It was not until a few days later that Amelia was finally forced to enact the first stages of her plan, having already exhausted her efforts to persuade Dumbledore or the board of governors to enact greater security at Hogwarts in case Black showed up.
She had even appealed to Fudge, but he had only insisted that it wasn't in the budget as they needed the extra finances right now to prepare for their hosting of the Quidditch World Cup meant to take place in Britain next summer.
Fudge, she was finding, was getting to be more and more under the control of Lucius Malfoy, a sad fall for a once capable and independent leader. She even highly suspected him of taking bribes from the suspected Death Eater, but she still lacked proof.
At least he had gotten nailed for the Sirius Black fiasco, the media was having a field day with Fudge's incompetence and she had actually come out the hero in the situation after she presented copies of her numerous requests to improve the prison system.
With Sirius Black now on the loose she realized that she could no longer hide the truth from Harry any longer, she had finally told him and the girls about him being Harry's godfather and the reason why he was in Azkaban. They were all understandably upset, and she knew that some of them were now halfway tempted to help in the effort to catch him.
She had managed to persuade them not to, as well as Su's suggestion of even more training in case he showed up. Since they were already doing as much as they possibly could in duel training anyway, she thought that this was not necessary.
Sirius Black however was only the latest in a long line of people that were proving to be difficult of late.
Her still somewhat recent encounter with Dumbledore made her realize that simply playing fair and working hard at it were no longer going to cut it. She had always thought of herself as the personification of a good Hufflepuff but if she was to succeed she'd need to act as a Slytherin, and if necessary do something illegal to combat the corrupt system she was now fighting against.
She would need to do something unexpected and sneaky if she was to handle both Malfoy and Dumbledore, and if necessary the Minister as well.
It all became apparent that it all centered around Hogwarts.
Dumbledore was quite obviously hiding something at Hogwarts and he must have thought that more security spells installed by Aurors or just Aurors posted as guards might put whatever it was in jeopardy. It was evidently pretty important to him to take such a risk as he must have known that if Harry were to be killed so too would a lot of his strength in the Wizengamot, still maintaining those seats for Harry until he came of age.
It would be hard finding out just what he was up to, but she felt that if simply having more security spells put up around Hogwarts or posting an Auror at the school was an issue for Dumbledore in being discovered it might be easier than she had first thought.
Lucius Malfoy was still trying to kill Harry so he could gain control of the Wizengamot, he had a huge amount of motivation to try. While she felt that Harry was about as safe as he could be in her home, it was already proven that at Hogwarts he was still vulnerable. Lucius Malfoy of course was too smart to allow any dangerous evidence to be linked back to him, he always handled everything through someone else who was quickly Obliviated of any knowledge after completing the task. He'd so far been untouchable, but she believed that he might now have a weak point in his son as they regularly corresponded and was now evidently being instructed in how to run the family business. His letters to his son however were always coded in a way that her magical codebreakers had not been able to break, and Draco always burned them after receiving them.
However, if she could manage to trick the boy into giving out information on his father, it would go a long way. If she had to however use legilimency or some other way to force it out of him, even though it was illegal, she was now prepared to do it. If she had to choose between breaking the law and protecting Harry and taking Lucius down, she would be choosing the latter.
Still she would need to be careful as Draco was bound to have been taught a great deal in protecting his mind and information about his father, and if he were to find out about her attempts to steal information from him Lucius would then most likely make it impossible for her to get any more from his son.
Then there was Harry, who was now being hunted by two different people, Malfoy and Black, the latter of which he did not yet know about other than that he was a criminal. She would have to be very careful about how to break the news to him and the girls, they were still pretty upset about the whole Orion incident.
She realized that in order to prove and convict either Dumbledore or Malfoy of any wrongdoing and also make sure that Harry was given greater protection she would have to have somebody go in as a spy and likely one who wouldn't be missed in a secret, off the record assignment.
