Chapter 53: 53 The Next Day

The next day was Sunday and Filch refused to let Harry clean. He said if he was taking the day off, Harry had to as well. Dejected, Harry went back to the Griffindor common room.

“Hi, Harry!” Neville said and Hermione looked up from the book in her hands.

“He's not letting you help, is he?” Hermione asked with a smile.

Harry plopped down in the squishy armchair and sighed. “He's taking the day off.”

“We've got more of that stuff you wanted.” Neville said, a bit excitedly. “Those things Madam Bones told you gave Hermione great ideas!”

Harry perked right up at that. “Let me see!”

Hermione smiled as she dug into her backpack and took out a dozen sheets of parchment. “Now don't go overboard. These are advanced spells and potions that deal with all kinds of monsters. You can't just start waving your wand around and hope they'll work.”

Harry rolled his eyes. “I told you about the wand waving on Monday when I taught you the sticking charm.”

“Well, I'm reminding you.” Hermione said and held out the sheets.

Harry grabbed them and she held on for a moment and didn't let them go... then she laughed and opened her hand. “Thanks a lot for doing this, Hermione.” He said and put the pages in his lap. “I would help you as much as Neville if I wasn't so busy.”

“I'm sure.” Hermione said with a smirk.

“I would.” Harry said and started reading the top sheet. “You know how much I like finding... new... spells.” He stopped talking and looked over at her. “What are Dementors doing guarding Azkaban prison?”

“It's the only way the Ministry could come up with to keep them in check after you-know-who was defeated.”

“By baby me.” Harry said with a smile.

Hermione chuckled. “I still can't get that image out of my head. Gooboo goo! Ha ha!”

Neville sat there and watched them attentively as the handsome boy and the pretty bushy haired girl laughed at some joke they shared. He hadn't had a friend before and he wasn't sure how he should act.

“Hey, Neville! We need a test subject... ah, volunteer.” One of the redheaded twins said as he and his brother came into the common room.

“No.” Harry and Hermione said at the same time, even though they had both started reading intently.

“Come on, it's just some harmless...” The other twin started to say.

“You know, it's only against school rules to cast spells in the hallways between classes.” Harry said and shook his sleeve.

The twins exchanged looks and walked past them and went down the dormitory stairs.

“Thanks, Harry.” Neville said and took out his own wand. It was dull and looked like it had scratches on it. He rolled it around in his fingers, like it was a nervous twitch.

Harry could see him out of the corner of his eye and knew he needed to do something. “I'll be right back. I have to get my things.”

He ran up the stairs to his room and over to his bed. He picked up the mint the house elves left for him and popped it into his mouth. He chewed on it as he opened his trunk and took out his writing things and his wand maintenance kit. He closed the trunk and walked down the stairs to the common room. He put his things down on the table in front of the chairs and then opened the wand maintenance kit.

Neville was immediately interested and sat forward in his chair to watch as Harry took meticulous care of his wand. He didn't need the bump and roughness remover and used it anyway, just so Neville would see that it could be used. He polished that up and wiped it off, then used the actual wood polish, the little sponge, and short circles to buff out the surface. When he was done, Neville almost gasped at the shiny wood.

“Your turn.” Harry said and Neville looked at him like he was offering him a bunch of galleons and was going to refuse. “Your wand needs some care or it's going to dry out and won't work very well.”

“It already does that.” Neville said and then closed his mouth with a snap.

Both Harry and Hermione looked at him with concern, then Harry held out his hand for the wand. Neville hesitated for several moments, then he handed Harry his wand.

“Whoa.” Harry said as he felt the wand shiver slightly. “It's like it's trying to fight me.”

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“It is.” Neville said and they looked at him with surprise. “It does the same thing to me.”

“Why?” Hermione asked.

“It's my dad's and I didn't earn it.” Neville said and clamped his mouth shut and frowned.

Harry and Hermione exchanged looks and nodded. They knew not to press, especially since they got in moods like that themselves. With a bit of inspiration, thanks to his penchant to talk to animals as if they understood him, Harry put the wand near his mouth.

“I'm not trying to use you.” Harry said in a whisper. “I'm just trying to clean you up a bit.”

The wand seemed to settle down and didn't vibrate as much.

