Lily's Journal - Chapter 23

AN: Hey guys.

I messed up. At least this time it didn’t take too long for me to post something, even if I did miss the deadline.

I apologize to you all again, but I’m having a really difficult time getting back to my existing fics.

I have a lot of ideas for new stuff. I have ideas for two different ASOIAF fics, one set before, and during the first blackfyre rebellion, and another starting just before the canon start of GOT, with an OC son of Oberyn.

I also have ideas for two different Worm fics, a Witcher fic, a Warcraft fic, and probably a dozen Elder scrolls fics. I really know that lore. Also a few more HP fics and much more, including a few original historical works.

But I’m suffering from some major writer’s block whenever I try to work on my existing fics.

I’m not going to be abandoning anything.

But I’m probably going to be posting a new fic in the next few days. Provisionally entitled:

Hogwarts University of Witchcraft and Criminality

And fair warning, its going to be smutty.

A fic in which Hogwarts is a university, and Harry, as a teenager, goes to St. Brutus, as the Dursleys wanted. And he decides that, if he’s going to be treated as a criminal, he might as well do it right.

Anyway. I hope you guys enjoy this one.

Chapter 23

Pov – Daphne Greengrass

“-Sales are still going up amongst the muggleborns, especially now considering those new tv channels. On the other hand, they are slowing down amongst the purebloods as they learn where the idea for the mirrors came from.” Madam Longbottom said, as Daphne listened attentively to her.

“That’s surprising. I haven’t seen any hint of sales slowing down here in Hogwarts, many of my Slytherin housemates still ask me about the mirrors.” Daphne responded.

“Well, I recently learned that the young heirs of your generation are far more willing to embrace new ideas, even the ones from the more traditional houses.” Madam Longbottom pointed out, and Daphne could easily understand what she meant about traditional.

The woman was quite good at saying everything that needed to be said while still leaving things ambiguous enough to not cause issues. That was one of the many things she learned to respect about the Longbottom matriarch.

Once again she silently thanked Harry and Hermione for the opportunity they gave her. Her family had been mostly neutral in the war. Her uncle was the only one to join He-who-must-not-be-named, and even then, he was unofficially cast out of the house. But still, Potter had no reason to trust her, but he did.

And Daphne was determined to repay that trust. She spent at least two hours every night talking to madam Longbottom, learning from her so she could better help Potter and Granger in the future.

Even her father had nothing bad to say about it. Augusta Longbottom was a political giant in the wizengamot, and having his heir being tutored by her was an advantage that even her perpetually on the fence father would never turn down.

Daphne learned a lot from madam Longbottom, not only about politics, but even some things about their culture that her own mother never told her. A consequence of the long lives of magicals was that their society was slow to change, Dumbledore graduated Hogwarts in the previous century, and there were still quite a large number of people even older than him in positions of power, like Griselda Marchbanks.

The old guard holding on to power for over a century before dying and passing that power for others already closing in on a hundred years old, or even older than that, ended up in their society barely changing.

But the current century was an unusual one. The war against Grindelwald killed a lot of the older generations, particularly the one that was next in line to the powerful positions, the generation of professors McGonagall and Flitwick. And then the war against He-who-must-not-be-named continued to cull said generation, and then the next oldest one.

It ended up in a situation in which the old guard, the ones that were too old to fight in the wars but still held on to most of the power, would be succeeded mostly by people from Daphne’s own generation, or the one slightly older than Her’s.

So now their society was forced to learn to balance the needs those in power to keep the status quo, and the wants of the young heirs for change. Heirs that weren’t old enough to be used to said status quo, people brimming with energy and a need to change things to the better.

It was an interesting situation, and one that Daphne was learning to take advantage of. Her talks with Madam Longbottom gave her an understanding of how to deal with the old guard that most her age didn’t have, and, thanks to Harry and Hermione, she now had the connections to most of the people that would be the movers and shakers of her generation. Potter and Granger themselves, but also Longbottom, Bones, even the Weasleys.

That’s why Daphne was so thankful for the opportunity that was given to her.

