Disclaimer: I don't own any characters, things, or places you recognize from the Potter-verse.
CHAPTER THREE: Visitors
When Harry got up and went downstairs for breakfast he found Ron and Hermione already waiting for him.
"Oy, sleepy-head!" Ron called as Harry came down the stairs.
Harry came to join them, "What are we doing today?"
"I don't know," Ron answered. "I suggest we start with breakfast." So they did.
"We've still got the rest of the day left. What should we do?"
"I want to check out the Muggle part of London. The only part of London I've been is here and Diagon Alley. The rest of it we just drove through on our way to Kings Cross," said Ron.
"Okay."
"As long as we're back before dark," warned Hermione. "We've never really been through London. Actually, I have but I don't come into London that often. We should probably be in Muggle clothes. I've got some and Harry's got some, I think."
"Yeah, I do. Come on, Ron. I've got some, but I'm warning you they used to be Dudley's. They're about three sizes too big." They all went upstairs. Hermione went to her room to change and Harry got Ron and himself some of Dudley's old clothes and they changed, leaving the wizard robes on Harry's bed. They all went downstairs and out the front door.
They went to the record shop next door and the books store. They passed sweet shops, clothing stores, and all sorts of places. They even went to a movie. Ron still found "Muggle money" totally weird. He could understand the value of a bronze Knut, or a silver Sickle, or a gold Galleon; but he didn't see any point in money that was paper.
When it was starting to get a little dark Hermione treated them both to ice cream. They sat outside eating and talking about what a great day it had been when someone suddenly came up to them. Two someones. They were a blonde girl about their own age, and a woman who looked like she was probably the girl's mother.
The woman said, "I would like to speak with you; Harry, Ron, Hermione. Albus Dumbledore sent me. You're Muggle clothes aren't fooling me. If you will be so kind as to escort my daughter and me to the Leaky Cauldron we can speak further."
"Er—" said Harry. There hadn't been anything else to do so Harry, Ron and Hermione led the strangers into the Leaky Cauldron. The woman then took the lead and led them all to a large table out of the way in the back.
When they all sat down Hermione started to speak. "I'm not trying to be rude but it would help if you answer a few questions." As she looked at Ron and Harry, they nodded. "Will you please tell us your names?"
"Certainly. I am Jennifer Delano and this is my daughter Renata Delano."
Harry picked up with the next question, "How do you know who we are?"
"Well, Harry, Albus Dumbledore told me. Although I dare say your scar would tell me anyway. The description for you was: black hair, green eyes, glasses, rather skinny, and your famous scar. Besides, you look so much like James it wouldn't have been hard to guess who you were."
"How do you know about Ron and Hermione?"
She peered closely at Harry. "You do have Lily's eyes, though. I miss her so much. I was told Ron Weasley and Hermione Granger would most likely accompany you. Ron was described as tall, with red hair, and freckles. Hermione was described to be extremely bright and with bushy brown hair. You all fit the descriptions extremely well. Anything else?" She smiled disarmingly.
"You seem to have known my mom and dad."
"I went to Hogwarts with them, your mom and I were best friends."
"If you went to Hogwarts, the you've been to Diagon Alley which means you've been to the Leaky Cauldron. Explain, to me why you couldn't see it," challenged Hermione.
"Why didn't you Apperate or travel by Floo Powder?" added Ron.
"Because I'm only fifteen, I can't Apperate. I'm too young for a license," Renata told them.
"We didn't use Floo Powder because I figured that it would be a good idea to let Renata learn her way around at least part of England. I haven't been here for a long time; I was trying to refresh my memory. And I could see the Leaky Cauldron; I needed help remembering where it was. Besides I still need to talk to the three of you somewhere more private, Renata is getting a room, now."
At that moment Renata came back to the table; she must have gone after telling them she couldn't Apperate but Ron and Harry hadn't noticed until she came back. She began talking to her mother. "We've got room 6 and if we need it its available the rest of the summer and at Christmas and Easter, too."
"Thank you, but tell Tom that we won't need a room over the holidays. We'll be fine after September first. When you come back we'll be talking in our room." She stood up and waved Ron, Harry, and Hermione up the stairs as Renata went off to talk to old Tom again.
Walking up the stairs Harry wondered whether all this might not be some trap set for him. These two were strangers; he couldn't trust them. Why was he following them? Why were Ron and Hermione still following him? Before he could answer his own questions they were at the door of room 6. Jennifer Delano took out her wand. Harry reached in his pocket for his wand. It seemed Harry and Ron panicked at the exact same time. Both had left their wands in the pocket of their robes on top of Harry's bed when they changed out of the robes that morning. When she saw their faces Hermione took out her wand, smiled, and put it back in her pocket.
Jennifer moved her arm and muttered something as she led them in. Then she pulled five chairs out of the air. Then they all sat down. Renata came running in and took the empty seat, it was between her mother and Hermione. "Hey, did I miss anything?"
"No, I was just about to explain everything to these three. You should listen, too." She turned to everyone. "I told the three of you my name but not who I am or why I'm here. I'll try to be brief but this involves a little of my history for you to understand. I was a student at Hogwarts when Harry's parents were there but I did not live in England before attending Hogwarts. I moved there when I was eleven from California. Eventually I met Renata's father. We got married. When Renata was barely under a year old her father died. I went back to California and taught at The Angels Magical Academy of California and they let me keep Renata with me. It helped that I had my friends from England. Lily helped the most. When Lily and James were gone so soon afterwards Renata was all I had left and I clung to her, desperately. I was quite depressed.
