AN: Here is chapter 4, hope you enjoy, and please leave a review etc. If you have any questions or suggestions, please feel free to PM me, or if not join my discord.
Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter.
Many thanks to Tree Licker for beta-reading the story.
( - )
(Last Time)
Pushing that thought to the side he instead continued down the familiar hallway. He was looking forward to a good slap-up meal far too much to be worrying about anything else, or at least for the moment. After all, Molly Weasley always was a damn good cook.
He left the room and strolled through the hallway and down the stairs towards the kitchen. He became aware of just how awkward it might be for him down there.
After all, he would be eating with a group of people he already knew, even if most of them didn't yet know him. Most of whom he knew were dead and buried, with some of them having even met their end at his hand. Whilst the rest, he also knew, hated him, and for good reason. Or at least they had the last time he had seen them.
Yes, it would definitely be a little awkward for him at first.
( - )
Chapter 4
( - )
(With Harry in Number 12, Grimmauld Place)
It had been a couple of days now since Harry had first awoken in this new body—a teenage one at that—and a new world. It was currently the summer of 1995, and he was fifteen again and he was already sick and tired of being a teenager.
That, and being stuck hanging around a bunch of other spotty, smelly teenagers, some of whom he had had a direct, or at times indirect, part in killing. Or at least in his world. Some of the others meanwhile, those that hadn't died, he had at least duelled with while having the intent to kill.
So yeah, that was awkward. But still, he was an adaptable guy, he could deal with the discomfort. Especially since he was the only one that remembered the things that happen in his world.
No, instead, the worst thing about all of this was that he was a teenager again.
Like seriously, who in their right minds wanted to go from being an adult to being a teenager?! It was madness! What with the fluctuating hormones and the way adults treated you like a silly kid. Being a teenager sucked.
Then again, since the alternative was being an adult that was incarcerated in Azkaban… yeah, maybe there were worse things. Not that it would stop him from internally complaining and feeling sorry for himself.
That being said, he hadn't really had much time to grouse about his current predicament. Ever since he had woken up and proven himself well enough to walk around, Molly Weasley, ever the outspoken slave driver, had him, along with the other teens in the house, doing manual labour. With the old taskmaster having practically forced them all to clean the house the muggle way, starting with the ground floor, and then going up. It was house-elf work, which was particularly galling considering there was an evil, but still compliant, house-elf in the house.
When he brought this up, however, aside from getting an evil look from Hermione for some reason, he had just been given a blasé response about how; 'it was better for them all to be busy, than for them to remain idle and cause trouble', that and 'because it would be good for Harry, and help him take his mind off of his current concerns; like his apparent memory loss and the upcoming Ministry Hearing'.
On top of that, she had tried to insist that he come down from his room on the top floor and instead move into a small guest room on the second floor with Ron Weasley, of all people. Suffice to say he had managed to wiggle out of that without snapping or blowing his cover, thanks in part to his godfather, Sirius, speaking up for him.
Not that his godfather had tried to help him when it came to cleaning up the house though, the useless old mutt.
Sirius had allowed himself to be roped into helping out as well, at least for today, whilst they finished clearing out the drawing-room. With all of them, Harry, Fred, George, Ginny, Hermione, Ron, Sirius and Molly, having spent the last couple of hours going through the glass cabinets that were set up along one side of the room. Sorting through the many doodads and knick-knacks inside, throwing nearly all of it away without a second thought.
So far, the two adults had taken the lead with the clear out, as they first examined anything suspicious looking, before throwing it in one of two bags, either the general waste rubbish bag or the bag for rubbish which needed to be disposed of carefully for one reason or another.
For Harry, this was especially frustrating since he recognised some of the things they were trying to throw away. After all, at one point in time in his own world, he had owned this house and all of its belongings, and despite that no longer being the case, he did still have a certain sense of ownership over all the things they were chucking.
This was especially grating considering he was a minor hoarder by nature and had always loathed throwing anything of potential value away. He had no doubt that this trait was a remnant of him having grown up with a load of other thieving, little shits in an orphanage.
