Ignoring him, Hermione pulled away from Sirius and said, "I'll get the aurors."
"As you said, Miss Granger," said 'Henrietta', walking in. "We're here and ready, too."
Rising, Harry sighed again and said, "Alright. Let's get this torture over and done with."
"In a tick," said Flamebright. "First, we're putting a glamour over you."
"No need," said Sirius. "I brought my necklace." And held up the rune-stone-on-cord necklace he'd used leading up to his trial.
He slipped it over Harry's head, as Harry guided it under his shirt. He never felt the change but Hermione's gasp of surprise told him it was working.
"How do I look?" he asked.
"Different, but not too different," she replied. "Dark brown hair, rather than black; blue eyes with green fleck, rather than startling green; your scar's gone; but just about everything else is the same."
"That's deliberate," said Sirius, looking at Harry. "I tuned it to only change just enough so you no longer looked like a close relative of 'Harry Potter'. Everything else needed to be the same so, when you're getting fitted for robes in Madam Malkin's, the measurements will be right."
Flamebright muttered, "Those should be illegal."
"It's a family heirloom," said Sirius. "Therefore, outside the scope of any law that would be against it."
Flamebright just gave a harrumph and left it.
Turning back to Harry, Sirius said, "For the duration of this excursion, your name is 'Hadrian'. Got it?"
"Yeah, got it," replied Harry.
"Clever," said Hermione. "Close enough to his true name without people wondering."
Surprising Harry, who expected side-along apparation, they were portkeyed from just inside the front gate to the top of the Alley.
_‗_
―==(oIo)==―
ˇ
Neville was sitting in his room at his personal desk drafting a letter to Harry to apologise, trying to find the right words, when Dobby popped in and quietly handed him a letter.
"From Harry?" Neville asked.
"Yes, Mister Neville, Sir."
Dobby popped away again before Neville could even thank him.
As quick as Neville read it he almost slumped back in his seat in relief. Harry knew how he must've felt and wrote him to say he was okay with it.
'Thank Merlin!' he thought.
Then he started to think about Harry's suggestion he go to the Wizengamot meeting in the morning. He'd already planned to, no matter what his grandmother said, but he'd also given him another way he could get there without using the floo - just in case his grandmother had blocked it.
'He remembers me telling him she used to do that when I was younger,' he mused. 'Thankfully, she no longer does it. But, damn, Harry! That you remembered something I told you back in first year...'
At that moment he knew his grandmother was at the Ministry. She'd said something about going to the offices of the Wizengamot Administration Services to change something on the next day's 'docket' - whatever that was. And Neville was quite happy to see her go.
_‗_
―==(oIo)==―
ˇ
In Madam Malkin's, Harry was going through the 'indignity' of being measured-up for new robes with Hermione and the young female auror watching. At least he wasn't alone, though. Sirius was standing on his own measuring pedestal, right alongside, going through his own uncomfortable moment.
'At least the two male-aurors are outside,' he thought with a sigh. 'Then again, maybe they have the same aversion to clothes shops that I do.'
Hermione and Henrietta were almost negligently bickering over what colours he should wear. He thought the young auror was just doing it to rile Hermione a bit, because she liked to tease.
"One set in black with green trim," said Hermione. "It's the colour that best suits him."
"And one in deep, deep red with gold piping," added Henrietta.
"Hadrian is not a Gryffindor, Henri'," Hermione firmly stated.
"Just for contrast, dear," said the auror.
Harry was thankful all three aurors were not wearing their auror robes for this trip, because they'd have definitely stood out. It would be a sign saying, 'Hey, look here! It's Harry Potter wearing a disguise!'
It was also what he'd told them before they agreed to take the damned robes off and transfigure them to something 'civilian'. That was when they finally understood. Morons.
Harry asked, "And what colours should Lord Black have, ladies." Anything to change the subject from him. His godfather could look after himself.
"Black with silver highlights for the more formal," said Henrietta, right away.
"Agreed," said Hermione. "And a mid grey to dark grey with black trim for the more... 'businessy'... occasions. Add some nice fine black filigree to match the piping."
"Damn, girl!" exclaimed Henrietta. "That would look fan-tas-tic!"
Of course, Sirius was all for that; especially if it was a young and hot looking witch who thought it - Henrietta, of course; not Hermione. That would be wrong. He was happy to buy both. And, because he did, he also bought what the girls recommended for Harry, too."
Finally free of the measuring pedestal, Harry was told by Madam Malkin the clothes would be ready in a few hours.
Sirius spoke up and said, "I'll send a house elf along to collect them in four hours then; in case you come across a problem or two."
"That would be fine, Lord Black," she replied with a nod.
_‗_
―==(oIo)==―
ˇ
At the same time and at the Ministry, Longbottom was just walking out of the WAS offices. She'd been in there to add an addendum to the next day's proceedings. She fully intended to have the first item of business, even before Black's ridiculous trial, the Wizengamot forcing the Potter boy to release the information regarding the location of her son and his wife.
She'd no sooner reached the lifts to head back out when an inter-office memo in the form of a flying parchment aeroplane flew by. She never noticed the parchment aeroplane as there were constantly hundreds of the things during Ministry office hours, flying throughout the building. People experienced with the place no longer paid them any attention unless one landed on their desk, which meant it was for them. However, this one was a memo from the witch responsible for writing up the agenda for the Wizengamot, to 'Acting Madam Minister Amelia Bones' informing her of the change. As such and as the WAS was on the same floor as the DMLE, it never even had to enter the lift with Rosier.
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