A/N: Ok so this update took more than a week. We'll just act like I hadn't intended to update in the Easter break at all. To make up for it, this chapter is pretty long.
Chapter 6: The Festival
Harry was cleaning. He hadn't come to the past to be a less efficient dishwasher but here he was. The past few days had been chaotic, he had healed up and had to deal with his immediate problems. Dumbledore had grilled him more than the Aurors, asking about his supposed home-schooling and life. It was a good thing Harry was all too glad to talk to the old man, although a little saddened by the tired look on the wizard's face. They'd talked about all sorts of things, from his birth family to his future at Hogwarts and his dreams and aspirations in life. Harry had told the old man that in a peaceful world, he'd like to live in a cabin in the hills, a quite life away from all the drama. The old wizard had then asked him if he would like socks for Christmas, Harry was bursting with laughter when he had answered in the positive.
A day later, he had begun doing basic exercises. His body wasn't all that different but it would still take some getting used to. Luckily, this matron was more agreeable than Madam Pomfrey and didn't give him a tough time. Dumbledore had asked him if he had a vault in Gringotts or if he would like to make use of the Hogwarts student fund. Harry had assured him that his parents and his godfather had left him with enough and he just had to go fetch it. He'd also turned down Dumbledore's offer to accompany him. "Uncle Aaron really didn't like visitors, like nasty traps level of dislike." His pathetic excuse had worked, although the Jaeger residence was burnt down so he never actually went there.
Turns out Aaron trusted the goblins about as much as Harry did and hadn't banked with them at all. Instead choosing to hide his money in a small safehouse. Silently thanking Samael for the information, he had gone to pick up his convenient new horde of gold. Now that he could cover the Hogwarts tuition, he turned to the next issue. Information, he still hadn't gone through Hermione's gathered information and he was lost when it come to day to day information, surely even the price of things would be different now. And that's why he found himself employed as a temporary worker at The Three Broomsticks in Hogsmeade. Dumbledore had thought it would be a good idea for him to visit the village he had shown up in, get some air and also reassure the locals that he was alive and well.
There he had seen 'Help Wanted' posters outside the pub and a little while later, was cleaning the tables and washing dishes. The owner was a frail old man who did the bartending while a 20 something Rosemerta was the waitress. In a short while, Harry was making good progress. It was winter break and the Castle was almost empty. Considering the circumstances, Hogsmeade was quite lively. Although the war had technically started a year ago, it wasn't really a war yet. More like a terrorist organisation scheming in the shadows, the Ministry was still stable and in control. Although there was blood being spilt, his new godfather being a prime example.
The people tried to avoid the topic as much as possible, but alcohol loosens tongues. It seemed like they were scared of the possibility of a new dark lord. They never mentioned his name but it looked more like they didn't know Voldie's name rather than being scared of getting attacked. There were lots of people who loudly expressed their thoughts on the 'so called Dark Lord' and how 'he wouldn't stand a chance against the Ministry'. Harry barely controlled the urge to throw a mop at them. Every night Harry poured over the information that Hermione had left behind for him. Knowledge he could use to make quick and easy money was invaluable, he knew plenty of seedy magical and non-magical places to make use of such knowledge.
Of course, Harry exercised every caution. Never coming to the same place too often, sticking mostly to non-magical places, using glamour, even betting in multiple places at once with small amounts so as to not draw attention to himself. In a short period of time, he had amassed a small fortune. Christmas had passed uneventfully; He had gifted Dumbledore a pair of woolly socks and the old wizard had given him a schedule for his OWL exams and a matching pair of socks. He had even baked a chocolate cake for the pub the day before Christmas, that had earned him a kiss on the cheek from Rosemerta. Much better than the old man's gift.
Conversely, public tensions had risen, lesser and lesser muggleborns visited the pub. Confrontations between customers became more common as people muttered insults under their breath. At those times, the tension was almost palpable, people would eye each other wearily and finger their wands. But it never lasted long, the young and bubbly Rosemerta could manipulate the crowds at will. Most incidents would end with the customer apologizing to Rosemerta and buying a round for the other patrons in an effort to appease her. You just don't mess with some people, Harry thought sombrely.
Speaking of which, looks like some idiots didn't get the memo. For what seemed like the millionth time, Harry was disturbed by loud voices. Was it too much to expect some decorum while people tried to get piss drunk? Apparently, it was, the two idiots were just getting louder. Seeking out the source of his recent annoyance, Harry found two twits arguing while a lady sat between them, in obvious distraught. Rosemerta was on her break, the owner looked like a strong breeze could kidnap him. They do not pay me enough for this shit, Harry sighed to himself as he made his way towards the commotion.
By the time he reached them, he had already assessed the situation. He had seen the lady come into the bar on the arm of the smug looking red head, so it looked like the angry brunette man was the cause of the trouble. For the sake of his entertainment, he aptly named them idiot 1 and 2 respectively. The intoxicated idiot 2 was currently trying his best to bully the lady into drinking with him, not that it was working for him. Idiot 1 was busy snubbing idiot 2 and trying to raise his blood pressure. He seemed to be having a lot of fun, the same could not be said of the woman who looked like she wanted to dig a hole in the floor and die there. Harry sympathised, he knew what that felt like, especially since everyone in the bar now had their eyes on the group.