The problem lay in that fact that Dumbledore would likely already be suspicious to any new teachers entering the school after the loss of his last two DADA teachers and he could detect Glamours and other spells meant to hide one's appearance. Nor could she have them constantly using Polyjuice, it would simply be too risky trying to smuggle that much of it into the school, it would likely take at least months for the spy to get any information and failing to take it even once would lead to discovery.(1)
She could try and recruit someone out of the country but she didn't know anyone outside of Britain that she could trust, and once again, Dumbledore would likely suspect any new teachers too much. This left a student to do it, and while she definitely trusted Harry and the girls, and would no doubt be willing, she couldn't risk doing that, especially as they couldn't be expected to know how to get past the various protection spells that Dumbledore had on whatever secrets he was keeping and would most likely get caught.
She finally realized that only one person could do it: be able to pose as a student without using Glamours, Polyjuice, or other identifiable characteristic changes and also had the training and experience necessary to do it: Tonks.
The fact that she already was well respected and liked by Harry and the girls would only make things easier.
Having considered Tonks' best cover story, she recognized that in order to be close enough to Harry to provide him constant protection without raising too much suspicion from Dumbledore as a new student, or someone suddenly very close to Harry she would need to join his harem posing as a girl his same age. With any luck, she would also be sorted into his House.
That left a major problem as she couldn't just lie to him and the girls and simply make up some reason that some random girl was now betrothed to him. She knew that she would need to tell them, but in order to do that she would need to make sure they were taught Occlumency, she wouldn't put it past the likes of Dumbledore reading their minds if he ever got suspicious.
Reading someone else's mind without their permission was illegal, but Dumbledore had gotten a loophole passed decades before her time stating that it was permissible for the Headmaster of the school to do so for the good of his students. They would need to know Occlumency before she filled them all in on the plan.
Fortunately a part of the pre-Auror training program was devoted to teaching this and she would be requesting that they focus a great deal on it in addition to what she taught them at home. Having them all suddenly know Occlumency then would not seem so out of place should he deign to check why they did. She would get them started on it immediately.
DUELDUELDUEL
It seemed to Harry and the girls that they would be learning a whole new meaning of the word openness when Amelia informed them about pre-Auror training coming up later in the summer.
"I've decided that a great deal of the training should focus on something all Aurors must learn. You'll be a bit young for it but I think it would be beneficial for all of you to learn." Amelia began, "I'd like to teach each of you Occlumency and Legilimency."
"Isn't that mind reading and protecting against mind reading?" Su asked.
"Yes, how did you know?" Amelia asked.
"My aunt taught me how to do Occlumency while I was living in China." Su answered, "We just have a different name for it." She added as an afterthought.
"That's good," Amelia answered, "that might help us. Anyone else have any training in it?"
"I do," Fleur replied, "my father taught me somewhat. He was planning to teach Gabrielle as well when she got older."
"Then if you don't mind I think I'll test both you and Su to see how proficient you are at it." Amelia answered, "For those of you who don't know, letting someone practice Occlumency or Legilimency on you can be kind of invasive, so you always want it to be with someone that you can trust. So if any of you feel uncomfortable with that..."
They all paused to digest that, before Pansy said, "It's alright, I don't have any secrets to hide from any of you, although there are a few things during my childhood that may not be very fun to view."
"I think the best way is for us to practice on each other." Susan agreed, "We've all got things we've done in our lives that we aren't proud of and might be discovered, we just have to realize that we all make mistakes and not judge anyone else."
"Agreed," Su said, "I'm an open book to any of you."
"Besides I think Harry already knows our more...intimate secrets already." Gabrielle commented, referring to the discussion they had just had recently.
With everyone agreeing, Amelia reluctantly agreed to do it that way, although she did express some misgivings that they might end up regretting it later.
"If there is a problem we each have to promise to talk it out calmly and rationally." Susan insisted.
"That we will." Gabrielle promised.
Before they began, Amelia tested both Fleur and Su.
After testing Fleur she declared that the older Veela's mental shields were good enough to defend against a gentle mind probe but wouldn't hold up for very long against anyone really pushing at them.
Su's were good enough to withstand her push at her, but after pressing for 20 seconds, they eventually collapsed. Still, it was better than nothing, which was where the rest of them were at.
Giving them instructions on how to clear their minds and build up their shields, they worked on them for awhile before she went and tested each of them, careful not to go too deeply, only just barely break through their still rather weak shields.
