Echoes of Time (Harry Potter)

December 18, 1943

Saturday Morning

Harry was finally back in Peverell Manor, and he had so much to do over this coming Yule break.

He needed to spend time with Sarah's family, a few days probably, Corene wanted him to visit for an evening though he'd probably end up doing the whole day considering Yaxley's words - he desperately wanted to see what her family would be like, as well as the girl herself when away from Hogwarts. Would she be more open, could he get her to say what she needed him for without bringing the subject up? He hoped so.

Elaine wanted him to visit her too, in the home Yaxley had gifted her; he wasn't sure if that was a good idea considering there'd be nobody around to help him, but it could prove fruitful should he get the chance to investigate her home. There was always the chance she'd be more open just as he hoped Corene would be too, though, without supervision, he felt like he'd need to keep an extra careful eye so he didn't end up in her room snogging the girl on her bed. For all her heinous crimes, magical talent and overall danger she presented, Elaine acted very randy with him.

Sometimes he didn't mind all that much when his teenage brain was acting up, but when he realised whose soft lips were mashed against his and whose tongue was plundering his mouth, there was always that gnawing at the bottom of his stomach. Truthfully, he didn't want to kill her. Changing her would be a momentous task - her aspirations for politics rather than anything else were promising - and he doubted he'd fully remove the… crazy (that sounded right) within her, but he could try his damned best to leash her violent actions. Should he fail, Azkaban or somewhere worse, if such a place existed, would have to be what he dealt with.

But, all this thinking so early in the morning wasn't what he needed right now. No, what he needed was the full touring of his home, especially if he was still considering inviting Aster and Corene over.

Rot could watch them, he presumed, the scarred house-elf with a scowl even directed towards his master upon their first meeting told Harry all he needed to know about the creature.

"Laddey," Harry called out while shimmying out from under his covers and into the cool breeze coming from his open windows.

One pop barely a second later sounded beside him, and then the familiar, always-energetic voice greeted him just as it used to.

"Master Peverell sir! Laddey is so happy to see you! What does the great master be needing?"

Harry smiled and patted the smaller being on its shoulders affectionately - he missed Laddey, the reminder of Dobby with the possibility of the house-elf being his one true friend in this era made him a weird mix of melancholy and happiness.

"I'd like to visit each of the other elves today. I hadn't had the time to travel the grounds and see the entirety of the estate when I'd be- earlier in the year, but that needs changing," Harry had to catch himself so he didn't say 'when I'd been sent back in time', but he doubted the house-elf would think all that much of such words anyhow; still, better safe than sorry.

Laddey smiled and nodded repeatedly, his big ears flapping out on his head.

"A wonderful idea sir, Laddey will take you wherever you want to go with a pop!" Laddey snapped his fingers to emphasize his point, "Where does Master Peverell wish to be going first?"

Harry's stomach gurgling was an answer enough for him, and so he decided to visit the one area where more than one elf was stationed… so he thought, at least.

"Let's visit the kitchens."

Laddey grabbed Harry's hand, and another short pop later, Harry was apparated throughout the vast expanse of Peverell Manor directly into an almost excessively large dining room. Dozens upon dozens of expensive wooden tables were lined up perfectly with tableware set and torches lit - the stone pillars, tapestries on the walls and other miscellaneous pieces of artwork only made the place look all the more like that of a Pureblood's home.

Needless to say, Harry felt like this mansion was incredibly vain… he felt guilty when he acknowledged his liking of it when considering families like the Weasleys or others who lived in poverty while he had a whole place like this to himself.

"Master Peverell!" A voice squeaked at the same time a sloshing sound was heard; Harry and Laddey both looked towards the source, with the latter letting out an indignant sound when they saw it was one of the chef-looking elves nearly dropping a pitcher full of some liquid.

"Goopy can't be dropping another pitcher of milk! Bad Goopy!" Laddey's voice was decidedly less friendly than Harry had ever heard before, it almost reminded him of McGonagall's level of sternness, it damn well had the same effect on the chastised elf too!

