Chapter 19
The Contract
Harry was still in a state of shock when he entered the Common Room, where celebrations of the 320-0 victory other Ravenclaw were well underway. When Harry entered attention was turned to him and there was a roar of approval. People started crowding forward, patting his back and shaking his hand. Ron and Ginny saw the look on Harry's face and quickly entered the melee to rescue him and see what was wrong.
"You didn't get in trouble over what happened with Corner did you Harry?" asked his best friend.
"They are going to let you play; I mean, they haven't banned you again, have they?" asked Ginny "Because I'll tell them what happened, they can't do that."
"They haven't banded me..." started Harry "But ...."
Ron interrupted. "Thank Merlin! Great performance today Harry."
"Ron! They haven't banded me, but I won't be able to play for the team again this year."
"What?!" Exploded Ginny and Ron in unison. "Why not?" Both looked nothing short of furious. The sight of two aggravated, fiery haired Weasleys was enough to make Harry shrink and lose any confidence he had in controlling the conversation. When Harry did reply, it was a small and meek eleven year old who was talking, one with messy hair, broken glasses and absolutely no idea how to get on to an apparently non-existent train platform. Harry's voice was quiet and completely void of aggression with traces of someone who had been battered into submission and was only just finding his feet.
"Well, I met a man after, someone called Angus Stalker, and he's signed me up for 'The Pride of Portree' as a reserve," said Harry shaking his head, still in a state of disbelief himself.
Ron looked at him in disbelief and blurted "Yeah right, good one Harry. 'The Pride' are only like, second in the league. If you are goin' to joke about it, make it realistic."
Ginny's reaction was the complete opposite of her brother's. She could see Harry was serious and it was just like Harry to be shocked by something like this, but she knew he was good enough to go pro, he was amazing in the game today. Ginny thought if they had played with just him as Chaser they probably would have still won. This, combined with a slightly uneasy feeling about the state of their friendship, caused her to offer the olive branch. "That's amazing Harry, you'll be brilliant. Where are you going to play, cause I'd love to watch some of the games," Ginny smiled slightly, despite a certain amount of disappointment at not being on the same team as Harry. That smile quickly grew and was joined by a blush in response to the look she received in return from Harry. Harry's expression changed from one of shock and terror, to one of relief, joy, gratitude and a little something else thrown in the mixing pot, something that made his eyes sparkle a little.
Ron looked almost as shell-shocked as Harry when he realised his friend wasn't joking. "That's great mate, you're a Professional Quidditch Player! But why can't you be a member of the house team?"
"Look, I'm sorry about the team Ron, but I know you'll win the Cup easy. It's just, well you know how much I'm doing with the other stuff. I can barely find time to relax as it is, in fact, this might actually lighten the load." Harry had buried his face in his hands. "You know I'm going to be an Auror, or try anyway." That was the first time this year they had heard the kind of self doubt that plagued Harry the previous year. Ron, and Ginny especially, had gotten used to Harry's new persona and the thought of any regression wasn't really a pleasant one. "I know you'll hate me for this Ron, but Quidditch is just a game to me, something I do to have fun. Angus asked me to play and it will actually take some pressure off." Ron and Ginny couldn't really stay mad at their friend, they knew Harry's goals and Quidditch obviously wasn't one of them. It was Ron came round pretty quickly, still in shock, but he managed to ask a perfectly reasonable question.
"Well we have got a 320 point lead anyway. How you going to train and play when you're here though?"
"All the practices and matches are going to be here at Hogwarts. They are only reserve games and apparently not a lot of teams field full reserves and none of them has a pitch."
"That's because they can't afford them, only the top six clubs can afford to run two teams. Hey, we'll be able to watch Professional matches!"
The rest of the day was a bit muddled for Harry; he didn't really know what to think and it was all a bit much. He did wonder how much reserves got paid, and how long a contract was, since there was no way he would let Quidditch stop him becoming an Auror. In the end, he spent most of the day in the library and the Room of Requirement, since news of Harry's scouting had spread round the school and these were the best places to avoid the attention. He still had to deal with a strange reaction from fellow students, some congratulating him and telling him they couldn't wait to see the games, others telling him they hoped he got stuffed by their favourite team, whoever that maybe.
It was after about twenty of these conversations that Harry decided enough was enough, and decided to just head back to the tower. He gathered up his things and returned the more dangerous volumes to their homes in the Restricted Section, although he booked out a few of the obscure titles he had taken to studying, in particular a book on 'duelling charms through the centuries' which went out of print two hundred years ago and, Harry had discovered, was the source of a few of the charms Professor Flitwick used on him. The success of some of these spells had interested Harry and he had begun researching them. In the course of the research, he had discovered that the shielding charm students were generally taught was a fairly new spell, created because of the difficulty of the more ancient one; but with the difficulty came several advantages, not least was a higher percentage of success against more powerful magic, something that interested Harry and he had focused his research on learning the higher level shielding charm.
Life over the next couple of weeks was fairly routine for Harry and his friends. The only sour note was related to Michael Corner, who apparently had no recollection of the entire Quidditch match on Saturday and avoided suspension for his action due to this and the fact his actions were completely out of character. He had apologised profusely to both Harry and Ginny; Harry had accepted his apology immediately, still sure that something was definitely strange about the scenario. Ginny, however, was a different story and she verbally laid into him for a good minute without pausing for breath. It took a certain amount of grovelling and a smaller amount of crying by Michael and a stern look from Harry before she accepted Michael's pleading and allowed him to leave. Harry made a mental note never to upset Ginny too much, she was like a Chinese fireball when she got angry, and Harry smiled mentally when he imagined her breathing fire and burning her ex-boyfriend to a crisp.