"Anyway, the important thing is at the end of last year I got a letter from Dumbledore telling me about the Tri-Wizard Tournament and what happened to Harry at the end of it and about Voldemort. I wasn't sure what to think. I thought it just couldn't possibly be true. Just a week later I received another letter. It was from my old friends: Remus Lupin and Sirius Black. They needed my help. They told me the whole story about the Potters' deaths and about Peter Pettigrew. I wasn't sure what to think until the next letter I got from Dumbledore confirmed it. More letters continued to come from the three of them despite the fact that I hadn't responded yet. The three of them really care about the three of you! Sirius won't forgive himself if anything happens to any of you. Remus is positive that no amount of spells will keep you safe. And Dumbledore must know something the rest of us don't! He seems to think that something awful will happen if Voldemort gets Harry, and that Voldemort will use the two of you to get to him!"
By now Jennifer Delano was red and a bit out of breath. After a moment and a few deep breaths, she looked up and spoke again. "This conversation is not to be repeated. When we came in I put a privacy spell on the room when so no one will overhear us. Harry, do you know why Voldemort wanted to kill you? Or why he wants to kill you now?"
"Well, I don't know why he wanted to kill me in the first place. But I'm guessing he wants to kill me now because I broke his power and kept taking away his chances for the power back, until last year. I'm guessing that whatever the original reason was is still standing because he's tried to kill me three times since then. He probably thinks I'm irritating. I think Dumbledore knows why he wanted to kill me in the first place. When I regained consciousness after Voldemort and Professor Quirrell tried to kill me in my first year, Dumbledore was in the hospital room with me. I asked why Voldemort wanted to kill me and he said 'I'd know when I was older.' But he's got to know, he was the one who told my parents to hide. Not many people know that my parents knew Voldemort was after them. Dumbledore has to know."
"It sounds as if Harry's right," Renata sighed.
"I think Harry knows Dumbledore better than anyone else in this room knows him."
"Unfortunately it appears that Renata and Hermione are both right." Jennifer shook her head as she said this.
"Yeah, and Dumbledore is so crazy we'd never be able to guess what he's thinking," put in Ron.
"He always knows what's happening. He's probably supposed to have us expelled loads of times. The only rule book Dumbledore follows is his own and even then I think he makes exceptions." Harry told them.
"That's what I was afraid of. I don't think we learned much of anything but it's getting late and you haven't had dinner yet. We can go eat now and discuss tomorrow's schedule. Then I'll let you be for the night," as Jennifer said this they followed her down stairs. They went to the out-of-the-way table they had sat at earlier. The bartender Tom came to take their orders immediately. They all had some polite conversation. It wasn't long before Tom came back with their food. As soon as he was gone again the real discussion began.
"Tomorrow Remus Lupin and Sirius Black are coming. So are your brothers, sister and parents, Ron. Unfortunately, Dumbledore is unavailable. I believe he is trying to once more to talk some sense into the Minister of Magic. The stupid fool won't listen when we tell him that Voldemort has returned. I hope Dumbledore can talk some sense into him. Can any of you think of anyone else who should come to tomorrow's discussion?" asked Jennifer.
Harry spoke, "I may regret this tomorrow but what about Snape? Or the other teachers?"
"I think Professor Snape is doing some work for us now and the teachers are already doing their part," Jennifer told them.
"What about our new Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher? Now more than ever he is important," Hermione said.
"I'm surprised that three of us even have to take that class anymore. We're probably more qualified than whoever the new professor is. Especially if he turns out to be another one like Lockhart," said Ron
"She won't be," said Renata.
"And how do you know that?" challenged Ron.
"Because I am the new professor," Jennifer informed them. "Now you are all—"
"I just thought of someone else who needs to be here tomorrow," Harry said. "The Diggorys. They lost Cedric to Voldemort. They know Voldemort is back and they'll want to stop him."
"Good idea. I shall inform them as soon as I return to my room. Now as I was saying you are all free until six o' clock. That's when we'll meet back here for dinner. At seven thirty the Weasleys should arrive. Around the same time Sirius and Remus should arrive. If I can manage it, so will the Diggorys. After the discussion Remus and Sirius will leave and if I'm not mistaken so will the Diggorys. The Weasleys will spend the night and the next morning as you had all planned you can pick up your new school things for this year. Then Harry and Hermione will spend the rest of the summer with the Weasleys.
"When you go back to school on September 1 the four of you will go to Dumbledore's office. Harry knows where it is. This year's password is 'chocolate frog.' Don't forget."
"I don't see why this year we're getting the heads up on everything, but every other year we stumbled upon everything by accident and after that we were just really good at picking up clues. No one told us anything even when we asked," Harry said.
"You never mentioned anything to the teachers." Professor Delano reminded them.
Ron exclaimed, "Do you know how many rules we've broken? How many times we should have been expelled? No one would have believed us anyway."
"This time you have to come tell one of us. We're all on the same side, yes, even Snape. But not all of the students are, nor are their parents. Harry saw some of them last year when the Death Eaters answered Voldemort's call." With that the Delanos went back upstairs.
"I think," Ron, whispered, "we need our own meeting tomorrow. Nine in the morning, my room?" The others nodded and they all went upstairs. As Harry took off his glasses, put on his pajamas, and got into bed, he thought of all that he had heard that night. He wasn't very far when he drifted off to sleep.