Immediately, Goopy's friend, Cadry - Harry hoped that was the right name, the number of house-elves he 'had' made remembering them tricky at times - came out of the kitchen doors and took the liquid-filled pitcher from the former's hands.

"Please excuse Goopy, Master Peverell sir, Goopy still be training in the kitchen work!" Cadry did a bow that Harry figured looked about as good as his when he finished speaking and then was content to stare at Harry while waiting for an answer.

Before he gave one, however, he glanced at Laddey to see what his most known house-elves reaction was; respect. Laddey seemingly respected Cadry far more than he did Goopy, likely due to other mistakes that have taken place throughout the young-acting Goopy's time at Peverell Manor. Seeing that, Harry shrugged and patted Laddey on his shoulder as he'd done earlier.

"It's fine, Laddey, Goopy's still learning - I was pants my first year or two in the kitchen," Harry turned his attention towards the two chef elves and regarded them, taking in their pristine clothing that looked leagues better than anything Dobby had ever worn, "Cadry, Goopy, I was hoping to take a quick look around the Dining room and Kitchen so long as that won't interfere with your work too badly. Would you rather I visit later in the evening or have Laddey lead me through the rooms if you're too bogged down with work?" Harry didn't think they were especially busy considering he was the only one who lived here, but manners were something he'd always stick to.

Cadry, in response to Harry, especially when he mentioned Laddey leading him around, shook his head from side to side with so much speed Harry thought the elf might snap his neck. By the time Harry had finished, the house-elf was probably incredibly close to doing so.

"Cadry can show you around Master Peverell, while Goopy can be cooking you your breakfasts!" Cadry's voice was higher than Laddey now that he'd heard more of it, but he wasn't sure if it was from nerves as Laddey's had initially been, or if it were the elves' typical voice. Either way, that didn't stop the smile and nod from Harry in response to Cadry's words.

What followed was nearly a twenty-minute tour, starting with outdoor seating - that he hadn't a clue existed until he stepped out the leftmost set of french doors in the dining room - before moving back into the main dining room, then a smaller offshoot one that he was told existed for 'smaller groups or the tykes' and ended with the huge kitchen with so many tools he hadn't seen before along with huge cookeries that made Harry doubt only two elves were needed if the place was filled to maximum occupancy.

When he asked Cadry just that, he couldn't recall a time he'd seen a house-elf look more affronted.

Following the tour of the kitchens and dining room, Harry made his way around the various areas that were overseen by the house-elves serving at Peverell Mansion.

Zabbey and Momsey were together in the main entrance area, both doing general cleaning alongside one another while speaking casually about Harry's future children - more so the latter was responsible for that particular topic, but Zabbey did seem close to as interested as the female caregiver elf. During his first long meeting with the two, Laddey had alerted him that in addition to their generalised cleaning jobs, they were responsible for ensuring all guests were looked after as well as Harry's future children or any others brought along to the manor; Zabbey also organised the library in his spare time. Momsey butted in during Laddey's speaking to offer words of encouragement in Harry finding his 'mate' so that they could get to having children for her to look after. He respected the courage she had to say that, for that was all it took to send him running to the next area while Laddey tried keeping up.

Thankfully, Laddey eventually did catch up, else Harry would've had a very long jog to his gardens.

Veely, the elf he'd met with green-stained clothing and a weird set of gloves, was indeed responsible for gardening as Harry had first suspected, only the garden was far larger than he would've thought. When he asked, the elf was proud to say it spanned nearly four acres of land, growing all manors of crops for the home as well as other herbs and potions ingredients that Harry hadn't a clue as to what they did. He hadn't thought being pants at potions from lack of proper teaching would ever get him quite this bad, but it seemed that he needed to pay more attention in Professor Slughorn's class; the last thing he needed was losing a limb to some weird wizarding plant grown in his garden… why couldn't there have been flowers and foods only? Ah well, at least Veely promised a list of all the currently growing as well as stockpiled plants before too much longer passed.

When he'd finished up with that elf, he moved on to the one that remained, Rot.

