Professor Potter, Chapter 35

The dining table at Meadow Crest was just about full to capacity. It was late morning after the raid on what was left of Durmstrang Institute and all those who had participated had spent nearly the entire morning conducting a detailed debriefing. The only one still not present was Bill Weasley. Once he had discussed the warding spells that he had had to overcome he excused himself and went home to Shell Cottage. As it had turned out there were a couple of nasty little curses and an alarm spell that were placed on the window. He spent a frantic ten minutes removing them before the Auror Richardson could make her way into the room. What made it even trickier was the presence of the older student who was asleep on a chair near the door. He was subdued by a 'petrificus totalus' spell and was still a rigid statue when the strike team picked him up when they swept the building after it was all over.

Harry had listened quietly as the team leaders described what had transpired while Harry had gone about his singular tasks. Once Richardson had entered the room she cast a cheering charm on the children who had started to rouse when their paralyzed guard had hit the floor with a thump. They were actually smiling and giggling a bit as she levitated each one to the window and into the waiting arms of one of the hovering Aurors. Once they were all out they flew away from the grounds while Richardson cast the spray of green stars to alert Harry.

On the southern side of the grounds, the strike team that had taken position in the hills had split into three pairs so they could watch a wider swath of the terrain for any activity by the mountain trolls. Only two had made their presence known and only one of those had gotten close enough to need attention. He was still unconscious when the three sub-teams had closed in on the front of the castle where they subsequently met Harry after he had finished his work. While waiting in this forward position they had intercepted several of the faculty who were trying to leg it away from the castle.

All the surviving members of the staff and faculty were turned over to local magical law enforcement. The locals were only too happy to take them in hand, knowing they didn't have to get near Durmstrang, or its remains, to do it. Harry then went through his actions once inside the castle. When asked how he had managed to figure out how the Headmaster was actually a witch in disguise he dissembled and said simply,

"It was more of a hunch than anything, but maybe being around so many women with my family…" he let it drop with a shrug.

The expressions he was getting suggested he wasn't being too persuasive at the moment but he continued on regardless. He told them what the witch had revealed and several of the Aurors shook their heads. One was heard to say,

"All this fuss over being expelled all those years ago."

"Revenge is one of the stronger motives for a lot of criminal acts," Milligan said. "It usually tends to be a bit more personal and a lot more violent, but I have come across some pretty elaborate schemes."

"I'm sure it wasn't the only thing that had come to shape her attitudes," Harry said. "She made that comment about being a proper witch instead of just looking like one. People can be pretty cruel to a child who doesn't fit in," he said with a sour look that passed quickly.

Ginny had come in to hear what had happened. She had stayed out of the way the day before so as not to be a distraction to Harry but now that it was over she wanted to know all about it. Hearing the tone of Harry's last comment she reached over and squeezed his hand. When he was done talking Milligan spoke up.

"We'll it looks like we have another mystery to dig into. I think I'll put Goldstein on it, plus one of the newer youngsters that you recommended as investigators. Plus I'll ask Mysteries for a loan of one of your brother's friends who decided to stay on. Maybe we can track down where the old biddy got to."

"Have Goldstein talk to Hermione Weasley," Harry said. "She has a book on Durmstrang that mentions that Portal. It might provide some leads."

"Will do, chief, I mean, Professor," Milligan said.

"It also might not be a bad idea to ask Bill Weasley about providing some additional training in more advanced curse breaking," Harry said.

His former chief investigator was picking up on something in Harry's voice and so he asked,

"Professor, is something bothering you? Something about the way the operation went?"

"Not at all. Other than the Headmistress falling through the Portal I think it went very well and the Squad deserves full marks," he said with a little grin. "But I can't help think that we, or at least, I, were set up."

"Set up?" Muntab asked.

