Lucius chuckled. "It is in one of the girls' dormitories then. They have anti-summoning charms built into them, as they also have charms to prevent young gentlemen from entering the young ladies' dorm rooms. The wards were set up to prevent said young gentlemen from summoning the ladies' underwear."
Harry pulled a face. "People actually think to do that? That's just distasteful." He said with a grimace.
"Yes, but I will have the girls' dormitories searched. Madam Portist, perhaps you could do the honours, with Professor McGonagall as a school representative, of course." Lucius said. "If we could do that now, the sooner that this is all done with, the better."
Harry had to subtly suck in his bottom lip and bite on it to keep away his grin. He was almost bouncing as he walked alongside his father and the other governors. They picked up Professor McGonagall from her office and they went into the Gryffindor common room, where only a few students were lingering, watching them curiously, including a group of people, two of whom had bandaged hands.
The two women went up to the girls' dormitories and the two boys looked at each other nervously. Harry smiled. Lucius was right, his beloved Firebolt was inside the girls' dormitories and from the horrified, sickly look on the face of a certain bushy-haired girl, he knew whose trunk it would be found in too.
He wished he'd known about the anti-summoning charms on the girls' dormitories before, he might have linked it together a little sooner and had his Firebolt back earlier, but as long as he did get his broom back, he didn't care. "Have you been well?" Lucius asked him quietly, moving them both a little away from the main group of governors.
"Yes, I have been fine. A little stressed because of everything that has been going on here, but my school work is going well, Draco and Blaise are helping me a lot."
"I hope they aren't doing your work for you." Lucius said with a raised eyebrow.
Harry laughed softly. "No. Draco wouldn't allow me to slack off even if I did ask, he's just helping me a lot and he reads through everything I write for me. He actually crossed out half of my Ancient Runes essay two days ago and told me that I had to write it again because I'm a shame to the family."
Lucius' mouth twitched into a smile and Harry smiled back.
"I also have a gift for my special someone. I was given the most beautiful dragonhide and solid silver bracelet." Harry said, showing his wrist, with said bracelet wrapped around it, to Lucius. "So I ordered something special to be commissioned for him, it came this morning."
"I hope that it is both tasteful and appropriate."
"It's cuff links." Harry said with a frown. "Do you think that he won't like them? I didn't want to get him a bracelet or a necklace because of his severe weight loss, they wouldn't fit him anymore once he puts that weight back on and I didn't want him to have anything that physically reminds him of how much damage that place did to him once he's better."
"That is very thoughtful and considerate of you, I'm proud of you for thinking of such things. You've also been paying attention; you overheard that he likes good quality, custom cuff links, didn't you?"
"Maybe." Harry said with a grin. "I miss him." "You'll see him again soon, you'll be coming back home for Christmas. Your mother and I have planned to invite the four of them over as our seasonal guests."
Harry groaned. "Can't you knock the one of them off? I know I'll end up saying or doing something."
"You will not if you plan to be sitting comfortably over the holidays." Lucius warned him seriously.
"But him!" Harry whined. He felt the tell-tale smack of the familiar hex on the back of his head. Lucius could cast that hex wandlessly and wordlessly.
He pouted but he remained silent. "I am looking forward to coming home." He said quietly.
"I admit, the house has been quiet since you left. Draco is a quiet boy anyway; you brought so much noise to the manor." Harry laughed. "Draco's only silent when he doesn't have someone to clash with."
"As long as you both don't come home and start biting at one another like rabid dogs again."
"We've been getting along better at school, but the Quidditch season is only just about to start, Gryffindor versus Slytherin is the first game of the season and it's scheduled for only a little over a month before Christmas. Naturally, Gryffindor is going to win, so Draco will be in a bit of a mood I expect when I catch the snitch from under his nose."
Lucius' mouth twitched with the beginnings of a smile. "Don't be too hard on him."
"There is no mercy in Quidditch." Harry said passionately.
"Indeed."
Harry snapped his head to the side and he stood on his tiptoes when he heard the two women coming back down the dormitory stairs and he was practically bouncing on his toes to see if they had his beloved Firebolt with them. He grinned when he caught sight of it, but was ultimately dismayed when he realised the hideous state that the tail was in.
He let out a horrified cry and rushed to seize it from Professor McGonagall and check the handle for any damage. Someone had even attempted to scratch out the golden licence numbers that proved that the broom was his.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Do you enjoy reading? Visit my site on Tiendup! There you will find the advanced chapter in PDF format, ready for your convenience.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
https://fictiontopia.tiendup.com/