The next day, she instructed them in Legilimency and had them break off into pairs with one of them using Legilimency and the other trying to defend with their own mind shield.
As the weeks went by, they began to get more and more proficient at it, leading them to learn some rather interesting things about one another, as they tried to get better at focusing enough to find a specific memory they had been tasked with finding.
At times it was tough, such as when Susan broke into tears, having briefly relived the memory of Harry being verbally assaulted by his aunt and uncle after coming home from school having to explain that he had somehow turned his teacher's wig blue.
"I just can't believe even those animals would do that!" Susan insisted with a face full of tears.
"At least it's over now." Harry replied soothingly as he hugged her and gently ran his hands through her long red hair.
"Abuse is something that Susan just isn't used to, but for you is unfortunately all too familiar." Su wisely said, "I'd imagine that if my aunt had not been the one to raise me and instead been raised by my father it likely would have happened to me as well. Maybe not outright physical abuse, but mental abuse is very likely. Abuse is something that people end up coping with and for you when you were a child you might have viewed it as ordinary behavior. Susan has never actually seen that before."
"I hope the Dursleys rot and die in prison." Susan declared.
"The best thing we can do is try not to even think about them." Harry said, "Which, I know, is hard since we keep finding each other's memories. If you'd like I won't have you try and practice Legilimency on me."
"No, I want to know." Susan answered bravely, "I want to know more about you, and while it might be painful to view some of your old memories, I've found that I've enjoyed being able to view most of them. I really feel like I understand and feel closer to you now."
"I feel the exact same way." Fleur said, "I'd never really been close to anyone other than Gabrielle until I met all of you, and now I feel like I am closer than ever. It's a great feeling to have."
"It certainly is," Pansy admitted, "while I was always slightly jealous of you Fleur, having practiced on you has definitely changed my opinion, I can't believe some of the stuff you had to go through as a Veela."
"I still can't believe you ended up the way you did with the parents that you had, you quite evidently had rather difficult parents." Fleur replied.
"You don't know the half of it..." Pansy admitted. Normally she was rather guarded and gave out very little information on that subject, but they were slowly learning more and more about her parents and childhood.
Harry didn't think she was really abused as he had, but more neglected and had rather difficult expectations. He'd suggested that he meet her parents, but she had managed to talk him out of it until he was more "prepared" as she told him that they would be rather hard to deal with.
"I wish we had better control over the memories that we end up finding." Gabrielle complained, "I keep trying to find memories of you all in first year back when I wasn't there."
"That should come with time." Su answered confidently, "We're still not that great at it yet so we still don't really have too much control."
"My aunt told me that people who get really good at it can actually start implanting their own thoughts to other people, and then have them reply back, I think it would be wicked cool if we could do that." Susan said.
"We could talk in class and the teacher would have no idea that we were doing it." Gabrielle said enthusiastically.
"We'll have to work awfully hard at it though before we can get to that level." Harry reminded them.
"It would still so be worth it." Pansy admitted, "Besides, the way Madame Bones has had us working so hard at it, I wouldn't be surprised if we end up getting to that level if we keep at it."
"Let's give it another go then." Susan suggested, now feeling much better and eager to continue.
Each of them got back together with their partners for the day.
DUELDUELDUEL
A few days later, Harry was sitting in his room, reading a book on dueling when he heard a knock at his door. "Come in." He called.
The door opened revealing Fleur.
"Can I talk to you Harry?" She asked him.
"Sure," He replied, putting his book down and giving her his undivided attention. "what's up?"
"It's about the memories that I viewed of yours yesterdau." She confided.
"I'm sorry." He tried to say, feeling guilty in case she was still suffering from them.
"Don't be," She told him, "if anything they gave me a lot more perspective and respect for you."
"I've been finding my respect for all of you growing as well." He admitted.
"For me I think it has more meaning." She replied, "Seeing you abused by your relatives like that, it reminds me that for all intents and purposes, you were really their slave. That's all you had really ever known and you could have so easily turned around and done the exact same things your relatives did to me and Gabrielle."
"Why would I? I'd never make anyone have to go through what the Dursleys put me through." Said earnestly, shocked that she would even suggest that he might.