Rot's name was something that fascinated Harry more than any of the others, the number of scars that particular house-elf had along with the expression he'd first worn told Harry that Rot's work was far from anything domestic. As he'd guessed when they'd finally managed to find Rot, the elf was meant for protection of the property - Harry thought that'd mean taking care of the occasional fox or muggle, but he hadn't expected it to mean werewolves in the woods or other magical creatures that prowled through said woods that stood imposingly visible from his balcony. Unease flowed through him when he realised just how unsafe the surrounding area was, and when he asked Rot what else there was for protection, hearing a whole list of wards only made him feel slightly more secure; he didn't know what they'd do, but with all his learning of them, he knew it'd be something that'd keep the home safe until he figured out more about the subject or found more Rot-like elves.

Once he finished all of his investigations around the manor, Harry had Laddey apparate him directly back to the office where he'd first made his list in countering Elaine. Obviously, a lot had changed since the basic list he'd written, and more than that, he had far more on his plate than the simple plan of stopping the girl… such as writing a letter to Daphne's family. While he may have wanted to push that back to a later date, writing to her family the very first day home would show initiative and caring on his part, both were very important if he wanted her to finally cease her overall disliking of him as well as the generally bored expression she'd replaced it with.

Well, as much as he could; he doubted Daphne would ever be more than a non-hostile acquaintance considering how long it took for their relationship to change from outright dislike to generally bored with him.

"Laddey," Harry said aloud from his seat, looking towards the elf that was idling nearby.

"Yes, Master Peverell sir?" Laddey's response was given in the same second Harry finished his speaking, the elf's posture straightened out too.

"Could you have Zabbey ensure all the books are in order? I'll be writing a letter or two before I head off to the library - do be sure to have him bring any books out of storage if any exist too, I want every book in House Peverell's possession in the library so long as the more dangerous ones are kept under lock," Harry paused to gauge Laddey's reaction, and seeing that the elf looked mostly fine with his words, Harry added, "Ask for clarification if it's needed, I won't be mad. Merlin knows words can be complicated!"

Laddey didn't understand the joke for what it was and shook his head.

"Laddey understands Master Peverell! Will Master Peverell be wanting no disturbances while he writes?"

This time it was Harry's turn to shake his head.

"That won't be necessary; if it warrants my attention or you're unsure of something, come to me the moment of," Harry remembered how Rot dealt with the more dangerous bits of upkeep for the property and it made a few thoughts enter his mind that was quickly given words, "Laddey, do you know if Rot keeps count of his dealings? I was thinking I'd be very interested in seeing how frequent the intrusions are and what creatures they typically consist of."

"Laddey doesn't know that, sir. Laddey can be finding out from Rot in minutes if Master Peverell is done with him!" Laddey looked ready to leave, and seeing that he had nothing more to add, Harry let him; his doing so meant he no longer had any delays to the letters he had to write.

Daphne and her family needed one, Elaine did too if he were to take her up on that evening invite. Writing to Corene and Sarah in case any plans changed wouldn't do any harm either.

Harry ran a hand down the entirety of his face when yet another bit of information dawned on him, gifts. He'd already purchased Christmas or Yule presents depending on the person they were going to, the packing was handled too, now all he needed to do was send them off to the proper people. Unbeknown to him, during his time in the future, sending gifts amongst Pureblood families was a way to pay respect; his lessons and learning at Hogwarts had taught him a whole lot of formalities or traditions. Not getting something for Abraxas, and by extension, the Malfoys would mean Harry didn't think they were worth his time.

He snorted, considering it wasn't wrong, the Malfoys were pompous gits just as they'd been in his time, only these past generations seemed more dangerous and less bully-like. In his opinion, that made them a lot more dangerous and potentially bothersome in this era. Thankfully, he thought with his brain nowadays instead of basing it off emotions as he would've in the past… no more enemies were needed.

Knowing that Zabbey was likely waiting or working alongside Laddey while he was sitting in his chair thinking, Harry leaned forward and picked up one of the rather intricate looking quills on his desk.

