Hiding Hope, Chapter One

Harry was asleep in his room above The Leaky Caldron. As a train passed, the whole room vibrated, causing his glasses along with a folded piece of parchment to fall from the night stand next to the bed. The parchment fell open reveling a letter.

Dear Mr. Potter,

Your presence is requested at the Ministry of Magic on August 1st. I wish to discuss with you your plans for the future.

Professor McGonagall informs me that you have expressed interest in becoming an Auror under the Ministry's Department of Magical Law Enforcement. Nothing would make me happier then to have you with us. It is this particular point that I would wish to speak to you about.

I have worked out with Professor McGonagall a new program to alleviate educational discrepancies created by the events of the last year. It is my hope that you would return in some capacity to Hogwarts in order to complete your education.

Please send a response at your earliest convenience.

Sincerely,

Kingsley Shacklebolt

Acting Minister of Magic

Harry had received the letter almost the moment he arrived at the Leaky Caldron. It had excited him very much, the prospect of becoming an Auror as well as returning to Hogwarts. He had missed his four poster bed in the Gryffindor Tower so very much.

He did not like the idea of hiding, though. Since the fight at Hogwarts the previous month, he was forced into hiding. The Wesley's Burrow had been burned to the ground. The Hog's Head Pub in Hogsmeade almost suffered a similar end only a few days prior. It seemed that the remaining Death Eaters were attacking anyplace that Harry might be.

Kingsley sent Harry to The Leaky Cauldron soon after the Burrow was attacked.

"You have done quite enough for the Wizarding World at the moment," Kingsley had told him when Harry insisted on continuing to fight, "I know these next few weeks will be hard on you, but I need you safe. I will do my best to keep you in contact with the Weasleys and Miss Granger." With that, he left.

Harry wanted to be angry with Kingsley, but true to his word, each morning an owl delivered The Quibbler along with small bundle of letters. The Quibbler was edited by Xenophilius Lovegood, the father of Luna Lovegood, a friend of Harry's from school. The Ministry had been sending information exclusively since the death of Tom Riddle known as Lord Voltamort. Many of the Editors of the Daily Prophet were still under the Imperius curse, or on the run. So, the Ministry helped Mr. Lovegood cover important news events, deliver the magazine, and occasionally edit his articles such as "The Fall of Voltamort: How it has Affected Native Nargle Populations" and "The Deathly Hallows: Harry Potter the Master of Death?". Harry had a good laugh when Mr. Lovegood had tried to get an interview with Harry about them. Kingsley had almost cursed him when he showed up at the Leaky Caldron and asked Tom the Barkeep to interview Harry for the piece.

Ron, Hermione and Ginny never failed to send letters to Harry every day. Neville, Luna, Hagrid, and Mrs. Weasley would occasionally write him too.

The last letter he received from Ginny was in his hand. He always kept one along with a picture she sent of them that was taken during his sixth year. She had begun sending letters that, when Harry opened them, showed a cloudy version of her that spoke what was written in the letter. Ginny was staying at her Aunt Muriel's house with Mr. and Mrs. Weasley. Harry had not seen any of them in over a month.

Ron was in Australia looking for the Grangers with Hermione. They managed to find them, but Hermione was having difficulty reversing her own memory charm on them. In their latest letters they mentioned that they would be back within a day or two. With this, Harry became very anxious; this was, perhaps, the first time that Harry was not with Ron and Hermione during one of their adventures.

Harry really was beginning to feel like Sirius, locked up in 12 Grimmauld Place before his death. In any case, he would be seeing Kingsley the next morning as per the letter that he was sent. Perhaps he could convince Kingsley to let him visit the Weasley's, just until the semester started at Hogwarts.

A knock at the door stirred Harry from his slumber. He had to search for his glasses, which he almost stepped on, and went to the door.

"Hello Harry, are you hungry?" said a short witch with purple robes and a bright blue cap. This was Edna, one of the maids at the Leaky Cauldron. She had taken an immediate liking to Harry and was in the habit of knocking on his door almost hourly, which would have annoyed Harry if he had anyone else to talk to.

"Yes, actually I'm starved," He checked his pockets for Ginny's picture and his wand then followed Edna out the door.

"Stew and biscuits tonight. Would like anything to drink, Firewhiskey, Pumpkin Juice…?"

"I'd love some butterbeer if you still have any," replied Harry. With that, Edna swished her wand towards a table and it set its self up for Harry. Harry had come to enjoy the food at the Leaky Cauldron but he could never stomach eating as much as he had ever eaten at Hogwarts. He had too much on his mind.

Since his famous defeat of Tom Riddle he felt a strange void in his life. When he had gotten the letter from Kingsley, he thought that the void may be filled with going back to school. But he soon realized that he would never be able to go back to being the naive, innocent, rule-breaking, student he and his friends were before even just last year. The last year he had spent tracking down horcruxes and the Deathly Hallows leading up to his fight with Riddle was the only thing that was important to him. With that gone, he needed something else.

* **

The next day, Harry was up very early. Hagrid, the Game Keeper at Hogwarts, was supposed to escort Harry to the Ministry at noon. He was so excited that he could not eat breakfast. Harry was counting down the hours, then minutes before Hagrid was to arrive. Finally at quarter to noon, Hagrid walked in the door.

"Hello Hagrid!"Said Harry as he jumped from his seat by the fire and ran over to Hagrid and hugged the giant.

"Well hello there 'Arry!" said Hagrid, "You look excited to get outta this place, no offense Tom!" Hagrid looked over to Tom who gave Hagrid a nod and smiled. "Theres been a lot happening both at the Ministry and Hogwarts, come on, I'll tell you on our way to the Ministry.

Hagrid was still not supposed to use magic, so they used the Underground. Hagrid got a lot of stares as they found their seats on the station. As it turns out, Hagrid was going to be readmitted to Hogwarts as a part-time student. But that was not it, McGonagall was going to fill in as Headmistress at Hogwarts, so she would no longer be head of the Gryffindor House. It seemed likely to Hagrid, that Charlie Weasley would be hired as a Professor and would probably become the Head of Gryffindor. Hagrid had more to say to about Harry returning to Hogwarts. It seemed that the Ministry had big plans for people that were not able to attend Hogwarts the previous year. The first year class would include muggle-born witches and wizards that should have been admitted the previous year, it was looking like the biggest year of students that Hogwarts had ever seen. Hagrid then admitted that he was not sure how the school was going to be able to handle all the extra students, especially if people from Harry's year were to return like him.

When they arrived, Harry led the way to the visitor's entrance. The Telephone booth was too small for Hagrid and Harry, so Harry went first. After awhile Hagrid appeared. It seemed to Harry that he must have had a hard time getting into the booth because he was rubbing his head as if he had hit it.

"Hello Mr. Potter, the Mister will be with you in a moment, you can wait with the others in the next room," said a large wizard pointing to a door adjacent to the one he was standing in front of. 'Others'? Harry thought. He opened a door that the wizard had pointed him to and found the small waiting room full of people.

"Harry!" yelled almost everybody in the room. Harry was amazed and excited at the sight of his friends, Ron, Hermione, Ginny, Neville, Luna, George, and Mr. and Mrs. Weasley. Ginny made it to Harry first, planting a very affectionate kiss on his cheek. Harry hugged her and kissed her back. Mrs. Weasley grabed both of them in a large embrace and kissed Harry on the forehead. The next thing he knew, he was almost dog piled by everybody else joining in.

The large wizard walked in a moment later, just as Harry and Ginny began to loosen their embraces on each other.

"The Minister will see you all now," the wizard said, with a stern face that seemed on the verge of cracking a smile.