Mafalda scribbled in her journal angrily. She wanted to write to Harry, but was afraid her letter would hold nothing but bitterness and anger in it, and she didn't really know him well enough to vent about all her families problems. After she finished writing things in the journal that her father would have spanked her for ever saying she pulled a sheet of parchment paper over to her, and picked up a never-out quill.

She smiled hesitantly. Harry had suggested she start learning to use a quill ASAP. He had sent her a never-out quill and had had his friend Tom copy a good book on writing with it and calligraphy in general. He had said ‘it's a right pain, but you may as well get used to it, now.'

She had written back after a few horrifying days of trying to master the quill, asking why she couldn't just bring pens. Harry had written a confused answer - he didn't understand the terminology, he said, but magic always messed up ‘muggle machines' and even some ‘muggle made things'. He had received an explanation of what the magic did to it - but didn't understand it all. Magic reacted badly with electricity and really hated artificial things - and plastic was at the top of the list of ‘artificial'. Even pens not made of plastic would eventual stop working and fall apart. Pencils were okay, at least the ones of wood and lead, but you couldn't use them on school work you turned in.

Mafalda had finally asked her father for help, to his surprise. He only rarely was asked by his very self-sufficient daughter for assistance. He had patiently shown her how to hold the pen and the intricacies of writing with a quill.

Then, today her father had received a letter. The formal letter informed Lawrence the Head of the family was denying him the vault that would have been his ‘as he had left the magical world, it was forfeit' and he could not reclaim it for his children. If he persisted he would be formally disowned from the Prewett family.

There had been a hastily scribbled note stuffed in with the letter from Lawrence's brother, Ernest. He had written that he had wanted to return the vault, but Muriel still had legal control of the finances of the family. She rarely interfered in Ernest running the family business, but in this case she was adamant that Lawrence get nothing. Ernest said he had gone behind Muriel's back and paid Hogwarts Mafalda's first year fees and Martin's second year fees for him.

Lawrence had been furious with his mother, but didn't know quite what to make of Ernest. His older brother had always been good to him and had encouraged him to learn accounting if he really liked it. He had seen that Ernest had wanted to let him work at the family business before their mother had squashed the idea. He wished he didn't need the help with fees. He could come up with the money if he had to, but he would have to cash in long term bonds and take penalties and he really didn't want to do that. Having Ernest do this would be a load off his mind.

Lawrence was also a bit worried about Mafalda's anger - she was taking all of this as more of an offense than he or Martin were. But he and his son were more analytical about their emotions, Mafalda took offense much more easily, and took it very personally. He wished she hadn't seen today's letters, but she would likely have found out, eventually - little remained secret with Mafalda around.

Mafalda sat looking at the parchment in front of her. She decided to just say that the vault had been withheld, but a family member was helping with the fees, instead. Admitting that her father's family cared so little for them simply cut too deeply into her pride.

Then she thanked him for the books Tom had copied for Harry to send to her. He had sent several books on owls and there were quite a few information books intended for muggleborns. Her father didn't like to dwell on his family and he had given them little information on the wizarding world until he was sure they would be attending Hogwarts, and then it was very basic facts on the wizarding world with none of the interesting information in these books.

Mafalda was now interested in the Hogwarts houses - there had been a brief mention of them in the other books and she wanted to know more, so a request to borrow books on the houses was added to the letter.

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Harry brought the request for books on the houses to Tom along with a stack of books. "Which ones should we send her, do you think, Tom?"

Tom mused a bit on the Prewetts he remembered - three brothers, all in Gryffindor. An Ignatius and, oddly enough two others named Fred and George. Perhaps the twins were named for them. Percy had mentioned his middle name was Ignatius. They hadn't really been awful - just typically assuming the Slytherins were up to no good. Though he supposed in his own case they were correct.

None the less, he hadn't appreciated their remarks on his status as an orphan making use of money from the governor's fund. The Prewetts weren't fabulously wealthy, but he doubted any of those brothers had ever wondered where their next meal would come from.

Well, the girl's brother had gone into Ravenclaw, but from the letters Harry received she might be Slytherin material, and he knew Harry liked her. He smiled slowly. He'd enjoyed listening to Severus talk about steering the twins away from Gryffindor - they would have been absolute terrors, there.