For whatever reason, there were numerous, equally ornate quills all across it - one was even red with gold trimmings, the only reason he wasn't using it was the weird feeling it gave off when he'd first picked it up. His lack of historical education had come back to bite him yet again in regards to not knowing where the Peverells were aligned, he could probably blame his lack of magical culture understanding as a whole too with how little he truly knew about the more intricate things within it.

' House Oleander,

As you may know, only recently our family, House Peverell, made their way back into the greater wizarding world. Our doing so has seen us swamped with requests, letters and postage more so than we'd thought possible. We beseech that you'll not take our lack of earlier conversation or answering of any post poorly, we've been stretched incredibly thin with only our Heir being sent out; our family is small enough that the remainder will be waiting quite some time to see the what our Heir has to say about Wizarding Britain after such a long absence.

With that said, we would like to begin the fostering of relations between our Houses, especially with a stronger blood relationship being shared between them than most. Should that be something House Oleander is interested in, our Heir will act as the mouthpiece of House Peverell; should your stance be otherwise, disregard our writing to you.

Respectfully,

House Peverell'

Harry hoped that came off formal and not begging, his education on sending strictly formal letters was lacking, he knew, though with how eager Daphne seemed he hoped that'd make up for any shortcomings.

Maybe he could get advice from somebody outside of Hogwarts too - he didn't want it known that his 'Pureblooded education' was lacking when so many of his 'friends' inside the castle thought him a staunch traditionalist based on the family name he'd been given upon his waking up in this world. That'd surely make for strained relationships with the Slytherins, likely other students as well considering the Purebloods seemed more numerous as well as conservative in this era.

At least the hatred for Muggleborns and dislike for Half-Bloods seemed far lower during these years; only Muggles were treated or discussed as if they were scum… he hadn't a clue as to why.

Shrugging, he figured he'd write the next letter; Elaine's.

' Elaine,

I've considered your invitation over this Yule break and my answer will be one of tentative approval. An evening would work best for me, though which one is yet unknown considering the many obligations I've found myself with.

In other words; please give me your floo address along with the permissions to enter in the evening during the latter half of the Yule holiday.

Affectionately,

Harry

Your gifts will arrive on the twentieth, I'd ask you to hold them until you could open them when I visit, but I know you'll figure out the contents anyhow, so don't bother.'

Harry paused after finishing the second letter and deposited his quill back in its holder. Writing to Corene or Sarah seemed redundant when he gave it more thought, neither girl's family would make any drastic last-minute changes with how many guests each family was expecting. He didn't want to sound arrogant or otherwise Malfoy-like either, but he knew that the Peverells were a very prominent name in wizarding culture and society, so they'd likely not risk losing out on his attendance - they'd earn prestige for having him visit where other families couldn't and he'd get his name around with people that could potentially prove beneficial in knowing.

Even if that latter half was untrue, he'd still get the chance to see Corene and Sarah with their family; Yaxley's vague words of caution that'd proven more harmful than beneficial could be tested too. He'd learned easily enough from spending time with Elaine that people could flip personalities easily based on who they were around.

"Laddey," Harry called out with his decision made against writing either of the latter girls.

"Master Peverell sir?" Laddey's response and appearance were near-instantaneous.

"I've finished my letters - please take me to the library and then see that they're sent off correctly," Harry encased his parchments in letters and used the Peverell stamp on the desk before standing up from his seat to stand beside Laddey.

"Yes Master Peverell sir!" Laddey answered, taking Harry's hand a second after and apparating them to the library as directed. As soon as they arrived, Laddey took the letters still in his hand and popped away again, following through with his second request.

Harry felt like he needed to do something to show his appreciation for the elf, especially with how willing to serve he was after Harry's prolonged absence from the manor he'd been gifted. Thinking of that, he wondered how they ate and where they slept since he'd yet to see the house-elves quarters, but that was something for another time - they weren't starving and looked well-rested.

"Zabbey?" Harry called out the name questionably, that being the second time he'd ever said this specific elf's name.

"Master Peverell sir?" Zabbey addressed him the same as Laddey did, though his voice was slightly deeper than Laddey's and with an oddly more human sound to it.

