The Hog's Head

by MyGinevra

The Hog's Head is an unabashed romance that follows the lives of Harry and Ginny from the Battle of Hogwarts through the following year. Chapter One, "Faith," begins during the Battle as Lord Voldemort calls his truce. It follows canon precisely but from Ginny's point of view. My own plot, post-DH, begins with Chapter Two, "Anticipation."

37. The Southern Sky

Chapter Thirty-Seven

The Southern Sky

Harry walked into Percy's office in the Ministry of Magic at exactly nine o'clock on Monday morning. He was both nervous and excited. Ginny had sent a school owl with a heart-shaped note, which he had Spellotaped to the mirror on his dresser. The note was covered with magical lips like the ones she had smothered Ron with on the morning of her birthday, and they made smacking noises when he opened it. Inside she had written:

My wonderful Harry!

I will be thinking about you all day. I can't wait to hear about all the spectacular things you will be doing. Each one of these lips is a kiss I am giving you. You have made my life so perfect, and what you are doing today makes it even more perfect. I love you so much.

Ginny

Audrey and Percy were both waiting for him. They sat him down at a small table and Harry had to fill out more forms; these, however, were more to the point: details of his experience with spells and charms, both in and out of school. He scratched his head at that one; he had often helped Hermione with their protective spells whenever they set up camp during their months of exile, but he couldn't remember half of them or how to use them. He also had to describe his duels, what spells he had used, whether he had won or lost, and who his opponent had been. He got a great deal of satisfaction when he got to the last one and wrote, "Expelliarmus. Won. Tom Riddle."

After completing all the forms, which took about half an hour, he sat down with Percy to go over his schedule.

"You'll be jumping right into Evidence Analysis this morning," Percy said as he ran down Harry's schedule, "and that's what you'll do with all of your classes, just plunge in. Don't worry about being behind; we've assigned one of the instructors, Matthew Matthewson, to help you catch up. You'll like him. He tried to defend Rufus Scrimgeour when Thicknesse took over and he was almost killed by the Death Eaters. Then they threw him into Azkaban and he organized an underground resistance there. The only thing is, we couldn't find a time slot during the day when you can meet with him, so it will have to be after classes end at five o'clock for an hour or so."

"That's okay," Harry said. "I'll stay as late as I have to."

"Good. Now, do you have any questions? Oh, I almost forgot. Kingsley wants to have lunch with you tomorrow. I have to say," Percy smiled, "he's rather excited about your being here."

Harry felt uncomfortable. "I really don't want special treatment. Do I have to do it?"

"I would say yes," Percy said a little stiffly. "After all, he is Minister for Magic."

Harry nodded his reluctant assent; he would prefer to spend his time with his new classmates, not only to get help in catching up, but because it would be a little like Hogwarts again. He was looking forward to the camaraderie and especially spending time with Ron. He glanced at the clock on Percy's desk. "It's almost ten. Maybe I should get to my classroom."

At that moment Ron and Seamus walked in. "Oi, mate!" Ron called as he came over to Percy's desk. "Time for class. We're giving you a personal escort. Percy, got all the eyes dotted and the tees crossed?"

Without waiting for an answer, he and Seamus each took an arm, pulled Harry up, and led him to the door. "Good luck!" Percy called.

"Hullo, Harry," Seamus grinned when they were in the corridor. "This will be brilliant!"

"Down this way," Ron said, pointing to a side corridor. "They added a new section for the training program. Classrooms, labs, a common room, and a big practice room like the Room of Requirement we had for the D.A. All new equipment and furniture; it's definitely first class."

"Who's the teacher for Evidence Analysis?" Harry asked as they turned a corner through a double doorway with a large sign over it that read: Department Of Magical Law Enforcement Auror Training Area. Stay Out Unless You Are Really Authorized. Harry looked around as they passed through, but nothing happened.

"Anna Remington. She's not an Auror, but she's worked for the Wizengamot for umpteen years. She's funny as hell. She's always setting up weird experiments. Sometimes I think George is working with her. Last month she gave us an enchanted rabbit and we had to figure out what it really was. Every time someone tried a spell that didn't work, it laid a pellet."

"And we had quite a cleanup job afterwards," Seamus chuckled.

"Here we are." Ron opened a door and they walked into a classroom with a high ceiling and a row of tall windows along one wall. Harry was certain that the view must be enchanted since they were several hundred feet underground and it looked like a city park with tall trees and benches along walkways bathed in sunshine. In the room were about twenty desks, with all but three occupied; all eyes turned when Harry walked in.

He knew or recognized everyone: Ernie Macmillan, Susan Bones, Alicia Spinnet, Katie Bell, Padma and Parvati Patil, Tony Goldstein, Justin Finch-Fletchley, some older people who had been ahead of Harry at Hogwarts, as well as three or four from his own year who had not been in Dumbledore's Army. There were none from Slytherin; maybe, Harry thought, they would start joining in a few years, when the current batch of first-years left school.