Still, being part of the clean-up crew did have its uses as already he had begun to spirit away certain things, making them disappear into the magically expanded pocket of his hoodie at regular intervals. The expansion charm once again proving itself incredibly useful, even if it had been a pain to cast, what with the old Harry's wand not being that suited to him.
He had been making progress in reclaiming his old stuff, and he had already pocketed several dozen items, including a very handy golden ring that was embossed with the Black family crest. It was something that Sirius had claimed to have once belonged to his father, Orion Black, after which he had then carelessly thrown it into the rubbish bag.
Harry wasn't sure about Sirius's claims, nor had he cared. What he had known, however, was that the ring had a damn useful enchantment on it, one which when activated created a magical shield around the user. It was not the most powerful of shields, but it could at least block one or two high-powered spells and deflect quite a few lower-powered spells before it failed.
Harry wasn't certain of its origins, but he suspected it was enchanted that way, so it could be used as a last line of defence should the wearer lose his wand and need to make a hasty retreat. That, and it provided a useful wandless shield in case someone ambushed you. Or at least that was what Harry had used it for when he discovered it himself, and it was what he was going to use it for again this time around.
Sirius of course didn't know this, nor did he seem bothered when he threw it and many other useful, valuable and unique items away. Harry thought, well he wasn't so nonchalant, so he pocketed quite a lot of it, and would then be hiding it upstairs at a later date.
Already, he had raided the bags of stuff that they had already cleared out before he woke up. He had done this at night when everyone else was asleep.
This had allowed him to make off with dozens of other things, all of which he spirited away and hid at the bottom of his trunk in another magically expanded bag he had created and put some minor protections on. A handy enough place for him to keep it all, or at least until he could come up with something better.
"This task is never-ending!" Fred Weasley groaned out suddenly, interrupting the peaceful silence that had overcome the group as they worked. The ginger-haired twin, sending his mother a sour look as he did so. "Why can't we just use magic? It would barely take us any time at all!"
"Can't," Sirius grunted from beside Harry, speaking up for Molly as she turned to face Fred, already swelling up as if ready to unleash a stern lecture at any moment. "A lot of this stuff is pretty dark, and some pieces have some nasty dark enchantments on them. So, it's probably a bit too risky to use magic just in case, since I don't really know how some of these things will react to it."
George Weasley groaned at that but didn't argue. "I suppose, but still… this is taking forever…"
"Just stop complaining you two and get back to work! The more we work now, the faster we'll get it done!" Molly Weasley snapped out now, her eyes flickering over to the twins now, making both of them groan again before slowly getting back to work, neither of them slacking whilst under their mother's watchful eye.
"But anyway, Harry, how are you feeling?" Sirius asked lowly, looking sideways at Harry now, even as Molly continued to scold the twins, with Ginny watching on and giggling, whilst Ron and Hermione were off to one side having a quiet argument about one thing or another.
"Fine, it's just you know, a lot to take in," Harry replied absent-mindedly throwing a few bits and pieces of junk into the bag on the floor, the kind of stuff he had no personal interest in, like old Black family pictures and one of Sirius's ancestor's Order of Merlin First Class. Detritus like that held no real value to Harry, after all, they had no value, save for sentimental, and Harry wasn't the sentimental type, or at least not unless that sentimental crap had some real monetary value.
"How's your memory?" Sirius pressed on, unaware as he did that his voice carried slightly, so a couple of the others in the room turned from what they were doing and tried to listen in.
"It's getting better all the time. I'm still a little fuzzy on some details, but I think I remember most things now." Harry replied with a smile, lying through his teeth, as he didn't have any memories of the other Harry's life. What he did have though, were detailed accounts of their adventures from Ron and Hermione, his own experiences of similar events that had occurred in his time at Hogwarts, and his -in his own humble opinion-, astounding ability to think quickly on his feet, improvise and manipulate people. "I am a bit worried though, not so much about my memory as, well as about other things…"
"What do you mean, Harry? You can tell me anything." Sirius said, abandoning his task now and instead looking directly at Harry, a concerned expression on his face.