“And how are things going in the wizengamot?” Daphne asked madam Longbottom.

“Quite tense at the moment. The traditional faction is trying heavily to put some limits on the products from Marauders Inc. but, in this, we are benefiting from the Potter fame. No one wants to be the one to limit the sales of Harry Potter’s company, not even the death eaters. That’s the definition of political suicide, especially considering the foundation. And I have to say, that was an inspired idea, miss Greengrass.” Madam Longbottom explained, giving Daphne a kind look at the end, which she responded to with a grateful smile.

The foundation was her major contribution to their projects at the moment. At the start of their partnership, Daphne wanted to be a bit more involved in the development process, inventing new and improved ways to use magic sounded amazing. But, she quite quickly realized that it would take a long time for her to be able to contribute in any meaningful way. She immediately learned that a lot of what they did involved muggle science, and she far behind Harry, Hermione and the muggleborns amongst them. And even the other purebloods where further ahead in their studies than she was.

Daphne knew her strengths. She was the best potion maker in her generation, and one of the smartest witches overall. Spending more time with them made her realize how truly behind she was when compared to Harry, Hermione and Padma. Padma was an analytical genius, a once in a generation mind on par with the likes of Dumbledore and Grindelwald.

Hermione was Padma on growth potions. Everything Padma was good at, Hermione was better. If Padma was a once in a generation talent, Hermione was a once in a millennium. If Padma could be compared to Dumbledore and Grindelwald, Hermione could easily be compared to the likes of Rowena Ravenclaw and the Flamels.

Daphne knew she was good, but she wasn’t at their level. Still, what they both lacked, was the one thing Daphne had more than them, what made her a better potion maker. Imagination.

Being as analytical as they were, both Hermione and Padma lacked the creativity and imagination necessary to truly use their powerful minds. It was an interesting concept that Daphne had learned from a muggle book she read, how most muggles scientists are more productive at the thirtieths, while they are still young enough to not be set in their ways, more willing to take a second look at some more ‘out there’ theories.

Both Padma and Hermione had at many times been described as having the mind of someone older than their age. So it wasn’t a surprise that they weren’t as imaginative as Daphne herself, or Potter.

And that was what also put Harry above Daphne in their generation., what also made him the best duellist amongst them.

Now that he was applying himself academically, Potter was quickly becoming the powerhouse he was supposed to be. He had power in spades, far more than even the most powerful adults, and an imagination that was only surpassed by Lovegood. Combine that what a brilliant but not quite genius mind, and a determination that was unmatched, and Potter suddenly becomes one of the most talented of their generation. Easily able to compete with people smarter than him like Hermione, Padma and Daphne herself.

So, Daphne was quite depressed at the start of their partnership, but then she remembered something. Potter and Granger didn’t approach her because they wanted her help with research. What they wanted was knowledge of politics and pureblood culture.

So, Daphne played to her strengths and came up with the idea of the Lily Potter Foundation.

She knew for a fact that Harry, or Hermione, would probably come up with the same idea in a year or two if she didn’t propose it. They would do it because they were fundamentally good persons. But Daphne did it because she could easily see the political benefits, as she explained to them when she brought up the idea.

Lily Potter was known as the smartest witch of her generation. A charms and potions prodigy, a woman who valued education above all else, and more importantly, a war hero and martyr. A foundation on her name that was solely dedicated to helping those who can’t pay the tuition attend Hogwarts was always going to be well received.

Especially since the foundation didn’t discriminate between purebloods, half-bloods, and muggleborns.

Both Harry and Hermione wanted to make the foundation grants only to muggleborns, but Daphne was able to convince them otherwise. She expected it to be a major point with some of the more conservative members of their society. Not every conservative was a death eater, or sympathizer. Just most of them.

And Daphne was glad to be proven right.

When the news appeared on the daily prophet about the foundation, and how Marauders Inc. would be dedicating 20% of its profits to it, people were ecstatic. The public were singing their praises, and even the more affluent families, the ones with a seat in the wizengamot, were quite flattering about the move.

