Chapter 54
Home Sweet Home
Author's Note: This will be in Harry's PoV.
A couple days after Christmas, the Burrow was nearly back to normal life. The last Christmas guests in the Burrow were Bill and Fleur and they would be leaving early that morning. Harry woke up before the sun had risen over the horizon. He had planned to wake up this early, due to the fact that he wanted to finally go to his house in London, and Mr. Weasley would be taking him before he went into work.
It was a chilly and dark morning when Harry finally brushed the sleep from his eyes, put on his glasses and quietly leapt out of his cot. He was still a guest in Ron's room, and he moved quietly so as not to wake Ron up. Harry quickly, and quietly, dressed into warm clothing. He stored his wand in his pocket and walked over to his trunk. On top of his trunk lay the deed and the key for the new house. These would be the only two things he would take today of his posessions, along with some quills, ink and parchment. He had no plan yet to start moving anything into the house, though he knew he would start with that in the next few weeks or less.
Harry crept out of Ron's bedroom and silently closed the door, then walked down the stairs. The lights were on in the kitchen when Harry arrived. Bill, Fleur, as well as Mr. Weasley were all seated around the table. Mrs. Weasley was preparing breakfast.
"Mum, you really don't have to make breakfast for us before we leave," Bill said.
"Nonsense!" Mrs. Weasley said, "I will not let you two leave with an empty stomach. Especially since it will be such a long trip!"
"Fine" Bill groaned, and turned away, where he saw Harry, "Harry! You're up early. Come to say goodbye?"
"Your father is taking Harry to London today," Mrs. Weasley said, "Harry wants to go to his new house."
"New house?" Bill said, looking from his mother to Harry, "You're not telling me you bought one already."
"It's my grandparents' old house," Harry said, "My father had it in his possession before he died and he gave it to me."
"Zat eez wonderful!" Fleur said, "I am sure it will be quite nice."
"I just hope it isn't too hard to find," Harry said, sitting down at the table.
"You have the address, don't you?" Mr. Weasley asked.
"Of course, I do," Harry said.
"Well then!" Mr. Weasley said, "Shouldn't be any problem!"
--
After breakfast, Harry and Mr. Weasley said goodbye to Bill and Fleur, wished them a safe trip, then left the Burrow. The sun was peeking over the horizon, but it was still a very chilly morning. Harry had to put his arms around himself to warm himself up as he followed Mr. Weasley toward the garage a little way up the drive.
Inside the tiny garage was a jet black car that took up most of the space. Little red flags with a Golden 'M' stuck out of the back of the car near the trunk. Harry walked over to the passenger side door and opened the door. He got into the car and grinned. He figured Mr. Weasley had tinkered with the car (one of his favorite pastimes) and he was right. The inside of the car was definitely bigger than it was supposed to be.
"I guess you noticed that I did a bit of magic with this car," Mr. Weasley said, as he got into his seat.
"Yeah," Harry said, with a bit of a laugh, "It's… big."
"Oh yeah," Mr. Weasley said, "Well, that isn't all that I've done. Only don't tell Molly, will you? She…"
"Doesn't like when you do stuff like this," Harry said, "Yeah, you've told me."
Mr. Weasley grinned. Harry looked over at the steering wheel and noticed that there wasn't a keyhole. He was about to say something when Mr. Weasley took out his wand and tapped it against the steering wheel. The ignition sputtered then started.
"Nice," Harry said.
"Oh, I didn't do that part," Mr. Weasley said, "That was part of the Ministry's doing. Anti-theft and all that. All right, here we go."
He backed the car out of the garage, then stopped and waved his wand. The garage door closed. The car drove up the long driveway and toward the street.
"I don't usually drive to work," Mr. Weasley said, as he turned the car onto the street, "But recently, with the Apparation and Floo Network being down, I've had no choice. I haven't really gotten used to driving so far this early in the morning, so…"
Mr. Weasley tapped his wand on the steering wheel and muttered a few words Harry couldn't hear. Suddenly the car started to drive down the street by itself. Harry noticed that the steering wheel was moving by itself. Mr. Weasley moved his seat back into a slanting position, and laid back. He grinned when he noticed that Harry was staring at the steering wheel.
