Harry had been in his room for less than five minutes when there was a knock on his bedroom door. He hadn't even realised he'd closed the door when he came in.
Quickly wiping the tears out of his eyes, he called, "Who is it?"
"Wendell," came the immediate response.
"Come in," he said.
When Wendell came in Harry was quick to speak first. "Wendell, I'm sorry about―"
Wendell was quick to cut him off. "Don't," he firmly said.
When Harry looked up at the man, Wendell didn't appear angry with him. "You have nothing to apologise for, Harry; other than using a swear word in front of the ladies. Even then, I feel it was warranted for the conditions."
That shocked and confused the teen boy.
As Harry was sitting on the side of the bed, Wendell moved over and took the desk chair. Sitting on it, he sighed. "Harry," he said, "Those sort of curses can truly be found on books?"
"They can be found on anything, Wendell," replied Harry. "In the Black Townhouse, which is where Sirius grew up and he found the book that had the curse and counter-curse for what ailed the Longbottoms, they were on a Hell of a lot more than that.
"There were curses on doorways, a grandfather clock that shot metal spikes at you when you walked past, poisoned biting doorknobs, patterns on the carpet that had curses on them, a tallboy that shot its drawers at you to knock you into a wardrobe that was charmed to bash you. But, yes, important family books are very often likely to have charms of some sort that will deter anyone from trying to open them."
He gave a snort and amended that. "That is, it will deter someone from touching them if that person has first cast detection charms on the book or books before trying to open and read them. If they don't, then whatever befalls the person who does is considered their own fault."
Wendell sighed and said, "That's what Monica and I figured. Oh, and just so you know, Monica and I are not upset with you for being firm with Hermione. It took us being firm with her... even more than you were... when she was younger not to go through documents we each might have. It actually required a couple of spankings before she finally learned not to do it any more."
Harry very firmly said, "That is something I will not resort to. Well, for anyone above 'pre-Hogwarts' age, at any rate."
"Good," said Wendell. "I'd have stepped in if you'd tried."
When Harry nodded, Wendell said, "Now; it's time for you to go down and see... your betrothed. Damn, that still feels a little weird to say. You two need to put this behind you before it festers into something more."
"I meant what I said, though," said Harry, rising. "Hermione must break herself of the habit of picking up things, especially books, that she does not have permission to in advance. Especially, just taking them from someone's hand without it being offered."
"Monica will aid you in that," said Wendell, not disagreeing in the slightest. "I've no doubt she's spent the time I've been in here talking to you, talking to her about it."
As the two men, younger and older, made their way downstairs it was to silence. No sound could be heard from the dinette, either.
Once both walked in, Harry stopped just shy of the table and looked to his betrothed as Wendell returned to his seat at the table.
Tentatively and remorsefully, Harry began, "Hermione, I'm―"
Very quickly Hermione was up and out of the chair and into his arms, she was sobbing. "Oh, Harry. I'm sooo sorry!"
_‗_
―==(oIo)==―
ˇ
At Hogwarts, Dumbledore was once again shocked at reading the Daily Prophet.
'Cancelled!' he thought for about the tenth time. 'The bitch cancelled it!'
Keeping a firm hold on his temper, he turned to look at Marchbanks. It was only moments later she noticed he was looking to her.
'Which shows she was keeping a close eye on me and my reactions,' he thought.
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