"Send the general information books that tell about all the houses, and then include a few really interesting books about Slytherin ... and include some about Rowena Ravenclaw, so as not to be too obvious." Tom said with a bit of a smirk.

Harry grinned back, catching on immediately. He'd like to have Mafalda in Slytherin; he planned on being in Slytherin where he could see his dad on a daily basis. Draco of course insisted the Sorting Hat would yell Slytherin even before touching his head, just as it had for his father. Dudley had grimly said he intended to argue the Hat into the ground and go where he wanted - hopefully with his friends.

Some of the books could be copied - others were spelled against it - a lot of newer ones were, of course. Hedwig left with a few books and two other owls were also sent with books. Harry watched them go with a smile. The nice thing about a penpal was that he could tell her things that puzzled him and she could sometimes see the problem since she was not in the middle of things.

Mafalda had talked him through his jealousy of Tom. He wished he could tell her about the adoption potion, but Severus was right that that would have to keep that very quiet. Severus had said to go ahead and call him dad if he liked, but if people questioned it - to say that was an agreement between the two of them - that was true, and it was no ones business about the adoption.

Harry kind of liked having a secret that was would make ‘The Headmaster' a bit crazy, if he knew. Harry still felt angry about the mess Albus had left him in at the Dursley's, even if it had finally been put right by Severus.

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Lucius brought over a large and very detailed map of Hale and the surrounding area. The areas he had bought were highlighted in a light green and the areas he was negotiating for in a darker green. There were some areas he felt he could get if needed and they were outlined in blue. Petunia smiled a little to see the maps of the old town and the Mersey River and the Dungeon Banks.

She also saw the area with the old factory was one Lucius was still negotiating for. "Are you having difficulty buying the factory? It's been closed since I was a young girl - what are they thinking?"

Lucius laughed. "They're trying to figure out why on earth I could possibly want it, myself. I don't want them to know I've bought up other land around it. If necessary, I'll tell them I'm tearing it down. I'd rather not, though."

Petunia looked at the map doubtfully. "I'm sure that you have all the land you need, already, even if you don't get the ones you're negotiating for. But I do understand you don't want that eyesore of an abandoned factory right there."

"If I can get some of the surrounding property I can plant some trees, or orchard parks. It can have some subtle warding to keep muggles away and add to the security - as well as the ambiance." Lucius had not brought up the idea with her until he knew he had the minimal property needed to go ahead with his plan.

They discussed some ideas of how much land to put around each wizarding house. Lucius insisted on at least five acres for each. Petunia thought that to be a scandalous amount, but Lucius insisted that most would want a garden and lawn - and so a small patch of land wouldn't do. The project would be dead before it began.

"Well, perhaps you'd better get working on that other property." Petunia laughed. Lucius just looked smug. His lawyers and accountants were working hard on that, but as always they were careful to not act too anxious to acquire the property - Lucius hated overpaying when investing.

Lucius turned over a long list of information he needed about the area that only a former resident would know and suggestions for her to consider and asked her to add her own suggestions of what might enhance the area to draw people in. Petunia nodded and resolved to get advice from Andy and Rosemerta about what would make a witch want to move into the gated community - if witches were anything like muggle women, they were often the ones who had the final say in where they were going to live.

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Tom brought a book on Quidditch into the living room where Harry and Dudley were playing a card game after breakfast, while waiting for the accountant to arrive. He had sent for a book on Beater strategy that he thought would interest Dudley. Cho had recommended it to Dudley, saying that looking at other countries methods of strategy could be helpful. He handed it to Dudley with a smile.

Dudley took the book and then looked at Tom in outraged confusion. "It's in Chinese!"

Tom sniffed. "There's just no pleasing you, is there?" He tapped the book with his wand and the characters disappeared, revealing English words. "It has a translation spell built into it that you can activate."

The boys laughed. "Good one, Tom." Dudley snickered. Tom smiled back at them, he was careful with his tricks and jokes on them. He knew Harry was still nervous with pranks because of the past bullying, and though Dudley was generally unconcerned about pranks, he would notice if he was the only one being pranked.

"Ready to hear all about the endless duties that having a bit of money entails, Harry?" Tom asked cheerfully. At Harry's groan and Dudley's snicker, Tom added. "I hear you have to sit in on a little talk about your account as well, Dudley." Dudley abruptly looked dismayed. His mother had said she wanted the accountant to start reviewing things with him, so he would know how to manage a Gringotts account.