"Perhaps it's just another hunch but with the voices I was hearing before anything had happened with the kids, and all that she said about wanting to tear down Durmstrang, I just feel like it was her plan to lure me in to administer the coup de grace. It was obvious she had an escape planned. I think for her, the children were just the bait," he said then blew out a big breath. "It's not like knowing would change anything but it still rankles a bit I guess. Anyway, I think you all did a terrific job last night and I'm very proud of all you accomplished."

He got a number of murmured 'thank you, sir' from around the table and he said they were all welcome to come out and visit during his birthday celebration the Saturday after next. With that the meeting began to break up. Though tired, they left with smiles for a job well done and a good breakfast under their belts. Nibs was delighted when Harry's offer of something to eat had been so universally accepted. Once he had seen everyone off Harry joined Ginny in the living room.

"Does that last bit bother you, Harry?" she asked.

"Not terribly, no. It does remind me a bit of that business with Riddle and the Mysteries department, though. At least this time the response was thought out quite a bit better," he said with a rueful smile. "There's something else I wanted to tell you."

"What's that, sweetheart?"

"Just before coming home this morning, I turned dragon and flew over the castle to take a last look. Then I had to decide how to come home, either fly the whole way, or Disapparate. That little voice in my head suggested I just do both, sort of. I Disapparated as the dragon."

"Really? Wow. I didn't think dragons could do that," she responded, her eyes wide.

"To be honest, I doubt a real one, a Lesser one can, and I have my doubts about the Greater ones, too. I think it comes from me. I mean I was able to draw on the dragon fire using my wand so I guess maybe it flows the other way, too."

"Hmm, you might have a point there, Harry. Makes you wonder what else you'd be able to do," she mused.

"Perhaps, but I can say that I doubt I will be traveling that way all that much."

"Why not?"

"Ginny, if I go dragon, the last thing I want to do is cut short my flying time," he said with a grin.

All Ginny could do was laugh and roll her eyes. Despite his mention of the birthday party Harry's attention was focused on the upcoming Saturday and the Weasley Potter Flyers second Quidditch match of the year. A group of retired professionals who had been helping out with the Quidditch camp had put a team together and they were looking to establish bragging rights for the upcoming camp. On the downside for the Flyers was the loss of Eleanor for this match. The Harpies were in contention for first place and they had an important match on the same day. Therefore the Flyers would be using Bee Applebee again, as well as Charlie's friend Eddy.

As Ginny had hoped it was going to be a family outing with all the children along. Ginny insisted she was going to go so Harry had insisted that she be helped so he and Abagail would make use of Side-Along Apparation to get her there. The rest of the adults would divide the other children among them to get everyone to the park. It was already decided that since they were going to be playing a team of former pros that they would put their best foot forward and Harry would fly the Seeker slot. The match was scheduled for Pitch One starting at noon. By a quarter til, everyone had arrived and they were standing off to one side as the flyers for the morning match were clearing off, their match having ended about ten minutes before.

Kreacher was there dressed in his coach's sweatshirt over his tan trousers and white shirt. The members of the other team, known as the Old Pros, were used to seeing the little elf from his appearances at camp but most in their entourage had not and were giving him quite the look over. While the spectators got settled the flyers from both teams took to the air to warm up.

As they circled around he noticed that his opposite number was the former Seeker for Puddlemere United, who had retired about five years ago and was one of the first pros to offer his time to the camp.

Harry had worked with him on more than one occasion. He found him to be a thorough going professional but a bit on the abrasive side. Harry always had the feeling the man didn't give him much respect due to his lack of professional flying time. They exchanged brief nods but no words. Bill's former classmate was once again the referee and with a sharp whistle blast he brought the two teams into position. Harry and the other seeker hovered above the others. He pulled his goggles down and settled himself on his broom. The bludgers and snitch were released and then the quaffle was thrown into the air.