The impact even surprised her a little, as many of the death eater movement sympathizers were starting to change their tunes. Sure, You-Know-Who, and after he died, his remaining death eaters that stayed free, did promise to help purebloods. A return to the ‘good old days’ when these same idiot purebloods, who blamed the muggleborns for their situation, weren’t in such poverty.

But at the end of it all, they never did anything to truly help the purebloods in need, not then, and not now. In their minds, they were abandoning the people that promised a lot, but never actually did anything for them, for someone who was actually doing something to help them.

Weasley might think of himself poor because his family had to get by with second hand school supplies and many other minor things in the day to day. But they still had the gold to send all seven of their children to the premier school of magic in Britain. The truly poor purebloods didn’t have even that. They had to settle for one of the lesser schools.

In their minds, the foundation was a lifeline. A hope that their children could maybe have the same education as the elite of magical Britain. The same education that some of them had, but due to their families fall of fortune, they couldn’t provide for their children.

In fact, Daphne knew of at least one proper death eater who was distancing himself from the others.

The Bulstrodes barely had the gold to send Millicent to Hogwarts, and had been living almost in poverty for the last four years to afford her education. But Millicent was one of the selected to the foundation grant starting next school year, and that caused a major change on her father.

The man has been quite publicly distancing himself from the other ‘imperiused’ death eaters.

Overall, the foundation was even more impactful than she expected it to be.

“And how is our dear Mr. Bulstrode doing these days, Madam Longbottom?” Daphne asked, wanting to know if anything changed in the last few days, but she didn’t expect it to. Millicent was behaving better every day, probably on orders from her parents to not annoy Harry and risk losing the grant.

“I was surprised to see him not only support our werewolf bill, but actually contact Amelia about it and ask how he could help.” Madam Longbottom responded, and Daphne could see the genuine surprise in her tone. “That is a good lesson you should always keep in mind, miss Greengrass. Ideology is all well and good, but when things get rough, people will always follow whatever is better for their coin purse.” The old lady gave her a piece of advice, and Daphne nodded her head in thanks.

She already knew that, but it was always good remembering, especially when dealing with the more aristocratic members of their society. Being bankrupt for a Bulstrode is nothing like being bankrupt as a regular witch or wizard. Even at their worst financial situation, the old families still had way more gold than any regular person. But at the end of the day, they still acted the same as everyone else in a similar situation.

“I was also approached by your father earlier today.” Madam Longbottom started, making Daphne pay attention to her again. Nothing coming from her father could be good.

“He thanked me for the tutoring I’m providing you with, and he subtly implied he would be willing to sign a contract.” Madam Longbottom said, and the emphasis on the word contract, told Daphne everything she needed to know.

Her father was up to his usual behaviour again, trying to pawn her off to anyone willing to pay him some gold. He stopped doing it for a time when she got involved with Harry, probably trying to find out if it was beneficial or not for him. And now that he saw that Harry’s political power, even as a student, was far greater than the pureblood faction, he was back to his old ways.

Daphne could even understand him. He was just trying to do right by her in his own way, securing her future and her place amongst the upcoming major political alliance of her generation. And since everyone with eyes could see that it was only a mater of time before Potter and Granger married, her father was trying to give her the second-best marriage in that alliance.

But no matter how much she could understand him, she couldn’t help but be afraid of getting pawned off to some old man like Deadalus Diggle, just because he was loosely connected to Potter’s alliance through Professor McGonagall, and Dumbledore.

Or gods forbid, Sirius Black. She shuddered just at the thought.

“It took longer than I expected for him to try something again.” Daphne said simply, and earned a slight smile from Madam Longbottom.

“Are you sure you don’t want to give my Neville a chance, miss Greengrass? He isn’t much to look at now, but I’m sure you could train him up.” Madam Longbottom asked, and Daphne gave her a little smile.

It was the second time the old lady tried to get Daphne interested in Neville, but Daphne just couldn’t see it happening, even before Granger told the girls she was willing to share Potter. After that, there was no way in hell Daphne would ever go for Longbottom.

