Harry Potter & the Attempt at Normalcy
Chapter 1: A Year Later
It was abnormally warm for a mid June day in the heart of England. The birds were singing, the sun was shining and people were generally enjoying their summer. This was all a very different story a year ago when the sky was hazy and a cruel chill was in the air. Mysterious deaths were occurring all over England. But now things were different, it was as though a new life had been breathed into the small Kingdom. Newspapers reported the victories of England's national soccer team in the World Cup; they beat Germany 6-2 the previous day to advance to the semi-finals against Brazil. In the capitol city things were getting back to normal for the Prime Minister. It had been almost a year since he had seen the mysterious painting that continuously hung in his office come to life. No one had stepped through the fire since the end of hostilities. His government was on top of the world, no one dared to oppose them. Even the Royal family was celebrating the birth of a new granddaughter.
At number 12 Grimmauld Place things weren't much different as in the rest of England. Invisible to most people, a select few could see the house that was situated in the lot. The owner of the residence was a young man who was only about 18 years of age. He lived there alone for the most part and could be seen walking around town once in a while. The young man's name was Harry Potter and despite what extraordinary things he had accomplished the year before, most of his neighbors were ignorant to what he had done or who he was. The house itself was quite old and would be considered by many to be run down. As one entered the front door they would see to their right a collection of pictures. Within these pictures the subjects moved around; waving, laughing, smiling, even talking in some instances. Inscribed on the wall above the pictures was, "Order of the Phoenix." At the top of all other pictures were two pictures containing two specific individuals. The one to the left contained a picture of an older gentleman named Albus Dumbledore. In the other picture there was a cruel looking man with greasy black hair and a hook nose; his name was Severus Snape. Beneath these were pictures of others who had been members of the Order of the Phoenix including many who were no older than the young man who owned the house. Across from these pictures hung the heads of house elves who had served previous owners of the house. The most recent addition to the wall was that of an elf named Kreacher, who lost his life almost a year ago. The owner's bedroom was also a unique location. Inside the owner had a simple bed and desk with an owl cage in the corner. On the wall hung yet still more moving pictures. Over the bed hung a picture of two young parents and a baby boy; and over the desk hung two more pictures, one of another young couple and the other of a red headed young woman. Each picture contained individuals with beaming smiles.
Sometime around the Summer Solstice an owl arrived carrying the wizarding newspaper The Quibbler. Prior to the events of the year before the newspaper was thought by many to be nothing more than a silly tabloid yet that had changed when You-Know-Who came to power and took over the Wizard Ministry and the mainstream paper The Daily Prophet. Harry Potter, the owner of number 12 Grimmauld Place, retrieved the newspaper while having his breakfast on that first day of Summer. On the front of the paper in big bold letters read:
Governors Decide to Reopen Hogwarts!
Harry beamed with happiness over this wonderful news. He had tried to put out of his mind the events that occurred a year before at the same school. In what should have been his seventh and final year at Hogwarts, Harry and his friends Ron and Hermione were on a quest to bring down the Dark Lord Voldemort. Harry could hardly forget the events of that last day when he and his friends stormed into their old school to find the remaining piece of the Dark Lord's soul, called a Horcrux. In all there were seven of these horcruxes and Harry and his friends had destroyed the remaining three before Harry helped to ride the world of the Dark Lord for good. Harry even went as far as to sacrifice himself and die for his cause, only to be brought back to life. In the aftermath of the death of the Dark Lord, Harry and his friends escaped to the office of the Headmaster to discuss the events of that fateful day. Harry described to Ron and Hermione how he had come to the office after watching Snape die and give to Harry his memories. It was there that Harry learned that Snape so loved Harry's mother that he had turned away from the Dark Lord and become a double agent when he learned the Dark Lord had killed her. Harry, Ron and Hermione celebrated their victory with the previous Headmasters and Headmistresses of Hogwarts. Their celebration was interrupted by Professor McGonagall who thanked each of them and assured them that if the Governors decided to reopen the school that they would be welcomed back with open arms to complete their seventh year. At the time each had told the Professor that they would love to return to finish their time at Hogwarts if it should remain open. Looking back at that now, Harry was uncertain that he wanted to return to the school at all.
Harry finished his breakfast in time for the doorbell to ring. He put down his dishes and went to see who was calling so early in the morning. He opened the door and standing on his front porch were Ron and Hermione.
"We have news!" Ron said instantly.
"Hold on Ron, let him at least invite us in first." Hermione rebuked him with a smile.
"Oh Right, sorry mate."
"Come in you two, what is all this about?" Harry said as he stood aside and let them walk into the living room.
"Ok, well brace yourself Harry. Hermione and I are engaged." Ron said with a giant smile on his face.
"Congratulations you two." Harry said as he embraced both Ron and Hermione.
"You'll be my best man of course." Ron said quickly.
"I wouldn't miss it for the world." Harry responded.
"Ginny is going to be my Maid of Honor. Mr. Weasley has offered to walk me down the isle since I can't track down my parents." Hermione said. A year ago she wiped the memories of her parents clean and sent them off to Australia to prevent them from falling into the hands of the Dark Lord. She had plans to go and search for them but apparently they didn't stay in Australia and Hermione was trying to come to grips still with the idea she may never see her parents ever again.
"That is great news, really. How is Ginny doing?" Harry said trying not to see too anxious that they were the first to bring her name up. Harry broke up with Ginny almost two years ago when he decided he would set out on his quest to bring down the Dark Lord. Since then they had spent precious little time together and even when they did it seemed awkward.
"She misses you. You should send her an owl or come visit before the summer is out." Ron responded.
"Yea, I don't know. I still need to figure out what I'm going to do and all. Did you guys see the Quibbler? They are reopening Hogwarts. All students who were enrolled when Dumbledore died will be allowed to continue." Harry was looking down, the death of Dumbledore was still something very difficult for him to discuss.