Almost everyone smiled, and those who didn't looked at him curiously; some called greetings. Ernie got up and shook his hand warmly. Seamus sat, and Ron led Harry to two empty seats next to the windows, in front of two of the older students. The one behind Harry leaned forward and tapped his shoulder. "Tom Trenton," he introduced himself when Harry turned. "I was in Hufflepuff, two years ahead of you. Welcome." He shook Harry's hand.

A moment later the door opened and a middle-aged witch walked in, glancing at Harry; she had a long braid of blond hair beginning to turn gray, steel-rimmed half-moon glasses like Professor Dumbledore's, and green robes trimmed in silver with a Slytherin insignia on the chest pocket. She nodded to the class when she got to the front.

"Good morning everyone, and welcome to you, Mr. Potter. I'm Professor Remington." She nodded to him again. Her wand flicked almost imperceptibly and Harry jumped back as a thick book appeared on his desk; the title: Hidden Hexes, Surreptitious Spells, And Sub-rosa Substances: How To Find Them. "We are currently on chapter fifteen. However, today we're doing a lab on detection. By tomorrow I expect you to be less than fifteen chapters behind, at least in reading." She smiled.

Harry swallowed and nodded. He leafed through a few pages, but stopped when Professor Remington spoke again.

"We'll be going into the lab in a few minutes to work on the summer squashes I handed out on Friday. Let's work hard and help each other out because tomorrow I'd like to move on to the rutabagas. First, though, I have your written analyses from the dust bunny assignment."

She waved her wand and a parchment appeared on each person's desk. Students began looking them over, and Ron, sitting next to Harry, pumped his fist and grinned. "Aced it," he whispered. "There were glumbumble eggs embedded in the dust. They're invisible."

Professor Remington was speaking. "Are there any questions? The bunnies contained colonies of glumbumble eggs. The insects themselves have been used in crimes involving mood changes. Yes, Miss Patil?"

While Parvati was asking a question, Harry was wondering about the professor's comment that glumbumbles could change someone's mood. He had never heard of them, but he couldn't help thinking about Turntongue.

His mind came back to the class when people started getting up and moving through a door in the back of the room. "Come on," Ron said to him, "you've been assigned as my lab partner. You'll love this."

Harry followed Ron into the laboratory next door. There were long work benches with water spigots, sinks, cauldrons, candles, and other equipment. Ron led him to one of the cauldrons and peered in. Harry looked over his shoulder and saw what looked like a sickly yellow potion with slices of a yellow vegetable floating in it; Ron stirred it with his wand and a disgusting reek arose. "How can anyone eat these things?" he muttered. "They remind me of slugs."

"What are you supposed to do?" Harry asked, wrinkling his nose.

"There's either a spell or a magical substance hidden in it, and we're supposed to identify it. I've narrowed it down to a substance, maybe a dissolved powder. Everyone else has figured out at least that much too. There are about twenty incantations you can use to ferret it out, but they have to be used in the right order and the right strength, otherwise you can destroy the substance, and sometimes the cauldron goes up with it. And with this vile slop, I wouldn't want it to explode all over the place."

Harry watched as Ron tried a few incantations. After the last one the fetid liquid started bubbling, and the stench grew worse. Ron tried to wave the fumes away. "Unfortunately, that means I'm on the right track. I think the next one—"

"Why don't you try it, Mr. Potter?" said Professor Remington, standing right behind them, smiling at Harry. "Mr. Weasley, demonstrate the next sequential incantation, if you don't mind. Just turn your back on the cauldron and it won't be affected."

Ron showed Harry the wand movement and the incantation. Harry looked at the professor. "Um," he began, but she shook her head and pointed to the cauldron. Harry took out the phoenix wand, tried to give Ron a silent warning to move back, and waved his wand, saying loudly, "Mustela et promptu!"

The cauldron made a grunting sound, and Harry felt a hand grab his shoulder and yank him back. The next instant there was a loud bang and a fountain of yellow slime erupted from the cauldron, splattering everything within a yard of it. There were shrieks from around the room, and Harry smelled the worst stench he had ever known, as whatever had been in the cauldron started dribbling down his face. He was about to gag, when someone moved in front of him. "Scourgify!" a voice said, and he blinked as the smell and the sticky substance that had covered his face vanished. Professor Remington turned to Ron, cleaned him off, and looked appraisingly at Harry; he thought he saw a twinkle in her eye.

"We'll work on that, Mr. Potter," she said. "Some wands are stronger than others. Yours appears to be in that category. May I see it?"

Harry handed it to her, and looked guiltily at Ron; his mate had a bemused look, but grinned. "I forgot about that," he said, but stopped as Harry raised his hand. Harry glanced quickly at Remington, but she appeared not to have heard. She rolled Harry's wand between her fingers and bent it slightly, then waved it and a few blue sparks flew from the end.

She looked at Harry. "What's in the core, if you don't mind my asking?"

"A phoenix tail feather from Fawkes. He was Professor Dumbledore's phoenix."