"I've come to see what the library can offer, specifically books containing spells or other such helpful tools for a wizard if you're aware of any," Harry dearly hoped the elf was, otherwise he'd have a lot more free time to peruse useless historic books that House Peverell had collected through the ages.

Zabbey nodded, his doing so far more refined than the energetic way Laddey typically did and popped away. Ten seconds or so later when he reappeared, he'd done so with dozens of books in his arms. So many that Harry wondered how the small elf could hold them all without risking collapse under the mountain.

"Master Peverell sir, these books are the ones that were rated highest from the former Peverells. Zabbey's book says so," Zabbey waved a weird, very old and in poor condition book around in his right hand; presumably, Zabbey's book as the elf had called it.

Curious about all of them, Harry took a seat at the table where they'd been deposited - minus Zabbey's book which the elf still clutched protectively - and began his inquiries.

"What exactly is that book your holding about? Do these blank ones have any information as to what they contain?" Harry wasn't terribly impressed upon further viewing of the books Zabbey had gotten.

Half of them had no title or highly-faded text that made it unreadable, those that didn't, looked like they'd come from varying times with no sense of relation between them. Altogether, Harry wasn't overly impressed thus far, though he hoped if this was considered the best of what House Peverell had to offer, that the initial looks were deceiving.

Zabbey answered his second question first.

"Zabbey can tell you what book contains what information, but Zabbey can not help Master Peverell perform the spells inside. Zabbey's book is… it's Zabbey's book! Zabbey's father Zabbey gave it to him, and Zabbey's father Zabbey passed it down to him!" Zabbey rubbed the book in his hand with his currently free one, adding to Harry that "Zabbey's book contains what other Master Peverell's found helpful and the edits they made within them."

Harry knew then that he'd have to be checking that book for any tips it contained later on if any, but for right now, he could afford to delve deep into the dozens of books that lay before him. Honestly, just thinking about the information they contained, especially after Zabbey said the previous Lords had made edits, had Harry's brain ready for some serious studying that even Elaine would be hard-pressed to hype him for.

He'd start with the one that featured curse thrice in the title too, his victory over Abraxas hadn't been as clean as he'd have preferred, and the fact that Abraxas had to limit himself in regards to what he could cast was worrying too. Harry wasn't sure he'd win that fight a second time if there were no rules - that needed to be fixed before he could take on the likes of Cade, Daphne or, Merlin forbid, Elaine.

Merlin's beard.

He thought Yaxley's book had been helpful with all the utility spells he'd learned, Slytherin's journal more so due to the rarity of the spells within it, but reading the book that he'd chosen from the past filled with older variants of spells or ones that have fallen out of usage over time had been near mind-numbing in the wording but the spells he'd picked out had been more useful than he had thought.

One was similar to that of electricity, supposedly causing a tingling sensation that made muscle contractions in the localised area where it hit the target, causing pain and loss of control of that area.

Another was meant to cause cataracts over the eyes - how, Harry didn't know and didn't particularly care to find out - though they weren't permanent, thankfully.

Darker than the previous two was one that showed no obvious signs of effect, though over time the person would come to realise they couldn't pass waste; the spell paralysed the stomach and bowels, ceasing all movement of them until the person eventually passed away in a very morbid way.

These spells, while a great deal seemed to be offensively focused, weren't the only ones he'd found.

One such spell that proved very light-sided acted as a local-numbing agent. While incredibly similar to the earlier one he'd learned about that caused pain, loss of function and left lasting effects over a day or two, this one was meant for medical usage. When he'd read the description along with notes from various past readers from House Peverell, he'd learned that the spell numbs roughly half a limb or a quarter of the torso, leaving whatever follow-up care is needed to be done without the need of potions or muggle medicines.

Another he'd found that was similarly helpful - though not medical in nature - was something that assisted hearing. In its description, it was commonly referenced as a spell used on the elderly members of the family and seemed to be shared fairly frequently with close allies or families that'd married into House Peverell.

