A/N: Thanks for all the reviews, people! :)
From now on I'm only going to give you announcements (if any) before the chapters, and all the 'answering-your-reviews' will be at the end, so that you won't have to roll down that much.
Today's announcement: the first chapter of my first fic is uploaded onto www.gryffindortower.net. My beta there is quite busy, so she can read through one chapter in two weeks, but slowly the story will be up on that site as well, in a revised and grammatically corrected version. If you feel like reading it there, do so :)
Second announcement: from now on I'll try and answer everyone, really, really everyone, even those who only write 'hey, good chapter'. So, find yourselves at the end in the second A/N section.
Many of you asked how often I would update. Well, once a week is guaranteed (with the exception of vis maior cases), probably twice, it will depend on how much people like/dislike certain chapters.
And now, onto the LONG chapter. (My computer has a knack of duplicating the words written in italics, so if something like that crops up, it isn't my fault)
Chapter 2
A new beginning1st September, 2011
(A Thursday – because September the first
isn't always Monday!!! In 2011
1st September will definitely be a Thursday.)
A loud bang came from upstairs.
"What are you doing?" Harry shouted irritably.
"Nothing, dad!" came three voices from the second floor of Black Manor.
"Hurry up, Lily and Dan, or we'll be late for the train!" the young father yelled back.
"Coming, dad!" a skinny, short, black-haired, brown-eyed, bespectacled boy stormed downstairs, carrying a small rucksack.
"Have you packed all your things?" Harry frowned, sizing up his son's tiny bag.
"Yep, dad," Daniel Leonard Potter beamed at him. "I can't believe I'm going to Hogwarts at last!"
"And I can't believe that we are going to be late if your sister doesn't deign to come down right now," Harry scowled. He was downright nervous – it was not only his son's first year at Hogwarts, but his own first year as a teacher as well. Good old professor Flitwick had decided to retire at the end of last year, and Harry took on his subject – Charms.
Harry had spent ten years flying among Bludgers and Quaffles, but he was aware that the time came for every Quidditch-player to get off their broomsticks and do something else. He had been told by several people that he wasn't too old to continue playing Seeker, but he had decided that he didn't want to end his career losing match after match – he wanted to quit Quidditch before he started to grow too old for it. He knew many sportsmen who had kept playing as long as they could, but most of them became a laughing-stock at the end of their careers.
Harry didn't want to become one – he wanted the Puddlemere United fans to remember Harry Potter at his glory, not as a superannuated Seeker who almost fell off his broomstick.
Harry had more pride than letting himself become ridiculous. So he changed his job. Not that he didn't miss Quidditch – he missed it terribly, of course. He might have stayed at Puddlemere United as a coach, but he didn't feel particularly attracted by that possibility. Thus, when Albus Dumbledore drafted an advertisement for the Daily Prophet, saying that they needed a new Charms professor, Harry was more than eager to take on the job. This way he got the opportunity to return to the place where he had spent the happiest time of his life… Hogwarts.
Hermione was still teaching Arithmancy there, but she didn't live in the castle – she lived with Ron and their three kids in Hogsmeade, where Ron's broomstick shop was running pretty well.
Ron and Hermione's twin daughters, Valentine and Viviane were starting at Hogwarts this year, along with Daniel, Kevin (Fred/George and Angelina's son), and Lancelot (Percy and Penelope's son).
"Dad, can't we go as well?" Richard, Robert and Rose Potter asked in chorus, descending the stairs.
"I've told you for a hundred times," Harry crossed his arms. "Next year. Just one more year, and you'll be at Hogwarts… and God help Hogwarts when you get there."
"Oh, but dad, we aren't that terrible, really!" Robert replied defiantly.
"Yeah, you're not as terrible as Fred and George. You are worse," their father nodded, eyeing them in a scolding sort of way.
"You're no fun, dad!" Richie pouted. "Anyway, whatever you say, we'll become the greatest magical mischief-makers Hogwarts has ever seen!"
"Exactly," Rose nodded with an impish grin.
Harry rolled his eyes. These were his triplets, who – according to their uncles Fred and George - were bound to be worse than they had ever been. Harry was already dreading the time when they'd be off to Hogwarts. In his mind's eye he saw himself for several times – standing before professor McGonagall with burning cheeks, listening to the endless list of pranks his triplets had done… but that wasn't for another year. He heaved a relieved sigh.
"Where's Lily?"
"Up in her room, glued to the mirror, I guess," Rose wrinkled her nose. "That's what she's doing all the time nowadays… sitting before her vanity table, brushing her hair and humming some silly melody."
"Yeah… I think she's gone crazy, dad," Rob commented.
"Maybe not crazy…" Richie grinned, "just… er…"
"Er what?" Harry raised an eyebrow.
"Sssh!" Rose beckoned him closer.
"What?" Harry bent down to be at eye-level with his daughter.
"She… she fancies someone, dad," Rose whispered into his ear.
"Does she?" Harry blinked in surprise. He hadn't noticed any sign that could refer to that… but maybe he wasn't paying enough attention to his eldest daughter… not that Lily would have been too happy if her father had kept an eye on her all the time... She was an adolescent girl, after all, and children of her age never tolerated their parents meddling with their lives too much.
Still, Harry felt a pang of remorse – he had a thirteen-year-old daughter, and he practically didn't know her. He didn't even realise that she was seeing somebody – or was she? Knowing the triplets, it could be possible that they only made it up to annoy their older sister and of course their daddy – since it was their favourite pastime: to annoy good ol' dad.
Finally the stairs creaked, indicating that someone was coming down.
"Daddy, daddy, I wanna go with you! To Hogwarts!" little Lea Potter – only five years old – ran down the stairs, flinging herself on Harry. Her father scooped up the black-haired, green-eyed child. She, of all his children, bore the greatest resemblance to him. The triplets all had red hair, just like their mother and Lily.
"You cannot come, my sweet," Harry told Lea. "You know that."
"But I wanna come!" her tiny lips trembled and two big teardrops coursed down her cheeks.
"You're too young, dear," Harry kissed her tears away. "But if you'll be a nice little girl, then you'll grow up quickly and you'll also come to Hogwarts – I promise you."
Harry's words didn't seem to take effect – little Lea was shooting accusatory glances at him, sniffing. "Then don't go! Stay, daddy!"
Harry was feeling terrible. How could he explain to a five-year-old that he had to leave – especially when that five-year-old was such a stubborn little tyke as his youngest daughter? When he had to leave for Russia eleven years earlier, he managed to explain it to Lily, but Lily was simply different. She was peaceful, understanding and overall a good little girl. Lea, on the other hand, was defiant, pretentious and way too much depending on Harry. She was the one of his six children who practically wouldn't let him out of her sight and started to wail whenever 'daddy' wasn't there for her. This made it especially hard on Harry to leave her, knowing how much she loved and needed him.
"Listen, sweetie, daddy will try and come back as often as he can, okay? For example right on this weekend... And he'll bring you wonderful toys and Honeydukes sweets from Hogsmeade as well."
"Promise?" Lea sniffed.
"Yeah, daddy promises," Harry kissed her tear-soaked cheek once more, then put her down. "Now where on Earth is Lily?"
