Harry was lying on his bed, he had just read another chapter in the book on etiquette in the wizarding world. Resigned, he put the piece on his face.
exactly in this position his teacher found him when he walked in the door.
"Potter, did the reading kill you?"
The boy didn't even flinch, he took the book off his face and looked over at his professor.
“Who made up all these rules, please? I understand good behavior, but this is a bit of an exaggeration. Don't you think so? "
"Which part do you mean?"
“The one with the kiss on the hand. if a grown man does that to a lady, I can still understand it, but why does a boy have to make a fool of himself? "
Severus sat in a comfortable chair. he had conjured it up days ago, the chairs were permanently uncomfortable. Blacky trotted over to him and let himself be petted.
"Have you also read Who you kiss the hand?"
"Yes, only single witches of marriageable age."
"Not quite, even young magicians are not exempt from the rule."
"Does that mean girls also kiss men's hand?"
“No, girls and women are always the recipients of this homage. I'm talking about other men. "
now Harry was sitting bolt upright on the bed. That made a funny picture because Beast had made himself comfortable on the boy's head.
"In the magical world, same-sex couples are also allowed to marry?"
severus raised an eyebrow, looking as if the boy hadn't finished the chapter yet.
"However, is that a problem for you?"
That would be unusual. Wizards normally had no problem with this by nature. not even if they grew up among muggles.
Harry shook his head, his book having to hold on to him to keep from sliding down.
“Not in the slightest, I think it's great. At least somewhere that's not a problem. they should hear how people in my relatives' settlement complain about homosexuality. Something I will probably never understand. "
"Why is that not surprising me?"
Harry gave him a crooked smile.
"But there is one thing I don't understand, wouldn't everyone have to greet everyone with a kiss on the hand?"
"Merlin no, it's a kind of bridal show, it shows that someone is interested in you."
"Interesting, if someone suddenly kissed me on the hand."
"Do you know he has serious intentions."
Harry nodded.
"Put on something sensible, we'll have visitors."
The boy looked down at himself.
"What's wrong with the clothes?"
"It is completely wrinkled."
"Who do we get visitors from? If it's a reporter, I'll hide in the bathroom. "
Severus snorted.
“Do you really think I would let one of these vultures in here? Mrs. Amelia Bones signed up. It's about their maintenance business. "
Harry immediately jumped up and looked for new things from the closet.
"I'm in the bathroom for a moment."
"Potter."
"Yes?"
"Take the book off your head."
Harry reached up and blushed.
“Oops, come down beast. Water is definitely not good for you. "
Severus watched the boy shake his head, then looked at Hedwig.
"You have a strange confidante."
The owl cocked its head and shoed.
"But he's nicer than I thought." The man hurried to say. He really didn't want to mess with the boy's three protectors.
amelia Bones came half an hour later. And she brought along a whole host of swear words.
“Outrageous rabble. Who do they think they are? You should lock something like that. And best of all throw away the key. "
severus and Harry looked at each other. The Potions Professor spoke.
"Mrs. Bones, good afternoon. Something happened?"
“Hello Professor, please excuse my behavior, but I have just run into some impossible people. some of Mr. Potter's fans are hiding on the floor. They probably wanted to ambush you. "
Harry hung his head, great.
But then he remembered his manners, he shook hands with the lady and bowed slightly. he had at least learned something from the books.
"Good afternoon, Mrs. Bones, nice to meet you."
"Good afternoon, Mr. Potter, the joy is mine. Even if the occasion of our first meeting is anything but nice. "
the boy offered the lady a seat and his professor poured everyone tea.
The ministry clerk got straight to the point.
"Mr. Potter, it won't take us long. Because of your wild magic, we had to come home to your relatives. "
"I'm sorry," the boy mumbled.
The lady snorted.
“It doesn't have to be, you can't do anything for this kind of magic. Besides, just between us. I understand you. Even the minister was about to turn this woman into a snail. I have seldom come across such a vicious individual. And I work in law enforcement.
the ad from Kobold Gripock served us well. It was a personal pleasure for me to take a close look at your relatives.