Now it must be said that going into this match the Flyers knew they were going to be up against it in terms of goal scoring. Everyone on the Old Pros was in fact an old pro. What they may have been lacking in youthful agility and quickness they more than made up for in experience and trickery. They figured that if they could keep it close or even, Harry would have a chance to pull out the win. It was, however, a similar situation higher above the pitch with the Puddles Seeker relying on years of experience and knowing all the little things a snitch might do to overcome Harry's clearly superior speed and maneuverability. An important difference was Harry was in no mood to concede anything to the other seeker and he had a few tricks up his own robe sleeve.

This particular snitch seemed to have its own plans for the match. From the onset it stayed visible and just out beyond either Seekers' ability to close on it. Sometimes its movements were almost ballet like, making quick yet subtle movements to just barely elude its pursuers. On other occasions it appeared more like an oversized bee on a bad batch of pollen. Its movements were erratic, nearly instantaneous, and damnably unpredictable. By the time the first hour had passed both men were feeling the strain. From the amount of shouting it was obvious that scoring was taking place but neither could tell which way it was going.

The old pro must also have realized that Harry was no school boy push over and he started to try and physically intimidate the younger and slightly smaller Harry. On several occasions he bumped and banged into Harry as they flew side by side. It reminded Harry of his confrontations with the Slytherins. He was no more prepared to accept it now than he did then so on the next attempt, he barrel rolled over the top of the older man and then with a quick turn, swatted him in the side with the tail end of his broom. More from the surprise than the actual blow the older seeker was almost unseated and had to fight to control himself and his suddenly gyrating broom. The referee hadn't noticed. Harry now had the chance to try and chase down the tricky snitch by himself.

He was more than a little surprised at just how fast this particular snitch was. At one point he was flat out, his chest lying against the broom handle as he pursued the golden ball. He was urging the broom for all he could wring out of it when a thought occurred to him. As he had as a dragon flying to Beuaxbaton he began to 'push' against the air behind him and he could feel his speed pick up. By now he had completely overshot the goals at one end and the snitch began a high speed sweeping turn. He had been concentrating so hard on overtaking the ball that he had not seen the other seeker rocketing up towards them both from underneath.

Harry was alerted at the last moment by that prickly six sense of his and he had to peel off as the other seeker shot past him from around two o'clock low. His grab was for nothing though as the snitch had zipped off in the opposite direction, leaving both seekers to have to make high speed course corrections. Harry's took him out over the area where his family was gathering and he could hear all the shouting and cheering. He pulled around hard and was able to see his opponent arrowing after a small glint in the afternoon sun. He urged the broom on and was rewarded with the happy sight of both a Flyers' goal being scored and the snitch changing course that would allow him to close on it from the side.

As he was within perhaps a dozen or so yards the snitch again changed course and dove under him. Almost instinctively he pushed down, pulled hard left and thought 'go the other way' and another 'Potter bootleg' had been done to perfection. He was now at the far end of the pitch pointing the other way and the snitch was going flat out about a dozen feet off the ground. Harry decided it was time to put this one away. He urged the broom to give everything it had and then he began to 'push' to the back. Everything was a blur and the other goals were rapidly approaching. With a final 'push' he squirted forward and made the grab just as he zipped past the goal posts.

In his excitement he pumped his fist into the air, which caused him to sit up a bit. The high speed slipstream caught him in the chest and pulled him up and cleanly off his broom. He fell the twelve feet at an angle due to his still considerable forward velocity and landed on his back and bum. Somehow he managed to keep both his feet and arms up, avoiding snagging them and throwing himself into a roll. He skidded along the grass for a considerable distance until a small bump did finally throw him into a slower roll. He tumbled a time or two and then pitched up to momentarily stand on his feet facing back towards the pitch. He was just able to register the sight of a number of people running and flying in his direction and then he toppled over backwards to lie in the grass. He could feel the wings of the snitch vibrating in his partially gloved hand.

In fairly short order he could also feel the vibration of feet pounding the ground as a number of people ran up to see if he was alright. He lifted his head up and looked at the growing crowd gathering near him but they looked odd. He propped himself up on his elbows and looked around, a crooked smile on his face. He saw the other flyers coming in to land and he waved his snitch filled hand to them.

