September 15: Morning
It was early when I woke up to a familiar voice, Fergus. Someone had let him into the room to do the honors of getting me out of bed. After the unexpected show my family gave the previous night, I was briefly the most popular student in Gryffindor. Fergus was now giving me the opposite reputation, as he woke everyone else up as well. With plenty of grumbling, I dressed and led him back to the Great Hall, were we found Fiona waiting.
"Gregory didn't come back last night, cousins. Do either of you know what might have happened?"
"He went to talk with Hagrid," I told Fiona. "He might have spent the night at his hut." When Fiona gave me a blank look, I felt I had to explain. "Last night at dinner, ye saw the way he acted, like we were being nice to him. Mary has family, and she was fine, but the Tinker doesn't. He didn't know how to behave."
"Owen, she' gettin' teary- eyed," Fergus warned.
"I'm sorry, cousin, I did na' think," Fiona said, as she wiped her eyes.
"Ye did it, Owen," Fergus shouted, "ye made her slip her brogue. And don' deny ye DID NA', Fiona."
Fiona stormed off at those words, muttering a few choice Gaelic phrases under her breath. I did not hear any of them clearly, but when she walked past Seamus Finnigan, he turned weasley red. Fiona loves being proper even in her speech, but when she gets upset, she forgets herself. Did I ever mention she can be pompous at the drop of a hat?
I set down to breakfast, with Fergus, and looked around for my parents. Mam was talking with Albus, probably about what I had told her yesterday night.
"Where's Da?" I asked Fergus.
"He went off wi' the music teacher," he said, as if that explained everything.
I noticed Neville and Ginny enter. They both looked as though they had a late night. They also looked like they had resolved their differences. They also looked to make sure none of Ginny's brothers were around. I waved to them. They waved back but it was clear that they wanted some time alone.
Walter sat down next to me, and began eating. "That friend of yours, Peeves, is a godsend," he said.
I had to stare. Walter was as bad as Dumbledore when it came to knowing things. "How did you know about that?" I asked.
"Didn't really," Walter said, "I knew Peeves was acting strangely, for Peeves that is, so I made my best guess. Thank you for confirming it."
I rolled my eyes and muttered a few curses of my own. I should have known better than to ask. "How is he a godsend, then?"
"You haven't noticed?" Walter asked in return, "It's the Slytherins. Almost every time one of them tries to harass another student, the poltergeist appears, and won't stop yelling until a teacher comes, or the student falls down some stairs, things like that. Just this morning, I saw Draco Malfoy, he's one of the worst, pass by Ron Weasley and he only said, 'Good Morning.' To be fair, Ron started to say something anyway, and Peeves went at him. When I left, he and Ron were still trying to stare each other down."
"When was this?" I asked quickly.
"Oh, just before I came here," Walter said, "Is that important?"
"Ron's coming," I shouted out.
I looked over to where Neville and Ginny were sitting. Ginny was watching the door, and pushing Neville's plate across the table, while Neville had already jumped under the table. He came out on the other side, and sat down across from Ginny just as Ron entered. Walter looked at me, clearly impressed.
With the crisis resolved, I asked Walter, "Why is Peeves doing this things?"
"I think," said Walter with a grin, "It has to do with his natural desire to annoy people. By playing school monitor, he annoys every student by harassing them, and every teacher because they haven't any real reason to complain. The only one who is happy about it is Argus Filch. But he thinks the only thing wrong with the school is that they let the students in here in the first place."
"I've created a monster," I said, with a grin of my own.
"Look," said Fergus, pointing to the entrance.
I looked over to see the Tinker walk in, Hagrid's hand on his shoulder, with Timmy tagging along. He looked happier than I had ever seen him. They stopped when they got to Neville. Ron was busy questioning his friend about what was going on, when Hagrid simply, and loudly, told Ron to shut up. After the brief applause, Hagrid told Neville to meet him after breakfast. Then they walked over to us.
"Mornin' boys," Hagrid said. "Owen, I'll need yer to meet with me after breakfast. Until then, do yer mind watching these two for me."
"Where's 'Mione?" asked Timmy.
"She'll be here soon," said Walter, "she had some big news last night."
"She did, at that," agreed Hagrid, as he gave us a parting smile.
"What news?" I asked.
The Tinker started to answer, but Walter interrupted, saying, "Let Hermione tell them."
Instead, I asked Walter about what I had missed during my illness. He filled me in on the details, but there was nothing major. Between them, Fergus and the Tinker were keeping Timmy entertained, but the buachaillin would not eat until 'she' came.
When Hermione did show up, Timmy let out a loud yell that was heard throughout the hall. He ran to meet her, and Hermione got down on one knee to catch him. After hugging him and wishing him good morning, she led Timmy back to his seat, and began putting breakfast on a plate for him. Then she sat down next to him, to get her own food.
"What's the news?" I asked. "Is it something ye can tell?"
