Harry Potter and the Old Believers

Chapter 21

Wednesday, August 20, 1997

"Don't be so bloody obstinate!"

"Language, Harry!" Remus teased.

"Why won't you take the ruddy money!"

"I'll take my shares back," Sirius said, "and we'll start paying Remus his dividends. We just don't want the money those shares put in your account over the years. Get used to it! Find something worthwhile to spend it on!"

Harry gave them an evil grin -- nastier than any Potter had ever had. This was worse -- it was Lily's smile. "Oh, I've already spent money on something worthwhile!" Harry walked out of Remus' sitting room.

"I'm worried," Sirius said.

"Really?" Remus responded, "I think we should be terrified."

Warlocks' Weekly Record, August 30, 1997
10 Questions With Harry Potter

Considering the events of August 2, there were a number of possible candidates to interview this month. Fortunately, our first choice, and the newest member of our Brotherhood, Harry Potter, agreed.

1) How does it feel to have defeated the Dark Lord?

HP I didn't, of course. I was a small part of a team effort; the article you printed detailing the battle was totally accurate, so far as I could tell. That is, of course, one reason why the side of Light will always win in the long run; Darkness is only really united in groups by selfish motives. The only times it succeeds are when it perverts good or neutral causes and when the Light is disunited. The Light can unite for the common good.

2) What cause was perverted here?

HP Voldemort's followers believed in Pure Blood over everything; strange, when you remember His father had been a Muggle. I'm proud of my Magical heritage; I think we all should be, no matter if you're an Old Believer who can trace your Magical ancestry dozens or even hundreds of generations or just a few generations -- like most of His followers. But being proud of your ancestry should never turn into Pure Blood ideology. The Muggle-born or raised must have equal rights to a magical education and to rise to where their abilities take them. Being raised in the Muggle world, no matter what your parentage, is enough of a handicap to give any Magical-raised person a real advantage.

3) Is there anything that should be done to lessen that advantage?

HP There may be in some countries, the only places I really know are Hogwarts and Britain. I don't see any systematic changes that need to be made, except perhaps the need to keep a watch out for extreme attitudes against the Muggle-born. And you can't force people to change their attitudes.

4) You have come in for a lot of praise, and some criticism, for giving away the 20,000 galleons you were given as a reward, mostly to charity. Any comments?

HP I'm well-off. If I actually needed the money, I wouldn't have hesitated to keep at least some of it, even if I was just one of the many people who deserved rewards and praise. Since I don't need it, I took the opportunity to send it where it might do some good.

I believe in all three causes (Relief for families destroyed in the latest war; aid to Magical Orphans; Educational aid for Muggle-borns whose parents resist giving them a Magical education). I donated 750 galleons of my own, and will be doing so every 2nd of August. Anyone wishing to donate to any of these causes can send it to: The British Ministry of Magic, Office of Charities, attention Penelope Weasley. If the latter two charities had existed, Voldemort and I would both might have been raised in better environments. His life could have turned out very different; mine would have been better.

5) What are your plans for when you graduate from Hogwarts next June?

HP Probably I'll spend a year playing county Quidditch, unless some League team picks me up as a reserve, and on the national dueling circuit. Then I hope to study get my Master of Charms certificate. After that, we'll see.

6) Why not the international level, considering your recent achievements?

HP Dueling and fighting are similar in some ways, but very different in practice. We'll see if I'm any good at stylized dueling.

7) It's been rumored that you're close to the Old Believers. Any truth in that?

HP To a degree. I don't think I could join the Old Believers in their communities; I'm too much a child of both modern Wizard and Muggle life. I do find the Old Religion more than just interesting. If there is any way in which I might become a bridge between the Old Believer communities and the general Wizarding communities, I'll pursue it.

8) You're a new warlock; any comments on the Brotherhood?

HP Not really; although I do wish there was a comparable group for witches.

9) What are you looking forward to most in the near future?

HP I hope I, and the rest of the Magical world, just have a nice, normal year.

10) Anything else?

HP I hope there's no need for my name to appear in any newspaper or journal after this, except perhaps the sports pages. I also hope everyone remembers that the forces of Darkness are never totally gone. If we keep alert to the possibilities of Darkness, maybe we'll prevent the rise of some other Dark Wizard in the future. There'll always be elements that try to push the limits. Help keep the limits, so we can all work and live together. In our victory, we should remember Cedric Diggory and all the other victims; if we remember how many of them were taken by surprise, maybe any future Dark Wizards will be stopped earlier in their careers.

