Oh, how furious Richard had been when he realised that. Rage at Malfoy flooded the young wizard's mind. The bastard had gone after someone in Grosvenor's immediate circle, which meant that, to some extent, he had gone after Richard himself. Richard had no intention of turning the other cheek after a slap like that. He began making plans for revenge. His first thought was to eliminate Lucius Malfoy physically. Once he had cooled down somewhat, Richie decided not to do anything rash and instead devise a more sophisticated form of revenge.
Harry and Richie returned to school together—or at least, they travelled together from the house at 69 Grosvenor to the station, accompanied by Tonks, Proudfoot and Scott.
When they reached the barrier leading to Platform Nine and Three-Quarters, Proudfoot immediately placed strengthened Muggle-Repelling Charms over the surrounding area and began examining the passage with spells. With each successive incantation, the furrows on his forehead grew deeper.
Harry looked sadly at the barrier.
"I'd have been better off staying at Hogwarts," he sighed gloomily.
"Oh, come on, Harry," Richard tried to reassure his friend. "At least you got to spend some time with your uncle."
"And with Hector." Harry glanced towards the grim-faced Proudfoot. "He's a decent bloke, but he's an adult. I'd rather have spent Christmas with my friends. You were busy the whole holiday. At least I'd have had some fun with Ron."
"What is it?" Scott Potter asked.
"The passage has been enchanted," Proudfoot replied. "The spell is set to trigger when Harry approaches."
A miserable sigh escaped Harry Potter's chest.
"That maniac again... Bloody Dobby, damn him! How am I supposed to protect myself from him at school?"
"Don't worry, Harry." Richard winked at his friend. "I didn't manage to get your Christmas present ready in time, but I've got it with me now."
"A present?" Harry looked hopefully at Richard, then lowered his voice to a whisper. "Will it help me against Dobby?"
"Definitely!" Richard's fox-like smile never left his lips. "This little thing won't just help against deranged elves—it'll come in handy against pretty much any opponent."
Harry Potter's spirits soared. He was intensely intrigued.
"Richie, what—"
"On the train, Harry."
Proudfoot finally removed the enchantment from the barrier, cancelled the strengthened Muggle-Repelling Charms, and they all passed through onto Platform Nine and Three-Quarters.
Harry could hardly wait to get on the train. He was practically burning with anticipation.
What has Richie come up with? impatient thoughts raced through his mind. What sort of present is it?
At last, the boys were alone in a compartment. When Richard reached into his bag, Harry watched with bated breath. And then out they came—a pair of round spectacles, almost exactly like Potter's own. The arms were slightly different: thicker and straighter, with tiny openings at the ends.
Harry was mildly disappointed.
"Glasses?"
"Glasses," Richard replied with a smirk.
Taking the present in his hands, Harry asked hopefully:
"Are they enchanted?"
"Bull's-eye!"
Richard's answer cheered Harry considerably. He hurriedly swapped his old glasses for the new ones. Potter turned his head this way and that, but noticed no difference. They seemed like perfectly ordinary glasses, almost indistinguishable from his old pair. There was one difference, though—the thicker arms made them slightly less comfortable to wear.
"Er... Richie, I don't notice anything. Do I have to activate them somehow?"
Richard's smile widened further as he reached into his bag again. This time, Harry was presented with a metal wristband bearing a round black sphere where the face of a wristwatch would normally have been.
Potter couldn't tear his eyes away from the wristband. It looked extremely familiar. Suddenly, realisation struck him.
I've seen Hermione wearing exactly the same sort of wristband. And Richie wears one like it too.
"I imagine they'll work rather better with this," Grosvenor remarked, though he made no move to hand over the second present. "But Harry, before you put the control AI on your wrist, I need to explain the safety precautions. Don't try testing the weapon without taking proper precautions first. And don't activate the weapon under ordinary circumstances unless you're actually in danger."
"What weapon?" Harry was beginning to suspect there was rather more to the glasses than met the eye. He nodded towards the wristband and asked, "So that thing lets me control the glasses?"
"Exactly," Richard replied. "And not just the weapon. Those glasses probably seemed perfectly ordinary to you, didn't they?"
"Well, yeah." Potter shrugged.
"That's deliberate. Harry, it's a security measure, so no one else can use the artefact's functions."
"Richie, what do they actually do?" Potter finally burst out.
"Oh, Harry, you're going to like this. First and foremost, they really are prescription glasses—they automatically adjust their optical power to match your eyesight. Secondly, they serve as a display for the AI. There's also a map function and magical radar. I borrowed the idea from the Marauder's Map, and the wizards at Grosvenor's Workshop turned it into reality. The lenses also have powerful protection against Legilimency."
"So I'll be able to see everyone in the school?" Harry asked excitedly.
"Not everyone." Grosvenor shook his head. "There are exceptions. Some concealment spells are powerful enough that the AI's scanner can't penetrate them. Anyone who owns a similar artefact can choose not to appear on the scanner. But a house-elf using their standard house-elf concealment? It'll spot one in no time."
Richie did not tell the delighted Potter about the safeguards built into the artefacts. Richard could take control of them at any time and possessed the highest level of administrative authority. In other words, even if Harry ordered his AI to hide him from every other artefact of the same type, Richie would still be able to locate the device's owner wherever he happened to be. Anywhere on Earth, certainly; anywhere in the Solar System as well. A parallel world was another matter. But within the galaxy of this world, at least in theory, hiding from it was impossible without the use of powerful magic.
It also had functions for eavesdropping, covert surveillance, and transmitting a dump of the AI's memory to the main server. And the icing on the cake was remote administration and a built-in prohibition against activating the weapon if it was aimed at any member of the Grosvenor family—for example, Richard himself, his father, his sisters, or his future children.
(End of Chapter)
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