DROPPING OUT
"James, an owl just arrived from Hogwarts. C'mon in the family room and let's have a look at those grades." Ginny's voice could be heard over the television. One look at his father saw that Harry was beaming at him while James shot back the same kind of look you might have found on a condemned prisoner.
"Dad, er… um, year six might not have been as good as year five, to be blunt and all."
"Nonsense, the only important thing is how many Ordinary Wizarding Levels you've obtained. The rest of it is just for placement purposes. We don't care that, you'll be fine. The important thing to remember is… "
"Harry, this is so exciting. Remember getting your results? How exciting it was?" Ginny was positively joyous and the pride in her voice was unmistakable. James put his hands in his pocket and pushed back a mane of his long and bushy hair. His mom kept on wanting to cut it, but he had resisted mightily. He began wondering if the offer of a shaved head for the rest of the year might save him from what he knew was coming. His dad was eternally cool about these things, but his mom was not so forgiving. She was always after him to stand up straight or brush his hair or clean up his room, but brace as he might, he felt that he was not prepared for the titanic explosion he suspected was coming. James grabbed the owl's left leg and shakily unwrapped the O.W.L. report for his parents to read after he digested the contents. He looked at the formalized parchment with a touch of foreboding and was relieved to see that he had gotten one O.W.L., and that far exceeded his own personal expectations. Handing it to his mom was like pulling the pin on a live grenade; however, and the results were about as he had expected.
"One O.W.L.?! One single O.W.L.!? You've been at Hogwarts for six years now and you only managed to get one O.W.L.! In Muggle Studies no less? Muggle Studies James? What does that make this, like one half of an O.W.L.?" Ginny's voice dripped with anger and sarcasm, not something she usually made a habit of. Both Albus and Lily stepped back in the family room and pretended to watch television, even as Albus turned deftly down the volume so as better to hear the brewing argument.
"I'm sorry mum, I just couldn't seem to get the hang of the tests."
"You don't get the hang of them, you study your arse off and you work your way through it. You can't just take the easy way out all the time.
"Honey, please calm down. Let's try not to make too big of a deal about this." Harry spoke in the most reassuring tones he could muster. Ginny rarely had a moment like this one and it appeared to James like it was all he could do to hold back his temper.
"Too big a deal? Harry, the boy's future is at stake. I know you can pull all kinds of strings at the Ministry, but not with grades like this. Not even you can paint a happy picture out of this mess. If he's lucky, he can get a job assembling pamphlets for the print farm, if not, he'll be supervising house-elves in the kitchen of the Leaky Cauldron. These grades are nothing short of a total disaster."
James was crestfallen. He had tried to pull his grades up in the end, but he found the work to be dreadfully boring. Stifling and soul-draining. Even elemental magic was not all that appealing once he had the basics down, so why bother with the more advanced stuff. Harry looked at James with a measure of love and support that was rare for a disappointed parent.
"He'll be fine. He's our son and we love him for more than his grades, even with a report like this. We'll see about getting him a tutor or look at some remedial classes. Listen, the boy can disapparate at will. Not too many wizards can do that without a lot more training than he's had."
"Well, he can just disapparate up to his room then and not come out for dinner."
"Fine with me, I hate liver anyways." James ran up the stairs as the heated conversation continued below him. Ginny continued on and he could hear her criticism while climbing the stairs.
"Albus and Lily have twice his grades and both of them were some of the youngest prefects ever at Hogwarts. James isn't even trying if he only got one O.W.L.!"
"Sending him up to bed wasn't the answer and you know it! I went to bed without dinner when I was a kid a lot and it was no fun." His tome was sharp and Ginny seemed to pick up on it, but would not relent.
"Harry, I remember how badly the Dursley's treated you, but this is different. He's being punished for a reason. He's in his last year at Hogwarts. Once he graduates, there won't be anymore time left to sort out his future. It'll already have arrived."
The row between the two adults continued and James slammed the door shut with a bang. An hour or so later, James heard a quiet knock at the door. It was Albus and he was holding a couple of large dinner rolls in his hand.
"Sorry mate, I couldn't get any butter or mother would have spotted it. I also have a chocolate frog I managed to find in my secret stash for dessert."
"Thanks Albie, you're a true pal. Sorry I called you a wasp again last week."
"It's okay. The nickname has kind of stuck to me now and I like it. It makes sense really. Wizard Albus Severus Potter. It kind of has a ring about it. I'm going to try and make it my patronus."
"Now that would be a neat trick. Is dad teaching you how to do it?"
"Yes, but on the slyest of the sly. You know mum is not crazy about the more advanced stuff at our ages."
"Weird isn't it? Dad said she used to be the most easy-going woman on the planet when he first met her. I'm not sure what happened, but she worries about everything now."
"Well, she does worry a lot, but the grades were pretty bad James."
"I know, I know. I just can't seem to get the hang of the study, sleep, study some more thing. I just get bored too easily. Don't you think mother is over-reacting just a little bit?"
Albus nodded in agreement. "Yeah, she seems to be buying into the whole status thing now. I think she thinks that your grades are going to embarrass dad at work. That's what she thinks and she never used to worry about stuff like that."