Saturday, September 6, 1997

"Just hold onto the portkey, Hermione!"

"We're NOT supposed to leave the grounds! I'm the Head Girl, I can't just. . . ."

Harry rolled his eyes. "For the fourth and last time, I'm bringing a professor and a future professor with us and Professor Dumbledore gave me permission. Now, GRAB ONTO THE PORTKEY OR I'LL BODY BIND YOU AND DRAG YOU THERE!"

Harry rarely yelled at anyone, let alone in that tone, and so Hermione quickly took hold of the old riding broom. Harry, Ginny, Ron, and Neville already were holding it. Fred, George, Remus, and Sirius, on the other hand, were daintily holding onto an old smelly sock.

Harry sent the mischievous quartet a smile, and they all vanished.

They reappeared in an abandoned church.

"Where are we?" Hermione asked before anyone else could.

"This was Saint Brendon's Church, in Merthorp in . . . actually, I forget if there's a new county name. The old, and final Magical, county name was Westmoreland." Harry led them out of the empty church, and onto a high street.

There had clearly been some disaster here. A series of houses and a few small shops lined either side of the street, but most were empty stone shells. A few places had obviously held wooden buildings, and had burned to the ground. There was also an apparent effort to demolish some of the shells as well. A few of the houses, however, with slate roofs, were intact.

"The village burned just over five years ago, no one knows exactly why -- I remembered it from the Muggle television reports. More than half of the village was already abandoned when it happened. There had been some sort of mine and mining village about two miles to the southeast; this old village had become where the managers lived. The mine played out just before the end of the last century and that village, Coblynton, was abandoned after the First World War. The remaining residents here, all fairly elderly, had been at a village church fair about five miles north when the fire came through. They had little choice but to leave for the most part. Two residents stayed on; the last died last spring."

"The rail line to the mine that also ran through here was closed in the early Twenties, and the station here was closed in the late Fifties. There's no major road near by, just a few villages, all at least five miles away. This High Street follows a minor lay line, and an even more obscure one runs through the village and through the mining village, following the old railroad for most of the way. Fortunately, the only right of way is the High Street, so no hikers should be trying to stray through from other directions. The entire area, from about three miles north, four miles on the sides, and some ten miles south, including the mining area, was for sale."

"And you BOUGHT it?" Hermione demanded.

"Yes."

"Why?" Sirius asked. Hermione, Remus, and Ginny rolled their eyes at him. "What?" he demanded.

"As you can see, I'm having most of the shells leveled," Harry went on. "There are nine good houses, two very large, five pretty good sized, and two that are still three bedrooms each. There's also the church and the largest shop over across the street, plus a number of intact out-buildings -- there really isn't another street."

"And what are you going to be doing with all this?" Sirius demanded.

"After I leave Hogwarts, I'm going to try to play Quidditch and duel for a year," Harry reminded them. "After that, Ginny and I will be spending two years in Weston, studying. What I'll be doing then, I don't know. I do know that this is in easy apparation distance of Hogwarts -- I mean Hogsmeade," he corrected himself before Hermione could, "and not out of the question for London, although it would be easier to portkey there. I'm not putting any pressure on anybody, but I'd like you to consider the following."

He took a deep breath. "Remus and Sirius, there are those two houses there. I thought you might be interested in having those two houses. The shell between will be gone, and you can have a pair of nice summer houses for when you're not at Hogwarts." Pwy had announced he was going to retire ". . . for at least a few decades," and Sirius would take his place the following year. Both men were pursuing serious relationships, and none of them had real homes.

"Fred and George, you've said you wanted to spend more time developing new gags and staying wholesale instead of running a retail business. Well, how do those two houses down the street look? With that big shop serving as your lab? Assuming your fiancees agree, of course."

The two men grinned. Their business was going well, and they were saving up to buy homes before setting a final date for their weddings. They'd bring Angelina and Alicia here tomorrow, and see if they'd be as thrilled as they thought they might be.

"Neville, you told me what you wanted most was. . . ."

"To be a farmer, both regular crops and working up magical plants into a wholesale business."