Remington's eyes narrowed. "Ah, yes. I had forgotten. Tom Riddle's wand was this one's brother. Well, his certainly proved the weaker." She smiled again. "You bent your wrist about half an inch too much on the down stroke of your motion. But I would suggest that you try it first without any wrist at all. That way you can build up to the proper angle. When you get home tonight, fill a teapot with water, bring it to a boil, dissolve a lump of sugar in it, and use the incantation and the motion. When you get it right, the water will fly out, leaving the sugar behind."

"Is that all?" Harry asked.

"No, then you steep some Earl Grey in the water, re-dissolve the sugar, and have a cuppa."

"Okay," Harry grinned.

Remington moved on to Seamus and Parvati at the next cauldron. Ron peered inside theirs, frowned, and reached into it with a long-handled silver spoon. When he took the spoon out it was holding a black tar-like substance. He smelled it tentatively and raised his eyebrows at Harry.

"This is it, I think. Usually it just settles out of the liquid, but now we don't have any liquid. Just a sec." He pulled a copy of their textbook from his book bag and flipped through it. "Yes," he grinned at Harry. "Peruvian Darkness Powder. It's still a little damp, but if we dried it out, I'll bet it would be pure enough for George to sell."

Harry gaped at him and looked inside the cauldron. "Are you sure?"

"Well," Ron glanced around, "we really don't want to test it here, but that's what it looks like." He lowered his voice and leaned close to Harry. "There has to be a connection between this and what you found in the Shack. It's too coincidental."

Harry nodded. "I'm spending the afternoon with Saliyah. I'll ask her."

Ron dried out the residue inside the cauldron, and soon the class was over. Before they left the lab, Professor Remington handed Harry a parchment. "These are the topics I'd like you to cover with Professor Matthewson," she told him. "It's a lot, but you should be pretty much caught up by the end of March." Harry nodded and glanced down the list; there were about twenty topics, and he wondered if he would be getting a similar list from all of his professors.

The whole class ate lunch together in the cafeteria. They pushed tables together and had a boisterous time giving Harry advice and describing each professor's peccadilloes. Everyone was meeting with his or her mentor in the afternoon, and in the lift back up, Ron suggested that he and Harry stop off at Diagon Alley afterwards.

"Can't," said Harry. "I'm meeting with Professor Matthewson every day after hours to do catch-up."

"You're kidding!" Ron looked worried. "I mean, Matthewson's okay, but he'll keep you till nine o'clock every night."

"That's not what Percy said. He said it would be about an hour every night."

"Percy don't know jack, and you'll have homework on top of that."

"What can I do?" Harry shrugged. "I spent six years doing the same thing at Hogwarts. I'll survive."

"Just let me know when you need help. I can Floo there any time you need me, right? And so can Hermione."

"Now you're talking," Harry grinned. "How many times did she bail us out?"

"Too many to count. Oh, and here." Ron lowered his voice and slipped a small leather pouch into Harry's hand. "I nicked a bit of the powder. You never know when you might need a little darkness."

Harry put the pouch in his pocket. The lift clattered to a stop at the second level and they separated; Ron went to the right towards the training program section, and Harry turned left and followed signs to the Auror Section. He soon found himself in Saliyah's office where the Auror witch who Harry had seen many times with Saliyah was sitting behind a desk. She rose and extended her hand.

"We've never been introduced properly," she said, but did not smile. "I'm Laura Lovegood, and yes, Luna is my niece. Miss Ushujaa is still at lunch, but she'll be back momentarily. You're a little early."

"I wanted to be sure I was on time," Harry said. She ignored that statement and sat back down.

Harry took a seat in a chair near the door. He looked at the Auror; she was bent over a parchment, writing furiously. He could not imagine anyone less like Luna or her father, whose sister this witch must be. She physically resembled Xenophilius somewhat, but she had none of his or Luna's airy detachment from the world; she was all business and efficiency. Maybe Luna's grandmother and grandfather were as different as Laura was from her brother.

In a few minutes Saliyah swept in carrying a folder bound in string. She nodded to Harry, spoke a few words to Lovegood, and beckoned Harry to follow her. They went into the inner office and Saliyah threw the folder onto her desk.

"We're heading down to the docks," she said, and grinned. "Nothing like getting thrown into the fire on your first day. It seems that we've come across something that might be related to your problems up in Hogsmeade. But sit first, and let's talk." She indicated a chair in front of her desk.

Harry sat. He wanted to ask her about Peruvian Darkness Powder, but maybe the subject was about to come up anyway. Saliyah also sat, and gazed down at her desk for a moment. Finally she looked up.

"Your first few months are going to be rough, Harry. Matty Matthewson is going to push you, and I want you to be at the same level as everyone else by the end of term, which, I'm sure you'll be glad to know, will coincide with the end of the Hogwarts term." She grinned. "I want you and Ginny to have plenty of time to get ready for your wedding."

"Merlin!" Harry exclaimed. "I hope you didn't actually plan it that way."