"Did we win?" he asked.

"We were down by fifty, Harry, so yes we won," Bill said. "How are you doing? You break anything?"

"No, seems I slid most of the way," he said. "Give us a hand up, won't you?"

Bill took Harry's empty hand and hauled him to his feet. Harry blinked a couple of times and then realized what felt wrong. His glasses were missing. In fact, his goggles were gone, too. He looked around at all the blurred faces and said,

"Anyone seen my eyewear?"

"Here you are, Harry," the voice of Teddy Lupin called out from the crowd.

The boy worked his way forward and had both Harry's goggles and his battered eyeglasses in his hands. Harry left him the goggles and took the glasses and more by feel than sight he could 'see' that one lens was cracked and one of the earpieces was broken in half. He tried them on and although not perfect it was better than the blur. Once everyone could see he was alright the sound of congratulations and bewildered conversations could be heard. More than one comment was based on the idea that no one should be able to fly a broom that bloody fast. Bill clapped Harry lightly on the shoulder and said,

"We better get you back and let Ginny see that you're alright. Fleur and Mum are with her."

The rest of the team flew on ahead while Harry and Bill walked the not inconsiderable distance to where the W/P Flyers' spectators were seated. Ted walked on the other side of Harry still clutching the goggles. As they approached the small group that had remained with the children Harry could see Ginny standing with Fleur on one side and Mrs. Weasley on the other. Harry moved as quickly as he could and was quickly swept up in a mass embrace from the three women.

"Harry, what in the world happened out there? One moment you were zooming across the pitch and then next thing I know you're sliding along the grass. Are you hurt anywhere?" Ginny managed to get out in a single breath once everyone let go of him.

"I'm fine, Gin. I imagine I'll have some bruises and scuff marks but I'm alright. As to what happened I guess I blew myself off the broom," he said with a laugh. "Guess I was going faster than I thought I was."

"Harry, you look like you were going faster than I've ever seen anyone go before. What in the world were you doing out there?" Ginny asked.

"I'll talk to you about that later. Right now, I'd like to get something to eat."

"Quick, Mum, Harry's hungry, hide the children," Ginny said in mock panic, assured now that Harry was alright.

"Hey," Harry said indignantly while the others laughed.

While it was true that Harry didn't suffer any significant injuries, his flying robes hadn't survived. Between the tears and ground in grass Dinkle would be forced to consign them to the rag pile. Ginny promised him a new set for his birthday. That, however, would wait for them to get home. For now, the picnic baskets were pulled out and food was handed all around. Harry asked a number of questions about what had been going on with the rest of the team. In general he had never been one to really notice what was going on with the scoring battle unless he could hear something but this time he had been so focused he had almost no idea.

"I'll tell ya, mate," Eddy began. "It was an 'eck of a row. They may be retired but not a one of 'em 'as forgotten 'ow to fly. Without our own two pros we was up against it, and no mistaken it."

"Maybe we need to scout some of the retiring pros from this year," Angelina suggested as she tried to keep little Fred from swallowing his food whole.

"Um, isn't the whole idea of coming out here to play and have fun?" Mrs. Weasley asked.

The looks that she got in returned ranged from shocked and horrified to amused and pitying. Harry smiled his lopsided smile and said,

"Mum, the best way to have fun at Quidditch is to win."

The week that led up to the birthday party was fairly quiet. Harry had received some comments back from Professor McGonagall about his proposed plan for the sixth year project class and he was working out the details. Bill had stopped by to discuss the contents of the essay on curses for defense and this turned into a lengthy discussion with the other members of the Study Team.

One big surprise was Angus coming to Harry to discuss Quidditch with him. Apparently he had paid almost no attention to it as a student but Abagail had insisted he come to the match the previous weekend and he had questions and some interesting observations. Harry spent about two hours telling the young man what he knew about the behavior of the snitch. Angus had taken several sheets worth of notes and after thanking Harry for his time, disappeared back down into the basement.

