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Chapter 317 - Chapter 317

Once Hermione had managed to calm down from finding out she now had her own personal elf - 'And wasn't Harrison James 'Naffing' Potter going to be paying for that little surprise, later,' thought Hermione - Harry called on Willy to give them a tour of the manor.

What they discovered was the manor couldn't really be compared with Longbottom Hall as the two were different types of buildings. Where Longbottom Hall had an attic, a resident's floor, a main floor and a basement, all on a larger footprint; Pottermore had a half-attic quarter-owlery quarter-astronomy cum sun deck, a resident's floor, a guest's floor, the main floor and a half-basement quarter-potions lab quarter-duelling piste floor, on a smaller footprint. The main floor also had a 'single floor wing' where the ceiling was about one and a half floors higher than normal; which held a ballroom cum reception room, formal dining room and formal office for the Head of House.

One thing that was immediately apparent, even in the welcoming parlour, everything was 'high class high quality'. From the quality of the ceiling fixtures all the way down to the flooring, everything screamed 'old money'; and a lot of it.

While it didn't mean all that much to Harry, as money was not something he placed high value in, it was clear the Grangers were stunned by what they saw; even Hermione.

While walking from one room to another with Hermione's arm tucked in his elbow, from behind he heard Wendell mutter to Monica, "This all must have cost a bloody fortune!"

He heard Monica just as quietly reply, "It's only occurring to you, now, that your daughter is marrying into old money?"

He didn't hear the rest.

During the tour - while the Grangers were taking a careful look through the Head of House's, Harry's, office - Harry had to quietly tell Willy not to take them to the library until last. The elf complied.

The library ended up being across two floors that split with an internal stair passing up through an open stairwell in the middle of the room. It could be accessed through matching double doors from both the main floor and the guest's floor.

It was huge; far bigger, by the sounds of it, than even the one at Grimmauld Place. But, according to Hermione, on about par with the one at Longbottom Hall.

When Hermione looked about to dash in and start taking books, Harry had to grab her and remind her he didn't know which books she could and could not touch yet.

"I'll have Willy make sure all the 'Potter's Only' and otherwise cursed books are moved to the second floor," he said. "That way, you'll know you'll be safe to touch the books on this floor until I can do something about the curses on the others."

With a sigh of frustration, Hermione nodded and said, "Thank you, Harry."

Once the tour inside was done, Willy took them outside to look at the grounds. They were extensive.

Out the back, Harry noticed a Quidditch pitch in the distance and, indicating it, asked Willy, "Is that mine?"

"Yes, Master Harry," he replied. "Master James's grandfather, Master Fleamont, put it in."

"My lands extend all the way out there?"

"And quite a ways beyond, Master Harry," he replied. "Pottermore sits on over one hundred acres."

Harry frowned and said, "That's a lot. What is done with it all?"

"Most of the land has been left as nature intended, Master Harry," replied the elf. "Only the middle twenty acres or so has been cultured. Even then, it's only the inside seven acres that is actually maintained. That is, the land down to and including the Quidditch pitch and the lands around the manor that have been turned to gardens.

"For generations, the Potter family has refused to do anything with the rest of the land, as they want it to act as a natural barrier to the encroaching muggles."

Harry nodded and muttered, "Makes sense. I think I'll keep with that concept."

_‗_

―==(oIo)==―

ˇ

Back inside and Willy escorted them to the informal/breakfast table just off the kitchen.

He indicated the table of eight and said, "Pinty and Raggy have prepared a lunch for you all. We hope you'll stay to enjoy it before leaving again."

Glancing to the Grangers, who didn't seem to have a choice either way, Harry shrugged and said, "Why not. Would you mind letting our two aurors know they should come in here for lunch? As you suspected, we'll leave again shortly afterwards."

As Harry was about to sit to the side, Willy almost pushed him to the head of the table. "Master Harry as Lord must be sittings at the head of the table."

As Harry started to comply, he turned back to see Betsy doing the same with Hermione, forcing her to the other end. "Sorry," he said. "I'll accede to your wishes; but, only this once.

"I'll sit at the head of the table for formal events, but not for informal things such as this. Alright?"

"Yes, Master Harry. Of course, Master Harry," replied the elf.

Once they were all sitting, with even the aurors being somewhat unwilling to refuse the elves, lunch was served. And it was a veritable feast.

Apparently, Dobby had already advised the Potter elves - other Potter elves - of both Harry's and the Grangers' preferences for food. There was very little that didn't meet the criteria.

_‗_

―==(oIo)==―

ˇ

By early to mid afternoon they'd left Pottermore and returned to the Granger residence. As soon as they did, Harry was heading up to gather writing equipment so he could write notes to be delivered to Sirius, Remus, Andi and Ted about the floo address and password for Pottermore.

However, before he had a chance to do so, Wendell asked him to join him in his office.

Walking in, Wendell indicated the occasional chairs for Harry to sit in one while he sat in the other.

Once he was comfortable, Harry could see his future father-in-bond was thinking about what he wanted to say and was thinking of the right words to say it.

Harry just waited the man out, as he knew he needed the time. That, at least, he could empathise.

"Lord Potter―" he eventually said.

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