Professor Sanpe, did you know the Dursleys told all the neighbors that Mrpotter goes to a school for delinquent teenagers? "
Severus almost choked on his tea.
.just two weeks ago he would have fully supported the thesis that the boy could commit a criminal offense, but since then he had met the child.
"They don't seem to know the boy very well."
“However, the Dursleys warned everyone about their nephew. As a result, the boy had no friends. "
Harry had gotten smaller and smaller, and it was all very uncomfortable for him.
Blacky noticed this and growled softly.
Mrsbones responded immediately.
“Oh, that must be the alleged Grimm that the newspapers write about. You are of course right, we should no longer torment your confidante. "
that surprised Harry, usually adults didn't care how he felt. All right, with the exception of Hagrid and Snape.
He spoke up again.
"So can the bank stop paying?"
“Not only that, after we finished our investigations, we had redress.
Mr. Potter, your relatives have to repay you for every Knut they got. it cannot be that you lock a child in for weeks and only get it to be eaten through a cat flap. "
Blacky jumped up, and Severus couldn't stay seated either.
"I beg your pardon? Potter, when did that happen. "
harry made himself even smaller.
“Last year, after the Dobby thing. I was only allowed to leave the room twice a day to go to the toilet. "
“Professor Snape, we found seven locks on the door and the remains of bars. I can promise you one thing, the director will hear a lot more from me. "
Severus found it hard not to lose his temper. A cat flap! the whole thing sounded so damn familiar, his father kept locking him up too. But at least he had Lily.
With great effort he asked.
"Mr. Potter, why didn't you tell anyone? "
Harry looked big at his teacher.
"I have. The first thing Ron told Mrs. Weasley about the bars back then. "
Now Mrs. Bones was curious too.
"What did Molly say?"
Harry blushed.
"She said Ron should be careful not to put bars on his window as well."
Resigned, Severus fell back on his chair. With such behavior, it was no wonder that the boy didn't trust adults. therefore he always tried to sort everything out by himself.
Amelia was also anything but enthusiastic.
"And the director?"
Harry shrugged.
"Didn't listen to me."
The lady made a very rude noise.
it really didn't take long. Harry just had to make his statement.
After that Mrs. Bones wished him the best of luck in controlling the magic and left.
two days later, Harry was in the process of lifting some objects with his wild magic when he heard a loud laugh.
Startled, he turned to the sound.
what he saw made him doubt everything he had previously believed to be true.
His teacher laughed out loud. He had the Daily Prophet in front of him and it was obvious that he couldn't get along.
"Professor, are you okay?"
severus just nodded and continued laughing. It wasn't until a minute later that he had himself under control again to be able to speak.
"Can you tell me what's so funny on this scrap sheet?"
Severus grinned at him.
"Lucius divorced his impossible wife."
Harry cocked his head. He knew from his book that divorce was very rare in the magical world. There had to be a serious reason. lack of love didn't count. And if Mr. Malfoy got divorced, his wife had owed herself something.
"Why?"
“On June fifth, Draco turned thirteen. What does this number mean? "
Harry thought for a moment, that was also in the etiquette book.
“Oh yes, he gets the family ring from his guardian. And also valuable gifts and money. "
“Exactly, as a sponsor I should have been there that day. but I couldn't because I had to get ingredients for an important potion. It's a shame, I guess I missed a lot. "
Again the boy cocked his head, just like the dog.
"What went wrong? As far as I know, there are always special spells on these rings. One, for example, ensures that only family members can wear it. The ring would reject anyone else.
Wait a minute! "
Severus nodded with a grin.
“Yes, apparently Draco is not Lucius' son. The ring threw the boy across the room. "
"Oh shit. Um, I mean. "
“It's okay, Narcissa will have thought the same thing too. as it is in the newspaper, she probably cheated on her husband with more than one man. And I've always asked myself why he looks so little like his father. "
"And what does it all mean now?"
"Very easily. narcissa and her son were kicked out of the manor. In addition, Lucius has requested that the boy's real father be found. He then has to repay Lucius the money that he paid for Draco's schooling. "
"Even if he doesn't know about his fatherhood?"
