Chapter twenty eight
Even though James had to go out a few times, he stayed a little quiet, kept his head down so no one would pick up on the truth, not until he had the press conference. Hermione and Ron visited a lot but so did Neville and Luna, those four friends were trying to get used to James and stop thinking about him as Harry. James still acted like he always did with his friends, but his own personality came out a lot more. He tried to tone it down a bit to give his friends time to get used to all the changes, but James knew he couldn't stop being his true self. He'd noticed Harry was a lot happier and James was seeing his son becoming a bit different than he had been as a child. So James knew Harry would end up different to how he had been as Harry. Harry would grow up with an assertive and confident father, but Harry would also grow up as a normal child and not abused in anyway so he will be able to grow into his own true personality without having to hide thinking he would get hit if he spoke. That was another thing James did, he would talk to Harry a lot to get his son used to speaking and asking questions. So even though Harry was never in that house in Little Whinging James remembered what he had been like so he was determined that his son would not be like he had been while growing up. Even though Harry was young, James was determined to make sure his son grew up confident and sure of himself.
'Are you ready for this James?' Charlie asked as he stepped into the kitchen.
'Yep, all set,' James chuckled, 'You know if I was Harry, I'd be running the other way, not facing everyone.'
Charlie laughed, 'You've got that right, he hated attention.'
'I don't really like it, but I'm not one to shy away. I get why Harry was though, all the staring he got from the moment he stepped into the magical world as eleven, it was very daunting. But also, it's the reason he was always stared at and written about, his parents were killed,' James shrugs, 'but he survives the same curse, a curse no one has ever survived before.'
'That's true, and the way you or Harry was raised, never allowed to talk, always tried to stay out of their way, then all of a sudden you're thrust into the limelight where everyone wants to see you and talk to you.'
'Exactly, I think any kid would shy away from that if their not used to it, then to find out that Voldemort was after you more than anymore else, that made Harry very unsure of himself. Do you know that Harry believed he would die before the war ended?'
'No, I never knew that, I bet Hermione worked it out though.'
'Even though she never said anything, I could tell she knew,' James finished packing Harry's baby bag, lifted his son into his arms and left the house with Charlie.
The moment James, Harry, and Charlie arrived in the visitors entrance at the ministry, they were met by Hermione, Ron, Luna, Neville and two aurors who escorted the group through to a stage that had been set up, Kingsley and his auror guard was waiting.
'Everything is set James, they know you are going to be here, but as far as they know I called this press conference,' Kingsley explained.
'Thanks Kingsley, or should I call you minister while we're in the ministry?'
'Kingsley is fine, so how is everyone with James?' Kingsley looked at the four friends standing with James.
'It is still hard to get used to how different James and Harry are, James has such a strong confident personality, the complete opposite to Harry,' Hermione said.
'I actually like the way James is compared to Harry, he doesn't hold back as much as Harry used to,' Ron said.
'And you're now confident that I do not want your girl,' James smirked making Charlie, Neville, Luna and Hermione laugh.
'Yes, that too.'
'Alright, let's get this underway,' Kingsley stepped to the front of the stage and called for quiet, 'I called this press conference because Harry asked me to, he has something that he believes the magical world should know and I believe he's right. Just remember, act responsibly as there is a baby here,' Kingsley gestured for James to stand beside him.
'Thank you minister,' James gave Kingsley a smile before facing the crowd, 'I'm sure you all know that I'm not one for talking, especially to reporters and that mainly came down to all the lies that were written about me. Let's start with this, you all heard what happened not long after the death of Voldemort,' James smiled at his son, 'This child arrived, asleep in his cot in the great hall, a few letters were left with him. Now at the time only Minerva McGonagall, Neville Longbottom and Luna Lovegood knew what we thought was the truth, but we told everyone this was my cousin, his parents were killed and he had been sent to his only living relative, me. That isn't the truth, the truth again at the time was this was really Harry James Potter that was sent here for his safety, he was sent by his parents to hopefully give him a chance to live. Again that was only partially the truth, but in the letter I received James and Lily Potter wanted to give me time to adjust to having a child to care for, which was daunting as I have never had anything to do with a child this young before. Over the first couple of weeks I noticed things, not about the child, but about me. I found another letter explaining some more things and finally everything made sense. Alright, now it's time for the full truth about this child and me,' James looked at Harry who was chewing on one of his toys, 'This child is really Harry James Potter, I am James Herbert Potter, father of Harry and husband of Lily. A week before Voldemort turned up at my home in Godric's Hollow, I sent Harry into the future for his safety. I share a very rare and special bond with my son, I knew he was in more danger than even Albus Dumbledore knew. I can't tell you how I was able to do it, apart from it was only possible because of a spell, the bond and power. Now you're all probably wondering about the child that was in the house that night, that was me, James Potter, but I used a banned, but not dark potion, I became baby Harry, my father changed to become me so Voldemort would not realise anything was different. The moment I took the potion and changed to be my son, all my memories of James vanished, I became Harry in every way. The potion is polyjuice potion, but with a few other ingredients which completely transforms the drinker into the person they wish to become, memories and all, but you do lose all your own memories and the potion does not wear off like normal polyjuice potion, this one needs a reversal potion. Since I already knew I was James, but with no memories of James and since I had my son but I never had the feelings a father should for his son, I decided to take the reversal potion and become James Potter, Harry's father. So with the help of my friend and the smartest witch around,' James smiled at Hermione, 'She made the potion for me and I became James in every way.' This statement was met with silence, but everyone on the stage knew that wouldn't last long.