"Here I am, Harry…" his eldest daughter, who – at the age of thirteen still called him Harry – slowly descended the stairs.
Harry, the triplets and Daniel gasped.
"What have you done to yourself?" Richiard was the first to recover his voice.
"You look icky!" Robert added.
"You look like a…" Rose was looking for words.
"…scarlet woman," Lea helped her out.
Harry looked from his eldest daughter to his youngest – where on Earth did a five-year-old child learn such expressions?
"Yeah, thanks, sis, that was the word I was looking for," Rose nodded eagerly. "What have you done to yourself, Lil?"
"I just…" Lily gulped, "…wanted to look… better."
"Better?" Daniel laughed. "You'll never look good enough, Lil, not even if you spent a week at Gilderoy Lockhart's beauty salon!"
"Dan!" Harry shouted, giving his son a scolding look. However, he couldn't help but agree with his other children – Lily looked terrible: she might have tried to curl her hair, but she must have used the wrong charm, because now her always so tidy locks looked like a haystack. She also must have tried to use some kind of make-up-charm, but ended up bungling up the whole thing: there were vivid red spots on totally wrong places on her cheeks, she hadn't succeeded in making her pimples disappear, and now the rouge only enhanced them. The lipstick Lily was wearing terribly clashed with her rouge and her eye shadow gave the impression of her having two huge black eyes. Not to mention that she had done magic illegally, being underage and out of school.
"Do I really look that bad, Harry?" she groaned, chewing her lips, awaiting an answer from her father.
Harry, who had already realised that having adolescent kids wasn't a piece of cake, now felt that it was the most difficult thing possible for a parent: to tell his thirteen-year-old daughter that she had totally screwed up her looks.
"Er…" he cleared his throat. "Let's discuss this in the car, shall we? Get in, both of you!" he beckoned to Lily and Daniel.
"Can't we go and escort you to King's Cross?" Rob suggested.
"No," Harry shook his head.
"Let us go!" Richard pleaded.
"No."
"Dadddddyyyyy!" Rose gave him her most charming, father-heart-melting smile, combined with her thoroughly exercised puppy-stare. For a second Harry seemed to hesitate – Rose's smiles had always managed to make him do anything, but he decided to be the unwavering sort of father today.
"No," he shook his head. "Go up and tell mummy that we've left. You too, Lea."
Little Lea stuck out her tongue at him and ran upstairs. On the top of the stairs she bumped into her mother, who lifted her into her arms.
"You didn't think you'd leave without saying good-bye to me, did you?" Ginny scowled at Harry as she walked down the stairs, putting Lea down again.
"I thought we have said good-bye to each other rather nicely this morning," Harry blushed a bit at the memory of him and Ginny 'saying good-bye'.
"Ooooooh, daddy has turned pink!" Rose clasped her hands, as if she couldn't think of anything more delighting than seeing her father embarrassed.
"That's none of your business, kids," Harry gave the triplets a stare of disapproval then turned to his wife. "So, let's say good-bye once more, then." with that he pulled her into a tight embrace, catching her lips in a lingering kiss.
"Yuck! Let's go up, guys, I can't stand more of this!" Richie suggested and his twins agreed. By the time Harry and Ginny had parted, the triplets had already disappeared, probably to set off a couple of dung-bombs in little Lea's room.
"Um, that's more like it," Ginny grinned at her husband. "And now, go. You two, behave yourselves!" she turned to Daniel, but Lily wasn't there anymore. "Where's Lily?" she asked.
"Already in the car, I guess," Harry shrugged in the firm belief that it wouldn't do any good to Lily if he told her mother what she had done to herself.
Five minutes later they were sitting in the family car – a Peugeot with a nice expanding charm on it. Harry was driving it to King's Cross, but Sirius would be driving the car back to the manor – they had agreed that Sirius would apparate to the railway station shortly before eleven o'clock to say good-bye to his godson and the two kids.
It had been Sirius' idea to buy a Peugeot for the family, since its emblem was a lion – how very appropriate for the Potters!
"Harry… what should I do to put myself right again?" Lily wept in the back seat, examining herself in a mirror with a suffering expression.
"Ask McGonagall to transform your face into a totally new one," Daniel replied from the passenger seat. "It isn't worth sticking to the old one, really."
"Daniel!" Harry snapped.
"It's okay, dad," Dan sighed. "But she really looks ugly this way."
"This way she does," Harry nodded. "But otherwise she's a very pretty young woman." he cast a glance at his daughter from the rear-view mirror. Lily was still crying, her tears mingling with the rouge, smudging it totally. However, hearing her father's last comment, she looked up, giving Harry a grateful smile.
"Can you help, Harry?" she asked with a wavering voice.
"All right," Harry looked around to make sure that no Muggles were on the road then pushed the Invisibility Booster (installed by Arthur) on the dashboard. The car lifted into the air, invisible.
Now that Harry didn't need to care for the steering wheel anymore, he turned around in his seat, holding his wand. "Fucus amoveo! There, you're back to normal, Lil."
"Oh!" his daughter held up her mirror, looking at her reflection admiringly. "Thanks, Harry!"
"You're welcome," her father grinned. "But next time you decide to wear make-up, ask your mother to help, okay?"
"Uh-huh…" she muttered. "I just… I just wanted to hide my spots, you know…"
"And you just wanted to make Christopher Wood like you," Daniel commented.
"Shut up!" Lily retorted, furiously blushing.
"Chris Wood, eh?" Harry raised an eyebrow. "I've heard about him. Also Gryffindor?"
"Er, yeah," Lily nodded.
"Is he a nice guy at least?" her father inquired. "If he is a bit like Oliver, then he must be a great guy, but I still don't approve of you going out with a boy, Lil. You're way too young and should you be thoughtless..."
"Thoughtless? You don't mean that you think I'd… I'd... Harry, I'm just thirteen!" she burst out. "The fact that you and mum did it when you were only children doesn't mean…" she looked up to see her father glowering furiously at her. "Sorry. I didn't mean to hurt you or anything… really… had you not been thoughtless, I wouldn't be here now…"
"Guess we'd be better off like that," Daniel smirked.
"Daniel!" both Harry and Lily shouted at him.
"All right, all right!" the boy said. "I was just joking, dad. You know how much I love my dear, big sister!"
"Love me?" Lily frowned. "That's why you put a hedgehog into my bed last week?"
"You did what?" Harry gasped.
"It wasn't me!" Daniel protested. "Or… okay, it was me, but it wasn't my idea! It was the triplets'! Honestly!"
"Now I feel a lot better!" Lily crossed her arms, fuming.
"Stop quarrelling, you two, we're almost there," Harry said, gently lowering the Peugeot onto the road, pushing the Invisibility Booster on the dashboard.
They were visible again.
Soon Harry parked the car and got a trolley. He started pulling out various packages from the boot: a small suitcase for Lily, a medium suitcase for himself, a big suitcase for Lily, a carryall for Lily, a duffel bag for Lily, a satchel for Lily, a toilet bag for Lily, and a tiny rucksack for Daniel.
"Is this all you brought?" Harry got rather suspicious, opening his son's bag, ready for telling him off for having left all his things at home.
