At the Burrow, Molly's reaction to the Quibbler was as explosive as any of the fireworks Fred and George had ever cobbled together - she certainly reached a volume of noise the twins could only dream of emulating.
"This is a scandal, how dare they say these things about Albus. Harry can't leave Britain, that poor boy is receiving bad advice. We need to send him a letter - no, we need to meet in person…"
Arthur let Molly rant for a few more minutes but, with no let up in sight, he eventually had to take action. He lifted his now empty breakfast plate before slamming it back down on the table with enough force to break the crockery. More importantly however, it shut Molly up.
Before she could start again, Arthur got right to the heart of the matter. "Molly, as head of the Weasley family, you will answer me honestly and wholly. Did you cast a spell on Ginny when we met her in the station. If so, I demand to know what it was. The very future of our family rests on those answers, lie to me and the family magic will cast you out."
With those words, and the intensity of Arthur's glare, Molly forgot all about everything else happening in the world and concentrated on answering her husband truthfully. One slip could see her cast from the family, and she would demand to discover why shortly, but she could make no mistakes here.
"I saw Ginny looking heartbroken at Harry standing with his arm around Hermione, I tried to help our daughter. I cast a spell on her to increase her self-confidence. Ginny was holidaying with the boy she's had a crush on since she was seven, I just tried to give her a little helping hand. Ginny was mortified that first summer when she couldn't even speak to Harry, and never mention her elbow ending up in the butter dish at the boy's first breakfast here. She was so in awe of Harry Potter, the boy never got to see the real Ginny Weasley. I tried to help her with that, what mother wouldn't do their best for their children. Now Arthur, I think it's time I had some answers from you…"
Instead of answers, Molly watched as her husband shed tears before breaking down in front of her. "That's what I thought, that's what I hoped for. Oh Molly, we won't lose our family after all."
Just mentioning losing their family had Molly reaching for her wand. "Who's trying to harm my babies?"
Rather than answer her, Arthur moved to the floo and contacted Amelia. Molly would be questioned under truth serum and Arthur thought it wouldn't be the worst idea in the world to have a few aurors in the Burrow when she discovered Ginny was staying in Italy. He might also need those aurors present when Arthur revealed he had dinner with Ginny and four of their sons last night.
.....
Reading the Quibbler was also life-changing for Jillian Green, however it was entirely different reasons from most of magical Britain that saw the young witch heading to Gringotts. The lines for registering interest in the Potter Institute were massive, and suited Jillian. She was able to see a teller much quicker than expected, and also discovered the goblin who handled their account was available to meet with her too.
After waiting around twenty minutes, Jillian was shown into an office she was well used to. Her account manager was there, but so was another goblin who was clearly further up the food chain than Arteck had reached.
"Miss Green, I would like to say it's nice to see you but I fear I know why you are visiting today."
"Arteck, I would like to know how the Malfoy and Parkinson deaths - as well as the Blood Feud - will affect the orphanage. You know better than I how tight our finances are. Losing both their monthly contributions would put us in severe financial trouble."
"I'm afraid it's worse than you know, Miss Green. Not only have you lost both those small contributions, another six families who also publically supported the orphanage have fled the country. In fact, our sources at the Ministry tell us there might be another four children heading in your direction. Some of those families left young daughters behind. With no gold to arrange advantageous marriages in their futures, the families abandoned them to their fate."
Arteck had to send for refreshments as the witch sitting in front of him appeared ready to pass out. After taking a sip of whatever she had been offered, Jillian couldn't stop the tears flowing as she asked the all-important question. "What do we do now? The orphanage survives from month to month. We have no savings but bills will still need paid and the children must be fed."
It was then the other goblin spoke. "Miss Green, I'm afraid your orphanage has been caught in the middle of a power struggle. Through no fault of you or your establishment, the majority of your funds have suddenly dried up. I know the people involved here and they would never deliberately set out to harm your establishment. This has been an oversight, one your prompt action gives us time to try and avert this situation becoming a disaster."
Jillian perked up at hearing this. The orphanage was her life, she'd been there since being left on the doorstep as a baby. The twenty-seven years that had passed since that fateful night had seen a young Jillian volunteering to help as soon as she was old enough to be helpful. She now ran the orphanage, although there wasn't exactly a lot of competition for the job. While she worked extremely hard and gave her best for the orphanage, she knew better than anyone outside possibly the two goblins in this office with her, there was no room in their budget to pay wages to a manager. Not only was the orphanage home to all the children in her care, if it closed she had nowhere else to go either - nor any gold to take her there if she did.
This Goblin just offered Jillian the one thing she didn't have moments ago - hope.
.....
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