"Don't worry, Harry," he said, with a laugh, "This old thing knows what it is doing."
"But isn't it a bit… er… dangerous?" Harry asked.
"Not at all," Mr. Weasley said, "It did have its faults at first. The first time I did it, I wound up in Scotland! But once it learned where the Ministry was, I've had no problems. I am going to sleep for a while. Tell me when we reach London and I will take control of the car again."
He closed his eyes, leaving Harry watching the steering wheel as it moved by itself. Harry wanted to go back to sleep himself, but he couldn't. For some reason, he didn't really trust the car. Something about a mechanical car moving by itself, even with magical means, seemed a lot less normal than it usually would.
Harry took his attention off of the steering wheel and looked out the window. The southern England scenery was quite beautiful in the first light of the early morning. As other cars drove by them, Harry wondered whether the Muggles would notice that nobody was driving the car. But Harry realized that they probably wouldn't able to, because of the car's dark tinting.
This escaped Harry's mind quite quickly, and he began to think about his new house. Would he like the house? Would it be in a good neighborhood? It would, as far as his current plans went, be the house he would raise a family in. At that, he thought about Ginny. He looked at Mr. Weasley, who was sleeping peacefully in his seat. Other than to each other, Harry and Ginny hadn't voiced their opinions about Ginny moving in with Harry to anyone, even Ron and Hermione. Harry supposed that Ron would have a fit, and Hermione wouldn't like the idea either. At least… not at the current moment. Anyway, they had nothing to worry about. Ginny would be returning to Hogwarts soon. The earliest she could move into Harry's house was in the summer. By then, well, Harry hadn't thought about it much since before Christmas.
What would his plans be? He really wanted to move into the house, so he could privately work out his plans to rescue Professor Browne's family, and perhaps the Malfoys as well. And he would have to do this all before the Death Eaters realized that Harry wasn't at Hogwarts anymore. He didn't even know where to begin, and he knew that he would have to work it out with the Aurors. Surely, the Aurors knew something that nobody else did!
A couple of hours later, the car arrived in London. Harry shook Mr. Weasley, who woke instantly. He gave a big yawn and straightened his seat up.
"Nice trip, eh?" he asked as he stretched.
"Er, yeah," Harry said.
"Where do we need to be going?" Mr. Weasley asked.
Harry took the house deed out of his pocket and unfolded it.
"311 Kensington Lane," Harry read.
"Wonderful," Mr. Weasley said, "Keep your eye out for it, won't you?"
It turned out that Kensington Lane was on the other side of London, in the suburbs. As Harry looked around at the houses as they drove past, he was reminded of the Dursley's house. Many of the houses looked identical, and, in Harry's opinion, almost boring.
"On our trip up here," he said to Mr. Weasley as they drove across London, "I was thinking about something. You… er… wouldn't know if there are any other wizards around Kensington Lane?"
"Not off the top of my head, Harry," Mr. Weasley said, "But I could ask the Magical Zoning Committee if you would like."
Harry nodded.
"Why did you ask anyway?" Mr. Weasley asked.
"Well, it's funny when you think about it," Harry said, "You see thousands of people in London everyday, and anyone of them could be witches and wizards."
"About thirty-five percent of them actually," Mr. Weasley said, "According to the last consensus. You know, it used to be nearing the fifty-percent mark. We wizards nearly outnumbered the Muggles in London. Big problem in the Ministry of Magic, I tell you. With that many wizards living in and around one city, the Secrecy act could have easily been broken years ago."
"The war decreased our numbers by that much?" Harry asked, amazed.
"Yes, but not all of them were deaths," Mr. Weasley said, "Many wizards and witches just moved away. A good percentage of the wizards and witches in the Ministry of Magic just up and left when Voldemort and the Death Eaters invaded it. Most of them were afraid for themselves and their family. Those who stayed behind were either too afraid to flee, or wanted to make sure the Ministry still stood. But once this war is finally over, I think more and more wizards will return."
Harry went silent after this. He looked out the window at the passing street signs looking for Kensington Lane.
"So I imagine you and Ginny have been talking about the new place too?" Mr. Weasley said, suddenly.
Harry turned so fast that he cricked his neck.
"What?" he asked.