However, as he looked into the bag, it seemed to have a huge pack of clothes, books, a cauldron, scales, Potions ingredients and everything needed in it – and only the half of it was filled.
"What have you done to this bag?" he furrowed his brows.
"It's just magically expanded a bit, dad," Daniel shrugged. "I thought it wouldn't harm anyone…"
"But how did you know how to do it?" his father inquired.
"Standard book of spells, page 47," the boy replied. Seeing his father's unbelieving face, he flinched. "All right, it wasn't me. Uncle Fred did it for me."
"Yeah, who else?" Harry shook his head, pulling three cages out of the boot – one of them contained Hector, the other contained Helena, and the third had the good old Hedwig in it. The faithful old owl was rather worn – the poor creature was more than twenty years old. Harry wondered how long owls lived, but his heart ached at the thought that one day he'd lose Hedwig. Hedwig, despite her age, was still always ready to carry letters, although she did it much slower than before. Harry, of course, kept praising her for her strength and persistence, deliberate to show her how much he valued her both as a friend and as a message-carrier.
"Abu!" Harry yelped as a rather old, but still vivid monkey that had been hiding behind the cages, jumped on his head. "What are you doing here?"
"I guess he wanted to come to Hogwarts," Daniel said. "May I take him? Please???"
"It's in your Hogwarts letter that the students can take an owl, a cat or a toad – no monkeys are mentioned!" his father reminded him. "Anyway, students can only have one pet!"
"He'd be staying in my dorm," Dan replied. "Really. And remember: Uncle Ron had a rat, and you also bought him a niffler and he kept it in the school for half a school year! And Uncle George told me about Lee Jordan's tarantula!"
Harry seemed contemplative for a moment. "Persuaded me. All right, Dan, but be careful with him! Don't let him wander around the castle, understood?"
"Aye-aye, sir!" Daniel saluted, grinning. "C'mon, Abu, hop on my shoulder!"
Daniel's owl, Helena, gave Abu a disapproving hoot, eyeing the monkey suspiciously.
"All right, kids, come on!" Harry put a padlock charm on the Peugeot and marched the children into the railway station.
"Hey, Harry boy!" he heard someone shouting. He turned around to see Fred and George waving madly at him, both holding a reddish-brown-haired boy by the hand.
"Hello, guys," Harry gave his brother-in-laws a smile. "Hullo, Kevin." he greeted the little boy.
"Hi, Uncle Harry," Kevin tore his hands out of the hands of his fathers, feeling a bit embarrassed. A big boy didn't need his parents to hold his hand, did he? "Hello, Dan. Lil."
"Hi, Kevin," the Potter children said in unison.
"Have you seen Bigheadboy and Lance?" Fred asked.
"Not yet," Harry replied.
"Hermione and the twins won't be coming with the train, right?" asked Lily.
"Why would they? They live in Hogsmeade," George shrugged. "Oh, there is Percy! Hey, Perce, over here!" he started jumping to draw his brother's attention to them.
Percy, however, only nodded a bit with a rather despising look, then marched off with his wife and son right to the barrier between platforms nine and ten.
"Idiot," Fred snorted. "Since he became head of the Department of International Cooperation, you simply cannot talk to him. He's never been this stuck-up before."
"I guess you don't need to introduce him to me," Harry grinned. "Good old Perce, he never changes."
"Neither does his son," Kevin interjected. "He's a freak. Horrible, really."
"He's not that horrible," Lily replied. "Very clever boy."
"Ah, yeah, he knows everything about goblin revolutions, various events of magical history and of course he already speaks four languages…" Dan commented. "Which are those exactly, Kevin?"
"Um… Troll, Gobbledygook, Mermish and… Dragon."
"Dragons don't speak," Lily shook her head.
"According to Lance they do," Dan responded. "Uh, pardon me, did I say Lance? I should have said Lancelot Percival!"
"You forgot Galahad!" Kevin grinned as they arrived at platform nine.
"All right, everyone, platform nine and te,." Harry said. "You know the way, Lil, go ahead."
Lily nodded, pushing her trolley in front of her, heading for the wall. In one second she was still walking in the wall's direction, in the next she was gone.
"Is she on platform 9 ¾ now?" Daniel blinked.
"Exactly," his father replied. "See that divide between nine and ten? That's the one I have already told you about. Just walk straight at the barrier without stopping, and you'll get to the Hogwarts Express."
"Are you sure, dad? I mean… you said that people could go through, still… this wall seems rather solid to me."
"Absolutely sure," Harry smiled, remembering his own doubts about the wall the first time he saw it. If there had not been a certain Molly Weasley, he surely would never have got to Hogwarts… The prospect of going there filled him with a great deal of anticipation, just like twenty years ago. He barely could wait to relive the best moments of his childhood, to walk down those old corridors again, to get annoyed by Peeves' pranks… but he was a bit nervous as well – he didn't know much about teaching and feared that he wouldn't be good enough a teacher… and of course there was professor Snape whom he'd have as a colleague. He didn't know whether he'd like him more as a colleague than as a teacher, but he had serious misgivings about it. "Do it at a bit of a run, Daniel. Go on."
"Is that school matron really that good?" Daniel asked.
"Why?" Harry raised an eyebrow.
"Because if I break my nose on this wall, she'll have to fix me," his son replied, starting to run in the direction of the divide, closing his eyes, clearly expecting a collision.
*Just like me back then. * Harry smiled as his son disappeared through the wall.
Ten minutes before eleven o'clock, Sirius arrived to say good-bye to the Potters. Harry gave him the keys of the car and made him promise to look after Ginny, Lea and especially the triplets who had a knack of getting into trouble.
After Sirius disapparated, Fred, George and Harry helped the kids' luggage into the train.
"Hey, David!" Lily started to wave from the window of a compartment.
"Lily!" a pudgy (but not fat) boy with curly blond hair and sky-blue eyes ran up to the train, followed by his parents: Dudley and Millicent Dursley. Millicent was holding a little girl – about seven years old – by the hand.
"Lily!" David repeated, beaming. "It's so good to see you again, I've missed you so much during the summer holiday!"
"I missed you, too," Lily smiled down at him. "Come, I've reserved a compartment for Yvette and us and for…" her voice trailed off.
"For Chris Wood, right?" Daniel interjected.
Lily blushed, not noticing the sour expression that fell over her second-cousin's face. David didn't like this Wood boy, Daniel told himself.
After David said good-bye to his parents (his sister, Daisy Dursley, was wailing that she also wanted to go to Hogwarts), he climbed up the stairs of the train and disappeared into the compartment that Lily had reserved.
Soon Bill Weasley also put in an appearance, carrying at least two dozen packages for his daughter, Yvette. Fleur didn't come – she was in France, visiting her mother.
Yvette – the prettiest Weasley girl with shining blonde hair and sparkling blue eyes – sat down between Lily and David. She was at her second year at Hogwarts. While Lily was in Gryffindor and David in Hufflepuff, Yvette had been sorted into Ravenclaw and seemed rather proud of it.
Dan and Kevin took place in a compartment at the very end of the train. Kevin was receiving his very last pieces of advice from his fathers:
"Never cross McGonagall, Kevin, she's quite a tough lady!"
"Never dirty the corridors or you'll be caught by Filch!"
