Hermione sniffed at the mention of house-elves but did not say anything. Harry thanked Mrs Weasley as the two of them ate their fill. It was quite delicious.
"Any progress with the werewolves?" asked Harry quietly. "Things have been unusually quiet with them lately. I assume Voldemort has contacted Greyback and he is mobilising an army before launching an attack?"
Remus choked on his food as he spluttered and even Mrs Weasley dropped her pot with a gasp. It crashed on the floor while the teenagers perked up at any news regarding the war.
"How do you know that?" demanded Remus. This was information that the Order had kept classified; how in Merlin's name did Harry know about something which took Remus nearly a month to find out?
Harry quirked an eyebrow as he said, "I observe, Remus, nothing more. I've read the papers and my parents' journals from the last war and I know that Greyback was involved, so it stands to reason that he would ally with Voldemort this time too."
"Harry, look at this," said Dylan, frowning heavily as he read the Magical Daily . "There have been three more Dementor attacks in Nottingham over the past two days. It's like they're specifically targeting that area. It's less than twenty kilometres from the castle! Do you think he's sending Dementors to have you kissed?"
"No," replied Harry, his eyes narrowing as he looked at the newspaper. "Voldemort will not have me kissed by a Dementor. This is either random or someone specifically wants me dead, but it is not Voldemort."
"How do you know that?" asked Remus.
"It's not in Voldemort's nature to attack through proxies for someone who hurt his pride," he said quietly. "Even if we meet again, he'll give me a chance to fight and he would want to do it himself. If he sends Death Eaters, he would do it to capture me, but let me tell you now that not one of them will fire a Killing Curse at me. No, this is the work of someone else."
Remus frowned at Harry, not sure what to say; how could Harry possibly understand Voldemort's mindset?
"Wait, the archives in the Ministry of Magic contain the location of Potter Castle, don't they?" asked Dylan slowly. "What if it is someone who knows that sent the Dementors to kill you?"
"That makes no sense, Dylan. Why would someone who is not Voldemort or his Death Eaters suddenly want to kill me? I'm already high on the list as far as the resident Dark Lord is concerned; no one else would have to lift a finger!"
"I'm not sure, but maybe this is an attempt to lure you away from the protection of the castle," said Dylan quietly. "They know that seizing Potter Castle would be suicide, so they're trying to draw you out by attacking Muggles nearby, hoping that you would save them."
Harry looked at the paper again -
THREE MORE MUGGLES KISSED BY DEMENTORS IN NOTTINGHAM!
'No,' thought Harry. ' Voldemort knows that I hate Muggles as much as he does. He knows that attacking Muggles wouldn't make me come to him. This is not Voldemort's game. Who is responsible for this?'
8
Harry entered the drawing room of the house, looking for the locket as well as that house-elf. Kreacher had not answered his call all day and he was quickly getting annoyed. The Weasleys and Hermione were fighting the doxies using some sort of - spray .
'How Muggle,' thought Harry, frowning at them.
"Why don't you just stun the doxies and vanish them?" asked Dylan curiously.
"That's what I said," muttered Fred.
"Now, now, you are all still not responsible enough to use magic outside school," said Mrs Weasley briskly. "More spraying, less talking!"
"We're seventeen!" said George indignantly, but before his mother could reply, there was a sound from below.
CRASH!
"Mundungus!" screamed Mrs Weasley angrily as he walked downstairs. "I told you repeatedly not to bring your stolen cauldrons in here!"
"Besides, we're not allowed to use magic outside school," said Hermione after a pause. "The Decree for the Reasonable Restriction of Underage Sorcery prohibits an underage witch or wizard from performing magic."
"What?" Dylan exclaimed in shock, turning to face his brother. "But Harry, I've always used magic during the summer!"
"You were in a magical house, Dylan," Harry replied as he examined the tapestry of the Most Ancient and Noble House of Black. "The Trace cannot be detected in magical houses, especially those which are as heavily warded as Potter Castle or Black Manor; there is too much magic in the air. That law was implemented to ensure that there were no breaches of the International Statute of Secrecy. It is meant to keep children in Muggle areas from using magic."
" What ?" shrieked Hermione indignantly. "You all can perform magic during the summer?"
"I never knew that!" said Ron in surprise.
Fred and George were looking anywhere else; they knew of the loophole and had exploited it numerous times. They had used magic to create their joke products during the summers, after all.
"This is another way for the Ministry to keep the Muggle-borns from being welcome in the magical world, isn't it?" said Hermione angrily. "This is another attempt to increase the bias against Muggle-borns! How is it that purebloods can use magic while we can't? I should be able to practice magic and show it to my parents -"
"That is precisely the reason it was enacted," said Harry, turning around to look at her. "I'm sorry to contradict you, Granger, but the Decree for the Reasonable Restriction of Underage Sorcery was recommended by the International Confederation of Wizards in 1823 and then adopted by every magical government in the world. It is not some shady plot by the British Ministry of Magic to keep the Muggle-borns weak. The law exists solely to protect the International Statute of Secrecy. It is done because the I.C.W. felt that children and teenagers under the age of seventeen would not be able to comprehend the magnitude of maintaining secrecy. If someone in your neighbourhood were to find you doing magic, can you imagine the repercussions? Magical governments hand out strict punishments to such offenders and to reduce the punishment against children, this law was enacted. If you were to perform magic in front of Muggles like you say after you turn seventeen, the consequences would be severe. Why do you think Voldemort and his Death Eaters are such a threat?"
"This law is also applicable to purebloods if they live in a Muggle populated neighbourhood. If you go outside this house, the law applies to you, but inside, where no Muggle can see you, it is not, because this is a purely magical household. This has nothing to do with blood as you say; it is done only for the protection of witches and wizards."
Hermione was left spluttering in disbelief while Fred and George began stunning and vanishing the doxies in the room before their mother could come back. Ron was clueless about the whole thing so he was simply looking around. Ginny looked curious as she paid attention to the conversation.
"Harry, your grandparents' names are here," said Dylan, pointing to the family tree. Sure enough, there was a name Dorea which connected to Charlus Potter . A line below them showed James, but there was a burn mark on the tapestry.
"Why has your father's name been blasted away?" asked Dylan curiously.
....
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