"No," she laughed, "we did plan it to end when Hogwarts ended, but even though I told Molly last summer that there was going to be another wedding at the Burrow, I'm not a Seer." She became serious, and again gazed at the desktop for a few moments. "This is a three-year course, and then there's a two-year apprenticeship, but I want to get something out on the table right now, because it's going to influence how we run this program for the next few years."

Harry had an idea what was coming, and took a breath. Saliyah paused and looked at him thoughtfully. "You know what I'm going to say, don't' you?"

Harry nodded. "But I've changed my mind about a lot of things in the past couple of months."

"I know you have. Well . . ." She paused again before plunging in. "Kingsley and I want to groom you to take over this office in five years, at the latest."

Hearing it said was quite different from imagining it. Harry sat unmoving for a long moment; Saliyah just watched him.

"What do the other Aurors think about that?" Harry said in a soft voice. "Wouldn't a lot of them want the job themselves? Won't they resent a kid in his early twenties being their boss?"

"There will be grumbling and maybe some resistance, that is true. But that's a bridge we'll cross when we come to it. Right now there's just a lot of speculation going around, and you'll undoubtedly hear things in the rumor mill. Five years from now you may have to deal with some who don't like it, but remember also that by then we'll have at least a couple of dozen new Aurors like yourself, and none of them will resent working for you."

"None?"

She smiled. "Okay, maybe some, but that's the bridge we'll cross."

Harry said nothing. Even though he suspected from everything that Kingsley and Saliyah had said over the past months that this would happen, it scared him. Feelings welled up, feelings that had been part of him for as far back as he could remember: he wanted to be left alone to live his life; he wanted a semblance of order and predictability; he didn't want to save the world, he just wanted to be happy.

But those feelings were no longer ruling him. He noticed a Spellotape dispenser sitting on the desk, and thought of the note he had taped to his mirror that morning. There was a girl waiting for him in Hogwarts who had made him happy. But the horrible thing he had done to Ginny had fundamentally changed him; he should not have been forgiven, but not only had she forgiven him, she had never doubted him; she had an unwavering faith in him.

That faith was the crucible of his happiness; it was what had made him change himself, and now he no longer feared the future that was being offered to him. If he accepted that future, nothing in the universe could ever dislodge Ginny's faith. Ginny was his core; fighting for a decent and just world for her to live in, to bear their children in, was his destiny.

He looked up; Saliyah was gazing at him with a bright look in her dark eyes. Her face had an intense expression that seemed to be a mix of expectation, hope, and uncertainty. He took another breath. "I'll do it."

The Auror let out her breath, and her face lit up in a broad smile. "Thank you, Harry," she said simply.

They looked at each other for a moment, and Harry laughed nervously. "What are we doing at the docks?"

Saliyah smiled again. "Excellent question." She untied the string around the folder on her desk and opened it. She leafed through it and handed him a parchment. It was Sagittaria Slocum's report, dated two days ago. Glancing down it, he saw a large red circle around the words, "Peruvian Darkness Powder."

"I drew the circle," Saliyah said. "Sagittaria didn't think it was significant; there wasn't enough evidence to tie it to anything else. But take a look at this." She handed him another item from the folder. This was not a parchment; it was paper, and it appeared to be an official document of the British Muggle government.

"It's a ship's cargo manifest," Saliyah explained when Harry gave her a puzzled look. "A tramp steamer named The Southern Sky arrived in London last week from Malaysia, but its voyage began two months ago in Buenos Aires. It was met in port here by two young men wearing funny clothes. They picked up a sealed barrel and disappeared with it. The captain of the ship, a Señor Cejas, was persuaded by a thick envelope of Muggle money to give us a copy of the manifest. He showed us the item on it that the two wizards had taken, but it wasn't hard to figure out. Do you see it?"

Harry ran his finger down the paper, and stopped on "Coal, 50 kg." He whistled.

"That's a lot of Darkness Powder. How did you find out about this? There must be hundreds of ships coming and going from all the ports in Britain."

"Thousands. We have people watching ports, airports, train stations. We don't catch everything, but in this case we had a tip from Lee Jordan. It's a long story, but the captain knew that someone else might be interested in his 'coal,' and he thought he might be able to raise the price if more than one party bid on it. He somehow managed to contact Lee and George. They haven't carried Darkness Powder since it was used against the Order two years ago at Hogwarts, so Lee reported it to us." She grunted. "Lucky for Cejas too. I don't think the people who ordered the stuff would have taken kindly to a double cross."

Harry thought for a moment. "So at least two months ago someone ordered fifty kilos of Peruvian Darkness Powder, then those two Argentine workers came down here and took it from the ship. And, the captain knew that it was something that George and Lee would be interested in, which means he's met wizards before. And there's one more thing."

Saliyah raised her eyebrows. "Something else?"

"Yes. In my first class this morning, we were trying to detect a magical substance that was inside a vegetable. I sort of made a mess, but Ron said the substance was Peruvian Darkness Powder. Here." He took the pouch that Ron had given him from his pocket and dropped in on the desk.