The 'fun' went sideways real fast when the loud idiot 2 decided to up his game. "Why don't you stop wasting time with the blood traitor and come drink with me sweetheart? You shouldn't let someone like him taint your beauty." The moron said with a disgusting smile. That had to be the most grotesque attempt at flirting Harry had ever seen. And he had seen Ron just drool over Fleur. The atmosphere had turned to ice, the lady's eyes were narrowed, idiot 1's smug grin had frozen on his face and his expression clearly warned of a soon to be committed felony. Better step in before it gets dicey, he thought, he was definitely not paid enough to clean up crime scenes. Sighing one last time and cracking his neck, he stepped in between the two men.
"Gentlemen, aggressive fighting is attractive…to baboons. Would you like me to point you in the general direction?" Harry mentally patted himself on the back, that was a good one and ice breakers were good for situations like this. It had earned him a smile from the lady and the redhead just looked affronted. Idiot 2 hadn't taken it so well though.
"Huh!? Who asked you? Get lost." Idiot 2 was fuming as he tried to shove Harry aside. However, Harry wouldn't budge; he no longer had the body of a paperweight midget. Once again thanking Samael for the convenient details, Harry looked the offending moron up and down, looked somewhere around 20. Actually, all three of them looked like they'd just graduated from Hogwarts.
"Well, I work here and I dispense wisdom for free. You guys are disturbing the customers and we reserve the right to refuse service to malcontents." Harry replied smugly, pointing to the sign above the bar that he had read from. The sign under which the owner was standing, quietly drying a glass he had just washed. He then realised that everyone was now looking at him and ducked under the bar, squeaking loudly.
Harry blinked hard. He was going to delete that last part from his memory, for Mr. Sawney's sake. "Don't interfere boy, if anything you should be chasing that brat away" the big guy spat, jabbing his figure at idiot 1. Idiot 1 took this as his chance to speak up "Look man-" Harry interrupted the redhead by raising his hand. No need to drag this out any longer he thought.
Harry looked the black-haired lady straight in her eyes. "Ma'am forgive me if I'm being a little forward but would you like to share the table with idiot 1 or 2?" Harry inquired politely, pointing at the respective idiot when he mentioned them. Then he promptly clamped his mouth shut, he hadn't meant to call them idiots. At least not out loud.
The woman giggled cutely at Harry's sheepish look, covering her mouth with her hand. Finally, she answered "Since I was the one that invited idiot 1, I'd like to share the table with him. If he smartens up his act, that is." The lady pointed at the redheaded idiot 1 as she spoke, blatantly ignoring idiot 2's very existence.
Relieved that she had joined in on his banter instead of taking offence, Harry turned to idiot 2. "Well, you heard the lovely lady. Why don't I lead you to a different table so you can drink your sorrows away, good chap?" Harry placed a hand on the man's shoulder and gently tried to steer him away from the table.
But idiot 2, didn't take rejection well. All purple faced, he shrugged off Harry's hand. "Stop getting in my way you little pest! Do you know who I am?" Apparently, that was a rhetorical question because the idiot tried socking Harry in the face before he had a chance to give a witty reply.
Sadly, for the idiot, Harry had spent most of his life fighting for his damn life so he wasn't about to get beaten by some drunk moron in a pub. Harry swiftly caught the man's wrist and twisted it, twirling his body under the man's arm. It ended with him behind idiot 2, holding the man's twisted arm hostage. "Unfortunately, violence isn't tolerated in this establishment, I'll have to show you out."
Harry began guiding the man towards the door, ignoring his indignant protests. As they reached the door, the man tried to get innovate. "How dare you manhandle me you dirty little mudb- ahhh" Harry tripped the moron and sent him tumbling out the door, the man quickly lost his balance and fell on his ass.
"Thank you for your patronage." Harry announced as he shut the doors on idiot 2. Hoping that would be the last disturbance of the day, he sighed and made his way back towards the pile of dishes in the kitchen. Why couldn't they just let him cook instead of cleaning? Cooking would have been much better, he thought. He was so lost in his thoughts that he almost ran into the person in front of him. Stopping and looking up, he saw the young Rosemerta with her arms folded and a cheeky smile on her face.
"I turn around for a second and ya start jostling customers? You have a bright future in the service industry Mr. Evans." She said sarcastically, shaking with laughter.
"Hey, it was customer service, I let the poor chap out before you found him and emptied wallet. At least this way his ancient coffers are secure." Harry countered, it was common for them to banter, she was a very talkative person. It made her a great hostess but Harry had to wonder what happened that had made her so reserved in the future.
"Always the goody-two-shoes Harry, it's gonna come back to bite ya in the backside. 'Specially since Sawney and I were just talking bout how well ya handled that. We'd like ya to take care of such things from now. Not all, mind you, I still intend to drain all the coins of any miscreant but in case any of them try to get physical. We'll be depending on ya, aight sweetie?" She winked at him and them starting walking away, the smile on her face never left.
