Petunia asked, affronted.

"Not quite." Andromeda explained with a disgusted grimace, "You probably didn't want to know this, but Magical Britain has very… relaxed laws on the concept of a 'marrying age.' It is very rare, but not unheard of, for lords to take wives that are still practically, or literally, children in exchange for elevating the girl's family's status. Unfortunately, the last instance of borderline-child marriage in Magical Britain was Sirius' own mother, who was fourteen when she married the then twenty-five year old Lord Black."

"They never spoke about it much, but it was because of a magical contract whose conditions hadn't been met for a couple centuries that they happened to fulfill." Sirius explained, "My parents were the most bigotted purebloods you could ever meet, but even they weren't happy with that arrangement or the system that allowed it. My father spent a lot of gold making sure there were no more 'future contracts' like that, and made it a Family policy not to contract children that hadn't been born yet."

"That such a thing was required is sickening."

"No argument there." Sirius answered.

AN: There won't be another chapter next week, but the next chapter is actually closer to being done than originally planned. About 3/4 of the way through writing this one I realized I'd accidentally started writing the next one instead. I'm expecting maybe 3-5 more chapters (I've said that before, lol) before closing "Book I." I fully plan on doing Book II and beyond. I even have general outlines for the next couple school years. Current plan for next chapter will have it out in the first half of next month; though I live on the beach so no writing is getting done over the Jul 4th weekend, pandemic or no.