"You could have gotten angry, or you could have used us to help take it out on them." She reminded him, "Yet instead I feel like you're the complete opposite. I've never felt like a slave around you, instead I've always felt respected, liked, loved even."
Bringing love into the equation was a new thing for him, he liked Fleur, he liked all the girls, but he was still too young to be able to claim he really was in love with them.
"I'd say I'm still too young to really..." He replied, trailing off.
"Loving someone and being in love with someone are two very different things." Fleur answered wisely, "I would say that each of the other girls love you by now, they just probably aren't totally in love with you. It doesn't mean you've done anything wrong, you've done better than they could probably ever dream of, they just aren't old enough to really comprehend what truly being in love is."
"You know what my childhood was like growing up with the Dursleys," Harry reminded her, "there was no love for them and certainly no love from me. I don't really even know what love is, much less being in love."
"I think you do." Fleur pointed out, "You risked yourself saving each of us from a terrible fate without even knowing any of us. Then you took the time to get to know each of us, and every day I see you do things that show love to them and they show love back. I've never seen any boy as young as you enjoy such closeness as you do with us, and I would honestly be surprised if we aren't already falling in love with you."
"What about you?" he asked.
"I'm older than the rest of them and maybe that gives me a better understanding of it, or maybe it doesn't?" She claimed, unsure. "But right now I know that I love you. How deep that love goes and if I am truly in love I'm not sure, but I'd like to find out."
"How would you like to do that?" he asked her.
"I know that the rest of the girls wanted to wait a few years before they went any further with you, but since I am older than them, I feel more confident in deciding to offer more to you now." She concluded.
He gulped. "Um, you really don't have to do that Fleur if you don't want to." He stammered.
"I do want to though." She claimed, "We could take it as far as you like, all the way if you wanted to."
This was certainly an interesting development, here was Fleur offering herself to him, and he could not deny that he was tempted, Fleur was widely considered by just about every boy in school to be the most beautiful girl at Hogwarts. They had only held back because she had worked so hard at making sure it was well known she was already taken by him. The fact that she really was his and his alone was something he had never really taken advantage of out of respect for her, but now here she was offering herself to him.
As he gazed upon her gorgeous body he knew he could have her right now, and she would let him, in fact he wouldn't be surprised if she let him do it as much as he wanted, whenever he wanted. He would have that opportunity eventually, why not now?
Still, he wasn't sure if he himself was ready for it just yet, but maybe the only real way to know was to actually do it?
Then he thought of the other girls, they would likely be upset, but they would probably grin and bear it and say they were happy for them, even though they would probably be jealous and it would pressure them into doing the same thing earlier than they might have really wanted.
He would not, could not, do that to them.
"I'm sorry but I can't Fleur." He finally replied. "It isn't because I don't like you, or love you even, it's just it wouldn't be fair to the other girls." He briefly explained his reasoning.
She nodded, seeming to understand. "I have to respect you for that, maybe it was presumptuous of me."
"I'm still flattered that you would make such an offer," He told her, "and one day if you still want to we can, just not right now."
"Can I still kiss you now, Harry?" Fleur asked him.
He nodded and she leaned in and kissed him. It was only a kiss, something any other guy he knew would have viewed as a consolation prize after the offer he had just received and turned down, but interestingly enough, he didn't feel that way, he knew that he had made the right decision.
Immediately after Fleur left, Pansy came in.
"I didn't want to bother you in case you were having a private conversation, so I waited." She explained.
His mind still reeling from his conversation with Fleur, he blurted out, "Fleur offered to... you know...with me."
"She did!?" Pansy exclaimed in surprise.
"Yes," He answered, "but I turned her down."
If anything Pansy looked even more shocked.
"You actually turned the most beautiful girl at school down?" She asked in complete amazement.
"I realized that I just wasn't ready. That we, aren't ready." He answered, "I'm still much too young, and besides, I realized it just wouldn't be fair to the rest of you."
"How would it not be fair?" She asked.
"I knew that that would put pressure on the rest of you." He replied.
She paused for a second to think about that and then said, "Well I'll be honest I suppose it would, I'm definitely not ready myself, but if you really wanted me to you know I would do anything for you, Harry."