“Yes, after all, he slept with a married woman. He'll have to compensate Lucius for that too. and not just him, I'm sure Lucius will demand redress from anyone Narcissa shared the sheet with. "
"What if these men can't pay it?"
“They will, Narcissa would never have bothered with men who couldn't offer her anything. Presumably it cost the woman some gold. "
Harry shook it, that was disgusting.
Severus watched the boy closely. he liked the way his student reacted. Cheating was a very high rule violation in the magic community. With that one could lose one's entire social position.
"By the way, there's something else in the newspaper."
the boy looked up curiously.
"Yes?"
"You remember Riddle's diary?"
Harry contented himself with a growl and a bitter expression.
“I take this as a yes. You assumed that Lucius read the book in MsWeasley's cauldron? "
"Yes, after all, Mr. Malfoy had to deal with black magic artifacts in a shop before."
"True, but it wasn't Lucius."
The boy's eyes widened.
“Malfoy! I mean Draco? "
Severus nodded.
"And it looks like he didn't have the book from his, alleged, father either."
"Rather?"
"He took it with him in the store."
Harry's eyes got bigger and bigger, but he didn't understand one thing.
"If that's true, why didn't anyone know?"
“Think about it. If your child did something like that, would you give it away? "
The boy didn't have to think about it, he shook his head.
"So did Mr. Malfoy take the blame?"
"Looks like. But he no longer has to. he has meanwhile also named the shopkeeper. "
"But he is admitting that he has sold prohibited items."
“Not forbidden, rather not approved. But that's still better than its cracked reputation. Back then, to protect Draco, he even bribed and threatened the parent representatives. He has now got his post again. Everyone understands their motives. "
Harry thought about the whole thing. So Draco was a cuckoo's egg? hopefully he would finally get off his high horse now.
And now he understood the blond's strange behavior in the Slytherin room. The guy knew perfectly well that Harry wasn't the heir. Bastard.
suddenly something occurred to Harry.
"Oh god, I took Mr. Malfoy from his house-elves."
Severus started laughing again. Harry looked at Blacky, but the dog didn't seem to know what was going on either.
"You have even done Lucius a service."
"As the?"
"Very easily. As you correctly saw earlier, children receive very valuable gifts on their thirteenth birthday. That is, if the parents can afford it. It has always been a tradition in the Malfoy family to give a house-elf. This is schooled by the father for the child according to his wishes. "
"You mean more likely to be used with blows." The boy grumbled.
Severus sighed.
“As I said, this is about the child's wishes. Draco wanted an elf who obeyed his every word and who he could hit as much as he wanted.
Lucius usually behaves very differently to his elves. for example, they even get a salary. And he certainly does not torment her. "
"Then why did he make an exception with Dobby?"
“Because my good friend is very fond of tradition. Sometimes too much, if you ask me. it would never have occurred to him to violate this when Dobby started school. But it was always too much for him. He apologized to Dobby several times. As a result, however, the little one got strong remorse. they have led to Dobby injuring himself for every little offense. "
“I've already noticed that. He even ironed his fingers. "
Severus shook himself.
“Anyway. by freeing Dobby, you made Lucius very happy. He just told Draco he would give him his house elf for his birthday. "
Now Harry was grinning too.
“That's why Mr. Malfoy disappeared so quickly. I thought because he was so angry, he just didn't want to show how happy he is. "
The teacher nodded.
Somehow, Harry was happy to realize that Lucius Malfoy wasn't that bad after all. but with the best will in the world he couldn't say why.
Blacky also let out a relieved breath. For a short time his fur stood on end. The very thought Lucius could have turned so badly into a negative would not have pleased him at all. at least some still seemed to be the same.
That was also true of Narcissa, however. The woman had always had her eyes glued to every man.
Well, now she had got the receipt.
suddenly he realized that he was being watched.
Severus had been keeping an eye on Blacky the whole time. He had noticed it over and over the past few days, but now it was clear.
"Potter, get on with your practice. I'll go into the garden with your monster. "
The boy looked at his teacher in surprise.
"Um, yes good. Thanks."
"Come with Blacky."
With a bad feeling the dog did just that. Hopefully it would go well .