All in all, his first day having been spent meandering around the property before coming to read for nearly ten hours in the Peverell library had been time spent incredibly well. Harry only hoped his studying going forward would be as simple as this, though with how Zabbey sort of nudged him towards the book he'd chosen and the simplicity of the casting therein, he doubted that.

Still, with any luck, the next few books wouldn't be all that horrible to glean information from.

"Zabbey," Harry called out, pushing aside the book he'd gotten roughly halfway through and standing up for the first time this evening.

"Master Peverell sir?" Zabbey didn't pop in, the elf's head simply popped from around a bookshelf while a myriad of tome's and newer looking books floated around him.

"I'm finished for this evening, I'd just like to ask that you leave the books on the table until I've had the chance to read them all and take the appropriate notes. If I could give you a task, in addition, I'd ask that you use your book to put them in order of which are easier to learn and which are harder - could you do that for me?"

Zabbey shuffled his feet about and looked away from Harry, "Zabbey doesn't understand, Master Peverell sir. Zabbey's sorry!"

Harry shook his head, "Don't apologise, I suppose I didn't explain it well enough. Could you use 'Zabbey's book' and determine which of the books on the table in front of me were read faster, deemed less difficult or otherwise seemed to be read first by the former Lord Peverell's along with their family? This current one, the one you'd helped me start with, was incredibly easy to understand and straightforward, if a bit archaic in writing; more like that would be wonderful, Zabbey."

Understanding or the realisation that his book could help him more so than Harry's words, Zabbey nodded a few times.

"Zabbey can be doing that for Master Peverell sir… will Master Peverell be returning to Zabbey tomorrow?"

Harry responded initially with a nod before following it up with words, "Yes, I'll be coming back to finish the book I've started and hopefully, with your help, we'll find the next one to start. Thank you for all the help today, Zabbey, I can't overstate how beneficial you've been."

Zabbey's butler-like bearing seemed to shatter to some degree when he nodded as energetically as Laddey typically did, his doing so along with his wide smile going so far as to make one of the books suspended in the air behind him dip a foot lower than it'd been.

With that, Harry exited the library on foot, stretching as he did so, and found himself wandering throughout the halls of his manor. Tomorrow or the day after he'd be receiving the responses from Daphne's family and Elaine now that he'd had Laddey do whatever it was that would let their owls find him in addition to the list from the garden.

All of that in addition to his studying would sap the energy from him, he knew that - maybe Cadry or Goopy could send him some coffee or tea to help - but making massive amounts of progress over the Christmas break was necessary, as was learning about his family… that was something else he needed to do. Harry would have to speak with Laddey or Zabbey on the morrow, finding a wall like in Sirius' home with the family tree would be great, at the very least he'd love a familial book with the history of his own house so he didn't bumble around any longer.

He also needed to figure out a way that made his 'family' disappear or continue to avoid the limelight, otherwise, as time went by, people would get suspicious as to their absence. Harry had said his family was incredibly small, so he didn't need to make that much up if they left or suddenly passed; the latter struck a bit too close to home for him to want to use though.

Sighing and getting the start of a headache at all he still had left to do going forward, Harry finally called for Laddey to bring him off to bed.

Only once he was in new pyjamas and tucked under the warm blankets did he finally feel the exhaustion from all the walking of his massive property along with the thousands of words he'd read hit him.

December 19, 1943

Sunday Afternoon

When Harry woke the following early afternoon, he did so to breakfast in bed by means of a patiently waiting Laddey who had kept his food warm. Harry wasn't exactly sure how his chief elf did it, but the food that'd been prepared earlier for him consisting of pancakes, bacon, eggs, toast and just about anything else he could want, tasted just as fresh as it ever did. Without a doubt, he wouldn't regret waking up to such quantity and quality of food from that day onwards, but he knew if he did that too often without exercising his body over the holiday he'd end up nearly the same size as Dudley, Crabbe or Goyle; he wasn't quite ready for that lifestyle choice just yet, but maybe once Elaine was handled and the world wasn't at risk of imminent destruction he'd take a year of eating horribly while lazing around the Peverell Manor… it'd certainly be well deserved if he pulled off the self-given task.