"Oh, it is no surprise," Mr. Weasley said, "I am not surprised Ginny would want to move up here with you."
"We've talked about it," Harry admitted, "Not until after she leaves Hogwarts, of course."
"Of course," Mr. Weasley said.
"Has Mrs. Weasley noticed too?" Harry asked.
"You know Molly, Harry," Mr. Weasley said, "I am sure she expects it. You kids are growing up. Soon Ginny will be seventeen and of legal age. She's been used to having so many kids in the Burrow, and now everyone is leaving. Has Ron told you that he is thinking about leaving the Burrow?"
"What?" Harry asked.
"I guess he hasn't told you," Mr. Weasley said, "He and I had a nice talk the other day. He doesn't know what he wants to do for a job yet. He might want to be an Auror, but it seems he also wants to help George with the shop."
"Right," Harry said, "I remember him telling George he might help him."
"George has offered Ron the flat above the shop in Hogsmeade," Mr. Weasley said, "I imagine he wants Hermione to move in with him, but I don't know if he has talked about it with her. She probably wants to get a job with the Ministry, and it would be some trouble going all the way from Hogsmeade to here in London if the Apparation and Floo Networks aren't working."
"Yeah," Harry said.
"What about you?" Mr. Weasley asked, "Have you decided what to do for a job?"
"I want to be an Auror," Harry said, "Kingsley wrote to me and said he will arrange an interview with the Auror department."
"Yeah, he talked to me about that," Mr. Weasley said, "You are going through with it then?"
"I don't want anything like the First and Second War happening again, Mr. Weasley," Harry said.
"Hear, hear," Mr. Weasley said, glancing out the window, "And speaking of that, here we are!"
Harry looked up at the green sign. It read "Kensington Lane."
"Nice neighborhood," Mr. Weasley said, as he turned the car onto the street.
"At least every one of the houses don't look the same," Harry said.
Mr. Weasley chuckled.
"Which one are we looking for?" he asked.
"Number three-eleven," Harry said.
"Hmm," Mr. Weasley said, "Three forty-nine, forty-seven. I'd say we are on the wrong end of the street, wouldn't you?"
Mr. Weasley drove down the street. Harry looked around at all the houses. The lawns in front of the houses were perfectly mowed and the bushes were nicely trimmed. Harry didn't want to think about the state of the lawn at his new house. No one had occupied the house in years.
"Three-fifteen," Mr. Weasley stated, "Three-thirteen. Aha! Three-eleven!"
Harry looked out the window and gasped. The house was two stories and tan-colored, but that wasn't what had caught his attention. The grass seemed as perfectly mowed as the rest of the houses. But…
"Mr. Weasley," Harry said, "Do you suppose there is magic used on this house?"
"I highly doubt it," Mr. Weasley said, "No wizard has owned this house for… what… nearing eighteen years? The Ministry wouldn't allow magic to keep up this long."
"Then why does the lawn look so neat?" Harry asked.
Mr. Weasley shrugged. Harry opened the door and stepped out of the car.
"Do you know how you are getting back to the Burrow?" Mr. Weasley asked him.
"Floo Network is open today, right?" Harry asked.
"Last I heard, yeah," Mr. Weasley said.
"Good," Harry said, "I will take the Knight Bus to the Leaky Cauldron, and use the Floo Network from there."
"Contact me if there are any problems," Mr. Weasley said.
"All right," Harry said, "Thanks for the ride."
"Of course," Mr. Weasley said, "I got to get going. Have fun."
Harry shut the door and the car drove away. Harry turned around and looked at the house. In the front of the house, there was a porch with stairs leading up to the door. A white window was on each side, with two more windows on the top level. Harry walked up the sidewalk and up the stairs onto the porch. Harry took out his key, but to his amazement and disbelief he couldn't find a keyhole. He put his hand on the door handle and then backed away quickly. The door handle morphed into a griffin head, brass like the handle.
"Please state your full name," the griffin head said.
"Harry James Potter," Harry said.
"You may enter," the griffin said.
A keyhole appeared below the griffin head, which turned back into a door handle. Harry put his key into the hole and turned it, then opened the door.
"You must be Harry Potter," a voice said behind him.