"Don't take good old Snapey too seriously, he's just pretending to be that nasty!"
"And behave yourself!"
"Behave myself?" Kevin blinked. "That's a bit rich, coming from you, dads!"
The scarlet steam engine's funnel started to puff, and the Weasley twins and Harry stepped back a couple of feet, waving.
"Don't do magic on the train, kids!" Harry shouted.
"We can't promise you that, Uncle Harry!" Kevin shouted.
"See you in the school, dad!" Daniel waved.
The train had almost set into motion when a scrawny boy with dark hair came panting through the wall between platform nine and ten, running up to the train with his big packages.
"Hey, let me help!" Harry offered, seeing that the train was just about to set off and the boy wouldn't have enough time to get on all by himself.
The boy jumped up on the steps and with Harry's help, he heaved his luggage into the train.
As Harry wiped his forehead, the boy seemed to stiffen for a second, giving Harry a penetrating stare, his eyes focused on Harry's scar. Then he disappeared into the corridor and the train set into motion.
When Harry turned back to the twins, he was dumbfounded to see tears well up in their eyes.
"The little tyke's gone…"
"He's grown up, Fred… our little tyke…"
"Give me a tissue, George…"
"Here."
"Thanks."
"Thanks?" Harry frowned. "Really, this ill-mannered boy hasn't even thanked me for helping."
"Then the next time you meet him take fifty points off his house," George suggested, blowing his nose.
"If his house isn't Gryffindor, of course," Fred added, sniffing.
Harry, however, wasn't listening to them anymore. He sleeked his hair back to hide his scar, feeling rather uncomfortable. During the last ten years people started to treat him as 'normal' and he easily managed to get used to it – he was downright delighted to be able to live his life as any other wizard, without people gawping at him all the time. As the years passed after Voldemort's death, people seemed to have forgotten about him being The Boy Who Lived, and rather regarded him as a brilliant Quidditch player, to Harry's great relief. It felt good to be famous, but not too famous.
After all these years of being 'normal', it felt odd to be gawked at like that again. A shiver ran down his spine.
*You're being silly, Harry. It was just a boy who heard about you and was probably curious… still, why do I have this creepy feeling?* he shook his head and decided to forget about it all.
"Right, guys, I'm going to apparate to Hogsmeade."
"Okay, Harry," Fred nodded. "And Harry… don't let Kevin get into too much trouble!"
"I'll try, all right?" Harry grinned at the twins. "But, Kevin being your son… I cannot assure you that he can be kept out of trouble."
After the twins disapparated, Harry watched the train disappear into the distance, its funnel ejecting black wisps of smoke onto the sapphire firmament.
This train carried his son to a whole new world…
He just hoped that Daniel would fit into Hogwarts just as well as he had twenty years earlier. The fact that Dan was born a squib had opened a wound on his father's heart – a wound that had healed when Desideria The Goldfish fulfilled Harry's third wish, but Harry could never be absolutely sure whether his son would be talented enough a wizard. Daniel had done magic, of course, when his uncles Fred and George taught him (without Harry's consent), but Dan seemed to have difficulties with those charms.
Whenever Dan saw his cousins doing magic with their parents' wands (that they had nicked for a bit of experimenting), he had to realise that he couldn't perform them as easily as the others. At first Harry had no idea about Fred and George teaching the kids magic behind the parents' back, but one evening Daniel came to his father and asked him for a man to man conversation.
Harry had been rather surprised, but of course he had gladly sat down with his son to hear him out. He had been even more surprised to get to know that Dan had been trying magic under the tutoring of his uncles… and he had been practically dumbfounded when the eight-year old child looked into his eyes with the maturity of a fifteen-year-old and asked: "Why can't I do the charms as well as Lily, Kevin, Val and Viv? Even Lancelot is better than me."
Harry, who had been exercising the duties of a father for nine years then, had found himself not knowing what to answer his son. He didn't want to lie to him, so he discussed it with Ginny and they decided to tell their son about his being born without magic and getting powers through Harry's wish.
Daniel seemed to take it quite well. "I guess I should be happy to have magic powers at all… I could as well have none. A bit of it is better than nothing." he replied with the same maturity that had surprised Harry so much.
Four years had passed since then, and Daniel didn't seem to be unhappy about his not-so-perfect abilities. He carried on getting illegal magic lessons from his uncles and with his diligence, he was succeeding, after all. 'But will that be enough at Hogwarts?' – Harry wondered. He feared that his son would be much like Neville Longbottom and become a laughing stock… especially for the Slytherins.
He heaved a sigh, hoping that it wouldn't be harder for Daniel than it had been for him. At least he'd have Kevin, Viv and Val around him as a loving family, and he'd surely make new friends as well.
Lily, after all, had lots of friends. Her best friend, for example, happened to be the third-year Circe Diggory. Circe was the only solace of the Diggorys, born four years after they had lost their son, Cedric.
Harry had been very happy when he got to know that Amos and his wife had had a second child, and he had been even happier when Lily had made friends with her. Somehow he felt a bit of relief – relief from the disturbing thought of having caused Cedric's death. After all those years, he still hadn't managed to come to terms with this. It was – and always would be – a wound that never really healed… there were too many wounds on Harry's heart and soul, and many of them seemed to be resistant to healing. All Harry could do was ignore them and in family circle he managed to do so most of the time.
He bent down to pick up Hedwig's cage – the old owl hooted in a friendly way. The train had already left the station. Harry shielded his eyes with his free hand to see the last visible wisps of smoke emitted by the steam engine.
The weather was wonderful, the sun was shining brightly – not many times was the weather on 1st September so favouring. Harry took it as a good sign – as a sign of something beautiful.
A new beginning.
* * * * *
As Harry apparated at Hogsmeade, in the garden of a pretty thatched house, three forms swooped down on him.
"Uncle Harry! Uncle Harry!" Valentine, Viviane and their younger brother, Rupert, got off their broomsticks and fell upon him, hugging him enthusiastically.
"Kids, kids, you're stifling me!" Harry laughed, eyeing his nieces and nephew. The girls resembled Hermione a lot, with the exception of their hair-colour – they both had flaming red hair. Young Rupert, however, was a spitting image of Ron, only with Hermione's bushy brown hair.
"Oh, we don't want to stifle Uncle Harry, do we?" Valentine winked at her twin.
"Not yet." Viviane shook her head. "First we'll see his teaching methods, then we'll consider to stifle him or not."
"Children, why are you threatening your poor uncle?" Hermione exited the house with a wide smile. She had put on some weight during the past decade and was now a bit pudgy, but with her always-laughing face she looked downright endearing that way. According to Ron she was even prettier than she used to be and now there was more to 'grope' on her.
"We're not threatening him, mum," Viv shook her head. "We didn't scare you, Uncle Harry, did we?"
"No, you did not," Harry laughed and, leaning closer to Hermione, whispered: "But the prospect of having to teach them does scare me."
"Oh, you're going to be a great teacher, Harry," his sister-in-law replied. "Come in, I've just baked cookies."
"Cookies!" Rupert exclaimed.
"No, children, you don't get any now or you won't eat that delicious spinach I'm cooking for lunch," Hermione said. "Go and carry on flying, especially you two." she pointed at Viv and Val. "You won't have any opportunity to do so for a whole school-year, you know."