While he was eating the wonderfully prepared breakfast, Laddey alerted him about an incursion made by a group of gnomes wanting to settle on his property. Rot ran them off easily enough with no damage to the elf's health or the Peverell's land, though no reason other than their wanting to settle an underused meadow was heard - Harry figured that was probably due to Rot's personality more than a lack of willingness to speak on the Gnome's behalf. In addition to that, Elaine's response had already found him with Laddey having dropped it off on his bedside table; her owl that she'd sent to drop it off was currently resting in the owlery at the furthest edge of his home too, waiting for his response before it flew off most likely.

Finally, the last noteworthy event that occurred during his sleeping was a muggle man wearing a suit with two behind him wearing 'weird circular metal hats' as Laddey relayed from Rot. Harry presumed they were likely contractors, and considering Peverell mansion owned far more land than they used, he wasn't too worried if the Muggle proprietors sidled up to the property line… so long as the Muggles knew of it.

Maybe that was something he'd need to look into with the Ministry or Gringotts, the last thing he needed was his home being found by a group of Muggles, they'd be likely to nosy around the place.

Harry contemplated the lattermost concern the most as he ate, only switching his attention to Elaine's letter once he was finished eating and Laddey cleared the area of his aftermath.

Ripping it open - after using one of Yaxley's given spells to check it for anything unsavoury - he started from the top.

' My beloved,

Your agreeing to visit me, regardless of not committing to time nor date, leaves me very joyous. I await your arrival anxiously and cannot understate the happiness I feel towards your agreeing to come. Unaware of the gifts you've purchased for me as I am, there's not a shred of doubt within that makes me think they'll be anything less than perfect considering who they've been sent from.

I do so hope the gifts I've purchased for you will be as appreciated and wonderful as yours are to me - I shan't open them until you're beside me either, the biggest pleasure comes from the expression once the gift is finally unravelled.

Yours eternally,

Elaine'

Harry blinked a few times, especially with her closing remark, and sat in silence for nearly five minutes. All the while, his thoughts were wholly focused on the obsession she'd shown in her writing along with the overall lovey nature she'd gone with.

He wasn't under any grand illusion that Elaine didn't actively lust for him, but lust and love were entirely different as far as he was concerned, though they needn't be mutually exclusive from how he'd seen some of the Seventh Years going at it. Elaine's was, or at least to the best of knowledge it was - rarely did they converse outside of educational topics or her weirder tangents on how he was 'interesting' and 'unique'. Of course, there was the polite conversation they'd shared over Hogsmeade and the weirder one about something called the Deathly Hallows that he still hadn't gotten around to learning about.

Overall, he felt something weird in his stomach from the tone of the letter, it was almost enough to make him rethink entirely his agreeing to visit, but he wouldn't do that. Elaine's hope was filled with the possibilities that he'd gleam her motives, if not outright find them out in their entirety. Such chances for rewards were well worth the risk so long as she didn't kill him, which he knew she wouldn't.

Shaking himself and ridding the feelings he had towards the letter, he briefly wondered where the response from House Oleander was, considering how quickly Elaine's had come. Such a thought raced across his mind only once when he figured they were probably discussing the response they'd send and his own writing before sending one of their own, House Oleander not being in love with him likely helped their not expediting a response.

"Master Peverell sir?"

Laddey's voice alerted him to the elf's presence standing beside his bed, the pop that should've signalled the arrival had been something Harry missed during his in-depth inward thinking.

"Yes, Laddey?"

"Does Master Peverell sir remember that he gave the Mister Slughorn permission to call on Laddey?" Laddey was hopping slightly from one foot to the other, he didn't seem too worried, but a bout of frayed nerves was easily read.

"Yes, Professor Slughorn and I needed our letters hand-delivered since I hadn't wanted him finding me with an owl. Why do you ask?" Harry could only figure the man had attempted calling Laddey again, but with the elf belonging to House Peverell, the creature was under no obligation to answer as if it were Harry calling out.

"Laddey could feel the Mister Slughorn calling to him - should Laddey be going to see what Mister Slughorn wants or should Laddey stay here?" Laddey's tone relayed the conflicted, putout nature from waiting to answer a call; Harry figured it was due to how the house-elves were raised to answer anyone given authority, but the question was fair.