Harry quickly took his wand from his pocket and turned around, pointing it straight out. An elder lady was standing there. She was wearing a bright blue dress and a white apron. Her grey hair was tied back into a bun.
"Who are you?" Harry asked, "How do you know my name?"
"You look just like your father," the lady said, "So I assumed you were Harry."
"You knew my father?" Harry asked, keeping his wand pointed at the woman.
"Yes, and your grandparents," the lady said, "I am Agatha, an old friend of the family."
"Er…" Harry said, finally storing his wand back into his pocket, "Are you a… well…"
"A Witch?" Agatha said, "No, I am just a Muggle. But I know about wizards, witches and the wizarding world."
"How?" Harry asked.
"I used to baby-sit your father when he was just a little boy," Agatha said, "One day, he set fire to my living room carpet. I witnessed the whole thing. Well, I panicked of course, but after your grandparents told me everything, I calmed down. So you are Harry. I was wondering when you would come around. James said he was going to leave this house to you if anything happened to him. Then I got word about his death, and…"
Agatha's lip quivered.
"James was a very good friend to me, Harry," Agatha said, "My husband died at a very young age and I never remarried. Didn't have many friends either. I was lonely until I met your father and grandparents."
"You're the one who has kept the grass mowed," Harry said, "I thought it was magic."
"I've done a lot more than that," Agatha said, "Many people have come by, looking to buy this place. I've had to tell them that this house is just for insurance purposes and it is the owners' second home. James' request, actually. I've never gone into the house, so I can't promise that it isn't dirty. I could never get in, and now I see why."
Her eyes moved to the door handle.
"Must have been a little magic in this house after all," Harry said.
"You will be moving in to the house, then?" Agatha asked, "This isn't like a second home or anything?"
"I want to move in in the next couple of weeks, yes," Harry said.
"Wonderful!" Agatha said, "Well, I am next door at number nine. If you aren't too busy sometime and would like to hear stories about your father and grandparents, I have loads!"
"That would be nice," Harry said.
Agatha smiled.
"I will let you go, then," she said, "Enjoy your new house."
"Thanks," Harry said.
Agatha walked away across the yard. Harry turned and walked into the house. He was in what looked like the living room. A fireplace was built into the wall in the back of the room, and there was only one way out other than the front door. It was a door-less entrance on the other side of the room. Harry walked through it, and it led into a hallway. Across the hallway was another door-less entrance, that led into a large dining room. On the other side was a door. Harry walked over to the door and opened it. It led into the kitchen. As Harry walked in, he noticed markings on the door frame. Little cuts were made up one side of the door frame. There was also letters: the one nearest Harry's eyesight read "J.P. age seventeen." Harry knew what it was, because the Dursleys had one for Dudley back in their house. It showed the progression of height over the years. Harry wondered if the cuts were made by magic, or by a knife.
He walked back to the hall and walked down it. Three more doors were here. The first led into a small closet, and the second led into a bathroom. The last was the back door that led into the backyard. Near the back door were stairs going up. Harry walked up these. At the top landing, there was a hallway. Three doors were here. Opening each, Harry found out that there were two bedrooms, one pretty large, and the other small, and another bathroom, which was in between the bedrooms.
Harry walked into the smaller bedroom. He knew that this must have been James' room. Harry walked over to the window, and looked out. You could see rooftops everywhere you looked. Harry looked down and his eyes caught something on the inside ledge. Cut into the wooden ledge were words that read "Prongs woz here." Near that were more words: "Padfoot woz here."
It wasn't until he read that, that he remembered that Sirius had stayed in this house for a while. James and Sirius must have shared the bedroom. Harry sat in the corner of the room and took out his quill, ink and parchment. For the next few hours or so, he wrote down little ideas for the house. He didn't get much done, because he was daydreaming about his father and Sirius in this room, perhaps attempting to do magic without getting caught.
At half-past noon, he locked the house up and signaled for the Knight Bus, which immediately came. He went to Diagon Alley and traveled back to the Burrow via Floo Powder.
--
Chapter finished. I couldn't think of what else to write. Hope you liked what I had though. There will be more about the house soon.
Did you like Agatha? The character has been in my mind for a while. I wanted to add her. There will be more about her as well.
Feedback would be great!
Chapter 54
Home Sweet Home