"No, no Rose, listen I didn't even know what was happening. It was all luck I swear, the dude was drunk as hell too. You can't really expect me to be the bouncer come on." Harry followed the woman. Even though she was just the waitress, she had a lot of pull with Mr. Sawney and Harry really didn't want the word 'bouncer' to his job title.
"little too late love, you're Sawney's hero already. Told ya it'd come back to bite ya." She announced and quickened her pace. She was really having too much fun with this.
"Oh, come on. I don't even get a raise for this do I? I swear this breaks a dozen labour laws, I'll curse the old geezer myself." Harry grumbled, taking the dismissal and walking back to the kitchen, dragging his feet.
Rosemerta caught his shoulder and whispered in her ear. "Oh, don't get so worked up love. No raise but there's opportunity. Know how New Year is creepin up? Now the Alley always gets real busy that time of the year, only problem no one wants to work then. So, they're always looking for an extra pair of hands and willing to pay handsomely. Anyways, now back to work love, get going" She said the last part louder, pushing him away from her.
Now, Harry was red as roses and practically ran to the kitchen, ducking his head and avoiding the gaze of the customers. God, Rosermeta really didn't have to get that close. He swore she knew exactly what effect she had on people. Then again, she swore like a sailor and could throw nasty hexes so everyone else was always careful of not crossing the line with her.
With no other incidents, Harry had returned to the castle for the night. They had let him sleep in the infirmary all this time and all of his possessions were in that pocket space of his. He had been very careful to not let anyone see it, always having an explanation to where something came from. He ate dinner in the great hall along with all the staff and students still in the castle, which were very few. For now, there was only one big table in the hall instead of the four house tables. A sense of unity in these uncertain times, he assumed.
Dumbledore once again made conversation with him and he was glad to reciprocate. The other students avoided him since he was a mystery and the staff did the same. Except for McGonagall, she sometimes made polite conversation. Almost like she was forced, maybe Dumbledore was behind that, not that it really mattered. Dumbledore had happily informed him that he would be sorted the day before all the students returned from the winter break and that he'd also get his OWL's report on that day. Then they spoke of his job and moved onto the best ways to wash stained clothes.
When New Years came, he had once again left the castle. Quietly making his way out of the ground before disapparating to Diagon Alley. He'd taken Rosemerta's advice and asked around the Alley. Different shops at different rush hours as the bookstores would be practically deserted at supper time, while the restaurants would be filled to the brim. So he'd picked up multiple shifts in different shops. He'd make quite a lot of money this way. Not like he really needed it, only this was the first time he'd really worked a job and he liked it, it kept him busy. And more money never hurt.
Harry spent the day, bouncing from shop to shop, doing odd jobs. It was still before noon and the chilly winter breeze didn't bring customers. The Alley was covered in snow, chimneys spewed smoke high into the air, some were even coloured. A potion store released purple smoke everytime the doors opened. The eateries were just starting to set up shop, the loads of ingredients and supplies showed they were in for the long haul. Some people were even setting up tent shops and selling all sorts of small treats, from roasted nuts to pretzels and corndogs.
There was a buzz in the air as people busied themselves. Harry was currently stocking books in Flourish and Blotts, a sandy haired man was cleaning the wooden counter, a gramophone in the corner was playing a love song. Something incredibly cheesy but the voice was slow and calming. Maybe he'd ask Mr. Sawney to update their playlist at the broomsticks. Once he was done, he ran a quick inventory on the storeroom and went to speak with the sandy haired man at the counter.
He'd done his work and politely collected his few sickles and bowed out of the shop. He was taking his lunch break at a small café, the same one he would be working in later that day. He munched on a couple of sandwiches and sipped his tea, quietly watching the Alley and all the people in it. Right now, it was mainly just the workers, setting up their shops or doing their respective jobs. It was oddly satisfying to watch people bustling about, smiling and laughing, whistling tunes or trying to chat up the barmaids.
He paid the bill and made his way out of the shop. Smiling and slowing his pace, he strolled down the Alley, greeting random people. For once, there was else on his mind. He wasn't thinking of anything specific, simply enjoying the moment. It was nice to see so many happy faces, he thought, it was wonderful to be one of them. He soon found himself back in front of the café he'd just left. Much too soon for his taste, putting on an exasperated smile, he walked into the café once more, this time however, he wasn't a customer.
It was around 4 that he'd finally gotten out of the café, the lunch rush was no joke, he'd barely managed to do his work. Stretching his weary bones, he slowed his pace and directed his footsteps towards his next place of work. His coin purse, much heavier than in the morning. He had honestly not expected the crowd, since when did so many people go to a café for lunch. On New Years of all times.
His feet stopped in front of a worn-down looking store, the place looked like it was being held upright by magic and sheer force of will. Harry smiled brightly and made his way inside, the wonders of magic never ceased to amaze. He opened the doors to The Junk Shop, he wasn't being insensitive, that was the name of the place. Making his way inside, he quickly took notice of the music playing. Jazz, maybe there was more to it, Harry wasn't really educated about music. It sounded nice so he wouldn't be complaining about his long shift in this place.