Tom left as he heard the floo sound to let the accountant, Roth Stebbins, in. They all moved to the dining room table to have enough room to work.

Tom looked over the ever-lengthening list of people who had had money dumped into Voldemort's vault. Lucius and Severus always reviewed the additions to the list and let him know if it was safe to return money or objects to them. Tom handed Rolf a parchment listing money to be returned to certain people and one object - a shield covered in Heraldic designs and runes belonging to the Davies family that had needed cleansing of dark magic by the Goblins to be rendered safe enough to return.

Tom smiled a bit; they had made some small dents in the vaults contents. One nice size dent had been made last week. A member of the old Order of the Phoenix - one Benjy Fenwick had been a fairly rich wizard who had helped bankroll the Order. Lord Voldemort had heard of it and been offended. He'd kidnapped Benjy's wife and three children and demanded Benjy relinquish his entire fortune. The youngest daughter's small dead body had been sent with the demand.

Benjy had complied, bringing a wizardspaced chest with all 600,000 galleons he possessed inside it. He'd been killed anyway, with only bits and pieces of him left for the Order to find. The wife and two children had been left outside of Hogsmeade alive and well, but now penniless.

The Goblins had returned 200,000 galleons to each of them, saying they'd found a loophole on some contract or other and were able, at last to return the money. The family had been astounded and tearfully thankful. The papers had gotten wind of it, and the Gringotts Goblins reputations took an upswing for the first time in years. No one, thankfully, had asked ‘what loophole?'

The Minister had even commended the Goblins, at Lucius' urging, saying it would encourage them to return other wizards gold and provide an upswing in the economy. Lucius had smugly known that the Goblins would know who had whispered in Cornelius' ear.

This had encouraged a few brave souls to approach the Goblins with tales of similar blackmail by the Dark Lord. There were a lot of deposits of money that had not been simple vault transfers, and no way to know who it had come from. They had only known about the blackmail of Benjy Fenwick because he had been an order member.

Tom had asked the Goblin to question them, using the truth spells they had on certain rooms to check the veracity of the claims and forward the names and amounts to his accountant. He now had the list in front of him. Lucius would have to see the list, of course. It was disheartening to see list after list come before him of lives Lord Voldemort had affected - and never in a good way.

"You are not him, Tom. Remember that, and you intend to make much of this right, again." Yvane said.

Tom looked up from the parchment; the accountant was finishing up explaining the Gringotts vault ledger to Dudley. Harry was looking at ledgers of his vaults and parchments of notes that were updates about his two businesses and his investments. Harry looked a bit bored, and then suddenly perked up.

"Hey - there are some books on the history of the Potter family and some family journals. How did I miss that? Can I send for them?" Harry had been reading a lot of stories about his family from Minerva, and he was anxious to hear more. Roth smiled and said to pen a note and he would give it to the Goblins.

Harry then pulled out several sheets of parchment nervously. "I got a catalog that lists what you can buy from my company that makes magical containers. I know their main product is potions vials, but they do make larger containers as well. I'm hoping they can make these for me as a gift for someone."

At the Rolf's nod he pushed some drawings to him. Nymphadora had shown an unexpected talent in drawing, when Harry had been trying to outline the potions ingredients container he wanted made. There were pictures of several containers in the shape of a dragon; the wings swept back to form the round container itself.

There was a ruby-red container in the shape of a Chinese Fireball. Then a light grass-green Welsh Green. The Hebredian Black was, of course, black. A coppery colored Peruvian Vipertooth, a very pretty blue that was a Swedish Shortsnout, and lastly a mother-of -pearl like Antipodean Opaleye that shifted in color.

Roth looked at the drawings in amazement - they were quite remarkable. "I'm sure they would be delighted to make these for you - of course they will likely want to market them, as well."

"Really? Well, as long as my father gets the first, and best ones. Maybe five of each - in various sizes?" Harry said hesitantly. The others smiled. Harry took every opportunity to use the words dad and father.

"I'll be going to see them tomorrow; I'll give the drawings to them at that time. I take it they are a Christmas gift?" Rolf asked.

Harry nodded eagerly. They had had fun coming up with the design and the pictures and he was sure that Severus would like them.