"I think there is something wrong with my wand, it just doesn't feel right anymore. I don't feel the same connection to it that I used to." Harry replied, casting his eyes low now as if he were ashamed of this fact.
"Your wand?" Sirius said, the concern on his face greater than ever. "I am not sure why that might be the case, but I'll mention it to Dumbledore, maybe he'll have some answers."
Harry nodded at that. "Thanks, Sirius. Though I feel like I'll need to get a new one before Hogwarts, I mean I can't go around with a faulty wand, can I?"
"No," Sirius replied with a nod before he bit his lip in thought. "I will still tell Dumbledore though, but I'll also mention it to Arthur, Tonks and Remus, I'm sure one of them would happily take you into Diagon Alley."
Harry nodded at that, hiding a smile at getting his way. Genuinely, he did indeed need a wand, but more than that, he also wanted to pick up some other stuff from Diagon Alley.
Some new clothes for one, as the alternate Harry dressed like a tramp, some extra gold from Gringotts would also be useful too, that and a few other bits and pieces he wanted to pick up, some of which he would need to slip away from his guards to get. That or he could try to mail order it, honestly, he hadn't decided.
Either way, for the most part, he just wanted to get out of this house. These last few days had been unpleasant. Already it felt like it had been too long since he had properly been outside and away from scrutinising eyes.
The dark-haired man forced a smile on his face as he heard that before he reached out and grasped Harry's shoulder supportively. "Look Harry, I know you've been through a lot, especially recently, but if you ever need to talk about anything, or ever need any help, please don't hesitate to ask."
Harry nodded again at that, before his eyes then flicked over to the others, all of whom he could see had paused in their actions to try to listen in, Molly Weasley included.
"Right back to work everyone!" Molly suddenly demanded as she noticed Harry's gaze on her. "Harry dear, if you're feeling tired or anything, feel free to stop and rest, I don't want you to push yourself."
"Thanks, Mrs Weasley." Harry nodded, sending her a soft smile at that before he lowered his gaze. "But I don't mind doing the work, it just feels good to keep busy."
Molly didn't know what to say to that, instead, she just sent him a gentle smile before she turned back and forced the others to get to work.
Watching her for a moment, Harry then turned back to what he was doing. Normally he would have gladly taken Molly up on her offer and disappeared upstairs to relax, but right now he needed to be down here to make sure the idiots going through his house didn't throw anything away he didn't want them to.
Either way, from that point on, the group continued to work, occasionally chatting as they wasted an entire afternoon on the cabinets in the drawing-room as they cleared them out.
Soon enough, though, Molly called a halt to the effort and demanded they all go upstairs and get cleaned up for dinner later. The Weasley matriarch herself then bustling out of the room and heading down to the house's kitchen to begin preparing said dinner.
This was something that they all seemed glad to do, as Fred and George apparated out of the room almost instantly with a loud crack, whilst Ginny rapidly disappeared upstairs too. With Sirius heading downstairs instead, likely going to meet some of the Order members who were coming to the house for dinner that day.
Hermione and Ron too made to leave, only for them to pause at the door and then look at Harry who hadn't moved to go yet, both of them looking at him like they expected him to follow. Like seriously, were these two and the old Harry attached at the hip or something?
"You two go." Harry said with a smile, "I'll follow along in a minute, I just need a moment."
Both Ron and Hermione sent each other a look as they heard that, a bit of silent communication passing between the two as they did so, after which they both then made to disappear upstairs.
"Sure mate, don't be too long though. Mum is making shepherd's pie tonight." Ron said with a nod.
"And remember Harry, just like Sirius, you can talk to us about anything." Hermione tagged on gently. "I know this all must be so frustrating, and I'm amazed you managed to hold it together like you have. But remember you're not alone in this, there are plenty of people here who care about you."