"Ohhhh, that stupid rule!" Viviane sighed. "Really, Hogwarts rules are so old-fashioned, they should be reformed! First years should be allowed a broomstick!"
"I agree," Harry nodded, entering the kitchen. Hermione quickly ushered the children out and sat down next to him at the table.
"Now tell me what's bothering you."
"Bothering me?" Harry raised an eyebrow. "Not much… just the fear of screwing it up."
Hermione reached out to pat his hand. "I was also nervous when I started teaching at Hogwarts, but it's not a big deal, really. If Lockhart could do it, then you can definitely do it."
"Awww, thanks Hermione, I feel a lot better." he grimaced, making her grin.
"I meant it, Harry," she continued. "All you need is two things: first – to be able to treat children. That you have, being father to six. Second: to be good at Charms. You have that, too, professor Flitwick was always satisfied with you."
"It was still you who first managed to make the feather fly," he smiled. "Swish and flick… gosh, it seems to have happened a lifetime ago!"
"A lifetime?" she giggled. "Don't say that, Harry, or you make me feel old!"
"It might sound silly, Herm, but sometimes I do feel old," he sighed.
"It's just because you have experienced more in your thirty years of life than others at the age of eighty."
"Thirty-one," he corrected her.
"Ah, Harry!" she shook her head. "You're impossible! Don't remind me of being thirty-one already!"
"You aren't – yet," he grinned. "You'll be – in eighteen days."
"Good that you remember when my birthday is. Ron has a knack of forgetting it."
"Good old Ron… is he down in the shop?"
"Yeah, of course, among his precious broomsticks, as always." she nodded. "Go and visit him."
"I will, but first I want to hear about everything that has happened around here lately," he said, taking a cookie. "Hm, delicious. Poor kids, having to eat spinach first… Really, Herm, have you heard any news that I should know before entering good old Hogwarts again? Just to be prepared, you know."
"Oh, there are things, Harry, but Dumbledore asked me and all the teachers to keep them a secret until tonight."
"I'm also a teacher," he reminded her.
"Not yet," she pointed out, looking at the clock on the wall. "In seven hours and twenty-three minutes, Harry."
He raised an eyebrow.
"In seven hours and twenty-three minutes Dumbledore will introduce you to the kids as the new Charms teacher, along with…"
"With?"
"I haven't said anything," she shook her head, her eyes glinting impishly.
"C'mon, Herm, I'll get to know it soon, why can't you tell me now?"
"Exactly because you'll get to know it soon," she retorted. "Here, eat one more cookie."
"There'll be another new teacher, huh?" Harry forced, hoping to get her to reveal something.
"Two," she shrugged.
"Okay, then at least tell me: is it a positive or a negative change?"
"You'll decide it yourself," she grinned.
"You're impossible, Hermione, do you know that?" he rolled his eyes.
"I do. Ron keeps telling me that every day," she cast a glance out the window to see whether her children were still in one piece.
"They're damn good broomstick-riders," Harry perceived, seeing the twin girls and their brother criss-cross the sky out there.
"Yes, they are… still, I always fear that one day they'll fall and break their necks!" she sighed. "But I cannot forbid them to fly… they're Weasleys, after all! They'd die if they couldn't fly… I wish at least Aberforth would stop taking them for sled-rides all the time!"
"What?" Harry blinked. "Aberforth still has his sled?"
"Of course he does," Hermione sighed. "He uses it with invisibility charms and the kids simply love it!"
"Can any of them actually drive the sled?" Harry asked, still vividly remembering his first attempt to control Aberforth's reindeers.
"No, of course not. But they enjoy just sitting in the sleigh. And you know how much Aberforth likes the kids…"
"Shame that he and McGonagall met at such a late age and couldn't have children," he said. "At least I'm happy that Hagrid and Olympe still managed to have one."
"Really, how is 'little' Titania doing?" Hermione laughed. Hagrid had moved to France with his wife and they had a ten-year old daughter, who would start at Beauxbatons next year.
"Oh, Titi is doing wonderful," Harry replied. "Already taller than me. I still remember when we once visited the 'little' family in France, right after Titi was born…"
"…and you were asked to baby-sit her for a while," Hermione giggled.
"I couldn't find the nappies and finally had to wrap her into the tablecloth, because I couldn't find any other cloth big enough," he nodded, smiling at the memories. "I'm a bit sad that Hagrid left."
"Me too," she replied. "But Aberforth is just as good a Care of Magical Creatures teacher as he was."
"Really, how are the Dumbledore brothers getting along? No other goat-incidents, I hope."
"No, of course none," Hermione replied. "However… Albus never misses any opportunity to remind his brother that he is still the headmaster while Aberforth is just a teacher… but Aberforth doesn't really care, he's enjoying himself a lot and the students love his classes."
"There aren't any skrewts in his classes, are there?" Harry asked hopefully. "Lily is starting Care of Magical Creatures this year and I wouldn't be happy if a 'pet' of Aberforth's had her for lunch."
"Well, I wouldn't say that Aberforth doesn't prefer dangerous creatures… just remember the yeti, but he isn't as obsessed with them as Hagrid was."
"Glad to hear. And what about good old Snape? Lily told me he was still nasty… though not exactly to her, but in general."
"Ah, he's bitterer than ever. Even the Slytherins have started to hate Potions, and that is saying something."
Harry grimaced. "I can imagine that. Poor Dan, I suppose Snape won't really like him, him being my son. Truth be told I was afraid that Snape would be downright nasty to Lily as well, but he wasn't… I just don't understand why," he shrugged."What is Lily's other new subject?" Hermione asked.
"Arithmancy, of course. I persuaded her not to start Divination."
"Good, I'm going to teach her, then," she smiled. "But don't expect me to favour her or anything!"
"Oh, I'd never expect anything like that from you, Herm. I know you well enough," Harry stood up. "Okay, I'm going to visit Ron now. Thanks for the cookies, they're excellent."
"Minerva's recipe," she replied. "She always bakes something nice for her hubby on weekends. You have no idea how much she has changed since she got married."
"Is she cheerful by any chance?" he raised an eyebrow. Hermione nodded. "Wow, I can't wait to get to know this new McGonagall, then."
As Harry walked down the main street of Hogsmeade to Ron's broomstick shop, he couldn't stop gaping at the elegant new buildings that had been built in the last few years. Hogsmeade wasn't the same old wizard village Harry had known when he was a Hogwarts student.
Besides Honeydukes, Gladrags and Dervish & Banges a dozen of new shops had been opened: there was a florists' shop (ran by Bill's wife, Fleur), a shop selling wizard electronics – mostly radios (besides Wizard Wireless Network four other radio stations had started operating, broadcasting wizard music), there was a beauty salon – one 'link' in Gilderoy Lockhart's franchise chain - and there was…
"A bank?" Harry blinked in surprise. There wasn't supposed to be other wizard banks besides Gringotts – and still, this one was here. It looked like a small version of a Greek pantheon, and on its façade you could read the words… Malfoy & Malfoy.
Harry groaned. "No, not that!"
"Not what?" a highly familiar voice spoke up behind his back.
