24 Graduation
…
"And so, as you go out into the world, we hope that you will remember everything that you have learned in your time here."
'Oh thank god, I thought he'd never finish' thought Harry as he sat with the rest of the graduating class listening to a professor he'd never had waffle on and on and on… but that wasn't important, what was important was that he was finally done. In less than an hour he'd walk away with his degree and he could final put four years of study and planning to work.
His greenhouse had been a small project, a warm up. He'd decided to wait until he had his degree before starting on the manor, start building that is. He'd drawn dozens of blueprints, built hundreds of mock ups with everything from sand and clay to Lego bricks, at least until his godson had got hold of them. But now, finally, after four years of planning he could begin, if this ancient gasbag would just run out of air.
…
"Take care Harry, Woohoo."
Harry waved at his former classmates as they drove off, headed for the nearest pub to properly celebrate 'surviving' their higher education. He'd had to laugh when they told him that. He almost hadn't survived his standard education, his higher education had been comparatively less stressful.
Not due anywhere for at least another hour he decided to take a stroll, and why not, the weather was nice, for London, and he just felt like a bit of wandering.
Traffic was surprisingly slow he thought as he meandered down the sidewalk, soaking in the fading sun and admiring the buildings around him. One thing about studying architecture you started to appreciate it when you saw it. London was an old town that wore its history like an overcoat. There were none of the cookie cutter houses like he'd known on privet drive, each building he passed was different, built in different era's with different materials by different people. It was like taking a walk through history.
Old red bricks stood next to cold gray concrete next to wood or aluminum siding placed over god only knew what. Roofs tilted at various angles from high to flat and gargoyles stood sentinel watching people pass.
'My house needs gargoyles' Harry thought.
He'd studied them of course but never seriously considered making them part of his designs yet something about seeing them sitting up their like tireless ugly guard dogs appealed to Harry. Yes, his house would have gargoyles, and they would be magnificent.
It was at this point he turned down an alley and came to a dead end. You found lots of those after as many reconstructions as London had seen, it would serve his purpose.
"You can stop hiding yourselves, I've known you were following me since you started doing it."
In twin puffs of smoke they appeared, dressed in all black each carried a small sword on their back and a pouch on each hip.
"Ninja's, my favorite type of cannon fodder" he quipped.
His assailants remained silent, each pulling a pair of kunai from their pouches. Each kunai had a slip of paper tied to the end of it and Harry stood motionless as they each hurled one in his direction. He didn't so much as flinch when they sailed past him to embed in the wall behind him. They then took the other two and threw them into the ground at the head of the alley.
One then made several odd gestures with his hands before slamming his palms to the ground. There was a faint glow of energy that surrounded them all like a box which faded from sight a moment later but Harry could still feel it and knew instantly what it was.
"Anti-magic barrier" he said, calmly removing his cap and shucking his gown, "I suppose that means you're better informed than the last bunch that tried this. Not that you'll do any better" he added.
His opponents drew their blades and began to advance.
Harry simply watched them, his entire demeanor relaxed, "Can we hurry this up, I have a dinner date and I'll never hear the end of it if I'm late."
Yep, his house would definitely have gargoyles, gargoyles that would be able to rip clowns like this apart so he wouldn't have to waste time doing it himself. His house was going to be so awesome.