89. Books

Harry, Ron, and Hermione were sitting in the Black Library. Tomes of ancient and sometimes questionable knowledge lined nearly every wall of the place. A thick odor of paper lingered heavily in every corner of the room.

Hermione was absorbing as much knowledge as humanly possible. Ron was immersed inside of some Muggle comic book and snorting every now and then. Harry perused a book he had found inside of Hogwarts some time ago. With the pressure of Tom off his shoulders, he was now able to flip through the pages.

This Half-Blood Prince, whoever he was, had a great mind for potions work. The alterations made to the standard potion recipe were a work of art. Harry wanted to shake the man's hand and study under him if possible. There was just so much to digest from such a genius mind.

His train of thought was broken when one of Ron and Hermione's arguments grew too loud to ignore.

"Let's cool down. You two don't need to fight so much," he said.

"Hush," they said in unison. Clearly neither desired Harry's input.

Harry shrugged. He knew nothing about their little hobby. Pulling the book back up, he attempted to return to his own devices.

"Wait a moment. This is a good chance for us to talk," Hermione began.

Harry released a deep sigh, not unlike a child preparing for some heavily repeated lecture.

Hermione was not deterred by his attitude, "I've noticed that you haven't touched any of your remedial work for Hogwarts. You were gone for some time and need to play catch up. We all took some time off for the battle and the cleanup afterwards, but it's time to get back to work."

Harry yawned in response and returned to his book.

She pushed his book back down, "I'm serious Harry. Things have been chaotic but we need to get back on track. Even Ron has gotten to work."

From the looks Ron was shooting at Hermione, it clearly hadn't been wholly his choice.

Harry leaned back and stared at the ceiling, "I've been thinking about it for a while and I don't think I really need to head back to Hogwarts. Hogwarts is a cool castle and I could definitely explore more of it, but the classes are much less fun. I could delve into magic much more without all the classwork and rules. Since I'm the 'hero' that defeated Tom, I could get a free pass to go through the castle when the students are gone or something. So… I'm not going to bother with the extra homework."

She gasped in visible horror, "That's ridiculous. Instructions make the learning process much safer! Besides, you need a complete education to properly survive the magical workforce. You can't be thinking of dropping out."

Ron tilted his chair back and forth, "I don't know Hermione. Hogwarts is great and all but look at the stuff Harry can do. Can anyone teach him any of that? It would be pretty cool if he went all rogue wizard. He'll be like the second coming of Dumbledore, you know without the whole vague wisdom thing."

Harry threw a smug smirk at her as she frowned disapprovingly.

"But," Ron continued, "It would suck to not have you there. We all started this together and should finish together. I can't imagine graduating without you there. You can do whatever you want, but I'd really like you there. Besides, it's not like there's anyone there to get in your way in Hogwarts now."

Harry fiddled with the potions book so that he didn't have to see Hermione's no doubt smug expression. When they were alone Harry was going to get on Ron's case for not presenting a strong front. There was a bit of an understanding between the two. They needed a united front to stop Hermione's incessant need to correct their behaviors. She was a dear friend, but she could be so overbearing. Now she was encouraged to drive this point further.

Still, he thought back to his emotions of his Hogwarts' letter. Once he accepted it as truth, he was so excited to get to a school all about magic and most of all get some new friends. It would be a shame to not see this part of his life through. It would be a fond nostalgic memory to look back on.

"Fine," he said.

Hermione nodded approvingly while Ron smiled widely.

"Well that is a very wise and mature decision. Don't worry, I'll help you go through all the material," Hermione said.

"People never notice anything. (Author Unseen)," Harry chanted. His packet of schoolwork rearranged themselves in order of subject and began to completing themselves in his own handwriting.

"Wicked!" Ron said with his mouth agape. "I don't care about the other stuff, but you have to teach me that spell!"

Hermione wasn't particularly impressed.