Woo! Chapter 3 is here!
Man, I feel like I need to take a 2-week vacation and just write without any distractions.
Don't get me wrong, very thankful I have a job, but it doesn't leave a lot of time to write this thing!
Their trip to Diagon Alley was unusual. Unlike past years, where the alley was crammed with people bustling between shops, the alley was empty. Most of the shops were either closed or destroyed. The brightest thing there was Fred and George's Joke Shop.
Harry smiled as the twins gave him a tour of the store. It appeared his investment was put to good use.
"Oh, lookey over here Harry." Fred pulled him over to the back of the shop where a stand of card and rope tricks sat.
"Muggle magic tricks" George said. "We got the idea from that store your dad sells his mobiles and tablets."
"It's not a big earner, but we do fairly steady business, they're great novelties." Fred added.
The twins led him to another, less crowded room. "With the state of the world, we decided to have a more serious line." George explained.
"Yeah, you wouldn't believe how many people, even Ministry workers, who can't produce an effective Shield Charm." Fred shook his head.
"They didn't have you teaching them, Harry." George grinned.
Harry gave them a thoughtful look. 'Maybe…if I can't be an Auror, I could teach. The DA was successful.'
"This is all amazing. You've both done really well for yourselves." Harry said.
"Couldn't have done it without your gracious contribution Oh Great Benefactor." They both bowed dramatically.
Harry smiled, "Let me know if you need another contribution. I would be happy to help."
The twins nodded and continued the tour.
Soon, a worker came to collect them to help find something in the shop. They said their goodbyes and left Harry to peruse by himself.
He met up with Ron and Hermione towards the front of the shop. Ginny was begging Mrs. Weasley for a Pygmy Puff when Harry caught sight of Malfoy hurrying down the street.
"Wonder where he's going off to in such a rush" Ron said.
"He's alone, a bit suspicious." Hermione added.
Harry glanced at Mrs. Weasley and pulled the other two out of the shop.
"Come on" Harry quickly pulled his Invisibility Cloak over the three of them.
"Are you sure we should be doing this?" Hermione asked.
"Come on Hermione, you did say it was suspicious for him to be alone." Ron said.
Hermione huffed, but followed along with no more complaints.
They followed Malfoy to Knockturn alley and then to Borgin and Burkes. They peered through the window to see Malfoy standing beside a large black cabinet.
"I wish we could hear what they're saying." Harry said.
"Oh, we can!" Ron said excitedly. He quickly sorted through the boxes he was holding and pulled out a pair of Extendable Ears.
"Fantastic Ron" Hermione said.
Ron smiled and nudged one ear under the door.
They listened as Malfoy asked Borgin how to fix something. Harry couldn't figure out what they were talking about though.
"Could you see what they were referring to?" Harry asked after Malfoy had left.
Ron shook his head.
"Let me try something" Hermione said. She quickly ducked out of the cloak, checked her hair, and entered the shop.
"What does she think she's doing?" Ron hissed.
"Finding out what Malfoy doesn't want sold." Harry said.
As they watched Hermione stumble her way through the store, Harry started thinking that acting may be a skill they all would need in the future.
They both cringed as Hermione was quickly chased out of the store.
"Worth a try" Ron said as Hermione made her way under the cloak. "But maybe next time, try not to be so obvious."
"I think we all could use a lesson on how to act in those situations." Harry said quickly, before Hermione could respond.
"You think we'll need it again?" Ron asked.
"You never know when you will need a certain skill. Best be prepared." Harry said.
/
When they returned to the Burrow, Aileen was sitting with Mr. Weasley at the table eating lunch.
"Arthur, shouldn't you be at work?" Molly asked.
"I thought I would take my lunch break here." He said. "See how things went."
"It was as empty as ever." Mrs. Weasley answered. "The twins' joke shop seemed to be the busiest shop there."
Mr. Weasley nodded. "How are the boys?"
"Good" Mrs. Weasley said as she made everyone plates of food. "They have such a knack for business. I never would have guessed."
Mr. Weasley nodded happily.
"Look Dad, I got a Pygmy Puff." Ginny said, gesturing to the pink puffball on her shoulder.
"Very cute" Mr. Weasley smiled.
Harry sat down next to Aileen, stroking her fur in greeting. He turned to Mr. Weasley and was surprised to see the man holding a Starkpad.
"I didn't know you had a Starkpad, Mr. Weasley." Harry said.
Mr. Weasley glanced down at the tablet in front of him and smiled brightly, "Oh yes. Wonderful invention this is. When I was promoted, I found myself drowning in paper work. I just couldn't keep track of everything. I remembered your father working on one of these things and went to Odds and Ends in Diagon Alley to see if I could buy one. Unfortunately, it was one of the stores attacked in the many Death Eater attacks. I then asked Sirius if he could ask your father to see if he would sell me one. Remus has been teaching me how to use it."
"I'm glad it's been helpful."
"Oh yes. I've even had some others asking me about it. I imagine I will have an order for your father soon."
