Another knock on the door had Kingsley opening it to find Mr. Smith on the other side.
"You left before the meeting." Mr. Smith frowned, "We're going out to dinner tonight to a nice restaurant so dress appropriately. We're leaving at six."
"Sorry." Kingsley offered, "We thought we saw someone that was worrisome. But it was a mistaken identity."
"Well I doubt they'd get any potion secrets from Harry." Smith was still under the impression that they were security for the potions company.
"We're more worried about them kidnapping him to trade for the secrets from Selwain." Kingsley offered.
"Oh, I hadn't thought of that." He smacked himself in the head, "That makes better sense, I should have realized that was why they sent you since they couldn't come."
"Sorry for the trouble Mr. Smith." Harry offered from inside the room.
"Don't worry Harry." He smiled and waved, "Extenuating circumstances and all that."
They returned to the school the week after the holiday. There they discussed a bit more about English politics.
"Honestly I don't understand how that man was even elected." Smith was speaking about Fudge, "The way the man treated their hero was downright despicable."
"Why did they do that?" Sam asked, "They spent three months running the boy's name though the mud and then all the sudden he was a hero again."
Harry was having a difficult time keeping his mouth shut. He wanted to tell them why Fudge played ostrich but to give them that would be far too much information. He stayed resolutely silent.
"From what I understand the boy had told them the dark wizard had somehow regained a body." Smith shook his head, "Their Ministry refused to believe him and tried to discredit him. Then the boy was taken right from under their noses by the same dark wizard. A reporter witnessed it and wrote about it. Then they began to praise him again. Somehow the boy defeated the dark wizard and his followers killed the boy."
"That was when Fudge was fired as minister and sent to prison for taking bribes and several other even more terrible things." Mercedes shivered, "Their whole society is backwards."
Harry couldn't help the snort that let loose.
"Something to say Arcane?" Smith asked.
"I've met a few from there. They look like they're still living in the late eighteen hundreds." Harry shook his head, "They still wear robes, full time. You saw what Fudge wore into the meeting. It wasn't for convention sake. Every picture I've seen of him is in that or a get up just like it."
"That's right." Mercedes agreed, "I've heard they don't use electricity in their homes."
"Do you know Harry?" Smith asked.
"Electricity is a foreign word to them." Harry grinned, "One man I knew couldn't even pronounce the word right."
"Where did you learn all this?" Mark asked him.
"I had an English professor for a class or two." He shrugged, "The Transfiguration teacher was really good."
"I figured they'd all be stupid after seeing the Fudge dude." One boy offered.
"They have produced some very fine people." Smith corrected the notion, "Once of the world's top ten potion masters is from there. Several previous dueling champions have come from there too. And that's just the tip of the iceberg."
Harry wanted to tell them about Flitwick and Severus, not to mention Hermione but he just couldn't. He hoped the subject would change soon. Luckily for him the bell rang and he went on to his next class and tried to forget about his history class.
Quidditch finals were the only obstacle between now and the time off for the holidays. Harry was really looking forward to their time off this year. The Goblins were planning another trip for them. He couldn't wait to find out what it was this time but first the finals.
Their last three games were against teams they hadn't played before. Of course the finals meant tougher teams which translated into smaller margin of wins, but they were still wins. After their win in this year's finals Harry was approached by several scouts hoping to lure him to their teams. But he refused them all telling them he wished to be a healer not a quidditch player. That chased most of them away.
"Have you picked a university yet?" the last man asked.
"I'm rather new to the American school system." Harry shrugged, "I don't know what's out there but I've heard Salem is a good one to try for."
"I have some friends that scout for colleges. I'll try and send some your way next year." The man nodded, "Nice to meet you."
"Nice to meet you." Harry replied before he followed the rest of his team.
"That was so cool." Sam hugged him, "Many kids go from high school to the reserve for a pro team. But if you play college quidditch they usually take you onto the main team."
"Generally there are only a few that do it that way." Mark offered, "If they go to university they do it to advance in a field and use quidditch to pay for it. Then they just go into their profession."
"Sound like good advice." Harry agreed, "I'll have to see if Salem has a team."
"They do." Sam grinned.
"We're doing what?" Harry asked a few days later.
"Skiing in Colorado." Sirius nodded with a grin.
"Like on snow?" Harry questioned.
"Yes." Sirius' grin widened.
"Haven't you gotten enough snow?" Harry pointed out the window where it was snowing, again.
"But it's skiing." Sirius threw up his hands, "Do you have any idea how many beautiful women ski?"
"Sirius." Harry looked exasperated, "If you wanted to really see a bunch of women wouldn't it have been better at the beach? Where they wear a lot less? And it is actually above freezing."
"Kid has a point." Severus snickered from the doorway.
"We'll save that for your senior year." Remus chuckled at the gob smacked look on Sirius face.
"But…" Harry gestured back at the snow with a look of sorrow.
"Think of it this way." Tonk giggled, "Beach next year gives you more growing time and you'll be seventeen. So that means adult Harry at the beach instead of teen Harry at the beach."