Sure, he was getting quite handsome, and he has really been coming into his own as he gets a bit more confidence due to his work with Lovegood and the others. But even with all those changes, sharing Harry was still more appealing to Daphne than having Neville all to herself.

Despite his newfound confidence, Longbottom was still a bit too passive for her. Harry might also seem just as passive as Neville, but he had a fire in him that, whenever he let it out to play, was always quite attractive to her. A hint of danger, the glint in his emerald eyes that showed how he could exert his frankly absurd amount of power whenever he wanted.

He also showed a surprisingly cunning mind on occasion. And his ambition was clear to whoever paid attention to his plans for the business.

Potter could’ve done really well in Slytherin.

“I’m sorry to disappoint you, madam Longbottom, but my answer is still no.” Daphne said. “Although you shouldn’t say Neville isn’t much to look at now, because I assure you, he is. I still can’t see us together.” She completed, defending Neville a little.

She could see that Neville also had things hard in his family, but unlike Daphne’s, his problems came from a grandmother that was never proud of anything he did, instead of a father that was trying to sell him to the highest bidder.

“Although, if you’re looking for someone that would be a good partner for Neville, might I suggest Hannah Abbott.” Daphne added, thinking that Tracy would be proud of her matchmaking skills.

Everyone could see that those two liked each other. Sure, Neville might occasionally look at Ginny Weasley, Luna Lovegood, or even Granger, but his eyes would always return to Abbott. And Hannah was the only one of the girls to outright refuse Granger when she told them about being willing to share Potter. Even Megan Jones didn’t outright refuse a chance with Potter, and everyone could see that girl and Ron Weasley, were dancing around each other almost as much Potter and Granger did. That was enough to tell them that Hannah was waiting for Neville to make a move.

“Really?” Madam Longbottom said, raising her eyebrow a little. “Please, tell me everything.”

Daphne shook her head a little, as she was once again reminded that old women gossip even more than girls her age, and then started telling everything she knew to Neville’s grandmother.

Longbottom would probably thank her… Maybe.

X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X

Harry shook his head as he watched most of the girls in the school swoon whenever Viktor Krum looked even remotely in their direction. Lavender was almost hyperventilating, thankfully, she was one of the few in the Gryffindor table, and the only one amongst the girls closest to him.

Sure, Angelina was giving Krum a pretty intense look, but Harry could see it was mostly a quidditch thing. Angie was getting that manic look on her face that she always did whenever she started talking about the aborted quidditch season.

She really hated the fact that one of her two years as a captain would be lost.

Harry caught Fleur giving him a smile from where she stood with the other beauxbatons students, and he smiled back.

He stopped paying attention to whatever Dumbledore was saying and turned to look at Hermione, who was giving him the look. The one Harry had quickly realized it meant that she was thinking about him with other girls.

Harry had recently realized that his girlfriend was a lot kinkier than him, and he was starting to worry about not being able to keep up with her.

“Now I’m really mad about the lack of quidditch this year. We could’ve played against Krum! Imagine flying against a professional player.” Harry caught the tail end of Angelina’s rant about the lack of quidditch, and turned towards her with a frown.

“You say that because you aren’t the one that would have to mark him, Angie.” Harry said without any humour in his tone, earning a sheepish smile from his captain.

Harry knew he was good, and he was proud of his skills as a seeker. But he definitely didn’t want to play against the best seeker in the world.

“I’m sure you would do fine, Harry. Remember how Gwenog said you’re the best flyer she’s ever seen.” Susan said from her seat in the Hufflepuff table, and Harry gave her a smile in thanks.

They choose to seat close enough to talk, but it was still a bit difficult to talk with Suzy, Hannah and Megan.

They tried to do what they usually did, and seat together at the same table, but professor McGonagall told them they couldn’t do it today. Apparently, the rules of the school allowed them to seat whenever they wanted most of the time, but the leaving feast, the welcoming feast, and whenever they received foreign guests, they had to stay in their own house tables.