Saliyah took it with a tiny smile and peered inside. She took a pinch and flung it up above her head. The room darkened, as though the sun had dimmed. She waved her wand and the room was bright again. Her brow was furrowed. "Anna Remington is teaching that class?"

Harry nodded, and Saliyah got up and went around the desk. She opened the door and spoke to her assistant. "Laura, try to track down Anna Remington. She's probably down on level nine. Ask her if she can come up for a minute."

The Auror came back and sat again. "This is a problem we've always had. Madam Remington works for the Wizengamot, not Magical Law Enforcement, and it seems that she has a source of Darkness Powder that we don't know about. Well, we'll find out soon enough."

She sat in thought until Harry spoke. "So what are we doing at the docks?"

Saliyah broke from her reverie. "We're going to check in with the chap who's watching the ship. It's an interesting neighborhood. Have you ever been down there?"

Harry shook his head. He had heard stories from Dean about that end of town, near the home field of his favorite Muggle football team, West Ham; it always sounded a bit dodgy.

"The Ministry owns an old building down there that we use to Apparate into. Our man also lives there."

"Who is he? Or is that something I don't need to know?"

Saliyah took a deep breath. "We definitely do not tell ordinary trainees things like that. But . . ." She looked away for a moment; when she looked back she was wearing a deadly serious expression. "Listen closely, Harry. I'm going to start making it a practice to bring you in on everything, and I mean everything. But it's a test of your judgment. If I tell you something that is secret, you must keep it to yourself." She picked up the pouch of Darkness Powder sitting on her desk. "This tells me, which I already was pretty sure of, that you and Ron Weasley talk about things. I'm sure that intimacy has served you well, and I don't criticize you for it. But what passes between you and me, as your mentor and as Head Auror, must stay between us. Is that clear?"

"Yes, completely. What about Ginny? Can I talk to her?"

"Absolutely," the Auror said without hesitating. "But it has to stay between the two of you. Married Aurors always have that permission, it's really a necessity to have someone to talk to."

"Um, we're not married yet." Harry felt a warm flush rise on his face.

Saliyah grinned. "Close enough. And neither are Kingsley and I."

Harry sat back in his chair and pondered what Ron's reaction might be to this new fact in their friendship. If Harry was eventually going to be Ron's boss, something like this was bound to happen sooner or later. It didn't make Harry happy, though; Ron was going to be excluded from the part of Harry's life that Ron himself had helped create. Harry could only hope that his friend would understand that he had no choice.

There was a knock on the door and Anna Remington walked in. Saliyah stood, and so did Harry. The witch nodded to him. "You summoned me, Saliyah?" she said; Harry couldn't tell if she was annoyed or joking.

"Yes, please sit. I found out from Harry that one of your experiments in class involved Peruvian Darkness Powder. Do you mind my asking where you got it? A rather large quantity just came into the country illegally, and we're trying to track it down."

"My dear," Remington said, "we got it from your own man. One would think that you knew what he was doing, at least."

Saliyah stared at her. "You mean Fletcher?"

Harry's head jerked up. "Mundungus Fletcher?" he said.

Remington looked at him with one eyebrow raised. "The very man. I can't imagine there's more than one villain like him with the same name."

Harry looked at Saliyah, but she gave him a glance that told him to keep quiet. No one spoke. Remington started humming a tune Harry recognized from Muggle radio broadcasts he had heard at the Dursleys. He knew that Saliyah was embarrassed, but he didn't know if there was anything he could do. Finally the Auror sighed.

"It looks like Dung is free-lancing again. I thought we had him on a leash, but he's slipped it. How much did he sell you?"

"About twenty pounds, and I'm sure we got everything that he had. I tried to pay him with leprechaun's gold, but he wouldn't take it." She grinned. "I can see why you want him to work for you, Saliyah, but he's uncontrollable; he'll steal anything. He's a delight."

Saliyah just shook her head ruefully. "Your entertainment is our headache. Thank you, Anna. I appreciate your coming up here."

The witch left and Harry leaned forward. "You know, there is something that might put a damper on him." Saliyah gave him a doubtful look. "No, really," Harry said. "At Ginny's birthday party she did some nice things for him after Mrs. Weasley and Bill threatened him with instant death if he stole anything. The poor git was terrified, but then Ginny brought him a piece of the cake, and he kind of melted. I never saw him like that before."

Saliyah shrugged. "I doubt we can use something like that on him. But never mind. It's time to leave. We're going back to The Southern Sky, and we're going to try to find out exactly where they picked up the Darkness Powder, and who paid them. If we can discover who the Captain dealt with on earlier trips, that'll be a bonus."

She went to the outer office and came back with Laura. "Hold my arm, Harry," said Saliyah. "We'll do a Side-Along since you don't know anything about the place." Harry grasped her arm tightly, and in a moment they were inside what looked like a small, rundown warehouse, completely empty except for a few folding chairs and, off in a corner, a curtain that closed off a few square feet. No lights were lit, and the only illumination came from the grimy windows near the ceiling. A moment later Lovegood appeared with a loud pop.