"Thanks." Harry nodded with a smile, even as the two of them soon disappeared from the room. His smile disappearing off his face in an instant the moment they did so.
"Damn, I thought they'd never go…" Harry grumbled to himself, sending the door to the room a sour look before he whipped out his wand and flicked it at the door, the action causing it to close, even as he spellbound it in place with a sticking charm.
"Still not right," Harry muttered again, sending the incompatible wand in his hand another sour look now before he then headed for the Black Family tapestry on the far wall of the room. "We'll soon rectify that..."
With that said, he ran his wand down the centre of the illustrated tree trunk on the tapestry. The tapestry reacted in an instant as the tree's trunk began to thicken, the different branches on the tree curling away as it continued to widen until it was nearly one metre wide and two metres tall. After which, it seemed to solidify into a grand looking set of leaf-shaped doors.
Narrowing his eyes and surveying the rest of the room, looking out for that little gremlin, Kreature, Harry paused for a moment, before he pushed open the door and entered, closing the door behind quickly him, the tapestry outside shifting back to how it was before the moment he did so.
Looking around the room beyond the door, a smile quickly spread across Harry's face as he looked around and saw that at least the Black family library had not been disturbed by the interlopers. It looked just as it had when he had first stepped foot in it back in his old world.
The room was circular, with a grand, black, marble fireplace in the wall opposite the door and large, dark coloured, wooden bookcases, filled with hundreds of rare, and generally dark-natured books, built into the wall all the way around.
Just in front of the empty fireplace, there were also two similarly empty, elegant wing-backed leather chairs, with a carved, mahogany coffee table sitting in between the two.
Overall, the room was damn impressive, but more importantly, it was undisturbed. Or at least it was for now at least. Once Harry got his hands on a proper wand and sturdy container though, he would make a very well protected and expanded place in which he would store all of them. He wasn't sure how long this room would last if he didn't after all, as with Dumbledore poking around he knew he would discover the library sooner or later, that or Sirius would show it to him, and then…. Well, Harry very much doubted that a wizard like him would be able to stop himself from confiscating, if not destroying, most of the accumulated knowledge in this room.
No matter how heinous the destruction of such knowledge was.
That though could wait for the moment, or at least until Harry had some more time to properly sort out a new home for all the books, and similarly, for all the other artefacts in the room, as well as the others he had so far rescued from the clean-up operation thus far. With Sirius alive and purging the house, Harry wouldn't take any chances he would be carrying them all with him when he inevitably went back to Hogwarts. And wouldn't that be fun, going back to his old school… urgh.
But no, for the moment, Harry was in this room for a different reason. His emerald eyes passing over, and ignoring, the bookcases as he instead looked at the fireplace, or rather at the elegant glass case over the top of the fireplace, within which he could see several dozen wands carefully displayed.
The wands in the case had all belonged to different members of the Black family throughout the generations, members who for one reason or another had not been buried with their wands like what usually happened. Either due to personal choice, or due to their bodies having never being found, or just on the whims of whoever the Head of the House was at the time.
Either way, the case above the fireplace's mantel held close to three dozen different wands, all of them kept in velvet holders with a small bronze plate underneath them denoting what they were and who they had belonged to.
Mostly these were here just for display purposes, but sometimes a member of the family occasionally decided, on a whim, that they would use an ancestor's wand, borrowing it from the case before putting it back.
Most likely, this was just because they were about to commit a heinous act and didn't want it to get traced back to their wand.
Harry too had taken one of these wands back in his world as well. With one of them having been almost perfectly compatible with him. After all, it was always handy having an extra, and untraceable, wand. Which the Ministry seemed to know, as they had put in place regulations, meaning that a wizard couldn't own more than one wand without a permit. On top of which, any wand they did own had to be registered at the Ministry. Fortunately, borrowing/ taking an unregistered family wand was a way around this pesky rule.