"Well, you two can make up for me at Hogwarts. I'm not certain how long I'll be here anyway."
"What do you mean?" Albus sounded concerned.
"I've discovered something in my studies Albie. Something big out there in the real world and I'm going to go off and search for it."
"What?! When?" Asked Albus.
"In late August. A few weeks from now." James sounded less confident hearing them voiced out loud.
"But that's right before the new semester. Mom and dad will never let you go."
"They can't really stop me now that I've turned seventeen, can they? Besides, dad dropped out of school at exactly the same time in his life."
"You know that was different. He went after Voldemort and all of that jazz. He didn't go off on some wild goose chase."
"How do you know it's wild? You don't even know what it is?" James felt very defensive at the moment. First mom, now it was Albus.
"So tell me then, what is it?"
"Why should I tell you? It's clear you already have your mind made up."
"Well, it sounds like you do too. What if you go off and get hurt or something? It would break mum's heart to see you splinched or cursed in some lonely place where no one could help you. Dad would be mad too. Have you thought about his feelings?"
At this, James looked down at his feet for a moment. "I know dad will worry. That's why I'm going to ask you to tell him that I'm going on an adventure to find something and that I hope to be back by Christmas. Can you do that for me?"
"No way James, no way can I do that. It makes it look like I had all of this advance knowledge about your plans and did nothing to stop you. How do you think that will look to them?"
"Yeah. Good point. Okay, I'll send an owl to them at some point and let them know I'm all right. Can you promise not to tell anyone about my leaving? He looked at Albus with a very serious expression on his face.
"Okay. After you're gone, I'll tell them that you told me, but that I never thought you'd go through with it. They'll believe that for sure."
"You're a great brother Albie. Especially for a wasp." James smiled at his younger brother.
"Just promise me you'll be careful. It's a big world out there."
"I will, I will." James took a huge bite out of a dinner roll while Albus turned and shut the bedroom door quietly behind him. James jumped onto his bed and looked up at the ceiling. It was going to be a big day tomorrow and he sure hoped he could trust the goblins that he was meeting in the city. While the world around him slept, the night passed by slowly for James as he thought about his future. It was late in the morning before he finally fell into a restless sleep.
THE HUNGRY HIPPO
Even though James had heard about his father's adventures his whole life, he did not really believe every single line written and every single detail that had been mentioned. How could he? No one could have done everything his father had claimed to have done, even if they were written about in all of the biographies and history books on his family he had ever seen. Still, James was excited about doing something grand on his own merits. For once, he felt like he was doing something his father might have done in his youth and that gave James a sense of purpose. Leaving the house that morning felt like the first step on a very long journey. He had made his way down into London and looked for the Hippodrome Casino. Once inside its grandiose exterior, he let his eyes adjust a bit to the darkness before continuing. Waiting a moment for the queue in front of him to diminish, James thought about the oddness of meeting a pair of goblins in such a public place.
The simple rule among his friends and fellow students were that goblins were not to be trusted. They did tend to be seriously loyal when they made an oath or a vow that they held dear, but they did not traffic much with humans. As he made his way down the stairs to the underground part of the casino, it struck him that the wizarding world was everywhere in the world, if one knew where to look for it. It was just invisible to those blinded by the dogma of conventionality and undefined by special abilities. For those, the world of magic was more like a curse, a place where people who spoke about witches and warlocks were considered mentally ill. He reached the bottom of the stairs and to his left was the underground door that was detailed in his instructions. To the right was a picture of a gigantic hippo rubbing his belly, centered on the wall. He felt silly speaking to it, but he had no choice if he wanted to get inside their meeting place.
"The Hungry Hippo honors humans with heartwarming hospitality."
At this phrase, the wall slid open and another short set of stairs went down onto a new level and a new flight of stairs before landing at a huge oak door at the bottom. As James stepped forward, the wall behind him re-formed and a set of soft blue lights illuminated the passageway below. James took a deep breath and went down to the door. He knocked three times, with each knock being louder than the previous one. After standing there for a few moments, James heard the bolt being pulled back and a large troll-like creature opened it and examined him with large, bright eyes that instantly narrowed when they focused on him. James could not help feeling that he was not their favorite sort of customer.
"State your business human," said the monstrous creature.
"My name is James Potter and I'm here to see Grackel and Grunkel at their invitation."
The creature snorted a sound of derision, but backed away and gestured to James that he might enter. He half-pointed to a table in the corner where two shabbily dressed goblins were sipping a beverage. He walked over to their table and waited for them to acknowledge him. Swallowing his fear, he was determined not to seem anxious or headstrong. After a brief moment, one of the goblins gave him a short kind of shrug and gestured for him to sit down. James nodded politely and sat down.
"So you're the Potter boy eh? I'm Grackel and this is my brother, Grunkel."
James struggled a moment to keep up with the goblin's tone and style of speaking, but he had practiced a bit before writing to them in the first place. "Thank you for seeing me."
"Kind of young to be consorting in a creature pub, the Grappling Goblin is normally a bit beneath you humans." Grunkel spoke without appearing to expect an answer, but James tried to be friendly and looked him straight in the eye.