Harry nodded, "I've seen a few people at school with Starkphones these past years. I'm glad it's expanding."
Later that night he called Loki to tell him about what they saw in Knockturn Alley. Loki promised to visit the shop as soon as he could.
/
The rest of the summer past quickly. Harry dragged Hermione and Ron outside every day to train with Aileen. He was proud of the progress his friends had made by the time they had to leave for school.
He didn't like the Aurors assigned to guard them though. He grit his teeth as several Aurors surrounded him as they made their way through Kings Cross Station. "I could probably take all of these guys without using magic" He hissed to Hermione and Ron after an Auror forcefully steered him through the gateway onto Platform 9 .
"Yeah, but they don't know that" Ron said.
Harry sighed, "Well, come on. Better find a place to sit."
"Sorry Harry, Ron and I have to go to the Prefects car first." Hermione said.
"Oh, right." Harry said.
They split ways after putting their trunks on the train.
Once he was on the train, he immediately felt everyone's eyes on him. He remembered the Daily Prophet article at the beginning of the summer claiming he was 'The Chosen One'. They weren't wrong, but he could do without the stares.
He quickly walked through the train until he came across Neville and Luna.
"Hey, do you mind?" He asked.
"Not at all" Neville said.
"Hello Harry" Luna greeted.
"Hey Luna" He replied. "How was your summer?"
"It was good" She said.
"Quibbler still going strong?" He asked, looking at the colorful magazine in her hands.
"Oh yes, circulation is well up" She said happily.
"Probably because people have realized it's the only place to get real news these days." Neville said.
Harry went to say something else when a few girls passed by, whispering and pointing at them like a zoo attraction.
"They've been doing that to us since we boarded the train." Neville cringed.
"Probably because you were at the Ministry that night. Your names were mentioned in the Daily Prophet, same as mine."
"Will you be starting the DA again Harry?" Luna asked.
Harry shrugged, "Don't see why I would. Umbridge isn't here anymore."
"You should" Neville said, "Those classes really helped."
They were interrupted again by a group of girls. This time, they opened the compartment and talked to them. Or, at least Romilda Vane talked to Harry, not the others.
"People expect you to have cooler friends than us." Luna said.
Harry frowned, "Why would I want friends who only like me as The Chosen One? You guys are much cooler."
They both smiled.
They talked a little before Ron and Hermione joined them. Harry found it suspicious that Malfoy wasn't a Prefect this year, but the others didn't seem to agree.
They were interrupted again by a young third-year entering their compartment.
"I'm supposed to deliver these to Neville Longbottom and Harry P-Potter," she faltered, as her eyes met Harry's and she turned scarlet. She was holding out two scrolls of parchment tied with violet ribbon. Perplexed, Harry and Neville took the scroll addressed to each of them and the girl stumbled back out of the compartment.
"What is it?" Ron demanded, as Harry unrolled his scroll.
"An invitation," said Harry. "From Slughorn"
"Who?" Neville asked, staring down at his own scroll.
"He's a new teacher"
"What does he want to see us for?"
Harry shrugged and exited the compartment.
The two walked through the train until they came upon compartment C, where Slughorn sat with several other people.
"Harry m'boy!" Slughorn greeted jovially. "Good to see you! And you must be Mr. Longbottom."
Neville nodded, obviously startled by the excitable man in front of them.
Once they sat down, Slughorn introduced everyone. Harry only recognized a few of them. He wanted to roll his eyes once Slughorn began introducing him. "The Chosen One!" of course came into the conversation. People think it's just so cool…until they're the ones being targeted by a mad man.
They spent the rest of the afternoon listening to Slughorn talk about all of the illustrious witches and wizards he has taught over the years and the things they do for him in return. Harry tuned out most of it, preferring to plan out how he was going to spy on Malfoy.
"Good gracious, it's getting dark already! I didn't notice that they'd lit the lamps! You'd better go and change into your robes, all of you, off you go, off you go!" Slughorn ushered them all out.
Harry gave a small sigh of relief once he was out of the compartment.
"Strange man, isn't he?" Neville said.
Harry nodded.
They made it back to their compartment. Harry noticed Blaise Zabini was still walking…towards the Slytherin compartment. Harry quickly got out his invisibility cloak from his trunk and quietly followed Zabini. He narrowly manages to enter the compartment before Zabini closed it, quickly and quietly finding a perch to wait. He silently thanked Clint for those stealth lessons. He kept his wand at the ready, just in case he was seen or heard, it was a small compartment after all.
He listened as they talked about the Slug Club meeting. Nothing too serious, at least until Malfoy all but admitted to taking the mark.
"I might have…moved on to bigger and better things." He said with a smirk.
The rest of the compartment didn't seem to believe Malfoy, but Harry knew something was up. Whatever job Voldemort had Malfoy doing was serious, and something Harry needed to figure out.
When they reached Hogwarts, Harry swiftly moved out of the way of the trunks being pulled from the rack he was perched on. It wasn't easy with the cloak, but lucky for him, he wasn't noticed. He waited several minutes after everyone left before returning to the ground and returning to his own compartment.