"We can do it both years." He tried again.
"Sorry, it's already booked." Kingsley chuckled.
"Sirius I'm not buying you another car for Christmas this year." Harry huffed, "I'm buying you earmuffs."
"You can get really mean." Sirius huffed.
A knock at the door interrupted them and Harry found his friends Mark and Sam along with their mother. Harry stepped back and let them in and closed the door behind them to keep the cold out.
"Did you tell him?" Judy asked.
"He would rather go to the beach." Sirius huffed.
"Did you tell him we're going too?" Sam asked.
"What?" Harry turned to them.
"Let me see I think I may have forgotten one little tidbit." Sirius contemplated the ceiling for a moment, "Oh right Harry; Judy, Sam and Mark are going along I hope that is ok."
"You know what?" Harry mock glared, "I think earmuffs may be too good."
"You wound me." Sirius grinned and headed for the kitchen, "Who wants tea."
"You two have the oddest relationship." Judy observed.
"You have no idea." Severus offered as he offered her a seat, "Do not blame it on Harry."
Harry grinned broadly at Severus before finding a seat on the floor for him and his friends. The rest of the afternoon was spent discussing what they would be doing, how they would get there and all the other particulars.
It was less than a week later that Harry opened the door of the cabin and stepped in with his bags. He stopped at looked at the large living area in awe. The grin that broke out on his face was mirrored by Sam and Mark as they entered behind him.
"Don't block the door it's freezing out here." Judy claimed and they all moved farther in.
Once everyone was in and the door closed Tonks explained, "Girls get the upstairs bedrooms and the guys get downstairs."
Harry and Mark found a room with two twin beds and settled in. There was one other room with twins and then two with doubles. Kingsley got one of the doubles simply because the twin beds weren't big enough. Severus took the other while Sirius and Remus shared. The girls could each have their own bedrooms but they Judy and Sam decided to share. They settled in and the first two days were just getting used to the altitude.
"Hello and welcome to Copper Mountain. Ski bibs are available over there and the equipment rental is on the other side." A girl welcomed them into the shop, "If you need anything from the muggle side just talk to the cashier."
"Separate from the muggles?" Harry looked back as they moved over to the ski wear.
"Wizards tend to use their magic when they ski." Judy explained, "We have to stay separate."
"Is there a spell?" Sam asked.
"No it's classified as accidental magic." She grinned, "Skiing really seems to come naturally to us. Of course there are a few exceptions but they seem to be wizards with lower than average magical power."
"How do you know all this mum?" Mark asked.
"My grandparents used to live over near Breckenridge." She thumbed over her shoulder, "I spent many a winter holiday skiing before you two came along."
"Which set?" Sam asked.
"Nana and Papa Corner." She then explained to the rest of them, "My mother's parents."
They picked out the clothing before they moved off to the rental. They were fit for boots and skis and then shuffled out the door. They walked to the first small hill where Judy stopped them.
"This is the beginner slope." She indicated the small hill, "After we go over the basics you'll grab the rope on the right side and once you reach the top you'll ski down. We'll do it several times before we let you loose on the mountain."
They went through all the basics and she let them go down the hill. She went first showing them how to do it before motioning each of them to follow one at a time. After she approved of that hill they moved to the next area with a larger hill and a ski lift. By the time they had made a few trips down she had them all stop and they moved to have some lunch and rest.
The teens, Judy and Tonks went right back out and started on some of the larger hills while the adults men waited for a bit. Harry was having the best time. He had gone down the hill a dozen times already and was ready to go again when Judy stopped him at the bottom.
"I think we're ready to move to a bigger hill, what do you think?" she asked.
"Ok." He was grinning like mad.
They waited for Tonks, Sam and Mark before they moved on. Judy went back after getting them started and made sure the four men knew they had moved on. That evening they collapsed in the cabin by the fire. Dobby appeared and provided them all with hot chocolate and snacks before he popped away.
"He is neat." Sam grinned after the elf had left, "I've never seen one before."
"You'll meet Winky next." He grinned, "She'll be fixing dinner."
"That's why you told me not to worry about food." Judy nodded, "I'm curious. We don't see many of them in America. What kind of laws cover them?"
"They have to be treated well, no abuse is tolerated." Harry began, "They have to be healthy and… I don't remember the rest. But Mr. Montgomery told me not to worry about it too much since I treat them better than the law requires."
"They are yours then?" she asked.
"Yes. Dobby has been my friend since my second year… seventh grade." He explained, "I met Winky before my Freshman year." He didn't elaborate and let her think that is when they came to his service.
"You needed two elves?" she asked.
"I wasn't their only responsibility." Harry shrugged.
"His parents were scientists." Sirius offered.
"They were studying some very ancient and mysterious stuff." Remus added.
"So they were taking care of the parents as well as the child." She nodded, "I understand in other parts of the world that is rather common."
"They were rather deeply involved in a project and I didn't come at a very opportune time." He shrugged, "At times when I was younger I wondered why they weren't around and if they loved me but later I knew it wasn't really their fault and they did love me very much. The project just took everything they had."