He took a look around, it really was a junk shop, all sorts of things littered the place. From cloth racks to piles of trinkets atop ornate and fancy tables. Multiple rugs layered the floor and decorated the walls, alongside tapestries and paintings. The shop was a cosy place, cramped with second-hand objects. Harry navigated the maze of things until he wound up at the counter at the far end of the shop. He looked beyond the counter and saw a flight of stairs running sideways along the wall, leading to a landing a couple meters above the counter. Perhaps there was a living space here as well, it would make sense.
"Hullo there, you looking for something specific mate?" Harry jumped at the new voice, twirling around, he was met with a boy around his height, slightly chubby with a rounded face and glasses. The boy with mousy brown hair was laughing, mouth wide open, eyes scrunched up, a hearty laugh that put Harry at ease, the boy was no threat.
"Sorry if I startled you mate, I'm Ted Tonks. In charge of this sweet little store for the day. What can I help ya with?" The man offered, seeing Harry's hesitance.
I'm Harry Evans, I-" Harry's voice died when he realised what he'd just heard. The man in front of him had introduced himself as Ted Tonks. This chubby dude, with glasses, wearing a bowler shirt and khaki shorts. He was Tonk's dad, he was Andromeda's husband and the grandfather of his godson. Harry took a deep breath to calm himself. He'd never met Ted in his first life, he really shouldn't panic here. It's ok, he told himself.
"Ah! The temp, you're a little early but I'm not complaining mate, you can help me carry out a few things from the storeroom. Oh, and call me Teddy, that's what my friends do. Hope you got some hands on you mate, these boxes are heavy." Ted- Teddy announced and lead the way to the storeroom, if he noticed Harry's odd expression, he didn't let on.
Harry shook himself back to reality and started helping out with the boxes. There was something about this man, he thought to himself. There was no judgement from Ted's side, he'd simply stood and waiting patiently as Harry gathered himself. It had been a while before Harry was able to speak with the man but Ted never stopped talking to him, seemingly unperturbed by the lack of response. Never asking intrusive questions or forcing Harry to talk, even laughing at his own jokes, a laughter that was rich and careless, slowly Harry opened up and joined in with the man. Ted just had a reassuring presence, he decided.
They spent the next few hours tending to the shop. Guiding customers, counting coins and restocking the shelves. More than actual work however, they would joke around. Harry would lazily drift around the shop, seeking out objects that caught his attention. From time to time Ted would bury his nose in a book, taking notes. Ted was studying law; he wanted to become a solicitor and start up his own law firm in the Magical world. "There's a huge market here, specially for those people the big firm won't represent, like werewolves and such." He boldly claimed, confident that he could pull it off. At Harry's further inquiries and prodding, the other man was encouraged to share more.
Over the course of the last few hours, Harry had learnt about Ted's dreams and hopes for a brighter future. Ted was currently a 7th year at Hogwarts, in Hufflepuff and had been happy to know that Harry was joining the school as well. He'd also learnt that Ted just worked here, since the owner was on vacation and Ted had been working here since his 4th year, they'd just given him the keys and asked him to take care of the shop.
The boys had really bonded when Ted started pointing out the fallacies in the current civil law. Harry had listened with rapt attention as Ted spoke about how there was no government aid available to Magical creatures and of all the ways it was detrimental to society as a whole. "These really aren't people that would burden to government, in fact, most of them would make valuable additions to the workforce. Specially in a community as small as this, it'd do wonders to the economy. Outright stopping Magical Creatures from getting employment is the same as stabbing ourselves in the foot."
Ted was quite passionate about these things. Harry was glad he had found such valuable source of knowledge with great insight into the system. Of course, Harry found himself agreeing with Ted all the way, the man was seeking a truly tolerant and equal society, not with a simple moral standing. But also because he believed and argued it was the only way for long term survival. They had briefly touched upon the pureblood doctrine before Ted simply dismissed it. Saying "I could spend the rest of the night pointing out and explaining all that's wrong with that nasty piece of propaganda." Harry had really taken to Ted and it seemed the other boy felt the same way.
They were very careful to speak politics only when the shop was empty, could never be too careful these days. Ted had even arranged for some dinner from the Leaky Cauldron to be dropped off at the shop, he'd waved Harry away when he offered to pay his share. The time had passed so quick that Harry hadn't even noticed the commotion in the Alley. Hordes of people were gathering, pouring into the Alley through floos, and various other access points. Shops were being flooded and laughter rang in the air.
He finally noticed when groups of teenagers and old women entered the shop, clad in warm clothes. A tiny old lady, wrapped in a red jacket and muffler, asked him to show her the scented candle collection. The soothing jazz still played overhead, mixed in with the sounds of whispers and giggling. Ted had finally clamped his book shut and started billing the customers for their wares. The Junk Shop was no where near as crowded as the other stores, but they were doing good business, Harry enjoyed the calm and peaceful atmosphere. That was until Ted pointed out the teenage girls ogling him and laughed about it, now Harry was trying to hide from the customers he was supposed to be helping.
