A lot had happened over the summer. Darius had been extremely busy with his various projects but the end result was an extremely productive summer.

Though the rest of the people had been busy as well!

Midsummer Staff meeting at Hogwarts

Headmaster Dumbledore was presiding over the meeting and the rest of the professors had just filed into the room and arranged themselves on the table.

“Welcome to all the professors for the midsummer meeting. We will be having our regular pre-term discussion as well as meet the new professors.”

Dumbledore was by no means as jovial as he sounded. He had been in a worried state since the hearing a few days ago. Sirius’ behaviour was easily understandable but his incarceration was for the greater good. Of course, he hadn’t known Sirius was innocent for sure but he had had his suspicions; he just decided not to act on them and let the situation play out as it was. It was the young counsel Nova who held his attention. The first point of worry was the utter lack of any trail to follow, despite his formidable number of sources and spies, nobody was able to tell who the man was. It was as if he popped out of nowhere. The man was a skilled orator and had a razor-sharp mind. Nova had been through so much in such a short while and Dumbledore was a bit worried about what that may entail. Not the fall-out per se, he was sure he had enough wiles and political-clout to not be bogged down by that but it was the effect he may have on his plans for Harry. But he would have to think more on that later.

“As you know, Professor Kettleburn is retiring to spend a peaceful life with the remaining limbs he still has and the post of CoMC professor is open. I am glad to announce the post will now be held by our very own Rubeus Hagrid.”

There was a flurry of claps at that and several congratulations were sent Hagrid’s way. Hagrid was understandably overwhelmed and quite happy.

“I would also like to introduce Remus Lupin as our new DADA professor I am sure he is a familiar face to many of the people here and his condition is known to them. But in the interest of full disclosure, the other professors should know, he is a werewolf.”

There were some gasps around the table but it was a rather tame reaction, all things considered. Of course, Snape looked rather unhappy about it but the rest of the professors slowly settled down. Professors McGonagall, Flitwick, Madam Pomfrey, Snape already knew about this and the others were fine with the arrangement after considering all the safety measures taken.

The discussions for the next year got over quickly. Predictably, McGonagall once again brought up the Divination and History of Magic classes, just as she had been doing for the last several years. But Dumbledore shot her requests down, just as he had been doing for the last several years. He couldn’t afford to change the status quo after all. It was him who had kept Binns and Trelawny around.

The reason he couldn’t have a competent History teacher was around was because then the subject would inevitably turn towards recent history and the Dark Lords that plagued them. He wouldn’t allow young, impressionable minds to be taught about the ideologies and wars waged by the likes of Grindelwald and Voldemort. That would only be a temptation. No, it would be far better to just learn about the goblin rebellions and be done with it.

Sybill Trelawny had to be here for her own safety. He couldn’t afford to have her outside the castle’s protections, where any death eater or Voldemort sympathiser could come after her. In fact, her presence would be most vital this year. He had hoped to influence young Ronald Weasley to pick Divination and get Harry to do the same. But apparently, he had overestimated the level of friendship between the two. He had seen Harry’s subjects of choice- Ancient Runes, CoMC and Arithmancy. While an excellent choice for any other student, he really needed Harry to take Divination. How else would he be able to convince Harry about the seriousness of the situation and accept his destiny. No, Harry had to take divination; he would have to have a talk with Harry when term started.

The next discussion was regarding the new batch of prefects to be selected. Again, Dumbledore had a problem on his hands. The other houses would be just fine but he was rather leery about the male Gryffindor prefect. And just as he had suspected, Minerva chose to nominate Darius Icarus. He was the perfect choice after all, he had skipped a year and was still the top student of his grade. He was a diligent student, academically brilliant yet humble and ready to help others, excellent relations with students from all the houses and had done a fantastic job with the club he was running. And that was where the problem lay; he was just too perfect. He reminded Dumbledore of a young Riddle and that couldn’t possibly be a good thing. The boy was a certifiable genius, but he kept to himself, charismatic, friendly with students from all houses and well above average power, if the couple of duels he had seen in the club were anything to go by. It might not be a good move to give him a taste of authority and power so early in life.

“-and the male prefect I nominate is Darius Icarus. I trust I scarcely need to provide reasons for the choice. He is beyond doubt the most suitable for the post. I am sure he will do justice to his role as a prefect.”

“But the boy is doing extremely well in his academics. Might it not be better if he was not burdened with the responsibility and allowed to focus solely on his studies. After all, it is his OWLs year.”

Dumbledore got weird looks from not only Minerva but even the other professors. Minerva gave him one last suspicious look before forging ahead.