"I'm sorry I brought it all up." Judy apologized, "I didn't realize asking about an elf would lead to such topics."
"With Harry it is rare that a small topic doesn't explode." Mark chuckled.
"Dinner is ready." Winky squeaked from the door, "Hurry, you is all need plenty of hot foods."
"Thanks Winky." Harry called and it was echoed by the others. Harry went to stand and groaned, "Oh, my legs."
"The worst part about skiing is the after affect." Judy grinned and helped him up, "You'll be fine soon."
"I feel like the first week of practice." Harry groaned as he did a few stretches.
Mark and Sam followed his lead stretching out. The other adults mostly just stood and went to the kitchen, however Tonks joined them.
"How are they able to just get up and go?" Sam grumbled.
"We did a lot more than they did." Tonks groaned, "And our runs were on the harder hill."
Harry rolled out of bed the next morning and right into the stretches he normally did for quidditch practice. He put on some sweats and headed into the living room to find Kingsley decked out similarly.
"Running?" Harry asked.
"Tonks will be here in a moment." He grinned.
"Is this standard for aurors?" he asked.
"Some countries require it in their forces." He explained, "We don't but it doesn't mean we shouldn't. Moody taught all his students to keep in good shape. He always refused to train someone who got in on blood status."
"I'm ready." Tonks entered and the went through the door.
The others were still asleep when they returned and Harry hit the shower. Mark was sitting up in his bed when Harry got back from the shower.
"Tomorrow, I'm going with you." He said by way of greeting.
"Tanks and Bara go too." Harry warned him.
"Ok." He shrugged, "I just don't want to lose those muscles and have to start over with the training. Sam will probably join us too."
"Ok."
After a week in Colorado skiing they returned home to find even more snow. They'd had another snow storm while they were gone. When school started back up they had a junior class meeting.
"We still need money for Prom." Michael, the president of the class stood in front of the room, "We're about five hundred dollars short. We've covered the meal, including its decorations and band so all we need to get is the decorations for the dance end of the pitch."
"The pitch?" Harry leaned into Mark and Sam.
"The Prom is held on the indoor pitch instead of the lunch room like the others." Sam explained, "Once side for the dinner and one side for the dance."
"Why don't we have a kissing booth for Valentine's day." Michael had asked for suggestions while Sam explained.
"Who are you expecting to man the booth and kiss everyone?" another person scoffed.
"The quidditch team." The girl who was not on the team suggested, "Quadpot too."
"Excuse me but some of us have boyfriends… and girlfriends who would not appreciate us kissing other people." Sam frowned.
"Just Arcane then." The girl giggled, "He's free."
"No." Harry shook his head, "I do not agree to kiss anyone."
"Then you come up with an idea." Someone sneered.
"How many people in our class?" he asked.
"Two hundred." Sam answered.
"Fine each of us give three dollars." He suggested, "That's six hundred we're good."
"What if we can't do that?" someone else asked.
"Everyone who can give three and let's see what else we need." Harry replied.
"How about a quidditch game." March suggested, "We find some team willing to play us and we can sell tickets to the game."
"Those aren't half bad ideas." Michael agreed, "Anything else?"
There was a handful of other ideas that came out. Harry didn't like most of them and didn't want to help with those he did like, except the quidditch game. However Coach shot down the quidditch idea as it might mess up someone's bid for a professional or college team if anyone considered that getting paid to play quidditch.
In the end he had an idea that he didn't let anyone else know, "Sirius do you know the conversion rate for galleons to dollars?"
"Last I checked it was five dollars to the galleon or there about." He shrugged, "Why?"
"I have about three hundred dollars right now and the class needs five hundred for the prom." He replied as he headed to his room, "They're trying to come up with money makers and one girls suggested we set up a kissing booth and let me sell kisses."
"And you said no." Remus interrupted what was sure to be a remark from Sirius.
"I said no." he agreed, "Anyone, and I mean anyone could pay a dollar and I'd have to kiss them. There are a lot of people that would have to pay way more than a dollar to get me to kiss them."
"Anyone?" Sirius looked shocked.
"Anyone." Harry confirmed, "So I'm going to anonymously pay the rest."
"I have a few hundred." Severus pulled out his wallet as Harry came back with his stash of cash.
"I have some too." Sirius offered, "Put yours away."
Between Sirius and Severus they came up with five hundred dollars and Harry placed it in an envelope and charmed it that only Coach Brad could open it. The next day he placed it on the coaches desk with a note on the envelope that said; For Prom.
At the meeting the next week Michael called them to order, "Well any ideas?"
"I have one." Coach Brad stood and pulled out a familiar envelope, "This was left on my desk and I don't know who did it."
Michael opened it and pulled out five hundred dollars, "Someone…"
"Or several someone's." Coach interrupted.
"Right." Michael nodded, "We have been given five hundred dollars."
Harry sighed in relief. Sam and Mark chuckled at him. No one suspected he had provided the money and if they did they didn't say it.