Harry nodded. "Well, there's a lot of old farmland and orchards that need work, if you want to lease it, plus that remaining house for yourself and those two smaller ones for any farm workers you might want to hire. There are a couple of barns and a few other outbuildings laying about you might find useful."

Neville was the most stunned of all. "How . . . how . . . much. . . ?"

"If you'll sell us all food at cost, how about a knut a year, plus the taxes?"

Neville smiled. He had some capital, but would need to invest that in equipment. He hoped Eloise was still interested in joining him.

Harry walked over to Ron, whispered something in his ear, and handed Ron a small box. Ron jumped, turned white, and squeaked.

"Now," Harry ordered, "or I'll do it for you."

Ron swallowed, turned to Hermione, and knelt on one knee. He opened his mouth, but couldn't make a sound. He opened his mouth to try again, and before Ron could say anything, Hermione swept him into a hug, and cried, "YES!"

"And that takes care of the eighth house," Harry said. "You'll notice, there's a separate apartment that must have been for the butler and housekeeper that would be great for your mum, Hermione. Why don't you all look at your prospective houses, and let me know how you feel. I should add first of all that this whole area has been declared magical, and various anti-Muggle charms will be put up once the workers are done." They all knew that this wouldn't work against determined Muggles, but it would deflect some 95% to 99% of them at first and the charms and wards would grow stronger over time. "And second, I'm turning the old mining town over to a small of colony of free and freed elves. They are also interested in providing domestic service for wages. Work out the details with Hermione and Dobby." Harry handed out the keys and then took Ginny's hand, tucked it through his arm, and they strolled to the main manor house.

"I never thought I might live in a house this big," Ginny told Harry a quarter hour later. "Just how many children are you planning on us having?"

"I hope we have at least one; beyond that, as many as you want, as long as it doesn't damage your mental or physical health."

"So I can have a dozen or so?" she teased.

Harry shuddered, but said, "As many as you want, but I think a dozen would crowd my study and your studio, even in a house this size."

Ginny laughed. "It is a perfect room for a studio, isn't it? I love it, Harry. Even if nobody else moves in, we are. I know you can't officially ask for nearly twenty-two months or mum would have a fit -- she's going to be angry enough that Ron asked so early -- but I think we'll decorate together."

"Dobby and his mate would like permission to take over the woodshed. We can use the carriage house for any wand-turning and for any auto we might buy, if that's okay?"

"Fine by me."

Warlocks' Weekly Record, September 20, 1997
OLD BELIEVERS NAME THEIR PRICE

The Old Believers announced this morning their price for aiding in the destruction of the Dark Lord and his forces since January, 1996.

The first demand claims that there are still three unplotable Old Believer religious sites (one in Wales, one in Scotland, and one near the Franco-German-Swiss border; the precise locations were not revealed) which have apparently never been discovered. The Old Believers are to retake possession of them, and ask that free access to them should be granted to the Old Believers, through their Council's regulation.

The second is for licenced proselytizers (that is, licensed by the Old Believers) to be allowed to preach the Old Religion in at least Britain, Ireland, France, Spain, Portugal, Switzerland, Germany, Austria, Luxemburg, and Belgium. All national ministries are to acknowledge that only the Council and the Tuatha have the right to acknowledge acceptable congregations, and to regulate them. National Ministries will still be enforcing all National and International laws and regulations on all their magical citizens.

For the third, the Old Believers have submitted a plan to increase the power of the International for the coordination of law enforcement against Dark activities.

The Old Believers have asked for at least initial responses by October 31.

Warlocks' Weekly Record, November 1, 1997

Here is a summery of the responses to the Old Believer requests, as of press time.

The British, French, German, and Swiss Ministries have agreed to the first request (on sites). The British, Irish, Swiss, German, Austrian, and new combined Benelux Ministries have agreed to the second (on religious activities). The French, Spanish, and Portugese Ministries, along with 150 of the remaining 203 national and international authorities, have agreed that only the Old Believer (Druidic) Council and the Tuatha have the right to acknowledge acceptable congregations, and to regulate them. Nine of the others had already recognized that right.

A Conference has been scheduled to start next May 1 in Geneva, with all 213 national and international authorities agreeing to attend, to work out an agreement on greater law enforcement against Dark magic.