“It is because he is that capable that we can trust him with the responsibility and still trust him to do well in his studies. If you raise academics as an objection, we would be left bereft of most of our candidates and the remaining would not be suitable for the post at all. And an appointment as prefect in his resume can only be a positive thing when he is applying for a job.”

“I agree with what Minerva said, Albus. We give the responsibility only to those whom we feel can handle it. Darius is the obvious choice in his house. Do you wish to hold him back for some other reason, Albus?”

“No, of course not Filius! Forgive me, Minerva. It is your prerogative as Head of Gryffindor House to nominate your prefect. Please send the requisite letters to the students.”

Dumbledore berated himself for his lack of tact. He must have been really frazzled after the hearing if he was making mistakes like that. What was wrong with him to try and force the situation like that. But he would have to keep a closer look on the boy. He had to ensure Darius didn’t turn to the Dark Arts. Maybe he should take the chance to have a talk with the boy. It would be nice to suss out the young man’s thoughts and motives. It would certainly help set his heart at ease.

Hermione was having a great vacation so far. Her parents had taken her to France and it had been an extremely scenic vacation in the gorgeous country. They had been planning the trip for a while now and she was extremely grateful for it.

France may not have had the long and rich magical history that Britain boasted of but it was no less magical. In fact, she liked the country better than Britain in some ways. For one thing, blood supremacy was not much of an issue here. There may be a few bigots around but nothing like Britain.

The magical avenue, Rue de la Magie was amazing. It was a long winding cobblestone path with a diverse collection of shops in the heart of country and basically the French version of Diagon Alley. It was not as quaint as the latter but still just as magical.

She had managed to drag her parents around the whole place and show her all the magical tools and curios, explain magical culture and basically give them a better insight into the culture their daughter had stepped into. Unfortunately, the Decree for Underage magic still stood and she wasn’t able to perform any magic in front of her parents without French Aurors apparating in to drag her off to the Ministry. According to Darius, that would only be possible if they were behind some heavy wards or protections. Maybe she would take up Darius invitation to come over for the summer to stay awhile the next year.

Fred and George were so thankful that they ran into Darius on the train that day. The young prodigy had supported them unstintingly in their endeavours and they were just one step away from their dream job. Not only had Darius supported them financially, he also gave them awesome ideas for their joke products and helped them to create some of their trickier products.

Fred had just finished signing the lease for their new shop in Diagon Alley. They had been running the Mail order for over a year now and it had been a roaring success. They could barely keep up with the demand anymore. They had already interviewed a few promising workers who could who could share the burden of the manufacturing process and look after the shop while they finished school. They would obviously sign ironclad contracts first. Bloodfist could handle that.

George was reading the monthly statement sent by Bloodfist. He was the young goblin assigned to be their account manager after they finally had enough gold in their vault to merit one. Honestly, he was proving he be a god-sent. He took care of all the contracts, paperwork and the financial details for the business and they could focus more on their products. Bloodfist got a small percentage for his efforts and it proved to be a win-win situation.

Darius had sent a book on goblin culture when he heard that they had been assigned their own account manager and it had been an extremely fascinating as well as a useful read. Gblins were once a purely warrior society and though they no longer confined themselves to matters of war, they still brought the battle to the boardroom. Goblins were ranked in their society based on the amount of gold they handled for customers and what they owned themselves. That is why every goblin fought to control the old accounts which belonged to the older families and contained fortunes within them. So, in a manner of speaking, Bloodfist was in the same boat as them. If he did a good job, the Weasleys would earn more and increase the gold in their vault while Bloodfist would get a larger share as his percentage.

The twins got along well with the goblin once they were all clear on their goals and duties. Doing a good job would net Bloodfist a greater sum as well as enrich the twins.

Neville had not had such a pleasant summer since a long time. Last summer his parents had just been healed and it had been a dream come true for him. The same wish he had carried for the last decade had come true and he couldn’t ask for more. Of course, they spent the summer recuperating fully and the healers at St. Mungo’s kept them under observation extra-long after their sudden revival.

But this summer they had all had fun together. His parents and him had gone on a trip through various magical locations across Britain and he even got to collect an assortment of seeds and cuttings from the various greenhouses and herbariums they came across. They had had long talks after his parents’ awakening and they were proud of his skill in Herbology. They had even commissioned a giant greenhouse to be built at Longbottom Hall, much better than the tiny one they currently had.

They had also helped him with his spell-work though they were proud of what he had already accomplished so far. He was a lot further along than most 12-year-old would be. Longbottom Hall, like any other of the old families’ manors was extensively warded and he was able to carry on his practice over the summer. He credited his skill solely to Darius and the DA club though. His parents were very happy and encouraged him to continue to strive hard in the club.

Elsewhere, dark plans were being hatched and ominous events were being set in motion. Events which Darius had no idea about!