With that in mind, Harry strode to the fireplace, summoned the case off of the wall with his holly wand, and then set it on the coffee table. After which, he opened up the case up and ran his hand over all the wands in the case, looking for the one he wanted. An extra wand would be a handy tool to have, especially since he might not be getting a proper replacement for his incompatible wand for a while, as from what Sirius had said, he wanted to run the issue of Harry's wand through with Dumbledore first.
After a couple of moments of searching, Harry soon enough came across the one he wanted, olive wood and Hippocampus tailfin, a sleek ten and a half-inch long caramel-coloured wand, one which had once belonged to a Dark Wizard by the name of Arkantos Black more than four centuries ago.
Scooping the wand up, Harry smiled as he saw the blue and gold sparks that erupted from the tip of the wand as he waved it, the wand seemingly delighting in being used by someone compatible once more, as opposed to sitting in a glass case gathering dust.
Examining the wand, Harry twirled it around in his hand, smiling at the familiarity of the curved, smooth, custom-made dragon bone handle which felt perfect in Harry's hand, far better than the standard grip, Ollivander put on his wands. Something which he would have to replicate when he eventually got a replacement wand from Ollivander.
Looking around the room once more, Harry put the glass case back on the wall and then headed out of the room. Now he had the wand, he could start properly collecting and hiding away the treasures of the Black house. That, and once he acquired some niche ingredients, he could restart some of his research. He missed having his semi-sentient tattoos, and the extra layer of security those trump cards gave him.
For now, though, he would need to head downstairs before people got suspicious of his absence.
Yet another downfall of being a teenager. Adults never liked it when they were off on their own, they always suspected that they were up to no good.
( - )
(Sometime Later)
About half an hour later found Harry along with the other residents of Number 12 Grimmauld place and several visiting Order members, including the werewolf, Lupin, and the metamorphmagus, Tonks, were sitting around the kitchen table eating, conversation flowing between them as they all made idle chitchat.
"So as I was saying, now that we've got the drawing-room sorted, save of course for that chest of draws that might hold a boggart, I was thinking we could start clearing out some of the top floor bedrooms." Molly Weasley was saying to the table at large, speaking up during a lull in the conversation. "That would of course mean moving both you and Harry out of your current rooms, Sirius. But hopefully, we'll finish cleaning up quite quickly, still, once we get it done we will free up even more room for others to stay."
Harry had to repress a frown as he heard that. Mrs Weasley had been trying to get him out of his room and sharing with Ron for the last day or so, with her being quite insistent that it would be 'good for him.' Yeah, he would resist that for as long as he could.
"No, Molly, the top floor rooms are for family members only. I think it's best if I sort through those personally." Sirius replied after a few moments, the smile on his face pleasant, but his tone holding a note of finality to it.
"Really Sirius, it would only take a day or two, and we'd get it done properly." Mrs Weasley replied dismissively, waving away Sirius's words. "Honestly, Harry I know you want your space, but I do think it would be best if you move in with Ron, the two of you can move your stuff out this evening before bed. Then we can all start on those rooms in the morning."
"Molly," Sirius said stiffly, his smile gone now. "As I said before, I will sort out those rooms. They are rooms for the main members of the Black family. You're welcome to do what you want with the rest of the house, but those rooms are off-limits."
Mrs Weasley frowned slightly at that, after which she opened her mouth to respond, only to be cut off by her husband.
"Molly, this is Sirius's house remember, we should respect his wishes." Arthur Weasley spoke up patiently before he continued talking. "Besides, I don't think Harry needs the additional aggravation of moving his things, not with him having his Ministry Hearing in the morning."
There was a silence following these words, as all the people at the table looked over to the casually eating Harry who in response merely looked up and around at the rest of the table, all of whom were staring at him.
"You'll be fine Harry, the law is totally on your side. There is no case against you." Hermione was the first to speak up, the others soon chorusing in with their own support.
"Besides with Dumbledore there to support you, I doubt you'll have any problems." Ron tagged on confidently.