Soon enough, he was back to doing his job and ignoring any stares. He found Ted giving the last customer a receipt. "Is it always this crowded in the holidays?" He asked, he'd never seen anything like it in his time. The Alley was only ever crowded the week before Hogwarts started, then again, years of civil war might have diminished the holiday spirit of the populace.
"Nah, just New Years. People spend Christmas with family but New Years, well we the festival and it's all the noise. The Alley is always dressed up and all. You've never been?" Ted asked, handing Harry some items to restock. Harry shrugged and shook his head in response, taking the items.
"Now that's a crime and a half mate, must been living under a pretty big rock" Ted half joked, as a couple new customers entered the shop. "know what, why don't you head out and see it for yourself? Won't be too busy from now, not here at least, I can handle on my own." The man offered, pulling Harry to the side.
"No, I couldn't ask for something like that, it's fine, really." Harry responded, putting different trinkets in their right places.
"Nonsense mate can't live under that rock forever, I've got this. You go and experience the world some." Ted checked his wristwatch "Trust me, you should go." He added with a smile.
"Alright but I'll be back soon, just heading out for a bit." Harry reassured the man. "Whatever you say mate." Came the cheeky response.
Harry quietly made his way out of the shop and onto the street. The chilly breeze biting at him, he whipped out his wand and cast a quick heating charm on himself. Taking one last look at the shop, he made his way deeper into the Alley. The decorations caught his eyes, the place would have been pitch black if not for the candles that hovered a few feet overhead, burning in many different colours. The Alley itself was covered in a thin layer of snow, chimneys still spewed smoke and the street was crowded like he had never seen before.
His slack jawed look must have made it look like it was his first time visiting the Alley, he admired the sights as he continued walking, a giant clock nearby told him the time was 11:30. He caught sight of a stage that had been set up in the middle of the Alley, a band was playing music, surrounded by a small crowd. Harry stopped there for a while before continuing on his way, he grabbed a cup of coffee at the nearest café and wandered the Alley, occasionally sipping his coffee.
Diagon Alley looked breath taking, there was no other way he could describe it. Small paper planes and birds flew overhead as other origami creatures navigated the crowds. Mothers held onto toddlers while their other kids ran havoc around them. Harry watched a family lead an excited child out of the Quidditch store, the father hyping the kid up and waving around a brand-new broom while the mother shook her head in amusement. With a bittersweet smile, he turned around.
Caught off guard, he froze up as a flash of blond hair flew past him. Following its trajectory, Harry caught sight of the woman slow down into a jog, white plumes of air distinguished her breath, escaping cherry red lips. A slight blush tinted her cheeks, a smile making it onto her face as she caught sight of something.
Just then, a dozen lights shot into the air. "HAPPY NEW YEAR" the crowd shouted, startling Harry back to reality as the lights in the air burst into different patterns, lighting up the sky like a grand mosaic. Fireworks were shot into the air in waves, in quick succession of each other, enchanting Harry. He ooh'd and ah'd appropriately with the crowd. Children shouted in joy and pointed to the sky. The band was playing some song about New Year, surrounded by adolescents and young adults. Harry barely paid any attention to it, still watching the fireworks. Ok, maybe he'd be out longer than he'd thought.
At half past 1, Harry walked back into The Junk Shop. He'd been gone a lot longer than he had planned, hopefully Ted wouldn't be cross with him. He had never seen the Alley like that before, it was so… full of live. He noticed the boxes and that the shop was empty of customers, cursing himself for leaving all the work to Ted, he quickly grabbed a box and made his way to the storeroom. As he passed the counter, he noticed a lady standing with her back to him. Dressed in a large black trench coat, boots and a hat, there wasn't much he could make out about her. Only that she would be a bit shorter than him and had rich black hair.
"Um, can I help you miss?" He offered. The girl squeaked and twirled around at breakneck speed, dropping a book onto the ground with a loud thud. The girl would have looked like royalty, high cheekbones, red lipstick, cloudy grey eyes and a dignified air, skin that had probably never seen a blemish. She would have looked like royalty, if not for the startled expression on her face and blush on her face.
"Hey! You're back! Bout time mate, I was just gonna lock up the place." A voice came from his left, Ted's face was peaking out of the storeroom. Done with whatever he'd been doing, he made his way to the mysterious girl. "Har, this is my friend Andy" the older man announced "Andromeda" He corrected after the girl had slapped his shoulder.
Harry watched the exchange and shrugged, continuing on his way to the storeroom. "Hello Andromeda, I'm Harry." He offered again as he dropped the box into a corner of the room. Then he froze up, realising what he'd just witnessed. That was young Andromeda, Nymphadora Tonks's parents were in the shop, together. They'd probably been alone before he'd walked in, had they been dating at this point already?
Happy that he was obscured from their view for the moment, he collected himself. Walking back out of the room like he hadn't just realised something important. He saw Ted carrying another box, talking to Andromeda in a hushed voice as she giggled. So they definitely were a thing, right? Harry walked up to them and took the box from Ted's arms.
