Disclaimer: Of course, I couldn't have come up with all these characters on my own. They were almost all created by J.K. Rowling, so you can thank her. The rest, of course, are from my own twisted mine. Oh, yeah! Copyright 2000!
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Chapter 18 ~ Another Problem
The ghost stood there in his tropical shorts and Hawaiian shirt and sandals. He had tied back his long silver hair into a ponytail and wore his wizard's hat lopsided on his head. He looked over his half-moon spectacles at Harry.
"So Voldemort is over?" he finally asked.
Harry nodded. "He's in Azkaban. I don't think he'll be coming back."
"We told them to guard him 24-7," Hermione said. "Not that we needed to, but I feel better telling them that."
"24-7," the ghost, Professor Dumbledore, muttered to himself. "I like that. 24-7"
Ron took a sip of his tea. "We still haven't found Hannah, though, but I don't think she's much of a threat."
"Yes, I agree. She couldn't even tell muggles about us unless she wanted them to think she was crazy."
"Thank God for that," Harry said.
Someone in the hallway laughed, and they heard Becky give a small shriek. "GEORGE!" Becky screamed. "Don't stop! GO!"
"Too many children," Malfoy muttered. Nadim saw Hermione looking at him and pointed to a heavy book on the bookshelf behind and above where Malfoy was standing, indicating how he wanted to pull it out and drop it on Malfoy's head. Hermione rubbed her wand thoughtfully.
A few minutes later, Lily, James, Becky, Doug, and Soup crashed in through the door of Harry's office, laughing. They stopped when they saw Professor Dumbledore.
"Cowabunga," Dumbledore greeted them with a slight nod and a peace sign.
"Cowabunga," the children slowly said.
After introductions were over, Lily went up to Harry. "Hedwig just dropped this off."
"Why didn't she drop it off in the office?" Harry asked, to himself more than to her.
Lily shrugged. "It looked like he was hungry. I think he had a mouse in his beak, but he was too far off to tell."
Harry nodded and read the letter.
"Are you children ready for exams?" Dumbledore asked.
"More than ready," Becky answered. "Except Soup. He gets exempt."
Soup grinned. "Can't say I weegwet it, eida."
"James," Hermione said. "One thing I meant to ask you. How did Voldemort possess you?"
James groaned and rubbed his stomach. "I started feeling funny when you guys came to our hotel room. I thought it was the gummi bears. I probably shouldn't have eaten them while they were mixed with butter."
"I think that's it," Hermione said. "The butter must have had something in it. Voldemort would have affected the thing most likely to get to the most people. That way he'd be able to choose who he wanted to possess. Smart. Very smart." Dumbledore nodded in agreement.
Harry cleared his throat. "I think we've got trouble."
"What kind of trouble?" Ron asked. "Girl trouble? I might be able to help there."
Hermione snorted and almost fell out of her chair laughing.
"No. Worse."
Harry paused, not knowing how to tell them this.
"OUT WITH IT!" Malfoy finally shouted.
Harry sighed. "All right, all right. Voldemort escaped from Azkaban."
Slowly, everyone looked at everyone else.
Moaning Myrtle, who had walked through the wall just in time to hear, wailed and ran off. Harry, Ron, and Hermione looked at each other. Malfoy popped his fingers and punched the palms of his hands. Nadim bit his lip. Dumbledore "Hmm"-ed thoughtfully. Neville cried out and tried to hide under his too-small chair while Hagrid took a deep gulp of his brandy. The children looked at each other.
"The library?" Lily asked.
Doug groaned. "The library. Maybe they have the Internet. I hate using books."
"The libewy," Soup said.
"Do I have to- OOP" Lily grabbed Becky's arm and started a mad dash for the library.
Doug, James, and Soup were the only ones left in the room besides the adults.
"You have to admit," James said slowly. "The wizarding world is never boring."
"I hear that too much stress can be bad for you," Doug pointed out.
"Shouldn't we get to the libewy befo' the ladies?" Soup asked.
"The ladies?" James echoed. He shook his head. Soup was trying his best to say words that didn't contain R's.
"Let's go research ourselves into suicide!" Doug said happily as he sprinted past them and down the stairs.
"Dad? We're going-"
"Trust me, I think I know. Just get us involved when you get done with the research, okay?"
"You'd miss the fun?"
Harry grinned. "Trust me, we're not missing any fun."
James grinned and went off after Lily. Along the way, the Gryffindor team's new Beater stopped in the kitchen. He wasn't in any rush to get to the library. There, he met Doug. The two dug into the junk food- careful to avoid not only the healthy food and the butter as well.
"Gotta hand it to the girls and Soup," Doug said as he stuffed another handful of potato chips into his mouth.
"Hmm?" James reached for some more of Bernie Bott's Beans.
"They don't know when to quit."
James nodded in agreement. "Think this'll happen next year, too?"
"Nah. Most likely Voldemort will try and kill us some time this summer. But look at it this way. At least we won't have to come to school again next year."
They laughed and kept eating.
*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~ Please Re-veu ~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
Author's Note: I can't say who the mother is just yet- trust me though- it'll be good. I'm waiting until Ms. Rowling fills in some blanks. I meant for this story to be used from the release of the fourth book on. That's why I've avoided a few things. Anyway, I think we'll all find out soon enough. Please, don't be mad. *Hey! Stop hitting me! OW! Okay, okay. Please stop hitting me, uh, so hard?*