He turned around to see a smugly grinning Draco Malfoy with his hands in the pocket of his elegant robes – looking just like a banker.
"What is this supposed to be?" Harry asked.
"Good morning to you, too, Potter," Draco said sarcastically. "What is what supposed to be?"
"This whole thing. The bank. I thought that Gringotts was the only one."
"Up till now. But recently I had this nice little family bank built and in a couple of days it is going to start operating. Don't worry, I'm not going to convince you to keep your money at my bank."
"I'd rather ask a fox to watch over my geese," Harry frowned. "I thought that your family wasn't this rich anymore."
"Oh, true, we were quite poor for a while… then last year our good old French uncle Jean-Luc Malfoy passed away and we inherited everything. Of course the goblins at Gringotts aren't too happy about the competition, but who cares? The wizarding population of Hogsmeade is delighted to have a local bank – it's rather convenient for them, because they don't need to go to London every time they need a bit of money."
"You'll be working with higher interest rates than Gringotts, I presume," Harry said.
"Of course. Even the poor bankers have to earn something for a living." Malfoy shrugged.
"Oh, the poor bankers!" Harry grimaced. "By the way, are you running the bank together with your father?"
"No, just me. Dad only gave some capital of his part of the heritage… he's not going to visit the bank too often, so I'm the boss here."
"Poor Hogsmeade residents," Harry sighed, looking at a shop (still being built) opposite the bank. "And what is that one over there?"
"That?" Draco shrugged. "Some fast food restaurant, but it's still far from being opened."
"Fast food, eh? Poor Madame Rosmerta, she's also going to have competition, then."
"And how much!" Malfoy grinned. "Rosmerta's place is still cosy and everything, but the world is developing and the youngsters prefer fast food restaurants to the traditional ones. This one is going to be quite modern, as I see... not to mention that its owner is much prettier than the old Rosmerta."
"Why? Who is it?" Harry asked.
"An old acquaintance of yours, Potter," Malfoy pointed at the opening door of the half-ready fast food restaurant.
"Cho!" Harry breathed, seeing who had just exited.
"Yeah, Ms. Chang. Still darn sexy, isn't she?"
Harry had to admit that his old love looked wonderful, and this thought made him feel rather embarrassed. He wanted to get out of sight, but it was too late – Cho had noticed him and started waving frantically.
"Off you go, Potter! Have fun!" Malfoy smirked and returned into his bank.
Harry walked up to the woman.
"Hello, Cho."
"Hi, Harry. Nice to see you again."
"Yeah, nice." he smiled, feeling that he was turning red. *Damn you, Potter, why are you still blushing when she smiles at you? Fifteen years haven't been enough to forget her?*
"Are you all right?" she asked.
"Oh, of course," he nodded. "So, you're starting a McRice at Hogsmeade as well?"
"Yes. This is the hundredth McRice shop in the world – and I guess the last one. I simply wanted to build one in Hogsmeade as well – it is a small niche market, given The Three Broomsticks, but I hope it'll turn out to be profitable."
"I'm sure it will be successful."
"Have you eaten at a McRice yet, Harry?" she kept chatting.
"Well, yeah. Quite many times. I like the cuisine there… though after a while you get bored with rice."
"How very true!" she laughed. "And which McRice did you like the most?"
"The one in the wizarding part of Orlando."
"You have been to the States?" she asked enthusiastically. "Wonderful! I've been living there for years! Which places have you seen?"
"Oh, just Florida. Ginny and I spent our seventh wedding anniversary there."
"Oh…" Cho's face fell. "I never knew you got married."
"I did. And you?"
"No," she shook her head. "But I have a daughter. She's coming to Hogwarts this year. This was the reason why we came back from the States… I wanted her to come to Hogwarts. Her name was down at a wizard school in Arizona, but it wasn't hard to arrange that she'd be accepted here." a dreamy expression fell over her face. "I loved being a Hogwarts student and I wanted her to be just as happy as I used to be here… I have been to so many places, travelled all around the world, still… this was practically the only place where I was always happy… with the exception of Cedric's death."
Harry instinctively reached out and squeezed her hand.
"It's okay, Harry." she gave him a grateful smile. "It happened long ago."
"And… has your daughter's father also come to Great Britain?"
"Ross? Oh, no!" she waved. "That stupid git doesn't even know that he has a child. It was just a fling and I didn't want anything from him. Never even loved him… And you? Do you have children?"
"Six," he grinned.
"Six? Wow, you must be a busy daddy, then!"
"Yeah, that's true. But I'm thoroughly enjoying it. I love kids… that is partly why I took on to teach at Hogwarts."
"What? You're going to be a teacher?" she clasped her hands. "What are you going to teach?"
"Charms."
"Oh, wonderful, Harry! Then you are going to teach my daughter as well! At least she's going to have one good teacher."
"I'm not sure I'm going to be such a good teacher. This is my first year and I have no idea how to do it."
It was Cho's turn to squeeze his hand. "You are going to be great, Harry. I trust you. If only my daughter had only such nice teachers like you…""Sorry to disappoint you, but that's out of the question. Snape's still here."
After having finished chatting with Cho, Harry continued his way down the street, chastising himself for having turned pink in her presence. He wasn't feeling anything for her anymore, after all. *But why did I have to blush, then?* he kicked into a rock irritably. That was when he realised where he was standing: right before Honeydukes.
However, this time its shop-window wasn't filled with chocolate frogs, fizzing whizzbees and liquorice wands – it was empty, with a sign FOR SALE plastered to the windowpane.
Harry felt his heart sink. The best place – the very best place - in Hogsmeade had been closed. *Wonder how Ron takes this, knowing his immense liking for sweets…*
Walking down the main street of the wizard village, Harry was surprised to see a tiny, old woman, sitting in a rocking chair on the porch of a house, waving madly at him.
"Mrs. Figg?"
"Yes, dear son, it's me!" the old witch nodded, beckoning him to herself.
"Good morning, Mrs. Figg. Excuse me, but may I ask what you are doing here?"
"Running the local pension, Harry boy," Arabella smiled at him, stroking a pair of kitties that were lying in her lap.
"Pension?" Harry blinked. "Wow, Hogsmeade has changed more than I expected. A bank, a fast food restaurant, a pension, Honeydukes closed… what's next? A swimming pool? I barely recognise this village anymore."
"Yes…" the old witch nodded with a wistful smile. "The winds of change have swept through Hogsmeade as well. The world changes… change cannot be stopped. I also realised that when a huge shopping mall was built next to my old house in Privet drive. That was when I decided to leave Little Whinging for good."
"Speaking of Little Whining… how are my uncle and aunt doing?"
"Oh… when I last saw them they were fine. Grunnings is running well, so I heard. Mr. Dursley managed to sell a huge amount of drills to the company that built the shopping mall."
"I wasn't interested in their financial state when I asked how they were doing," Harry said. "I mean… are they all right?"
A little smile appeared on Arabella's wrinkled face. "Yes… more or less. They are just… lonely. Dudley and his wife keep visiting them, but that's not the same. I heard Petunia bought a parrot to have someone to talk to while Vernon's at his workplace."
"A parrot?" he grinned. "Aunt Petunia used to hate animals. All kinds of animals."