"Well, this is the first time I've been in this kind of place." Switching gears for a moment, he said, "I thought this was the Hungry Hippo?"
"It's the Grappling Goblin human." Grunkel countered.
"It's both." Grackel said to a surprised look from James.
"How is that?" James asked. He was trying to understand how it could be both the Hungry Hippo and the Grappling Goblin.
"It's complicated."
"Please try." James implored. After a moment, Grackel shrugged.
"There is a clever spell on the place that makes each individual visitor provide their own unique phrase at the door in order to enter. It goes according to title, species or rank and the bartender consults some kind of crystalline gazing ball in back so that he may provide the proper words. For us, the place is called the Grappling Goblin, as in the 'Grappling Goblin greets Goblins with great goodness.' I've heard a few people refer to it as the Wandering Witch too. All I know for sure is that he gave me the catch phrase I sent to you."
"Very interesting." James wanted to know a lot more about the gazing ball, but he knew this was not the time nor the place for that. His thoughts were interrupted suddenly by Grunkel.
"Let's see the money boy." Grunkel's tone was harsh and unforgiving.
James pulled out a small bag with 100 gold galleons in it. It was money from his trust account that he had gotten access to when he turned of age. Grunkel eyed the sack greedily while Grackel stayed more business-like.
"Do you have the information we discussed?" James looked over his shoulder and suddenly felt a little ashamed of himself. Prior to that moment, he had never done anything sneaky or under-handed in his life. The question he was asking the goblins was considered forbidden information under wizarding law. If these goblins worked for the ministry, he could end up in Azkaban.
"Not all of it." Grack said quietly.
"Then we have nothing to talk about. Sorry to have wasted your time." James grabbed the bag of gold and Grunkel looked angry. He pushed his chair back and it clattered to the floor. The troll turned and faced them. Grackel did not move a muscle. Grunkel took one look at the troll and settled down.
"You came all this way, hear me out." Grackel said in a controlled tone.
"Why should I?" James sat back down and tried to control his feelings of betrayal.
"I didn't say I had no information, but you can hear what I have and decide for yourself if you want to proceed."
James thought long and hard for a moment and decided to listen a bit further.
Grackel continued. "According to my source, a Transmorph wand has never actually been made by either goblins or by humans. It's been theorized about and plans have been drawn up for one, but there is not one currently in existence."
"Where are those plans?" James was feeling his pulse pound as he started to get interested again.
"Before I answer that question, Mr. Potter, I need to know what you are planning to do with the information, if I provide it.." Grackel was quiet and thoughtful.
"This was supposed to be no questions asked." James acted a little indignant and even Grunkel seemed to be taken aback by Grackel's question. He looked at his partner with true surprise on his face.
"Goblins have been slighted by those of you who feel that we lack ethics, yet the most secure banks in the world trust goblins to do their business. Quite an enigma we may seem to be, but rest assured, protection of the magical world is as important to me and our kind as it is to your Ministry of Magic."
"But this is not dark magic. I'm certain of it. I researched it myself." James felt his brow furrow.
"Magic does not have to be dark in order to be dangerous," Grackel continued, "one look at our brand of weaponry or the fire of a dragon bespeaks as much as that. What you seek is unnatural, according to some."
James cleared his throat. "I do not believe that. What is unnatural is that people still live in horrible states of poverty and decay throughout the world despite all of our magic. Your world and my world. Something like this might be able to change all that." James felt like he was proud of his plan, even if others might not be entirely convinced of his methods.
"I understand. Your heart is good, but I would beware the power of such a device should one ever be built. It would have the power to upset the balance of magic throughout the world." Grackel looked thoughtful for a moment, as if he were making some internal calculation. "Very well then, we have located a relative of the deceased. She knows about her father's work and she might know where the plans to it are."
"Might know? There is one hundred galleons in that sack. No disrespect is meant by my words, but you have to do better than that."
"We cannot know for certain Mr. Potter, because every source of ours claims that such a device cannot theoretically exist. Even the mention of the professor's name raises suspicious looks amongst our sources, both the official and the unofficial kind." Grackel said quietly.
"It is true what he says boy, ever since you-know-who, people have given more and more of their power over to names." Grunkel added.
"I know." James nodded in agreement. "Respected wizards all seem to know of him, but no one will talk about his work. That is what drew me to study him in the first place. That and his connection to the world of muggles."
There was complete silence at the table and no one spoke. Finally, James broke the tension.
"Okay, you've earned your money, it's not your fault the device has not been built." James paused a moment, then pushed over the bag of gold to Grackel. "I will pay the full one hundred galleons for the name."
Grackel slid a small piece of parchment back to him with a name and address neatly written upon it. "Tank you Mr. Potter. You are your father's son."
James looked down at his feet for a moment lost in thought. "Thanks." He said.
"One last piece of advice for you then. Not everybody with the last name of Potter has to save the world.
James nodded. "We never had this meeting, right Grackel?"
"What meeting? I just came in for the goblin ale."
With that, the meeting ended and James finally had his first piece of the puzzle.