This ended up with Harry seating together with all his years mates, his teammates and Ginny and some of her friends from the year bellow his. While their friends in Hufflepuff seat right behind them, close enough to hear most of the conversation.

Their friends from Ravenclaw and Slytherin were unfortunately left out this night.

“I’m sure Harry would be fine, but it would be a bit difficult to play without a keeper.” Fred pointed out.

“Ron’s been training really hard during the summer. I’m sure he could’ve got a place in the team if we did try-outs.” Harry helped his friend, earning a smile from Ron.

Harry unfortunately couldn’t train much with Ron during the summer, but he heard his best mate spent a lot of his time training with Megan, and sometimes her sister. Ron probably got a lot better with the tips from a professional player like Gwen, as well as the extra training with a talented chaser like Megan.

“Ron’s really good. He just needs a bit more confidence in himself.” Megan pointed out.

“Well, unfortunately we won’t be able to see him play this year.” Alicia said, looking at Ron as if analysing if he would be a good fit with the team.

“Can we please not talk about this bloody game and pay attention to the headmaster.” Hermione said, and Harry looked at her in awe. It wasn’t usual for his girlfriend to curse.

“You just hate quidditch because your boytoy flies like a madman, Hermione.” Katie teased.

“Harry’s not my boytoy!”

“Please. You have our boy-who-shagged wrapped around your finger, Hermione. Everyone knows that.” George says, making Hermione flush bright red.

“We haven’t shagged!” Hermione almost screams.

“Well, you are setting up a harem for him, so you’re definitely sending mixed signals girl.” Angelina continues the teasing.

“To be fair, I’m pretty sure Hermione’s using Harry as bait to draw in the girls for herself.” Parvati points out. “Not that I’m complaining. I would’ve gone gay for Hermione anyway, but getting Harry as a bonus is pretty good.”

“Lucky git.” Harry hears Seamus mutter, which makes him flush almost as much as Hermione.

But he can’t say anything about the teasing, because he quite agrees with George’s earlier comment.

Hermione truly has him wrapped around her finger, and he’s not afraid to admit it.

“Let’s just eat.” Hermione says, as soon as Dumbledore finishes his speech and the food appears on the table.

Harry can see the students from the other schools moving to the tables. Ron tried to get Krum to join their table, but Durmstrang as a whole moved towards the Slytherins. Harry could see Daphne and Tracy giving them a smug look from their table, and he smiled a little at his friends.

Beauxbatons was a different story. All but one of the students moved straight towards the Ravenclaw table. Fleur was walking straight towards them, smiling that brilliant smile of hers.

A few months ago, Harry would’ve felt guilty admiring Fleur’s beauty, but one look at Hermione told him he wasn’t the only one admiring the French girl’s looks.

“Room for one more?” Fleur asks

“For you Fleur, always.” Harry responds.

He gets up and pretends to pull a chair for Fleur, which is useless since the tables at the great hall are picnic tables, but it made Fleur laugh, so Harry took it as a win.

“Zank you, ‘Arry.” Fleur says in a soft seductive voice, and Harry could almost feel the physical impact of her alure.

He looked at Hermione and saw his girlfriend looking at Fleur with eyes glassed out, and she wasn’t the only girl in the table doing so. Not to mention the blokes. Ron was almost drooling, and Seamus wasn’t doing any better.

“Smooth, Harry.” Angelina said. She was one of the girls that weren’t affected by Fleur, which probably pointed to the fact that she didn’t like girls.

“Of course, ‘Arry is a gentleman.” Fleur said simply, giving him a smile. “Have we met?” She asked Angelina.

Harry takes it upon himself to make the introductions, during which Hermione finally comes out of her trance and gives him a smile while mouthing ‘good job’. Apparently even in a trance, his girl’s brilliant mind continues to work.

Harry was a little scared to try flirting with other girls. Hermione has always been the one to try things first with the other girls, and he always worried if she would be jealous seeing him making the first move, but apparently she liked it.

“And ‘ow have you been, ‘Ermione?” Fleur asks once the introductions are done.