"As I have said already, Harry," Mrs. Figg gave him a penetrating stare, "times change. Everything and everyone changes."
Harry nodded, not feeling too happy about it at all. Changes… changes made him crave for the old times when this village had been the nicest place in Scotland. Changes simply made him feel old – at least older than he would have liked. But, if he compared himself to the ancient Mrs. Figg, he felt silly about having such thoughts at all.
"Well, I've got to go and visit my friend, Ron. Good-bye, Mrs. Figg."
"Good-bye, Harry boy!" she smiled at him.
Soon he arrived in front of a tiny shop whose shop-window was full of broomsticks.
He found his brother-in-law behind the counter, deeply immersed in repairing the twigs of a worn-looking Nimbus 2001.
"Hullo, Ron."
Ron looked up and a wide grin spread on his face. "Hi, Harry! Or should I say Professor Potter?"
"Come on, Ron," Harry laughed, shaking hands with his best friend. "It will be bad enough to hear my nephews, nieces and own children calling me professor… but what can I do? It's in the house rules of Hogwarts, that in class even my own kids have to call me professor… Guess who I've run into?"
"Who?"
"Cho."
"Chang?"
"Yeah. She's starting a McRice fast food restaurant here."
"Oh, so that fancy shop opposite the bank will be hers?"
"Aha. By the way… how came that you never mentioned this Malfoy bank to me?"
"Ah, that…" Ron grimaced. "Hermione thought we shouldn't make you nervous… we knew that you'd get to know it sooner or later... but we thought it was better if you got to know it later. Hey, want a chocolate frog?" he changed the topic, not really feeling like talking about Malfoy. "It's from the last stocks of Honeydukes."
Harry took the frog as Ron also opened one. "Why did Honeydukes close?"
Ron shrugged. "Dunno. I guess the owners have grown way too old and decided to enjoy their old days on the Bahamas… they have earned enough money during the last decades, after all."
"But couldn't they just hire some shop-assistants?" Harry asked, munching on his frog. "Ptolemy," he looked at the card. "You aren't still collecting these, are you?"
"No," Ron laughed. "But my son is."
"So are my triplets. What card do you have?"
"Uh, let's see…" Ron turned over his card. "Hehe… a Harry Potter card."
"A what?"
"See it for yourself, mate."
Harry took the card to see the script on it.
HARRY POTTER
Also known as The Boy Who Lived. He defeated You-Know-Who at the age of one (that was when he received his famous lightning-shaped scar), continued battling him over and over, until he and his wife Virginia managed to get rid of You-Know-Who for good in 1998. Until recently Mr. Potter has been a well-known Seeker of Puddlemere United.
"Since when do I have an own card?" Harry raised an eyebrow. "This thing must be new, given that I only left Puddlemere three months ago."
"I don't know," Ron shrugged. "But I'd be quite proud if I had an own card, you know, so stop frowning, will ya?"
"I wasn't frowning… I was just surprised."
"Surprised by your own fame? Come on, Harry, don't tell me that you still haven't been able to get used to it!"
Harry shook his head. "I managed to get used to it, but I've never enjoyed it, you know that as well as I do. Types like Lockhart would surely enjoy it, but not me…"
"Speaking of Lockhart, I heard that he and his wife have returned to England," Ron said. Gilderoy and Sunny had spent the last eleven years travelling, opening Gilderoy Lockhart's Beauty Salons all over the world.
"Have they?" Harry asked. "And?"
"Remember, mate… when they left, Sunny was pregnant. That was about eleven years ago. Guess who's coming to Hogwarts, then?"
"A Lockhart child?" Harry groaned. This was too much for him. Having to deal with his own kids, Ron and Hermione's wild twins, the insufferable know-it-all Lancelot, Kevin – who was worse than Fred and George put together - and now a Lockhart as well...
Well… one thing was clear for Harry: he wasn't going to be bored during the upcoming school year.
A/N: well, that was long enough, wasn't it? I hope so :)
Latin: Fucus amoveo means 'to remove the make-up' (at least I think so. I don't speak Latin, I only used a dictionary).
I thought it'd be a great help for you if I wrote a list of the children coming up in this fic, so here it is (thanks to Laurel Hoffman for the idea of making a list):
Harry - Ginny:
- Lily
- Daniel
- Robert
- Richard
- Rose
- Lea (I named her after my mum and mum found it very touching! Lea in Latin
means a female lion, quite appropriate for a Potter child, huh? :)
Ron - Herm:
- Viviane
- Valentine
- Rupert (I guess I don't need to explain this choice of name :)
Fred/George - Angelina:
- Kevin (I simply LOVE Home alone and Kevin McAllister! :)
Percy - Penny:
- Lancelot (+ Percival Galahad is the whole name)
Hagrid - Olympe:
- Titania (comes from 'titanic' – and of course from Shakespeare :)
Gilderoy - Anck-sun-Amun:
- Gilda (the first four letters of her name are the same as that of Gilderoy,
and I thought that Gildy would be stuck-up enough the give his daughter a name
resembling his own :)
Oliver Wood - ? (the woman's name isn't important):
- Christopher
Cho Chang - a guy who isn't important:
- Liu
Bill – Fleur:
- Yvette
Neville - Mary Sue:
- Evelyn (she won't be important, just mentioned that she exists)
Dudley - Millicent:
- David
- Daisy (she won't be important, just mentioned
that she exists)
Marcus Flint - Blaize Zabini:
- Lavinia
Amos Diggory – his wife:
- Circe (not particularly important)
+ Norbert Devilsmoor-Malfoy
There will be one more important female student, but I'm not yet telling her name – let it be a surprise until next chapter.
And now, to your reviews:
AmandaPanda: you're my first reviewer! :))
jennaration: I'm happy that you were excited when you saw the message in your inbox :)
charleepotter: I also hope that it's going to be good :) I did everything in my power to make this be interesting. At first I had serious misgivings about writing a next generation fic, I thought I wouldn't be able to, but now I think it's better than the first two.
Moony Lover: I'm glad that you liked the diary.
Mistri: you too envy Irma? Quite many people seem to envy her :)
X-Tow-Naga: I'm NOT going to resurrect the founders, I'll be just talking about them. Things they had done a millennium ago will have an impact on today's characters' lives. Btw, Abu won't be important, I just put him into the fic because you said you loved monkeys :)
Lady Schezar: thanks :)
Laurel Hoffman: you're welcome.
LilGinny: certainly I haven't forgotten your penname! :) Was the concert good?
SiriDragon: thanks a lot, I'm glad you liked it.
The One and Only Amazing Typo: you're flattering me! :)
Firewulf: whew, I thought you were angry with me because of the constructive criticism I gave you in my last mail. I'm glad that you aren't mad at me! It's such a relief, really! I saw that you have updated and read the last chapter – I'm delighted to see that you took my advice on the chapter :)
Alyssa: thanks.
NuttyBuddy: not many build-up chapters, don't worry. From the Halloween chapters (chapter 11 and 12) the story will be (I think so) very interesting. According to my betas the first 10 chapters are interesting too, but aren't that action-packed, because they are build-ups. Anyway, I do hope that none of my readers will be bored with this story. I haven't read the book you mentioned, sorry.
aurora riddle: you're glad that the fic is pure evil? LOL! Hopefully I won't get too many bad remarks, but in case I will, I won't let them get me down, I promise :))
Katie Bell: sorry, but Helga won't be mentioned too often - Godric will be the most important from all the founders.
goldenstar555: I'm glad I managed to make you happy.