"Over here," Saliyah said, and led them to a tiny office along one wall. Inside was a trunk, and in the trunk were a half-dozen ratty old overcoats. "Put one of these on over your robes. You won't stand out quite so much."

Harry took a gray overcoat from the trunk. He couldn't imagine how he would be less conspicuous wearing it; there were large holes in the elbows, the collar was torn, and there was only one button. He held it up, pointed his wand, and said, "Reparo!"

The result was marginally better: large patches had appeared on the elbows. Saliyah and Laura didn't bother to repair theirs, though, and Harry followed them through an outer door onto the street. A few Muggles were about, dressed not much better than themselves, and Harry realized why they were wearing these tattered overcoats.

They walked rapidly past shabby buildings, dodged traffic as they crossed two wide streets, and Harry saw the upper portion of a ship ahead of them. In a moment they emerged on the river, and he got a better look at their destination.

He had heard the term "rust bucket," and it perfectly described this ship. It looked tired and old. It was small, about a hundred feet long with a raised superstructure in the middle and small cranes at either end. The sides of the hull had patches of rust-colored paint showing through the black over-coat. A small stream of smoke issued from its single stack. A few bored sailors were leaning over the railing, about twenty feet above Harry's head, looking at him and the two Aurors. One of them spat; it missed Harry by a foot and he looked up.

"Sorry, mate," one of the sailors said. "I'll aim better next time."

Harry fingered his wand but Saliyah put her hand on his arm. "No magic in public unless someone's in danger."

"I think I was in danger of catching his diseases," Harry muttered; he moved back a few feet and glared up at the man. After a moment the sailor walked away; the others just stared at them.

Saliyah continued past the ship to a small wooden shack standing by itself on the very end of the pier. Harry and Laura followed, and as they passed the stern Harry saw "The Southern Sky" in white lettering painted on it.

The shack was too small for them to enter. Saliyah was already inside talking to a sailor who stood behind a desk, and when Harry craned his neck to peer in, he saw Mundungus Fletcher backed into a corner, as far from Saliyah as he could get in the cramped space. When he saw Harry, his eyes bulged, but shifted in different directions. Saliyah noticed and put her hand in her pocket. Mundungus stiffened; Harry was sure he was about to Disapparate, and wondered what the sailor would have thought of that.

The man came outside and brushed past Harry; Saliyah followed, pulling Mundungus after her. "He's getting the captain, "she said.

"How are you, Dung," Harry asked pleasantly. "We've missed you since the party."

"Who?"

"Me and Ginny. We've missed you. Ginny talks about you all the time." Saliyah scowled at Harry, but he ignored her. "We're getting married, you know. You'll be invited."

"Oh?" Fletcher smiled. "She's a sweetie, 'arry. You're a lucky bloke. When is it?"

"We haven't set a date yet, but it'll be some time next summer. We'll be sure to send you an invitation."

Fletcher beamed. "That's real nice of you, 'arry. I like Ginny. She was very nice to me at 'er party."

"Yeah, she is nice." Harry smiled back. "Say, Dung, we were wondering how you got that Peruvian Darkness Powder that you sold to Madam Remington." Saliyah coughed loudly, and Fletcher glanced at her.

"Well . . . I—I don't, I don't really know, it—it was . . ." He trailed off and peered at Harry. "Ginny asked about me, you say? That's—that sounds like 'er. She's a sweetie."

"Yeah," Harry nodded; he noticed that Saliyah was not scowling anymore, but was listening to the conversation with interest. "She's the best, no doubt."

Mundungus nodded; he was sweating slightly, although it was quite chilly and a breeze was blowing along the river; his straggly hair ruffled in the wind. He looked around nervously, and lowered his voice. "I—I got it off of two foreign chaps. See, they had about a hundred pounds. No one needs that much, do they?" He looked at Saliyah, and she shook her head. "Right!" he nodded eagerly. "So I—I, well since they didn't need all of it, I just borrowed some and . . ."

"You borrowed it and Obliviated them," Harry finished for him.

"Well . . ." Fletcher looked at Saliyah again, but this time with apprehension. "Maybe I did, I'm not sure, I forget now if I actually did that."

Harry suppressed a laugh and patted Mundungus's shoulder; the man flinched and backed away, bumping into Saliyah who grabbed his arm.

"Okay, Mr. Fletcher," she said quietly. "We're going back to the warehouse for a little talk. If you don't want to come back there with me, then we can arrange a meeting on the tenth level of the Ministry instead."

Fletcher swallowed; his eyes were now flitting back and forth between the Aurors, Harry, and the open road at the foot of the pier. Saliyah shook him slightly and he nodded. "S -sure, Miss Ushujaa, in the warehouse, no problem." He was sweating profusely now, and Saliyah loosened her grip on his arm but didn't let go. She turned to Harry and spoke quickly.

