Master of Death

Yule Ball; Let it be War

~ *~* ~ *~* ~ *~* ~ *~* ~ *~* CHAPTER XXI *~* ~ *~* ~ *~* ~ *~* ~ *~* ~

The 48hrs they had before the first Order meeting had been spent prepping the house, locking down everything and admiring the handy work of Kreacher and Milly as the two Elves took charge of all of the House Elves in Harry's employ, gathering any and all valuables, spelling them impossible to touch by anyone who was not deemed family or Coven by Harry for those that could not be safely copied. Those that could be copied, looked and felt even almost exactly like the real ones. The books were copied and spelled to insult the thieves or to prank them. The real heirlooms, books and the like were moved into a vault that had been built into the house and sealed under Sirius and Harry's blood with a secondary lock keyed to Bellatrix, Narcissa and Draco's blood.

Harry and Sirius still needed to talk to Andromeda and her daughter since her husband sadly passed. If they were still in fact loyal to family, despite the nasty and very intense family life being a Black entailed, then they will be welcomed back and make the third and final Lock, after all 3 and 7 were very powerful numbers when it came to making magical locks and seals. 9 and 13 were very powerful for Seals and even powerful summoning spells, 7 liked to pop up in there as well as 3, but that is besides the point. Harry took the time to clean everything up, smiling at the lighter feel of the house after Sirius took over and pleased to know that Kreacher and Milly had taken it upon themselves to lock the personal rooms of everyone in the house while setting up monitoring and listening spells into the guest rooms.

They ordered the Potter Elves to do the same at the Manor while also ensuring everything was cleaned, polished, knockoff or not, and the Manor was decorated to Harry's specifications for the Ball in about a week's time. Harry had Narcissa and Augusta help him pick and design the decorations, wanting something that spoke more to Yule, but held enough Christmas cheer to fool Dumbledore into thinking that Harry wasn't as completely beyond his grasp as he truly is. It was also given a unique flare with Harry's personal touch.

Harry also made sure to invite his 'approved of' friends before the others arrived, allowing them to pick their own rooms and locking them under Kreacher's and Milly's protections. It also gave him time to learn what he needed to know of how best to behave around the Order, while still maintaining his independence and who he can trust, who he can sway to his side or to remain out of the fighting and who needs to be kept close watch of. The Weasley Twins were both looking forward and not so much to seeing a few of their family members. Harry had taken one look at them and pulled them to the sofa and made them cuddle with him until the two demonic Ravens calmed down enough to actually see the prime pranking opportunity they had.

Legolas had only laughed when he saw them pale and tense, expecting the Elf to go full on Alpha on them and kill them for touching his mate. However, he had waved it off knowing that Harry was loyal to him and him only as his mate, he was also old enough to not be prone to his jealousy like when he had been an Elfling or even a Tween. His Tweens had been the worse, but thankfully a few centuries had mellowed him out. He even joined them, finding himself as Harry's chair with the twins leaning on him while Harry babbled about spells and potions he's learned that can be doubled for pranking. Told them of his slowly driving Umbitch insane with a nightmare potion that made her live all the horrors she inflicts on others, to feel her self die like all the innocent children and babies who died because of her and to suffer her worst fears come true. That had given the twins a whole new level of respect and fear for the little Omega as well as brilliant grins as their minds shot off with a new line of pranking/defensive products.

So now the day that the Order was to arrive, found Harry sharing his vast knowledge with not only the Twins, but Hermione as well. He was also writing letters to Neville, Luna, Susan and Draco with this info, wanting to keep his main group of friends in the know and to let them pick and choose what they wanted to implement once learned. They were surrounded by books and parchment, seemingly doing their homework as well. Meanwhile, Sirius and Remus were squabbling over by the stove as Kreacher was quietly cleaning some pots, pretending to hate them and grumping loud enough so when the fireplace in the kitchen suddenly flared to life and ejected Dumbledore into their midst, he did not notice anything out of the ordinary. Legolas had to attend to some court issues in Arda with his father and Harry had given him one of the trans dimensional Portkeys to get him there and back.