Rose: thanks for reviewing.
Colibi: in the next chapter you are going to get to know what that parchment was.
Black Ice: in Quidditch Through the Ages Rowling writes that the first broomstick that could fly was made in 962 A.D., so in 1011 people could already fly on them.
baybee: I hope it will be fun later as well… when it will be dark…
CandyGurl83: no, no map. Have I brightened your day? :))
Myr Halcyon: we could probably found a Bookworm's Society, then :)
Lady Python: bloody brilliant? Thanks. I love that quote from HP movie 1.
PrincezzShortie: yes, mum is really intelligent – it runs in the family ;-)
rebkos:
yeah, poor books…
Nefertiri: I'm glad you liked the wizard tournament, then you'll surely
like chapter 24… why? We'll you'll see…
Bucky: was it nice in Spain? Which places did you see?
Aimee: yes, you will find out about the Rowena/Godric/Salazar love triangle, but you'll have to wait a bit for it (till chapter 13, to be exact).
Harrysgirl:
yes, 'readers beware'! :)) You are VERY CLOSE to the truth about the document!
Sabby: yes, the Mummy does rule :)
Altec: thanks.
Jeanine23Dr: CoS comes to Hungary on 5th December, but I don't yet have a ticket – hopefully I'll get one as soon as the cinemas will be selling tickets for it in advance. I want to see it on the first day! When does the movie come to The Dominican Republic? Some time in December like here? I think I should be happy, because last year we had to wait 4 weeks after the British/American release, now we only have to wait 3 weeks (but it's still too much).
Lavendar Brown: you will understand, right in the next chapter.
Alexander Phoenix: yeah, it's the beginning of the end… but let's not formulate it in such a sad way, shall we?
2Coolio: thanks for reviewing.
C-chan: I have good news for you: I've read Ella Enchanted and loved it! I started reading it in the afternoon and finished it at midnight – simply couldn't put the book down. Thanks for suggesting to read it! Lucinda rulez! :)))) (she is kind of a female Lockhart :)
star queen: The Greatest Trilogy Ever – I'm blushing! Thanks a lot! I don't know anything about Italy's witches, but it's strange to hear that there are witches even nowadays.
Ice Kitten: you wrote: "For this story I'm going to review more." Well, it'd be nice! :)
Puck: yes, I got your last reviews.
Dauphin: are you sure that I'm NOT going to do something drastic to Daniel? Don't be sure. The trilogy as a whole doesn't have a name – does it need one? I don't think so.
romina: how many people in your class read my story? I'm curious!
Toby Haine: I was amazed, almost shocked to see your name on the review list of TGSaWCS, chapter 39. Somehow I thought that something really, really bad had happened to you and you were in no condition to even go online… I'm happy that you're fine and here again. Considering your 'faith', you are gravely mistaken, my friend – you had written 16 reviews for the second story, and then for the 39th chapter as well, so 17 all in all. I knew you had abandoned me, but I decided to put everyone with at least 15 reviews on the most faithful list, so I couldn't be unfair and not put you on it. I'm glad that you intend to write for every chapter of this story! And I'd gladly read that story of yours.
Cassandra Anthemyst: my Muses send their kisses back to you :)
Kit Cloudkicker:
thanks, I hope it will be interesting.
PadmeSkywalker: I'm glad you think so :)
Wood's secret lover: the 'extremely dark' part will only come near the end, so for a while the characters are safe. But yes, there will be deaths in this story, and not only that of the evil character(s). I have to admit that I was bawling like a little child when I wrote those deaths, and my mum also cried when she read them – we are so damn sensitive, I hate being so sensitive :( You'll find out about the parchment in the next chapter.
Indigo Ziona: I'm glad you like the idea of using the founders.
Any last requests: good luck with your exams!
WolfEyes: I envy you so much, I'll have to wait for another 3 weeks to see the HP2 movie :(
Incubo Artistico: I'm sorry that you didn't like it. There won't be too much like reading a story in a story, I promise. There will be a long letter later, but that will be the only such thing.
PepsiAngel: I'm happy that you are happy.
Sapron: I agree with you about Madame Pince.
thebiggesthpfan: I think I have answered your question about Harry being Charms professor in this chapter, haven't I?
me: I guess this was a record to get a flame for the very first chapter. I feel special. But thanks for your sincerity, it's always appreciated. I hope you liked this chapter a bit more than the first.
zzxm: the movie comes out here on 5th December – a long wait :(( I agree that movie one wasn't that brilliant, but I liked it all the same. I'm sure that the second one will be better. Yes, I also heard that Ginny would be important in book five – and I hope NOT because she is the one whom Rowling kills off! I think it's going to be Hagrid and I hope that Harry will start to have feelings for Ginny in book five. It's high time for him :)
Missy: I hope I was quick enough for you with the update :)
Melee: thanks.
Steph: I'm glad you didn't think that chapter one was boring. Other people unfortunately did.
GinnyPotter387: you weren't the only one who thought that SS meant Severus Snape:)
Princess Ginny: you asked how I came up with the idea of the diary. Well, truth be told I was already writing the 7th or 8th chapter, thinking that the story needed a 'frame' to be placed into, and then I got some interesting idea, and for that idea the diary was needed, so I wrote the prologue after I wrote chapter 8.
Belle: thank you very much. It's always delighting for me to know that even adults like my stories (I thought you had to be an adult if you had a boss :)
Waldomier: thanks, I'm glad that I won't be losing you :)
RedHot911: I hope it will really be interesting :)
Tempral Bouncer: thanks for reviewing!
Lana Riddle: thanks.
K. C. Hunter: yes, life is funny. Which story was the one you were looking for on my faves list? Btw, you wrote that you couldn't really see Helga with dark hair. Well, have a look at my founder pic on www.gryffindortower.net, you'll see how I imagined her.
Blondie in Disguise: thanks :)
apple-pie: I'm glad you liked it :)
Teri: :):):)
Jing: oh, my, I envy you, especially your friend Catherine! I'd like to meet J.K. once! *sigh* dream on, Agi…
The-Girl-Who-Lived: you wrote: "I was going to not start reading the story until it was finished for the sake of being able to fall asleep at night." LOL, I cannot guarantee you that you'll have good nights' sleeps around chapters 27-29… those are evil :)
Sky: I'll read your fic as soon as possible. No, no fourth story, at least not in this story-line. I might write something totally different that has nothing to do with this plot. Actually I have an idea for a H/G fic, but I'm not going to start it for a while, because I'm still correcting this one.
Akuma-sama: yes, Slytherin does rock. The Warnerbros site kept putting me into Gryffindor for a while, but last time I finally managed to get into Slytherin and I was so happy! :) If you like Slytherin, you are going to be happy with this story.
ACloudhoppingElf: yes, evilness makes the stories much more interesting. If it is so, then this fic will be very interesting :) I'm happy that you liked my plots so much :)
twinkle-toes: I think I have answered your question in this chapter.