"I'm taking him back to the warehouse. You and Laura talk to the captain. Try to find out who gave him the powder."

Harry opened his mouth, but Saliyah had turned and was walking away, now with a firm grip on Mundungus's arm.

Harry looked at Laura, and she smiled tightly. "Got it?"

"No," Harry retorted, "but I'll give it my best shot."

In a few minutes two men descended the short gangplank onto the pier and came towards them. One was the sailor who had been in the tiny shack; the other was an older man with a short goatee and bleary eyes, wearing a battered peaked cap. He stopped when he saw Harry and Laura standing alone.

"Where's that African woman?" he said gruffly, in slightly accented English. "Who the hell are you?"

"I'm her stu—her assistant," Harry said in as authoritative a voice as he could muster. "We want to know where you loaded that Peruv—that coal, and who paid you."

"Oh you do? And what fucking business is it of yours? Christ Almighty!" He spat on the ground. "I'll talk to her, Ushulu, or whatever the hell her name is. She made it worth my while." He held his hand out and rubbed his thumb against his forefinger. "You got anything to make it worth my while, pup?"

"We already paid you. We need to know—"

"You need to know?" The captain laughed. "You need to get off of my fucking dock." He took a step towards Harry, and Harry put his hand in his pocket. Laura yanked him back, and Harry lost his balance and tripped over her foot. He caught himself before he fell, but the two men laughed. There was also hooting from the ship; Harry looked up and saw the sailor who had spat at him leaning over the railing again with his shipmates.

The captain turned without a word and walked back up the gangplank; his companion looked at Harry for a moment and went back inside the shack.

"Too bad, kid," a voice came from the ship. "I guess you'll have to go home now and get your nappy changed." The crewmen standing with him sniggered, and one of them spat down onto the dock.

Harry started to turn away, but as he did he gestured at the sailor who had spoken, and suddenly the man began to hiccup loudly. As Harry and Laura walked off the pier, they could hear him gasping and wheezing between hiccups.

"It'll only last an hour," Harry said to Laura, who looked at him but said nothing.

They returned to the warehouse, and as soon as they were inside Harry took off his overcoat and threw it back into the trunk. They found Saliyah and Mundungus in the main room; he was sitting on one of the folding chairs, and she was standing over him with her wand out. They both looked at Harry and Laura when they entered, and Mundungus's frightened expression became a little less fearful.

"Did you find out anything?" Saliyah asked; Harry shook his head.

"He got angry. He said he would talk to you, but he wanted more gold."

"I expected something like that," the Auror said. "It would have been better if I had stayed, but we couldn't talk to them and hold him—" she indicated Mundungus "—at the same time. He would have Disapparated right in front of them. Okay." She thought for a moment; Mundungus shifted in the chair and glanced nervously at Harry. Finally Saliyah put her wand away.

"There's nothing else we can do here. Mundungus," she said to the man; he began to tremble. "I'm going to report you to the Wizengamot for stealing that Darkness Powder. If you screw up again, my guess is that they'll want to talk to you. Understand?" She gave him a fierce look, and he drew back.

"S—sure, Miss Ushujaa. I'm sorry I borrowed that powder. It won't 'appen again."

"Fine, now get going. You know what you're supposed to do." Mundungus nodded quickly, glanced at Harry, and scurried out the door.

They returned to Saliyah's office in the Ministry. Laura went back into the front office after whispering briefly to the Auror, and Harry took his seat in front of her desk. "Tell me exactly what happened," she said.

Harry told her, and she was silent for a moment. "What was that hand gesture you used on the sailor?" she finally asked.

"Uh, that was just a little thing I decided to do," Harry mumbled.

"Where was your wand?"

"In my pocket. Miss Lovegood wouldn't let me take it out."

"So you used a hand movement to cast a hex. I remember you talking about that last summer. You said you could do certain kinds of magic without your wand as long as it was touching your body. I vaguely remember a peach pie."

"Yes, that was it," Harry grinned. "I—" He stopped when she raised her hand.

"If you were an Auror and pulled a stunt like that you would be disciplined." She pointed her finger at him. "And if you do it again, that's what will happen."

Harry looked down; he felt himself flush. "Sorry," he mumbled. "It won't happen again."

"Good. Now, let's see where we stand." She flipped open the folder that was still lying on her desk; it seemed to Harry that there were a few more parchments in it than there had been when they left for the docks. "What do you think?" she asked.

"Um. Well, I don't know what Dung told you."

'He told me nothing that we don't already know. But you discovered something, Harry, when you talked to Captain Cejas."

Harry frowned, trying to remember his conversation with the irascible Muggle. The man hadn't wanted to talk to Harry, but the only time he wasn't swearing at him was . . . Harry grinned. "He does know something about the source of the powder."

Saliyah beamed. "Exactly! He was fishing for another bribe. I don't think he would try to scam us. He thinks we're a bunch of freaks—" Harry winced at the word "—and he's a little bit afraid of us too. If he isn't superstitious himself, you can bet his crew are, and he won't want to upset them by having us do something crazy."