"Why don't you just go back to school like you promised McGonagall? That is what me and Ron are going to do. After all, Ginny will also be returning to redo her sixth year. You know she got O. in just about every subject."Hermione had a bit of worry in her voice that Harry had decided against fulfilling his promise.
"I've thought about it, I mean its not like I could get a job without even having taken N.E.W.T's right? I assume McGonagall has been named Headmistress." Harry said staring at the floor.
"Percy is now the head of Education at the ministry. He said that he's been pleading with her to take the job but she's unsure. Percy convinced the board of Governors to let her have total say over how the school should be run though if she does take the job." Ron's brother Percy and father Arthur had worked in the ministry before the rise of the Dark Lord. Arthur was now the Deputy Minister of Magic.
"I can't imagine Hogwarts without her, I hope she does take the job because she'll be great." Hermione added on.
They spent the rest of the afternoon talking about the wedding and the general happenings in the Wizarding world. Harry had intentionally avoided going into that world as much as he could. He was something of a celebrity and preferred the anonymous life of his home in the Muggle world. Hermione was dead set on making sure Harry gave her his promise that he'd return to Hogwarts later in the summer when it reopened. She finally got him to agree to come back if McGonagall agreed to stay on and become Headmistress. Even though it wasn't Ron's favorite thing to do, he and Hermione also agreed to go to dinner with Harry at a Muggle restaurant. Despite all the time he had spent with Hermione and Harry, who both grew up in the Muggle world, Ron was still unfamiliar with how things worked on that side. Harry insisted on taking them out to celebrate and even agreed that the following night he'd come spend time at Ron's parents house, the Burrow.
The next day Harry woke up and wasn't entirely thrilled that he had made the promise. Because their house was still covered by the Fidelius Charm, Harry would need to Apparate in the near by field. Unfortunately, the Fidelius Charm was still necessary since Ron and Hermione were just as much celebrities as Harry. For the past few weeks people had camped out in the field closest to the Burrow in hopes of catching a glimpse of the famous couple. But Harry wanted to see Ginny; he had agreed to go back to Hogwarts in part because Hermione and Ron said that Ginny was being made to go back by her parents. In truth Harry loved Ginny and he had a feeling that she loved him just as much. Regardless, he was still none too happy with himself for making the agreement. He finished his morning routine and decided that he'd head for the Burrow in the mid afternoon. This left him at least five hours to figure out what to do with himself. He took about the never-ending job of cleaning his house, something that he had begun when his godfather, Sirius Black, owned the place.
Around lunch the daily post arrived and since number 12 Grimmauld Place, and no Muggles even knew Harry existed aside from his mom's sister and her family, the mail arrived via owl. The Ministry of Magic sent Harry a letter once again thanking him for his efforts in bringing down the Dark Lord and again offering him a position within the Ministry. Despite the fact that two of his fellow members of the Order of the Phoenix were now on top of the Ministry he still had an aversion to joining. His Muggle relatives, who had been living under the protection of the Order and now the Ministry within the Wizard world, sent him a letter as well. He had gotten along much better with his aunt Petunia and cousin Dudley since they were forced to give up their Muggle home when the Dark Lord came back to power. Finally there was a familiar looking letter addressed to Harry from Hogwarts. He was hesitant to open the letter, knowing exactly what it had to say. He set it aside and made himself lunch. He took his time and made his meal the Muggle way so as to avoid the letter even longer. Finally, when his lunch was finished and his dishes were put away he could wait no longer. It was nearing the time he'd be leaving for the Burrow and he knew that Mrs. Weasley would broach the subject at some point while he was at their home. The letter contained the normal standard letter and also a personal letter from Professor McGonagall. The letter from Hogwarts announced that classes would begin on September 1 and that the train to Hogwarts would leave King's Station at promptly 9 AM on that same day. It also announced that Professor McGonagall had indeed accepted the position of Headmistress and further letters would be sent regarding new changes and such. The personal letter sent from Professor McGonagall was something that shocked Harry, it read:
Dear Mr. Potter,
As you are aware you, Miss Granger and Mr. Weasley all agreed a year ago that if the Governors agreed to allow the school to remain open that you all would return to complete your seventh year. I hope that you intend to keep your promise and that my acceptance of the Headmistress position will spur you to want to return. Should you decide to return simply send an owl with a letter stating "Yes" and a time you would be willing to meet at The Three Broomsticks before September 1st.
Sincerely,
Minerva McGonagall
Headmistress of Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry
Harry felt exhausted just having read the letter. But he knew that waiting would only prolong the dread of the situation. He pulled out a quill and parchment and immediately took to writing a letter to Professor McGonagall informing her of his decision to return to Hogwarts and offering to meet her next Thursday at The Three Broomsticks. He went up to his room where the owl cage was and opened the door to a bright white owl. "Take this to Professor McGonagall." He said to the owl. It took off without any hesitation.
Harry purchased the owl six months after he defeated the Dark Lord. Hermione was tired of the fact that Harry could not easily communicate with everyone because he did not have a way of sending letters. Harry's previous owl Hedwig died in the attempt to remove Harry from his previous home. In honor of her memory Harry purchased an identical owl and given him the name Erole.
At a quarter to two in the afternoon Harry was finally ready to make his trip to the Burrow. Certain that he would be hounded by anyone who was keeping watch over the Weasley home, Harry decided to bring his Invisibility Cloak. He had inherited the cloak from his father who had inherited down the family tree from Ignotus Peverell. When he was ready he threw on the cloak and apparated into the field next to the Burrow. As he had expected there were people there watching the area where it was suspected the Burrow was. Harry walked past the people and entered into the boundary set up by the Fidelius Charm.