Did he want Laddey going to answer the abrupt, undiscussed summons from his Hogwarts Professor?

Maybe.

Harry was conflicted on how he should respond. On one hand, Professor Slughorn wasn't shy in masking his intentions of building up the more prominent children at Hogwarts, coveting them as if they were prizes to be had while simultaneously furthering his ambitions that Harry didn't quite fully understand yet. Said man's love for Elaine was another factor that didn't particularly endear him to Harry all that much.

On the other hand, Potentially having Slughorn in his corner or at least fostering a bond that wouldn't leave him on the outside looking in would be splendid; he'd just need to be careful with what he told the man as well as how he acted around him. Speak too much and the risk of letting something slip that he shouldn't would be like flipping a Galleon. Too little, and well, his distrust wouldn't be kept as something minor.

He'd have to walk the line - work with Professor Slughorn to further his own ambitions while ensuring the man wasn't aware of anything overly damaging to his person. So long as he could do that well enough, he'd have someone that could act as a tutor and seemed very educated in the political games while Slughorn could say he's an ally of House Peverell as well as a tutor for the heir of it.

If Harry learned anything from their conversations and the way the man acted, that'd be very well worth it to someone like Slughorn.

"Answer and see what he'd like, Laddey. Do be careful please, and return within the next ten minutes so I know all's fine," Harry couldn't help but treat the elf as if he were Dobby, both shared a similar level of energy and personality, they even looked fairly similar! Some of that care could come from not wanting anyone harmed on his behalf too, though he'd have to get over that before too much more time passed thanks to Riddle.

"Yes Master Peverell sir!" Laddey responded with a deep exhale; his relief was as easily visible as the nerves he'd had earlier, and with a pop, the elf was gone from his room.

Harry stretched his arms over his head and rolled out of bed, slipping on a pair of pyjama pants along with a new nightshirt for another day of comfortable dressing as he meandered around the property until he ultimately ended up back in the library to resume his reading of the first of many books designated important.

"Momsey."

Harry called out the caregiving elf once he was dressed and sitting on the edge of his bed, a new thought having run through him.

One pop later and the always happily smiling elf was looking at him with her wide, expressive eyes - he hadn't noticed before the few freckles she had due to the dimly lit level Peverell Manor had, but looking more closely he took in the unique look to her.

His staring was met with a shy expression coming over the elf that was anything but with her requests for him having children. Unlike her, however, he'd have mercy and ask her a couple of questions he'd called her for.

"Momsey, are you able to watch our guests closely? For instance, say I invited a few over and didn't want them wandering around, but they needed to go searching for the loo, could you ensure there were no risks of anything being taken or viewed that shouldn't be?" Harry didn't necessarily distrust the people he'd come to view as friends, more so he rationalised that they'd be more apt to listen to Riddle having them snoop than worry about him doing anything hostile if they were found in the wrong room. An easy enough remedy would be having the staff shadow them, and considering there'd only be three or four he'd invite over to start with this holiday, he had enough elves up to the job.

"Of course Master Peverell! Momsey was trained to keep an eye on up to a dozen young ones at once! A few guests wouldn't be anything for Momsey to care for!"

Harry didn't think Momsey fully understood what he meant, but the fact she could watch that many people wasn't lost to him - it did make him wonder why Voldemort hadn't used house-elves in his time though, or if he had, why such a thing hadn't been widely known. For all purposes, the friendly creatures seemed willing to serve, happy to do so and more intelligent than most gave them credit for.

"Wicked Momsey, I promise so long as you make sure nobody goes snooping that I'll have a few kids… eventually," Harry wasn't sure how long he had here, but if everything went according to plan and five years passed from current times, a few children wouldn't be such a bad thing.

Currently, having children was a faraway thought; the main one was continuing the learning of spells from the Peverell library, preparing himself for having guests, visiting other families, and most importantly, finally starting his curtailing of Riddle's influence once the Christmas holiday was over.