The rest of the week was given over to playing in the front garden with the dog, James and whoever else wanted to. Mr. Weasley had driven over on Wednesday morning and spent several hours with Harry laying out a floor plan for the playroom they were going to build in the basement. They paid particular attention to the idea of soundproofing the wall and ceiling without having to resort to magical spells.

The Saturday of the party promised to be warm and slightly cloudy. Almost as soon as the sun was up the house elves busied themselves with cooking and baking and setting up tables and chairs outside in front of the house. Several small folding pavilions were set up to keep off the worst of the sun. The spare Quidditch gear was pulled out, cleaned up and set by the front portico. The sun wasn't too far above the horizon with Mr. and Mrs. Weasley walked out from the trees hiding the car park carrying floating several baskets between them.

Harry, who had gotten up not long after the house elves had, hurried out to meet them. He took hold of the largest basket and walked his parents into the house. Not too long after someone Harry didn't recognize appeared on the walkway floating several large white boxes in front of her. Harry was about to go outside and see what it was about but Abagail dashed passed him and intercepted the girl about half way to the house. After a quick conversation, Abagail looked toward the house and called something out that Harry couldn't quite make out. Nibs appeared almost immediately and he took control of the boxes and then he and the boxes winked out of sight. After a few more words the girl likewise winked out of view. Harry had his suspicions but chose to let matters play themselves out.

Just before noon the quests began to arrive. Now as might be expected considering all that had been going on in the weeks leading up to his birthday, Harry hadn't paid a great deal of attention to what was planned. As such he wasn't really prepared for the number of people that were appearing in the front garden or coming through the floo network or on the path coming out from the car park. There were family members of course, not to mention a number of faculty members, the non family members of the W/P Flyers team, friends and colleagues from the Ministry and well as folks like Pinewood from Nimbus Brooms and Oglethorpe of QUABBLE. It was turning into quite a gathering.

Not surprisingly it wasn't long before brooms started heading into the sky above the long grass of the meadow. Teddy was getting all manner of advice from the various flyers as he maneuvered around the field. The Auror Richardson, who wasn't all that much bigger than the boy was taking a fair amount of time cruising along next to him, offering little tips. Poor James was getting the 'awww, isn't he so cute' treatment as Harry tried to help him fly along. Magic cameras were snapping away incessantly and Harry was sure that there would be multiple images of his son flying in parlors in a number of houses in the near future.

Since the day was turning out so nice, as far as the weather was concerned, Harry had the chessboard brought out and placed under one of the pavilions. Soon the sound of clashing chessmen was competing with conversations and the hooting of happy flyers. Angus was firmly entrenched in a chaise lounge near the edge of the meadow proper and was watching as the various players tossed a quaffle or chased a practice snitch. Bludgers were conspicuous by their absence. Occasionally the young man would jot down a note. Abagail had sat next to him for a while and then wandered off to join Gabrielle and Gregory who were having a chat with Fleur and Bill.

"What's going on with Angus?" Bill asked.

"I'm not exactly sure. Something really grabbed his attention during that Quidditch match against those old pros. He's been fixated on the snitch all week," she finished with a shrug.

James had finally had enough with the pictures and broom and asked to be put back on the ground. He looked up at his father and said,

"'nuffles?"

"I'm sorry, James," Harry replied. "Snuffles is a bit too big to be running around out here with all these people."

"'nuffles, please, da."

"James, I said we can't let Snuffles out here with all these guests," Harry said firmly.

The look on James face took on features that anyone familiar with his father would have recognized immediately. When seen on Harry's face people usually looked for other places to be.

"'nuffles, da," the boy insisted.

Harry fixed his so with a steady gaze and then said,

"I'll make you a deal, James. Snuffles can come out but you have to make sure he behaves himself. If he causes any trouble, he goes back in the house and you go to your room for a nap. Do you understand me?"

"'es, da."