“Amazing, Fleur. I have been busy a lot of the time, but I couldn’t be happier than I am right now.” Hermione responded, probably thinking Fleur was asking about their work since they met during the ball held to introduce their company to high society. But, judging by Fleur’s smile, that wasn’t what she wanted to know.

“So, you finally told ‘Arry you like girls as well?” Harry was proven right when Fleur asked.

“Yes, she did, and there’s already a list of girls she wants to share with Harry. I’m still waiting for my turn.” Parvati said before Hermione could respond.

“Can we not talk about this today?” Hermione begged, her face bright red.

“Am I in consideration ‘Ermione?” Fleur asked, the teasing clear in her tone. “I ‘ould love to join ‘Arry and you in bed.”

Suddenly Hermione wasn’t the only one blushing. Harry knew Fleur was just teasing, but he couldn’t help but imagine the beautiful French girl kissing his Hermione. And he had to admit, he liked it very much.

It was something he was enjoying seeing more and more.

This whole thing with other girls started because Hermione wanted it. Harry was more than Happy to keep their relationship traditional. But he knew Hermione better than he knew himself, so he easily saw how much she truly wanted to bring other girls into their relationship when she first broached the idea.

And, as usual, Harry went along with it. It was already difficult enough denying Hermione when she truly wanted something; but now that she was his girlfriend, it was impossible.

So, at first, Harry imagined that he would be quite jealous, seeing Hermione kissing someone else. But his fears didn’t come to pass. He enjoyed seeing Hermione kissing Luna, and he even enjoyed hearing about her date with Daphne yesterday, even if he wasn’t there.

“Again, can we please not talk about it?” Hermione asked again, her face almost completely red.

“We better stop, before Hermione explodes.” Angelina pointed out in a teasing tone.

“I suppose we could give ‘er a rest.” Fleur said, nodding her head towards Angelina with a smile. “Is your work progressing well?” She asked, looking at Harry this time.

“We have a few new products in the works. Penelope showed professor Flitwick some of her work, and he was so impressed he wanted to help out a little. Her apprenticeship is mostly her and the professor working on their own project at the moment. And she even got the professor to help with the major project she’s working with Hermione.” Harry explained to Fleur, always happy to talk about his friends and their amazing work.

Penelope had an interesting idea about replicating a vanishing cabinet, and then connecting it to the mirrors. The idea was to have a network of cabinets instead of a bonded pair like usual. If they could somehow create said network, they could put a cabinet at a store, and then make a catalogue of stores in the mirrors.

The clients could then use their own mirrors to order something from a store, which would them appear at a special mirror at said store, so the store could then send the product through the cabinet network.

A person could shop for day-to-day items from the comfort of their own home, and then receive it in a few moments.

Sure, the whole project was betting a lot on future developments. A system like that would need something similar to the apps the scientists were working on for their smartphones, just on the mirrors. And that was nowhere close to happening. Not to mention the cabinet network itself. But if it did work, it would not only be a massive product, it would also boast sales of the mirrors.

“It sounds really interesting, ‘Arry. But I would like to learn about your own work.” Fleur said with a smile, and almost groaned as he realized what he did.

Fleur asked him about his work, and he went and talked about Penny’s.

“Well, I’ve been working on a few different projects at the moment. Most of them are muggle related, but I did improve a lot on my alchemy since the last time we met.” Harry said, drawing interest from Fleur.

His new trick with replicating stellar nucleosynthesis was quite cool. It massively helped with their usual lack of raw materials, even if the magical cost was enough that Harry could only do the transmutation once a week. And he was the only one that could do it, the others didn’t have the raw magical power to pull it off. Even Nym and Susan, who were powerhouses in their own right.

“I also had a lot of help from our arithmancy professor, Professor Vector, with a project of mine about self-assembling buildings.” Harry said, and Fleur looked at him as if he had grown a second head.

“Self-assembling buildings?” Fleur asked, completely bewildered.

“It works with the traditional duplication alchemic potion. I use it to duplicate a base material, and then use a few charms of my own making to animate the whole thing and put it into the shape I want.” Harry explained.