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The remainder of October passed fairly quietly. They helped ready the garden for winter, learning the spells to protect the plants and applying mulch where needed. Two days before Halloween found Dudley and Petunia heading into Muggle territory to visit Aunt Marge, accompanied by Roger Eastlake - Malfoy lawyer's assistant. Being muggleborn, he wouldn't stand out as badly.

Lucius and Draco also had a less than pleasant task for the day, as Draco described it.

"Pansy Parkinson's mum always has a big ‘Halloween party' for kids a couple days early - to avoid competing with other parties. There'll be tons of adults there, too. Crabbe, Goyle, Nott, Zambini ... a lot of the families are - or were followers of the Dark Lord. Dad wants to feel out who's still loyal to him and who wants out. We don't have much hope for this bunch, but he says he feels he should try. I'm going to talk to the kids. Some of them might not want to ‘follow in their parents footsteps'. It may be doomed to failure, but ... well ... some of them have been good friends, I would hate to see them tied to a lying Dark Lord, as I would have been if Severus hadn't told us the truth." Draco had looked grim but determined to try.

Tom and Harry would have been alone that Saturday, but Nymphadora came over to review some new Arithmancy equations and theories that were new to Tom. Harry sat in the library with them looking through some old first and second year potions books that had been Severus'. From the inscribing on the inside of the cover, they had belonged to his mother, Eileen Prince as well.

Harry intended to be the most brilliant first year Potions student ever, and since he liked making Potions with Severus, he found it easy to study ahead on it. The intricacies of it were fascinating and the numerous notes in the margin told him that new strides in the art were just waiting to be made, if a first year student, as Severus had been, could find better ways of doing things.

And, of course since he had drank the adoption potion last weekend, he was feeling kindly disposed to the art. They had had a celebration and Harry had felt a real part of a family for the first time. He'd drank the potion from a crystal goblet, first toasting Severus with a flourish and saying ‘Thanks, Dad' - making them all laugh.

Tom and Dora finally finished the equations or whatever they were and stood, stretching and groaning. Harry looked up at them. "Could we make a potion before Dora leaves?"

Dora laughed, "Any particular potion, scamp?"

Harry grinned, "I'd say Felix Felicis, but you'd likely say no. Actually I was looking at the fire protection potions."

Tom and Dora thought quickly - it would only take an hour - it was a quick potion and Harry had been very good all morning, staying quietly in the library with them.

"Sure, we'll do that and then have lunch." Tom answered, and led the way to the lab.

With Harry preparing the ingredients and Dora organizing the cauldron and instruments and weighing out the ingredients, they were well ahead of schedule. Tom explained the interactions of the ingredients and why they seemed to block fire. All was going well, and then disaster struck.

Dora was passing large glass bottle of Hellesbreath to Tom - only a few drops were needed, but the bottle slipped from her fingers and fell into the cauldron and shattered, spilling it's entire contents into the potion. Dora screamed and dropped to the floor.

On the other side of the table Tom had just a split second to think the word explosion and threw himself in front of Harry, pushing him behind his back. The cauldron exploded violently. Shards of glass from the bottle and shrapnel from the pewter cauldron lacerated Tom and embedded themselves in his face and chest.

Dora and Harry both screamed in horror. Harry cradled Toms head in his lap, crying. Dora ran frantically to the floo and firecalled the only magical medical person she had every known - Poppy Pomphrey.

Albus Dumbledore answered her hysterical call. Poppy was examining Martins knee one last time and pronouncing him fit with the Weasley horde looking on in concern. They could all hear Dora screaming that a potion explosion had downed Tom ‘and he may be dead'.

Poppy scooped up her emergency kit and she and the Headmaster ran through the floo.

Percy looked at his brothers who tried to comfort him.

"I'm sure he'll be alright..." Fred said hesitantly.

"...Poppy's the best." George offered.

But Charlie had the best suggestion. "We need to tell Snape."

Percy ran like flaming dragons were on his heels all the way to the dungeon. He knew Professor Snape was working on some potion or other today - he'd just dropped off a book to be returned to Tom an hour ago. He made it to the potions lab in record time.

Severus looked up in shock as Percy burst threw the door. Percy never broke protocol that way.

"It's Tom - Dora called ... potions accident and he's badly hurt ... The Headmaster and Madame Pomphrey flooed over..." Percy gasped out.

Severus paled with horror and ran to his office, throwing the floo powder and going though to Dragonsrest.

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