Harry called for Dinkle and asked him to bring Snuffles outside. He disappeared and a few moments later the front door opened and the big Mastiff, who had filled out considerably in the last few months, trotted down the steps. He headed directly for James and came to a stop in front of him.

"Alright, son, he's all yours," Harry said.

James smiled at his father and taking the dog's collar in hand, began to walk around the garden with him. With heads at about the same height the two made an odd pair and attracted quite a bit of attention. Harry could only shake his head and smile. Magic comes in many forms, he thought.

The boy and dog pair got a bit of a surprise a while later when a large and familiar figure stomped out of the woods along the path from the car park. Hagrid, despite the summer warmth was still dressed in his heavy coat. When he saw the boy and dog he clapped his hands and James released Snuffles' collar. The big dog dashed at Hagrid and at the last moment, he swept Snuffles up and held him cradled to his chest much as Abagail had when he was still a puppy. After some cuddling and licking, he put Snuffles down and then knelt to lift up his godson. The boy was nearly lost in the combination of massive hands and bushy beard but it was easy to know where he was from the giggles and shrieks.

"Hello, Hagrid, thanks for coming," Harry said as he walked up.

"Hullo, Harry. Happy birthday to ya'. Quite the turnout," Hagrid replied.

"Yes, I wasn't aware this many had been invited but it's been a pleasant surprise. Having you here really tops it off."

"Thanks fer sayin' so, Harry."

"Can I get you anything to eat, Hagrid?"

"Thank ya much, Harry, but no. I could use a cuppa, though."

"Hmm, I don't know that we have a mug big enough for you," Harry said with concern.

"No, worries," Hagrid said, as he dipped his hand into a pocket of his coat and pulled out a battered but whole mug the size of a small barrel.

Harry had made every attempt he could to persuade people to not bring presents. He said he had all he could ever hope for and there were plenty of better things people could do with their money then waste it on him. His friends and family had different ideas about that but would take their lead from him. So it was that several birthday conspiracies were born. One of them was based around members of the Magical Law Enforcement Department. A collection was taken up and the money was used to buy equipment that was to be donated to the summer youth Quidditch program that was set to start next year.

The faculty collected some money and Professor McGonagall gave it to Harry to add to the scholarship fund he had set up during his seventh year. It was still providing support that allowed at least half a dozen students to attend Hogwarts that might otherwise never have been able to do so. The faculty didn't know who had set up the fund and had contributed to it in Harry's name. He smiled a bit at the irony but thanked them all sincerely.

His family generally conspired to completely ignore his request and gave him a variety of small, personal gifts. He received books, including several more by the English fantasy satirist who was rapidly becoming a favorite. Ginny of course gave him the new Quidditch robes she had promised. It was a beautiful garment, done in Gryffindor colors but with an ornate 'P' where the Gryffindor crest would normally have been.

When the gift giving was completed Harry could only look at all the faces around him and say a simple and heartfelt 'thank you'. Shortly afterward a large, ornately decorated cake was floated out the front door to the sounds of many oohs and aahs. As always Harry cut the first piece and placed it in front of Ginny. Once everyone was served he was able to sit with his wife as well as Ron and Hermione at one end of a table. As they ate the cake he looked around and smiled.

"Reminds you a bit of our seventh year at Hogwarts."

"A bit, although I don't recall quite so many older students," Hermione said with a smirk.

Harry looked at Ron and said,

"You know mate, I think I liked her better when she didn't have a sense of humor. I blame you."

"After all these years associating with you, Harry, I've had to develop one. Either that or go quite insane," Hermione bantered back.

"Actually, Harry. I think it's the pregnancy. All those hormones. They do funny things to us," Ginny said with a grin.

"Oh, don't I know it," Harry said with a look of chagrin. "Both times with you they've taken my sweet, adorable, loving wife and turned her into a Horntail with a toothache."

A moment later, to the sound of laughter from those around him, Harry wiped the cake icing off his face.