"Great, I was really hoping you would agree because I am confused with everything that happened." I get off the bed and stand in front of him. "First off, the prank you guys pulled yesterday, I know you didn't use the gemino curse on the bouncy ball. My uncle owns Weasley's wizard wheezes - the place you got that ball from. The only problem is, that ball was mass produced in 1995, but production stopped later that year. That ball hasn't been sold since then, so why is it you still have one?"
"Uh well that's because of Reggie's family, they were all huge jokesters, collected a whole vault full of those magical prank things - unfortunately Reggie's family is no longer with us, so we decided to put the old gags to use."
"What about the love potion then? There was a tracking system put in place by the ministry to track those things, so that they could be destroyed. There is no possible way you could've gotten that."
"We found it."
"You found it?" I laugh.
"Yeah, we did. Reggie and I were in the owl tower, we found it in one of the nests."
"That's strange." I say, not believing a word he says.
"Yeah it is, we didn't even know what it was, we were going to show Luke, but we got called in before we could. Obviously the bottle was confiscated before he knew about it."
"Alright. I'll see you tomorrow." I start walking out.
"That's it? You're just going to leave us?"
"Well if you told me the truth, then I have nothing else to ask. So again, I'll see you tomorrow."
"Wait, I actually have a question." I turn around to face him. "When we were in McGonagall's office, you said something about a war. What war are you talking about?"
"The second wizarding war? You haven't heard of it?"
"No? Was I supposed to?" He seems genuinely confused, which also confuses me. It seems like everyone at Hogwarts knows about the war, maybe it's just because I'm related to one of the people who was involved in it. I walk back over to the bed and take a seat.
"It happened in the late 90s. Voldemort came back from the dead because he had split his soul into a few horcruxes. Luckily my dad and his two best friends destroyed most of them before the final battle on Hogwarts grounds. So many people died that night, and it was supposedly one of the worst battles that ever happened. But luckily the good guys ended up winning, Voldemort was killed and all the other death eaters either went to Azkaban or went into hiding."
"My mom was killed in that." I hear Reggie mutter.
"Your mother?" I say to him, in pure confusion, it was impossible for his mother to have died in that war, it happened way before he was even born.
"He's just blabbing, don't mind him." Alex says to me.
"Right. Well I need to get going, Julie will probably be wondering where I am, I'll see you tomorrow."
"Bye Dani!" Reggie shouts as I walk out, it makes me smile, but I still can't help but wonder what Reggie meant, he doesn't seem like someone who would just speak about something that important if it wasn't true. Then again, I don't really know them that well, but maybe I should make that my next job.
~~
When I arrived back in the common room, I saw Julie sitting on the couch by the fireplace.
"Hey there, whatcha reading?" I ask as I take a seat next to her.
"Just some herbology book that Professor Longbottom gave to me. Where have you been?"
"Visiting Nick and the other Hufflepuffs." I take the book from her and skim over the page. She quickly snatches it back and gives me a glare.
"That's why you're in their uniform? Are you and Nick doing things behind my back!" She almost shouts at me. My eyes instantly widen.
"Well, it's good to know that your crush on him is still apparent. But no, nick and I weren't doing anything, other then talking and eating chocolate frogs. I just forgot they had a password and well, I got drenched in vinegar, so Nick leant me some clothes. No big deal."
"Okay then, snow dropped off two letters for you by the way, I think one was from your dad." As soon as she finished, I raced to my dorm to open the letters.
When I got upstairs, I saw that the two letters were placed on my bed, I grabbed the top one - which happened to be from my father- and tore it open.
My dearest Danielle,
I'm glad all of your friends got to Hogwarts safe and sound this year. I'm sorry that you had to deal with nick's girlfriend on the first day, I know how much you dislike her, and I can see why you get so angry that she's with nick. I would feel the same.
Your mother and I have been very busy the last few days, it seems like everyone at the ministry is going wild since the school year started, luckily hermione has things under control. Your mother and I have also started planning our move over the next summer, we thing that we've finally found a place that all of us will be happy.
You didn't mention how your brothers are getting on, but I can only assume that they haven't burnt the school down yet, as I haven't been called in to deal with McGonagall.
I was rather curious about the three boys you mentioned, as they seem to be related to previous wizards that I have known through my life, however when I looked them up, there are no records of these boys. I have sent a letter to professor Longbottom, asking him about the boy who shares the same last name, hopefully he will get back to me soon. I have also been contemplating whether I should ask Draco malfoy about the boy, but I'm afraid that he wouldn't reply, and it would just cause more tension. Perhaps you could ask scorpius to ask his father, as he would probably be the best bet at getting a reply.
I've also spoken to your grandmother, and she has agreed to letting you spend the holiday at the burrow, however your brothers will not be allowed to attend, as I'm sure by the end of term, I will have to discipline them anyway. George wrote to me before you left for school and begged me to let you work with him again, so I just had to say yes to him.
When you want to decide on a quidditch position, always go with what feels right, your heart will never steer you wrong.
Love
Dad (Harry Potter)
I smile at his sign off, and have a mini celebration that I can go and stay with grandma during the break.
I then grab the other letter - looking at the writing on the front - my name - it's easy to tell this was from uncle George. But just from the feeling of the letter, I could tell that there were other contents in here - other then paper.
I rip the letter open, and a small vial of amortentia falls into my lap. I hold it up to the light and see the familiar potion bubbling inside of it.
I put the vial down and open the letter.
Dear Dani
That seems like a strange school project, but if it's one that involves my business, well how could I turn the opportunity down.
This particular love potion was invented by Laverne de Montmorency in the late 1800s. Due to its level of difficulty, the potion was only available to those who had the right set of skills.
But of course when Fred and I opened the shop, we made it available to anyone who had the money. We didn't know it at the time, but this potion was something that shouldn't have been sold to anyone. Through the few short years that the original potion was on our shelves, there were more fatalities then I would like to admit.
I had heard stories of people going through extreme lengths, because of the potion. I never believed them until Ron himself, nearly died as an indirect cause of the potion.
In 1999 the ministry of magic wrote a new set of laws - mostly because of the wizarding war of the previous year. In these laws, one specifically said that the use of amortentia was forbidden and that the ministry had some sort of tracing device, so that any known cases of the potion would be destroyed. So we headed all of our products over, and started working on a potion that would be less harmful, but just as appealing. I decided to call it by the same name, because it is a love potion after all.
The current amortentia potion we sell, is only about 1/8 as powerful as the original.
I hope that information helps you with your project.
Lots of love
George Weasley