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- 7 - What Procedure?

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Ian dropped by 4 Privet Drive the day after the real Diagon Alley adventure. Harry was running low on money. He was down to his last 500 galleons.



A leasing company independent of Gringotts was handling Privet Drive for him. He had 2 renters so far. He had set up each bedroom as a suite. He asked the management team to find him single muggleborns. He wanted these witches to blend into the muggles as much as possible. Harry had spent a lot of time telling the neighbors that the Dursleys decided to move and he had renters taking over the care and management of the property.



Harry had an additional 1250 galleons from Beverly on the Lonely Heart marriages. He decided Cedric had more than enough money to invest in students with ideal talents and unique abilities. Harry set aside some money for other people to sort and read his mail. He had over 150 to 175 articles of mail everyday. He could not keep up with it and did not want to miss something that might be important. He figured some experts could give him an idea of how personal or impersonal he needed to be with all these people. The second mail related issue was: where did all his past mail go before he received the post box? He needed to hire an investigative group who could track down his old mail. His sorters could find out if there was anything in that massive pile which would give some clues to those investigators.



He would use the remaining stash of money to hire abarrister. He wanted to sever any guardianship rights the Dursleys might have over him. Harry had read through some of those reference books the justice ritual had left behind. The reference books contained some of Vernon Dursley's household ledgers. Vernon was spending more money a month than Vernon made in a year. He wanted his lawyer to find out where Vernon had gotten that money and if Vernon had access to Harry's Gringotts bank account.



If Vernon had starved him, abused and molested him, AND took a cut of his parent's money while calling Harry a FREAK, there could be no way a poisoning could justify that. Ian had not told him whether Petunia's report was true or if the Dursleys were trying to wiggle their way back into staying at Privet Drive rent-free. If the Durselys had spent the last 2 to 3 weeks discovering that their financial life was a lot harder without him, it was not Harry's problem.



Harry believed in forgiveness and retribution. If Petunia discovered a conscience now, then she would have to explain why she had treated Lily so bad after Lily went away to Hogwarts and why she didn't share Lily's magical heritage with her. If Dudley couldn't go to private school because the Dursleys did not save enough, it wasn't Harry's fault either. The Dursleys would have to learn to live on the scraps that they had fed Harry. He would forgive them when they showed they were truly sorry. If they stole from him, he expected to be paid in full for the theft.



Ian repeated the question, he asked Harry when he rung the doorbell.



"Are you ready for this procedure today?" Harry had forgotten Ian was even there. Something was wrong.



"What procedure?"



"Harry, you asked me to come with you to Gringotts. You said they had a shaman to help you with the leech on your magic."



Harry was standing in the entryway with a vacant expression on his face. 'I remember something about a leech when we did the ritual. I have no idea what Ian is talking about much less me giving permission for a procedure. What is going on?'



"I remember waking up from that ritual with a splitting headache. When did I tell you about Gringotts or a procedure."



"Where is your ritual reference book?"



"It's in my trunk."



"We are going to walk to the trunk and get it, alright?"



Harry paused. He looked at Ian. "Is there something going on where you cannot tell me the details?"



"Yes."



"Did I set this up?"



"Yes."



"I can't remember because the magical leech is interfering with me remembering."



"Yes."



"Is the magical leech going to interfere with me getting the ritual reference set or going to Gringotts with you today?"



"Yes."



"Please stun me and revive me when everything is in place. I give you permission."





Harry awakened in a small room. The room itself was well lit. Harry couldn't move an inch. His eyes were the only part of his body that could do anything.



Harry could hear two distinct voices. There was someone chanting in the background in a language Harry didn't understand. That voice was far away. It sounded like they were repeating the same phrase over and over and over.



The second voice was next to his ear. He clearly heard and understood that voice. It was familiar to him. It was the voice that told him all kinds of things. Harry just wondered why he was hearing it today. Harry blacked out.





Ian was standing over him the next time he woke up. Harry wondered what he was doing laying down. Ian was supposed to come get him today. He didn't know what was going on. He looked at Ian.



"Am I alright?"



"Yes, the procedure went much better than we thought it would. You are going to be disoriented for 15 to 30 minutes. Then, I will be able to tell you the details."



"Will I regain my memory?"



"I think you will actually be able to have perfect recall in the next hour."



"Can you tell me about the schools and the students in the meantime? I know I asked you to extend the acceptance letters for about 2000 students. I remember I sent some elves with you to Hogwarts to help out. What came of that whole thing?"



"Well, you will be pleased and dismayed. Filius, Hogwarts, and I were able to find 2000 students willing to go to those schools. We asked them to sign a nondisclosure contract concerning your role in assisting them to these schools. They were willing to provide memories of their classroom time and their practice sessions for the year. Some of these students have already left for schools all across the magical world. The others have been anxious about whether we would be able to get them to their destination, whether they would be able to afford all the materials and/or supplies, and whether we all would be able to spend some time together during their winter break.