"How bout you let me clean up? I feel kinda guilty about being gone long so least I could do mate." Harry suggested, taking the box straight to the storeroom, not waiting for an answer.
"Well, if you insist mate. Certainly wouldn't complain about spending more time with the pretty lady. Just had to put away the holiday stuff, I've already packed them into those boxes so once you done, you can head out." Ted replied. After a few more hushed exchanges, he called out again. "Harry, mate? Don't tell nobody bout this ok?" his voice sounded a bit uncertain.
Harry returned from the storeroom and walked towards the boxes lined up at the counter. "Dunno what you're talking about mate, only thing I saw worth mentioning were the fireworks." Harry answered, picking up another box and repeating the pattern.
"Right, thanks mate." Ted replied with a smile, reassured by the answer. He then dragged a relieved looking Andromeda up the stairs behind him. Harry continued his work with a smile on his face, they must have been panicked about being exposed. Afterall a muggleborn and a pureblood being together was scandal enough but a lady from the House of Black. He shuddered to think what they'd do to Ted if he was caught. But Harry knew that they'd get married and live happily, the Ted from his time had died of natural causes after all.
Once he finished putting away the last of the boxes, he grabbed his pay off the counter. Tossing it into his pocket space, he turned off the lamps and the gramophone. He made his way outside the shop again, closing the door behind him and locking it with the keys. Sliding the keys back into the shop, through the mail slot, he shuddered at the cold wind. Back to Hogwarts he thought, a smile lit up his face as he thought about his day. So much that he could tell Dumbledore about, wizards actually had a decent taste in music. This was definitely one of his best New Years.
After walking for a bit, he turned into a small space between two bigger shops. Hopefully, Hagrid hasn't locked the gates yet. He had spent a few afternoons at the giant's place, drinking tea and eating his rock cakes. The gentle giant was as friendly as he had always been, a fact that Harry relished. Pulling out his wand, he began imagining his destination, he'd have to go to Hogsmeade and walk from there. Couldn't apparate into Hogwarts after all.
Just then, a chill ran up his spine, it wasn't the wind. Harry froze as a hush fell around him; all the background noises were barely distinguishable now. Something rasped behind him and he tossed himself to the left, bashing into a wall, shoulder first. Gritting his teeth in pain, he saw a sickly yellow curse fly by him, spinning around, he recalled his wand to his hand. There was a man at the opening of the pathway, wand raised.
As purple spell flew towards him, he roughly flicked his wand. Hit the tip of it to the spell, reflecting it back at the caster. The attacker was caught off guard as the spell made contact with his gut, he grunted and fell to his knees. Not allowing him a moment to recover, Harry was already closing in on the man, a kick straight to the jaw sent the man into the wall next to him. The attacker's wand had slipped out of his hand as he'd hunched over, spitting out blood.
Harry was on his once again, grabbing the man by the collar and pushing him up against the wall. He looked into the man's eyes and attempted legilimancy. He was met with a barrier but the man was already weakened by the failed assault, Harry barged past the barrier with little care as the man groaned in pain and clawed at the wall behind him. Images flew past him, He could tell the man was hiding something important behind another barrier but that didn't matter right now. Right now, He was only looking for the answer to one question.
Why? Why had this man attacked him? The spells he'd thrown were most definitely dark magic. Why had he done it? As Harry tore through his mind, he came to an answer. This was the man he'd thrown out of The Three Broomsticks a few days ago. He saw the man's intention behind the attack, he had wanted revenge. Plain and simply put there was a surprising amount of anger and hatred directed towards Harry, not that he wasn't used to it. But this was, this was crazy.
"How dare a filthy mudblood treat me in such a way, the bastard needs to learn to respect his superiors. I'll teach him his damn place." This was one of the thoughts that Harry had uncovered from the man's mind. Really? "Are you fucking kidding me?" he muttered out loud, directing his question towards the man. Did this moron really try taking his life over something like that? Harry had only been doing his job, granted he didn't need to be as rough handed but there was also no reason for him to go out of his way to be courteous when the man had tried shoving him aside.
This moron didn't even realise that he was in the wrong. Even now, he was curing Harry in his mind, swearing a bloody and painful revenge. Harry let go of the man and huffed in disgust. Should he call the Aurors? That would be the right thing to do, maybe he should restrain the moron first. Another gasp of pain followed as the man dived towards his wand, grabbing at it. Harry bared his teeth and stomped hard on the wand. A wet crunch informed him that he'd broken the wand, along with a couple of fingers. This guy was serious about the revenge thing.
Harry groaned in frustration as he paced up and down the narrow space, keeping a constant eye on the idiot who'd attacked him. That purple curse was an organ melting curse, although it was underpowered, he'd intended to torture Harry to a slow death. Even if he brought the man to St. Mungo's his fate was practically sealed. Harry punched the wall next to him, he wanted to scream. It was bloody New Years. It was January 1st, why the hell was this happening to him, what kind of moron thinks he can kill someone just because he felt insulted.