“That’s amazing. But wouldn’t the duplication disappear pretty quickly?” Alicia asked from a few seats away before Fleur could do it.

“It would, and that’s where the next phase of research comes in. I’ve been working to develop a neutral medium, something that can be transfigured permanently into something else.” Harry answered.

“But what if you used something like concrete? Wouldn't it just be a normal building then?" Katie asked.

“Maybe, but there was an issue with the charms and the potion interacting. The potion somehow makes the charms go crazy and behave like the fiendfyre curse. The iron I was using to test almost got out of my control. Professor Vector was a major help with mitigating the worse of the interaction, but it is still volatile enough for me to not want to work with it the way it is right now.” Harry explained.

“So, you’re saying you almost blew up the school?” Fred asked from his place near Angelina.

“Not exactly. It would be more fair to say that the school was almost eaten.” Harry answered.

“That’s not nearly as reassuring as you think it is Harry.” Hermione muttered.

“I know. Anyway, I’ve been really careful to not work on it right now since it is so volatile, and I’m devoting my time to find a neutral medium in solid state. The only things I found out that can be permanently transfigured are Helium and Hydrogen. And the whole process doesn’t really work with air, it needs something solid, and our solid Hydrogen is still on the testing phase.” Harry finished his explanation.

“I didn’t understand most of what you said, but it is amazing ‘Arry.” Fleur said in an awed tone, earning a bit of laugh from the girls.

Harry gave Fleur a smile, thankful for her compliment. His current two major projects are things he is really invested in, they could both change the world in different ways, and he always enjoys telling people about it. His other project was a fun one, and the reason why the muggle side of the company changed its name. He couldn’t wait to reveal it at Christmas, but for now, he was enjoying the annoyed looks he got whenever he talks about his secret big project.

Harry was particularly proud of his findings about hydrogen and helium. Sure, one needed to understand the atomic and sub-atomic makeup of the elements. But permanent transfiguration was basically the holy grail of the field, and Harry couldn’t wait to tell professor McGonagall of his findings.

If only he could find something solid that could be permanently transfigured, things would be so much better. He knew he was missing something obvious about it, but he just couldn’t wrap his head around it.

“It is funny how primordial elements can be permanently transfigured. It really makes you think about the origin of the universe.” Hermione pointed out, and Harry had to agree with her.

Wait.

“Hermione, you’re a genius!” Harry jumped from his seat, dragging Hermione up with him, and then proceeded to snog her brains out.

“Mr. Potter, Ms Granger, this behaviour is unacceptable. Ten points from Gryffindor, each.” The voice of professor McGonagall distracted them from their snog, as she yelled at them from the professor’s table.

Harry didn’t care, but he still stopped at her words, seating down again, and giving a wide smile to his girlfriend, whose face looked like a ripe strawberry, so red it was.

“Can you tell me what brilliant idea I gave you that was good enough to make us lose points?” Hermione asked him, still trying, and failing, to control her blushing.

Harry shook his head a little, still smiling. No matter how much she changed, deep down Hermione was still that little girl with a major authority worship complex.

“Primordial elements, love.” Harry explained. “I just need to use a primordial element that is solid in room temperature.”

“But I though you said that the metallic hydrogen thing was still in the works, Harry.” Parvati pointed out, a little confused.

But Harry could see that Hermione was quickly getting around to realizing.

“Lithium!” Hermione exclaimed, and Harry gave her a smile again.

“Exactly. Lithium, or more specifically, lithium-7, is also a primordial element. Even if it was only found in trace amounts. It could still work.” Harry explained.

“Is it always like this with them?” Harry heard Fleur ask Angelina.

“Most of the time.” His teammate and captain responded.

“Well, I guess I will ‘ave to learn to live with it.” Fleur said.

AN 2: There we have it guys. We learn a bit more about Daphne, and what she brings to the table.

The schools arrive for the Triwizard tournament, and Harry has an eureka moment while explaining things to Fleur.

I will see you guys in the next one.