Hermione gave me a tired smile and said, "I'm surprised your mother hasn't told you already. After all, it was her idea, and she arranged it."
"Oh, that," said Fergus.
"Am I the only one who doesn't know?" I asked.
"I don't know either," said Timmy, holding half a banger in his hand, chewing the other half.
"Yes, you do, honey," Hermione said. "Owen, your mother has asked my parents if they would agree to a trial fosterage with Timmy. He's become close to me, and that was felt to be a good sign. I received an owl from my parents last night. Based upon the letters and pictures I've sent them, they decided to give it a try. There are only a few issues at this end to resolve, although your mom did not say what they were."
"What about the Tinker," I asked. I had forgotten that he did not remember being Timmy's brother, and the question was out before I could recall it.
"We aren't really brothers," the Tinker said. "I'll be staying here with Hagrid."
"What issues?" Timmy asked.
"Nothing important," said the Tinker, "It should be resolved today."
My curiosity was up. This Tinker was different from the one I knew last night. Last night, he didn't know half the things he did when he got here. Now, he knew everything, and more.
Mam and Hagrid came by to get me and to my surprise, to get the Tinker. Neville and Ginny took the opportunity to join us, leaving an irritated Ron behind.
"Yer told her," Hagrid said accusingly.
"She told me," Neville answered. "The only thing she hadn't figured out, is how Timmy fit into the picture, but since we hadn't figured that out either, I told her she was right. One more thing," he said, looking at Ginny, "she had already linked the instrument case to Timmy despite her other doubts."
"How?" demanded Mam.
"Mrs. O'Donnell, I am the only girl in my family," Ginny explained, "with six older brothers. To understand them, you had to watch how they acted, because they were always trying to pull something. I did the same thing with Gregory and his brother. I noticed that when Timmy was active, Gregory would regularly touch the case. On the other hand, when it was Timmy's nap time, Gregory was always more relaxed. I knew the what of the thing, even though I didn't know the how or the why."
"Mam," I asked, "What's going on."
"Don't worry, Owen, things are fine. Because of you and Fergus, Gregory decided to talk to Hagrid, and he told him everything."
"He did, at that," Hagrid said, throwing a big grin at the Tinker. "We had a big talk last night, but he'll tell all about it when we get together."
My ego was taking a beating. Last night, I had the biggest news to tell. This morning, I am the only one who doesn't know what is going on. I thought things might become more clear when we arrived at the meeting room, and I was right to a small degree. Then I remembered something.
"Mam, what about Fergus? We left him alone in the Hall."
"Don't worry," she told me, "Fiona will watch him."
I didn't dare tell Mam she was wrong. Fergus had gotten Fiona to walk off. I shrugged my shoulders. After all, how much trouble could he get into by himself. And if he did, that was Mam's problem.
I entered the meeting room, which was the faculty lounge. Everyone from the first meeting was there with the addition of Mam, the Tinker and Ginny Weasley.
"You see, Arthur," Molly Weasley said loudly, "They've sorted themselves out in hardly any time at all." She smiled widely as her daughter blushed. Arthur made it a point to admire the ceiling.
As Mam led me to a couch, I walked past the Sorting Hat. "You made it into Gryffindor after all," it said as I passed by. "You've proven yourself brave enough to deserve it."
Stopping, I asked it, "Is there any chance ye'll tell me what ye mean by that." When I didn't get any answer, I was led to the couch.
Mr. Olivander was telling Albus about the wand, "Marvelous concept, It was a human hair, bathed in Unicorn blood, but he used his magic to put the hair inside the Unicorn, and then took it out again without even hurting the beast." He looked over and saw that I was listening. "That is how he avoided the Unicorn's curse," he added.
"Whose hair is it?" I asked.
"It was Gregory's hair," he said, then added sadly, "the one that died."
Albus called the meeting to order. "With good fortune, this should be our last meeting. Gregory, are you feeling up to this?"
"Yes, Sir," he said with an assured tone, "But I would like to start by giving an apology to Owen. I understand, now, what had happened that night. You gave your mother, and she gave Hagrid, the solution to the problem, when you mentioned the probability of a split personality. I believe you referred to it as Jekyll and Hyde. I had no experience in this, and was not even aware of what I was doing, until Rubeus Hagrid pointed it out to me, last night. I wish there was some way to change the past, but that is even beyond me. If you like, I can remove those memories, and even replace them with something else?"
This was not what I had expected. The Tinker was talking to me as though he were a college professor. I caught myself when I realized that he had asked me a question. "I'd like to keep my memories, thank ye. For good or bad, they make me what I am."
"Very well," he said, "Let us proceed with the reason we are here. In payment for all of the trouble I've caused, and for services to be rendered, I will explain myself. Are there any questions before I begin?"
I had made a pledge with him, when I wasn't thinking my best. We had agreed to be friends, regardless of what happened. My question, which I did not ask, was if I would regret it.