When he entered, it was empty save for Aileen, sitting primly on his robes. She looked quite unimpressed.
"What?"
"You went to spy on Malfoy." She stated.
"Yeah, he said Voldemort gave him a job. I think it has to do with whatever he was doing in Borgin and Burkes."
"You shouldn't be wasting your time on this Harry" She said.
"What do you mean by that? This is important. If Malfoy is a Death Eater now, we should know what he's up to." He started changing, grimacing at the amount of cat hair already on his robes. "Did you have to sit on my robes, they're covered in hair."
She gave him another unimpressed look and made a show of rolling around on his trousers.
Harry groaned and quickly finished changing.
"You don't have time to chase after Malfoy Harry" Aileen said as she followed him off the train. "You need to focus on your training. Both Dumbledore and I are going to be teaching you this year. Plus, you'll have your regular studies. And if you think you'll be able to slack off on your homework, think again."
"If Malfoy is working for Voldemort this year, shouldn't I find out what he's doing? Isn't that also important?"
"Some plans must be carried out Harry. We can't change everything." Aileen said.
"So, you know what's going to happen…wait…of course you do."
"Some plans must be carried out."
"I don't like this"
"You don't have to; you just have to trust me"
/
When they got to the castle, Harry noticed Tonks looking around. She seemed a lot better than the last time he saw her. Her hair was even back to its vibrant pink.
"Harry!" She said, relief clear in her voice. "Where have you been? I was just about to come down and search the Express."
"Sorry, got a bit side tracked and then someone wouldn't get off my clothes." He sent a pointed look at Aileen sitting at his feet.
Tonks smiled, "Well, you're here now, best get inside. You shouldn't be too late to the feast."
Harry nodded and started walking towards the castle. "She seems a lot better than last time. Happier." He looked down at Aileen, "You know anything?"
"Oh, she just got what she wanted." She replied cryptically.
Harry raised a brow, but his sister stayed quiet.
/
He quickly entered the Great Hall, the feast well under way.
"Harry, where have you been?" Hermione hissed as soon as he sat down.
"Not here" Harry replied.
"Well, you missed the Sorting" Ron said.
"Hat say anything interesting?" Harry asked, taking a piece of treacle tart.
"More of the same, really…advising us all to unite in the face of our enemies, you know."
"Dumbledore mention Voldemort at all?"
"Not yet, but he always saves his proper speech for after the feast, doesn't he? It can't be long now." Hermione said.
"So, what did Professor Slughorn want?" Ron asked through a mouthful of food.
"To know what really happened at the Ministry." Harry replied.
"Did you tell him everything? Your papa wasn't mentioned in the Daily Prophet article." Hermione said.
"No, thought it best not to mention it. Wizards get weird when you tell them someone has magic but they aren't a wizard."
"Well, to be fair, aliens aren't exactly common in our world."
"Don't know why, unicorns and dragons exist. Why not aliens." Harry huffed.
The hall became quiet when Dumbledore approached the podium.
"The very best of evenings to you!" he said, smiling broadly, his arms opened wide as though to embrace the whole room.
Whispers filled the hall as everyone took notice of the headmaster's black hand.
"What happened?" Hermione asked.
Harry shrugged, "It was like that when we picked me up."
"It looks dead" Ron said.
"I thought he would have healed it by now" Harry said.
"Some things can't be healed" Hermione said.
Harry nodded and listened to the rest of the speech. He was surprised to learn that Slughorn wasn't this year's Defense professor, but its Potions professor.
"Wait, if Slughorn is the Potions professor…who is –" Ron was cut off when Dumbledore announced Snape as their new professor for Defense Against the Dark Arts.
"Bloody hell" Ron sighed.
"This is not good" Harry agreed.
"It can't be worse than Umbridge" Hermione said.
Harry gave her an incredulous look, but said nothing.
After the feast was over, everyone went to their dormitories.
"Okay, why were you late to the feast?" Hermione asked. The three were sitting at a table in a secluded corner of the common room.
"I went to the Slytherin compartment. According to Malfoy, Voldemort's given him a job this year." Harry said.
"Did he say what it was?" Ron asked.
Harry shook his head, "The others didn't seem to believe him, but there was something about the way he said it that makes me believe whatever he's doing is important."
"You think this is why he was at Borgin and Burkes?" Ron asked.
"Yeah"
"I don't know Harry, Malfoy actually said Voldemort gave him a job?" Hermione asked.
"Well," Harry shifted slightly, "it was heavily implied."
Hermione rolled her eyes, "You're jumping to conclusions again Harry. Did he show his mark? Did he specifically say Voldemort gave him a job?"
"No, but –"
Hermione shook her head, "You should be focusing on these extra lessons Dumbledore and your sister will be giving you this year, not Malfoy."
Harry huffed, "You sound like Aileen."
"Thank you" Hermione grinned smugly.
Ron chuckled, "We'll keep an eye out for anything suspicious just in case."
"Thanks Ron" Harry said.