“Thanks.” Harry said and opened up the small jar of what the directions said was wood filler. He hadn't needed it before and he carefully read the instructions on how to apply it properly. He filled in the scratches and nicks that were on the wand and scraped off the excess, then waited. Before his very eyes, the different colored filler changed into the color needed and melded into the wand.

Harry used the bump and roughness remover next and slathered it on. He let it sit for a few moments to let it do its work and then wiped it off. The polish was next and Harry did the same motions as he did for his own wand, carefully buffing the polish into every crevasse and detail. He didn't want to miss anything, because he doubted that Neville would want to ever part with it. When he was done, it looked like a brand new wand.

“There you go.” Harry said and handed the wand back.

Neville stared at the thing in his hands like he had never seen it before. The shiny smooth surface and the bright polish made it stand out and he wondered why he had never thought of doing it himself.

“Ollivander practically shoved the wand maintenance kit at me when I bought my wand.” Harry said and put everything away and shrunk the kit to put in his pocket, so he didn't have to take it back up the stairs.

“Thanks, Harry.” Neville said and held it like it was the most precious thing he owned.

“If you take care of your wand, it will take care of you.” Harry repeated the logo on the kit manual's front page.

Neville nodded and stood up. “I think... I have a letter to write and...” He stopped talking and walked away towards the stairs to the dormitory. Harry watched him slowly walk up the stairs and out of sight.

“He'll be okay.” Hermione said and Harry turned to look at her. “The wand might still fight him; but, it's not really his wand, so I guess until he makes it accept him or gets another...”

Harry nodded and touched his wand that he had tucked back up his sleeve.

*

“Damn that insufferable woman.” Albus said the uncharacteristic curse as he read the letter that Amelia Bones had sent him. It wasn't so much asking his permission, she was essentially telling him that starting next week and from now on, Harry would spend his Saturdays outside of the school. He rubbed the bridge of his large nose and tried to think past what this could mean for his plans.

Harry was supposed to be wholly ignorant of the wizarding world and this was not the way to keep him that way. Albus knew that Harry had been working extra hard cleaning the castle all week and he hoped that it reinforced that he would be treated well at school unless he misbehaved. It had worked for centuries on wayward children, as the portraits could attest, and it should work on Harry, too.

It had also kept the boy too busy to research Peter Pettegrew and to find out everything that had gone on during those desperate times. He was glad for that, because if Harry knew it all too soon, then he couldn't feed him the details over time and earn the boy's loyalty after gaining his trust.

Of course, that wasn't quite going very well. It was early days, though. His first week at Hogwarts, overwhelming and awe inspiring as it must have been, was over. Now, he would fall into a routine of coursework and complacency, which was the best situation to give him things to investigate and to pique his interest. An inquisitive mind is what he needed Harry to have.

Albus folded up Amelia's letter and put it aside and looked at the gold one on his desk. He had received it Friday morning, privately, and he didn't want to open it. He knew it was going to be bad, considering it was a joint letter from the Ministry and the International Confederation of Wizards. He had put it off for two days and knew he had to open it now. He would need to send a response on Monday morning, according to the instructions on the outside of the envelope.

He took a deep breath and tapped it with his wand, which was needed for all official correspondence declared important and was directed to the Chief Warlock of the Wizengamut. The letter unfolded and inside were two things. Two very surprising and very damaging items.

The first item was the official release papers for Sirius Black. He stared at them, because he hadn't been consulted by the Minister of Magic about it. He slid it aside and looked at the other item.

The second item was his official suspension from both the ICW and the Wizengamut, effective immediately, pending a review of Sirius Black's unlawful imprisonment ten years ago.

Albus slumped back in his chair with a look of defeat on his face. He had already been scapegoated and the entire debacle had been dropped on his head alone. Well, the Minister of Magic at the time was Millicent Bagnold and she was a Ravenclaw. He knew she would step forward and accept a good portion of the blame for the mistake, which assumed that she admitted it was a mistake. He would know for sure when the inquiry happened.

It's all falling apart. Albus thought as he stared at the two pieces of paper. The greatest wizard of our time, brought low by two pieces of paper. He thought with amused sadness. Perhaps I can visit Sirius and ask him to speak out on my behalf? He asked himself and then laughed. It almost came out as a whine. He probably won't even remember his own name after all this time.

Albus pushed the two papers aside and started writing. He had favors he needed to call in and support to bring to his defense.

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