The realisation his Harry like a bus, he'd been so stupid. He'd bought into the peaceful façade because he had desperately wanted it to be true. But they were at war right now, had he forgotten what he'd come here for? Was he going to let his second chance go to waste? If he'd been a second late at dodging, he would have died. Well, Samael had told him, he was immortal, but he couldn't just keep dropping dead and reviving. And who knows what would happen to his body in that time, it was too risky. But he had more important things to deal with.
He ran back to the man, snatching up the hand he was cradling. The man panted harshly in pain but Harry ignored it, rolling up his sleeve. There, in stark contrast to the pale skin was the dark mark, etched into the skin and writhing. Bile rose in Harry's mouth; he was such a fool. He had been wasting away his time here, ignoring the obvious, burying his head in the sand with the rest of the wizarding world. He kicked the man back into the wall, leaving him to bleed out and die there.
He ran out of the alleyway, once he'd gotten out of range of the silencing charm, the sounds of battle came to life around him. The dark mark dirtied the previously beautiful sky, the scream of terror caught his attention. A little boy came from the right turn in front of him, running past him. A lanky man on his tail, in a black cloak and a mask, a death eater. As the man saw him, he stumbled to a stop and whipped his wand up.
But Harry was faster, jabbing his wand into the death eater's eye, he muttered "Reducto" and blew the man's brains out onto the street behind him. As the newly headless man fell to the ground, Harry took a deep breath. The boy was long gone, ignorant of the exchange behind him. Oh god, Harry thought, Ted, it wasn't safe. Teddy was in danger, he had to save… He couldn't let them hurt Ted or Andromeda.
Making the right turn, Harry bolted towards The Junk Shop, his mind racing as fast as his feet. The sound of battle were muted and far away, this couldn't be a large scale thing. It must be a small raid, just to enforce terror. The fucking animals, Harry thought. If Voldie was making a move like this, he must be confident in his strength. Harry was now racing down the street, making a turn to his left. Sliding on the snow, he used his hand to push himself back upright. He was now on the small street at the back of the stores, meant for the service entrances.
There was another death eater in the middle of the street, as they heard Harry approach, they turned around. After a moment of hesitance, they threw a curse at Harry. He rolled to the side and kept running jumping over the barrels in his way as another curse slammed into them. Tossing Harry to the other side, towards the shops. Rolling in the snow, Harry cast a wandless spell, just before he slammed into the staircase of some shop. He'd hit the ground with a banisher, tossing himself high up into the air. With such speed that his attacker had lost sight of him, by the time they'd found him again, he had his wand in his hand and was casting.
He threw an overpowered cutting curse directly at the death eater, a white slash of wind hit them diagonally, connecting collarbone to hip. He definitely cut through some bones. He landed directly onto the assailant, the sounds or crunching and snapping told him that he'd broken them quite a bit by using them as a landing pad. But he was mainly unhurt, as he rolled back up and continued running. His body close to the ground and he rushed down the street.
He reached the back The Junk Shop and was just wondering about letting himself in without alerting those within. That's when he noticed the door was open, wishing that his thoughts weren't a reality, he let himself into the shop. It was eerily quiet, the lamps were still turned off so it was pitch dark inside. Slowly creeping towards the stairs behind the counter, he decided to throw caution to the wind.
"Ted? Mate it's me, we need to get out of here, it's not safe" He called out cautiously, wand pointed at the balcony above the counter. He couldn't see a damn thing from this angle.
"'ARRY NO RUN! IT'S A TRA-mmh" Ted shouted from above, interrupted by his own grunt of pain. They had gotten to him, Harry cursed under his breath. Quickly, he rolled under the balcony as a spell flew past him. It hit a pile of trinkets instead, blasting pile and shredding some items. Harry cursed himself for jumping under the balcony, what could he even do from here? Looking up at the wooden panels, he held his breath. Then he heard a footstep hit the wood. Without thinking, he cast the blasting curse, straight up at the wooden panelling.
With a loud noise, he'd blown a large hole above him, a shower of dust came down. He rushed the stairs, jumping over the hole he'd just created and found himself in a living room type space. The Death eater was on the ground next to him, groaning in pain. He found Teddy on his knees in the middle of the room, blood running down the side of his face. Yet there was a grin on Teddy's face "Promise, it looks worse than it is".
In that moment, something snapped inside Harry. Gritting his teeth, he hit the noisy death eater with an overpowered 'Stupify', sending him flying into the wall to the right. He rushed to Ted's side. "You ok? Anything that needs immediate attention? Where's Andromeda?" The calmly asked his questions while helping Ted to his feet. Ted waved away his concerns, "Andy is fine, I got her out of here first thing." He said, pointing at the fireplace in the far end of the room. A fireplace that laid in ruins. The shit eater must have destroyed it.
"And I'm fine too, nothing major, just need to fix up some wounds. There's a first aid kit in the room, how bout you? You look fine but a pepper up never hurts." Ted continued, limping towards a door next to the fireplace. Blood stained the path he took, he was more hurt than he was letting on, but he'd be fine. Harry had checked his over. Turning around, he briskly walked to the death eater on the floor. He needed to know what happened.