They are all grateful that you thought to ask the schools to substitute other people for you.



Each school is taking you up on your offer to become aspokesperson for education in their local area. As you can guess and we have discussed, there is no way you can visit each school or be available individually for each school. Each geographical region is going to hold charitable benefits in your name and ask you to advocate for educational access and greater freedom to choose schools. The part you will not like is the number of weekends you are going to miss because you have to travel for these charitable benefits.



We are able to get them to spread these benefits over the next 7 years of your Hogwarts education. They are going to insure you have access to local magic traditions when you visit their region. They said they would ask local bookstores to let you tour their merchandise while you are there. They all seem very flexible."



"Is there a catch somewhere? This seems to be almost too good to be true."



"It is not your generosity that will cause you problems. It is the fallout at Hogwarts which will give you heartburn. No one there is going to know you were involved in this special offer to /would be/Hogwarts' students. Your entering class at Hogwarts is going to be one of the smallest classes in centuries."



"Why will that be a problem? Won't we get more individualized and personal instruction?"



"Yes. The catch 22 is you will have to become an exceptional student because the teachers will have a chance to focus in on your specifically. The Hogwarts' staff is going to see the work you are doing for the rest of these other schools. They are going to want you to become their billboard for Hogwarts. You don't have a deal with them like you do with the other schools. I have no idea how you are going to talk yourself out of this corner.



"Two things: I have no problem visiting all these magical schools. I went to the local elementary school in Surrey. I didn't have a choice in how the principals or the teachers treated any of us especially when they ignored the way other students treated me. Now I get the opportunity to interact with students all over the world. I get to visit other countries and discover for myself whether other schools might be a better fit for me. For the first 6 years of my education, I was forced to go to Surrey Primary.



As for Hogwarts, I can speak out on their behalf just as I can for every other school. What kind of deal do you think makes sense? I thought the open offer to accept students in my place was generous. What else is going on?"



"You don't have to agree with me, but you should hear something about the British magical government that is not true of the muggle government. All students are not forced or allowed to go to school in magical Britain. All students go to a muggle school regardless of economic status or physical disability. This is not true of most magical countries. As a heir to one of Hogwart's founders, my forebear's most profound wish is that all magical children would be trained to use their magic. I want to fulfill this dream of hers.



You are giving 2000 students a shot at a magical education. It is a generous choice. I ask you to give all magical children the same opportunity. We gave 1600 magical British students the opportunity to go to school. We reached back into the colonial English past to extend the remaining 400 slots to every country the muggle British conquered or subjugated. We want to reach out to these English speaking countries so we can expand the pool of future Hogwart's students. Maybe we bring about the kind of change that the Founders created for Hogwarts.



Even though your class will be the smallest in Hogwarts history, you will see more students at Hogwarts than the last 5 centuries have produced. There will be 8 other schools who are sharing space with Hogwarts this year. You will have the opportunity to see and participate in these 8schools' curriculums. When you get on the Hogwarts Express, be sure to read through the packet of information we will provide for each school. You will be given the option of joining the classes which interest you."



"I will think about it. I am not jumping into the middle of this fight without knowing more about it. Give me some history on education in Britain, muggle and magical. Show me how other countries educate their young, muggle and magical. I will see how these 2000 students fare before Istick my nose into the rest of the world. How many magicals are we talking about?"



"It has been reported there are 20,000 magicals in the U.K. The truth is that there are as many as 100,000 people who have the potential to use their magical talent. Only the 20,000 were trained. The other 80,000 live and die not knowing why the strangest things always happen around them. As far as the rest of the world, most nations are not as organized as Britain is to educate these 1 out of 4 candidates.



Some countries like New Zealand have compulsory programs. They have an enlightened sense of obligation to all their brethren, magical and non magical. Others like those in the islands and parts of Africa, South America and Asia refuse to comply with the Statute of Secrecy. Their muggle population know they practice magic. These just label it differently. Other countries barely have a magic school with 500 miles of their population. They are lucky if one magical is educated.



It is an issue you can raise when you visit different schools."



"I will not promise I will do anything until I meet students from different places. If I see the conditions with my own eyes, Iwill know then if I want to get involved."



"My advice is that you take advantage of these other schools at Hogwarts. This is an opportunity that no other group of Hogwarts students encountered."



First, let me figure out why I had a procedure, what the magical leech did to me, and whether I will be able to start Hogwarts in time. Then, I will concentrate on putting the Potter legacy on firm footing. Later, if there are other people who need my help, I will give what I have available to the test. Ian, I can't save the world when I don't know what is going on with me. What good would I be?