"I wouldn't be so sure about that Ron." Remus interrupted, drawing the attention on to him now. "With the way the papers and the Ministry are slandering him and the way they have stripped him of certain positions and responsibilities, Dumbledore does not have as much influence as he once had."
The table quietened down as Lupin's words sank in.
"A right ray of sunshine you are," Tonks said loudly, bumping Lupin with her shoulder before she grinned at Harry. "You'll be fine Harry, the law is on your side and with Dumbledore there, Fudge won't be able to circumvent it."
"Yes, Nympha…, Tonks… has a good point." Lupin acknowledged quickly, stumbling over her name when he saw her sending him the stink eye, before forging on. "Although Fudge will be trying to force his agenda, at least with Dumbledore there you'll get at least a fair trial, and with the law on your side I'm sure you'll be fine."
"Yeah, I wouldn't worry about it, besides if the worst comes to the worst you can just come back here and live the outlaw's life with me!" Sirius added on cheerfully, a large grin on his face as he clapped a hand on Harry's back. "And besides, you know that girl's love a rebel don't you!"
"Sirius!" Molly erupted in a reprimanding tone, whilst Tonks, Ron, Fred, George and Ginny started laughing.
Harry cast Sirius a faint smile as he heard that. In spite of himself, he had found himself quite liking Sirius's roguish and devil may care attitude, in fact, more than ever it made him wish that he had had a chance to properly get to know the man like the alternate Harry did in this world.
After all, he felt like he could have built a connection with him had he been younger and more impressionable. Unfortunately though, Harry doubted he and Sirius would ever be any more than friends, after all mentally, Harry was nearing his mid-twenties, he certainly didn't need a guardian or a father figure anymore.
"It's fine, I'm pretty confident," Harry said easily, catching the others attention now as he sent them a genuine smile. None of them knowing that it was because he found it funny that they were all stressing out about some underage magic Hearing. Harry had gone through a full criminal trial before the entire Wizengamot, or at least what was left of it. In comparison, this would be a doddle, especially since they were expecting a frightened and nervous fifteen-year-old boy. "By the way how are we getting there tomorrow?"
"The London Underground as the muggles call it," Arthur Weasley said promptly before he expanded when he saw some of the wizards giving him a funny look. "I thought it would look better if we travelled to the Ministry in the muggle way, you know give off a better impression."
Harry cocked an eyebrow at that, he had been on the London Underground before back in his rebellious teenage years. It was sweaty, cramped and absolutely filthy. Arthur though ignored this expression as he instead busied himself with trying to explain what the Underground was to his kids and wife, with Hermione regularly pitching in to correct some of what he was saying.
"Seriously though Harry, you'll be fine. You have absolutely nothing to worry about." Sirius muttered to Harry in a low voice from beside him.
"Thanks." Harry nodded appreciatively after which the conversation around the table once again began in earnest as those around the table began to mutter about mundane things, though noticeable Lupin and Tonks were holding a quieter, private conversation of their own.
This was something that Fred, George and Ginny seemed to notice as they futilely tried to listen in, no doubt they thought they were talking about Order of the Phoenix business. Something all of the teenagers at the table had a vested interest in, as had become clear to Harry over the last day or so as he was forced to listen to them all complaining and whinging about how no one was telling them anything, despite them living at the Order Headquarters.
Harry of course could put them out of their misery, after all as a previous member of the Order in his world, he knew what they had done and been up to since Voldemort's rise. Including not only attempting to stop the Dark Lord from recruiting the werewolves, giants and vampires to the cause, but also protecting Longbottom's prophecy, or Harry's prophecy as it probably was in this world.
Not that Harry had any intention in spilling the beans, after all, where was the benefit for him? He owed these people nothing, and certainly wasn't going to give away pertinent information which could potentially get him in trouble if some of the Order members found out.