"That's what I was afraid of and that is one reason why I'm going to wait." He explained.
"Well I'm still impressed." Pansy answered, "Most guys wouldn't have had such resolve if Fleur was around them offering something like that. In fact I would be tempted to do Fleur if she offered."
This caused him to laugh. "That would certainly be fun to watch." He admitted.
She hit him lightly on the arm. "I'm sure you'd like to see that wouldn't you?" He grinned back and she replied, "Well I make absolutely no promises on that."
They sat in silence for a bit, with him trying to avoid thinking about the image of Fleur and Pansy together. While he certainly would have no problem if one of the girls got together with another, as it would be rather hot, he also wouldn't push them into anything.
"So what did you come in here to talk to me about originally anyway?" He asked, changing the topic of conversation.
"I was just wondering if you wanted to take me flying on Pegasus," she asked.
"Sure." He answered, happily getting up with her.
DUELDUELDUEL
Occlumency and Legilimency lessons continued on, each of them working hard at mastering it.
By the time it came time for pre-Auror training, Amelia considered them to be much more proficient in both areas, each able to now create a strong enough shield to defend against a basic to moderately strong mental attack, and could break through one as well.
At the ministry for pre-Auror training, which now included all of the girls, they continued to expand upon that, although Harry had to admit his misgivings about having most of the Aurors test them in Occlumency. Harry simply didn't trust them to be in his head. Scrimgeour in particular, he could imagine he would try and take advantage of the situation. That was when she informed them that Tonks would be doing that for them, which made them all feel much more comfortable.
Tonks however was more than happy to test them, and during one particularly strong attempt on the last day of it, with both him and Su assaulting her shields, they managed to break through them and a stream of memories greeted him for about half a minute before Tonks was able to force them back out again.
"What were you impersonating that Holyhead Harpy player for?" Su asked her.
"I was trying to get attention from a guy." Tonks admitted, blushing a bit, "He turned out to be a complete jerk though."
"Tonks could I speak with you for a second in my office?" Amelia asked her, having just come down to presumably check their progress.
"Of course, Madame." Tonks replied as she hurried over to her.
Upon finally entering their progress, Amelia once again applied various spells to make sure they couldn't be overheard.
"I have a very special assignment for you," Amelia informed her.
"What is it?" Tonks asked curiously.
"I would have preferred that it was a more experienced Auror but you are the only one I've got that can really do it." Amelia admitted.
"I"m guessing that you mean my Metamorphagus abilities." Tonks surmised.
"Not only that, but also your already close relationship with Harry and the girls that he is betrothed to.
I could have chosen someone else much stronger and better at teaching it, but I chose you because they all already felt comfortable around you, and I wanted that to develop even further before they found out my plan."
"I'm sorry, you have me at a loss as to what plan." Tonks replied.
"I am concerned over the state of Hogwarts and it's security." Amelia answered her, "Particularly over the safety of Harry. You may have already heard about the attempts on his life, both last summer and late in the school year. While this would be enough for me to want to do something about that anyway, Dumbledore has refused to allow me to take any action. He evidently does not want anyone questioning his authority at Hogwarts, even a few small security measures that I suggested which I find to be very suspicious."
"When I tried to bring it up with the school governors they refused to hear my plea, as Lucius Malfoy convinced them that no extra security was needed. I am confident, although I have no real proof, that Lucius orchestrated at least one of the attacks and will probably try again, which is why he rejected the extra security."
"How can I really do anything though if the school board of governors and Dumbledore are refusing to allow any changes?" Tonks asked.
That was when Amelia outlined her plan to her, about going undercover as a student to collect evidence against Dumbledore and Lucius Malfoy and in the process protect Harry.
While Tonks still seemed a bit nervous as it would be her first long term undercover mission, she agreed to do it. The assignment would entail her traveling secretly to Atlantis, where the duel tournament was to be held and presumably where she ended up joining the harem, posing as an Atlantean.
"I'll be telling the children about it shortly." She informed the currently electric blue haired girl. "There might be some resistance from them but I think they'll agree eventually. It is imperative that they agree to go along with it."