Grabbing the death eater by the neck, he pulled them up and cast legilimens on the man. He'd tortured Ted slowly, intent on taking his time. Harry's blood boiled as he watched the man use 'Crucio' on Ted. There was a lot of hate that fuelled the spell, digging deeper Harry found something horrifying. The death eater had seen Andromeda leaving though the floo, he'd blasted the fireplace right after. The worst part was, he recognised Andromeda. The death eater knew exactly who she was and had connected the dots between her and Ted.
Harry withdrew from the man's mind. This was dangerous, it would be bad if the information got out. Bad was an oversimplification. His stunner had cracked the man's skull due to the impact to the wall. He was bleeding from his head and the blasting curse had already given cuts and bruises. With a sideways glance to the door Ted had gone through, Harry made his decision. Pointing his wand at the death eater's forehead, he silently cast another stunner, pouring magical power into it. The man flew right back into the wall, snapping his neck before crumpling to the ground.
That's better, Harry thought. As far as anyone else would know, his original stunner was what killed the man and since he'd cast it in self-defence and it was just a stunner. The law couldn't touch him. He went into the room, to check on Ted. The room was spartan and the boy was seated on a plain single bed, drinking a potion. He looked better now; the bleeding had stopped.
After a few deep breaths Ted answered his unasked question. "I'm fine mate, promise. Just, just really shaken for a bit."
Harry nodded and patted the boy on his back. "Good, cause Andy would kill you if you dropped dead here." Ted snorted at that, a lazy smiling returning to his face.
"Ey, I know you won't snitch on me so no reason for her to know." He responded half-heartedly.
"Listen, Teddy, we need to-" Harry stopped at the loud cracks of sound that came from the streets. Rushing to the window, he stuck himself to the wall, peaking through the blinders. He breathed a sigh of relief, it was the Aurors. And it looked like there were quite a few of them as well.
"It's the Auror's, it's gonna be alright" He informed Ted. Watching the boy relax, he cursed both himself and Voldemort. Wasn't this the whole reason he had come back in time? To prevent the people he loved from having to go through these things? He took another breath to calm himself. Remembering the dead body in the living room, he realised that he couldn't stay here.
He wasn't emotional enough to face the Aurors now. His face was hardened and he couldn't play the scared victim right now. He was too angry, and he had just killed what like 4 death eaters? If they tried him in court, they would try to gaslight him for killing so many purebloods, regardless of if it was in self-defence. He couldn't even let them administer veritaserum, what would he even say his name was?
It was with cold reasoning that he deduced, he had to go. "Ted." He called out, thinking about how he was going to phrase this. "I- I have to go, I can't deal with the Aurors right now, the guy in the living room is dead but it was the stunner that did it. I'm sorry but I really need to do." He hoped he didn't sound as bad as he sounded to himself.
"Then you better go fast." Ted's answer surprised him and it must have shown because the boy continued "Mate, you saved my life there, you came back for me when I needed you. I trust you. Also about the dead guy, I'll just claim self-defence. I am studying law remember? I can handle myself, and I'm responsible for the shop so it'd be better if I stay. Now go."
Quickly thanking the boy, Harry made his way back outside the shop. Not sparing the debris and destruction a second glance. He left the way he'd come and once he was outside, he apparated away to Hogsmeade. Immediately he started walking towards Hogwarts, gritting his teeth in frustration.
This bloody world, it was always like this. No matter the time he went to, the prejudice and hate was so goddamn rampant. Nothing would satisfy these power-hungry bastards, there was always another enemy to fight, another group to slaughter. And when they ran out of enemies, they would turn on each other and do the same. There was no end in sight, not until one day, the last one remaining of these barbarians climbed to the top of a mountain of bones and declared "I win!"
Hagrid had left the gates open, Harry hurried back into the castle. Dumbledore had given him special permission to be out today, so he didn't bother sneaking in. He made his way back to his bed. That's it, he thought, every era gives birth to a new dark lord. At one point we have to stop and question the system. Isn't it the status quo that gives birth to these goddamn maniacs? How much should good people suffer so that a small percentage of the populace could gain money, power and prestige. How much blood would be spilt before people realised the government was only doing the bare minimum and it was their incompetence that created these problems to begin with.
Harry redirected his feet to the seventh floor. There would be no visit from Dumbledore today, the headmaster would be busy dealing with the aftermath of the attack. He was the leader of the Order after all. Harry reached his destination quickly, the answer was clear, he had to do something about all this. That was the reason he had come back here. He had to replace the government, it was beyond correction and help. It would have to fall, it was his job to make sure it was replaced by something much, much better.
He stood before the door to the Room of Requirements, he had asked the room for knowledge. Very specific knowledge, all the knowledge required to run a country. He opened the doors and glided into the room, a room filled with books. Books on finances, books on laws, books on different kinds of governments and their structures. This was a start; he had a long way to go and he would be damned if he wasted any more time in getting things done.