After that, the meal continued in a quite relaxed way. After which people drifted off to do their own thing. Remus and Tonks both making their goodbyes before they disappeared. With Fred and George similarly disappearing upstairs too, to do whatever it was they did. Hermione and Ginny then heading off to take up one of the couches in the lounge, both of them chattering whilst Ron badgered Harry into playing some chess with him.
Which was something he probably regretted about an hour later, after Harry, despite being bored out of his mind, demolished him five times in a row with ease, much to the redhead's growing frustration, and Ginny and Hermione's poorly stifled amusement.
( - )
(The Next Day)
In the early hours of the next morning, Harry found himself being woken from a deep sleep by Sirius shaking his shoulder. After which he had quickly dressed himself in some of the alternate Harry's clothes, hiding his distaste at the other Harry's sheer lack of style, and then headed downstairs for a quick breakfast and a coffee with Sirius, Arthur and Lupin before Mr Weasley had then quickly chivvied him along to the Ministry.
From there the trip to the Ministry the next morning didn't take as much time as Harry had thought it would, with the two of them having merged with the busy commuter traffic as they wended their way to the muggle entrance to the Ministry, a dilapidated telephone box quite away from the city centre.
From there, checking in was simple enough as they took the lift down to the atrium and checked in his wand at the desk, which wasn't a concern for Harry as he didn't really hold much attachment to the Holly and Phoenix feather wand.
After that though, Mr Weasley took him to his pokey, little office in the Department for Misuse of Muggle Artefacts, stopping off briefly in the Aurors office for a 'covert' chat with Kingsley on the way. Which was something that made Harry somewhat uncomfortable, as the last time Harry had properly seen the man he had been a warden at Azkaban, one who had not held Harry in that higher esteem.
Even so, after that they had gone to the office to wait until the hearing at twelve, the two of them making idle small talk to pass the time. Right up until the clock struck quarter to ten, by which point things started to become more troublesome, when a man called Perkins came in, only to then quickly warn them that the time of the hearing had been moved to ten o'clock.
A sly move on the part of the Minister, it would appear, especially since no written warning had been sent out.
Either way, after Perkin's warning the two of them had had fifteen minutes to make it to courtroom ten. Which had meant that both of them had had to maintain a very brisk pace, bordering on running, to get there on time.
"What are they thinking, putting it in there?" Arthur Weasley muttered as the two of them walked down the hall side by side, the older, balding man looking far more worried than his teenaged companion. "I mean it's just a Hearing for underage magic for Merlin's sake."
"It'll be fine Arthur, we have time and besides it's not like they're going to start without me there," Harry replied dryly, rolling his eyes at the older man's nervousness. Easily ignoring the odd look he sent Harry when he used his first name as if surprised that Harry would suddenly start using it. Which was something that would likely become a regular occurrence, as Harry didn't want to go around calling people Mr and Mrs.
Neither of the two of them had much time for any more talk after that, as by then, they had swept past the door to the Department of Mysteries and descended the steps to the courtrooms.
The sight of the ten, heavy, black, forbidding doors on this corridor sending a chill down Harry's spine. The last time he had been down here he was being dragged along in chains, suffice to say it had been a pretty open and shut case and the trial had lasted only a single day, especially since the new Ministry had been permitted to use the truth potion, Veritaserum.
"Right, well here we are then. I wish you luck, Harry," Arthur continued speaking, patting Harry's shoulder as they came to a stop in front of a very familiar door.
'Of all the fucking courtrooms.' Harry thought internally when he recognised the courtroom that his Hearing would be in.
Seeing the expression on Harry's face, Arthur gave his shoulder another squeeze. "I am sorry, Harry, but I can't go in there with you, unfortunately. You'll do fine, though. Just remember to stick to the facts and trust in Dumbledore. Do that, and it should all work out alright in the end."
"Right, I am sure it will…" Harry replied after a few moments, giving Arthur a nod before he opened the door to the courtroom and stepped inside.
( - )
AN: So what did you think? Please leave a review, comment etc. If you have any questions or suggestions feel free to PM me.
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Thanks for reading, and I'll see you later.
Greed720.