The Necromancer

Chapter 14

Harry stared at the kids on his doorstep, wondering what the hell they wanted from him now.

Something must have shown on his face, because Hermione Granger was quick to point out, “You told us to come back another time for a visit!”

Harry sighed. He had said that, hadn’t he? He just hadn’t expected them to show up again the very next day. Part of Harry wanted to dismiss them, to send them back to the school, but another part of him realized that perhaps he could find a use for these eager kids.

You see, Harry had a vast network of spies in the form of his dead family members. They were a huge resource and Harry had put them to good use in the past, to listen in to his enemies, to learn their plans, and to help keep abreast of any potential future problems. But no matter how good his family members were at spying, they had one downside. They couldn’t interact with the physical environment around them. They were noncorporeal souls. They couldn’t open a book, or go through paperwork on a desk, or anything that required the ability to physically touch an item.

These three youths, however, could do all those things. And by the looks of it, they were more than willing to become his friends.

Harry offered them all a bright smile. “I did say that, Miss Granger.” He pulled the door open wide. “Come on in!”

“You can call me Hermione,” Granger said as she entered the castle with a spring in her step.

“I’m Harry.” Gesturing to his right, Harry waited until all three kids were standing in the entrance hall, gaping around, before he closed the heavy door. “Let’s go to the sitting room, right through there. Igor, we need tea for four!”

V came flying out of the corridor and landed heavily on Harry’s shoulder. “Hello, hello!”

Ron Weasley looked at V in amazement. “How did you teach him to talk?”

Harry snorted. “He’s always talked, for as long as I’ve known him. It’s getting him to shut up that’s the trick.” That earned him a peck on his ear from V, but Harry merely grinned in return.

The kids all sat together on the couch in the sitting room, while Harry sank down in a leather chair opposite them. Igor came shuffling into the room, carrying a large tray with a porcelain tea service.

“Just put it down,” Harry said, gesturing at the coffee table. “I’ll pour it out.”

“Eurgh.”

The kids were staring at Igor with wide eyes while Harry’s butler put the tray down and shuffled out of the sitting room again.

Hermione cleared her throat. “I’m quite sure that’s an inferius. I looked it up in the library yesterday, and making an inferius is illegal.”

Harry offered her his brightest smile while he poured tea into cups. “So is sneaking into the Forbidden Forest while you’re a Hogwarts student, but here you are.” Then he gave the kids an exaggerated wink while placing steaming cups in front of them. “I won’t tell if you won’t.”

“Yeah, leave the man be,” Ron was quick to say with a glare at Hermione.

“Besides,” Harry said, leaning back in his seat while holding his cup in his lap. “There is such a thing as house loyalty, right?”