"So what do we do now?"

"I don't know." She smiled at his surprised look. "We'll see if Mundungus can dig out any more information, and we'll pursue our leads up in Hogsmeade. That's where the powder is now, eighty or ninety pounds of it, and that's where they'll use it."

"But for what? I'm kind of nervous about it. Whoever is behind this, is trying to get at me, and there are too many other people in the line of fire. Ginny got hurt and they almost killed me."

Saliyah heaved a sigh. "I'm sorry about everything that's happened, Harry. We didn't take it seriously enough at first, and we sent the wrong person up there to look out for you. But you know that we're up against a Fidelius charm, and that's unbreakable. I'm sure it's hiding the Darkness Powder, as well as everything else."

She looked at her clock; it was almost five. "Enough for today." She stood and smiled. "I'm very pleased with the way you've started."

"Me too, except for that one—"

Saliyah waved him off. "That's done with. Now, I believe you're meeting with Professor Matthewson after hours. I'll take you to his office."

She took Harry back to the training program section and left him in an office near the classroom he had been in that morning. Professor Matthewson was short and wiry with a friendly face and short, dark hair. Harry and the professor spent the next hour and a half talking about Professor Remington's list of topics and going over the first chapter of Harry's Evidence Analysis textbook. Then he helped Harry with some elementary spells, and they went into the lab. They took a small stone from one of the specimen drawers, and Harry tried a rudimentary Detection spell; he determined that it had been Levitated in the past forty-eight hours, and Matthewson was duly impressed.

Harry got back to his flat and collapsed on the rug, exhausted. But he also felt immensely satisfied and excited. He had finally begun his new career, and if he succeeded—about which he had no doubt—in five years he would be Head Auror of the entire British wizarding world. He rolled onto his back and laughed out loud, and heard a hoot as McPherson landed on his stomach.

"Hey, old boy." Harry reached down and stroked the owl's head. "Meet your next Head Auror." He laughed again when McPherson ducked his head. Harry noticed the parchment tied to his leg, and took it. McPherson flew back to his perch and Harry sat in the love seat and read Ginny's letter.

My love,

I can't stand waiting to hear what happened today. I was all tingly inside thinking about you, and then in the afternoon, around one o'clock, all of a sudden I knew that something grand had happened. I don't know what it was, but please tell me as soon as you get back. I miss you so much, and I wish there was a way we could see each other today... or maybe more than see...

I love you more than ever.

Ginny

Harry gazed into the fireplace, trying to think of a way to tell Ginny what that "grand" thing was. He couldn't put it in an owl; it would be a disaster if someone else found out. He would have to go to the school, but he also had to begin studying; Professor Matthewson had reviewed the first chapter of the textbook, but Harry knew that he hadn't nearly mastered it.

Finally he wrote back to Ginny. He knew from the Marauder's Map that she was in the Great Hall eating dinner, so after McPherson flew off with his letter he went downstairs and ate his own meal. When he got back, Ginny's reply was there and his plan was set. He napped for half an hour, then studied until midnight, including a partly successful attempt at the water-and-sugar experiment Professor Remington had described.

Finally the map showed that the Gryffindor common room was empty except for Ginny's dot. He went to the fireplace and in an instant he was holding and kissing her and pushing her down into his favorite old chair in front of the fireplace. When they finished snogging they were both breathless, and they sat for several minutes, Ginny in Harry's lap, her arms around him and her head on his shoulder.

"I won't survive until the weekend," she sighed. "I have no idea what they taught in any of my classes today. All I did was daydream about you."

Harry kissed her brow. "I have some interesting news, but it's just between you and me. Saliyah said that you were the only person I could talk to, and you can't tell anyone else."

"Of course," Ginny said. "I expected that."

"Well, I'm not sure how Ron will like it."

"He doesn't have a choice. What's your news?"

"When I'm finished with the program, Kingsley wants me to be Head Auror."

Ginny's mouth fell open; she stared at him and a smile spread across her face. "Oh, Harry." She kissed him. "Oh, Harry. I love you. That's the most utterly brilliant thing I've ever heard." She kissed him again. "That must make you feel so good."

He grinned and nodded. "You'll be Mrs. Head Auror. How does that sound?"

Ginny got a faraway look. "Yes, the timing will be perfect . . ."

"The timing for what?"

"For everything. Harry, you didn't bring your Cloak with you by any chance, did you?"

"It just so happens . . ." He reached inside his shirt and pulled out the Invisibility Cloak. "Why do you ask?"

"You don't think we could go see what's up in the Room of Requirement, do you?"

He grinned lasciviously. "That's an interesting way to put it."

When they left the common room under the Cloak the Fat Lady was asleep, and when they returned two hours later and had to wake her up, she was too drowsy to care about Ginny's being out of the common room so late. They kissed goodnight at the door to the girls' dormitory, and they slept in their own beds, missing each other, but not in their dreams.