Classes had become routine with the exception of Charms, where Harry was partnered with a master Charms practitioner in the little Professor. Knowing this was an once-in-a-lifetime opportunity, Harry strove to practice every piece of bizarre and unusual magic he had collected in his research much to the delight of Flitwick, who swore to the other teachers that he hadn't had such a gifted Charms student since Lilly Evans. Flitwick, in turn, worked hard to challenge his student, and Harry found himself facing more and more obscure jinxes and hexes as he tried to produce the higher level shield charm consistently while discussing the advantages and disadvantages of spells as they practised, a practice that was often watched by the majority of the class. The anything goes method of practice sometimes ended up causing some amusing side effects following the lessons; after one botched attempt at the older Shield Charm, Harry had spent a full afternoon talking backwards, making spell casting impossible. Fortunately it was a Monday and he had his Animagus lesson with Professor McGonagall who accepted the written explanation from Harry and instead asked questions that could be answered with a nod or shake of his head.
The Animagus training was, in fact, almost complete. McGonagall had declared his form perfect, and he could transform with as little as a minute's concentrated thought, so the lessons really consisted of being told to repeatedly change to and from the lion and human form with a shorter period of concentration each time. Harry had found that the pain had left; there was only a lingering unfamiliarity with being two different animals, sometimes trying to stand on his hind legs as a lion, or walking on all fours as a human, that he found discomforting.
DADA was, as usual, a subject in which he naturally excelled. The work on tactics was over and they were concentrating on resistance to charms, jinxes and hexes, something that Harry seemed to do naturally, unlike several other members of the class. While the jelly legs jinx now left Harry with little more than a wobble, the majority of the class danced and fell about, much to the class's combined amusement.
Hannah and Harry made a great team in potions and while they couldn't work together during the lesson, their time in the library and the Room of Requirement meant they had normally practised poisons and antidotes many times before the rest of the class got to make them, and they had even started to make substitutions during class, knowing the effect a little grated mandrake root would have on the final outcome.
Harry kept up his Quidditch training helping Tony, Claire and Simon, the new seventh year Ron had selected to replace Harry, work on their moves while getting more practice himself. Something was still nagging Harry though, the game with Ravenclaw was one thing, but it was more than that, he felt there was something missing from life at school. The Slytherins were too quiet, his dreams seemed to be those of a normal teenage boy and no-one seemed to be trying to kill him. Now, for a normal teenager this would seem normal, but for Harry this seemed completely alien, and quite disconcerting. It was towards the end of the second week when Harry received an owl that pushed these thoughts from his mind.
The owl that delivered the large envelope was a large eagle owl and when Harry had removed its delivery it beat its wings and took off at once. The force of this, however, knocked over several goblets of pumpkin juice and drenched most of the people sitting near Harry at the breakfast table, ensuring that he had the undivided attention of most of his classmates. Harry opened the letter to discover a long legal document with two entwined P's in the top corner, the first page of which indicated that Harry James Potter was to be offered a two year contract earning forty galleons a week. Harry was gob smacked and when Hermione and Ron asked what it was, he was unable to answer. He simply handed Hermione the contract, dropping a second sheet as he did so, which he retrieved, seeing it was a training and match timetable.
Ron read the contract over Hermione's shoulder; which was something she would have scolded him for in the past, but now she pushed her hair out of the way to give him a clear look, and Ron grinned at her as she did. It was these small acts of mutual understanding that Harry found so fascinating when they were together, for he had certainly never seen their equal in his years with the Dursleys. When Ron reached the section about money his jaw dropped; "Forty Galleons a week! That's double what most people get a month!"
Hermione had already started reading the rest of the contract. "You won't like this Harry, but you have to give interviews to the press."
"I didn't get that far, I was too stunned," said Harry honestly "I'll never be able to understand that, it's always talking about 'the aforementioned party' and 'clients'. I don't get it.
"It's just a legal document Harry, they always sound like that, but you might want to get someone to look over it for you before you sign it. Magical contracts are slightly more binding than muggle ones; you've seen what can happen if you break one," said his friend with a glint in her eye. She had, after all, become a bit of a legend in school with her charmed parchment from last year's DA Society.
"Thanks Hermi', I will." He took the contract from her and, amongst much whispering from the house tables, he approached the staff table at the far end of the hall. "Headmaster, I was wondering if you could help me," he asked the old wizard who had been happily eating a bacon sandwich before Harry's arrival and still had a little brown sauce in his beard.
"Of course Harry, what is it you need assistance with?"
"Well, I have been sent a contract Sir, and Hermione said it was a good idea to have someone read it before I sign it."
"I am glad to see you still value your friend's opinions. I agree with Miss Granger, I had a friend who once signed a contract without looking and was forced to spend a year testing the theory that toast usually lands butter side down. He has never been able to eat another piece for of toast, but, I will tell you the story another time." Holding out his hand, Harry gave him the document. "I will read this and return it to you this evening..." the old man glanced at the first page, "a princely sum indeed, Harry."
"I was surprised; I think it's too much, perhaps I could find a better use for it than sitting in a vault."
"Perhaps you could Harry," replied the Headmaster.
The conversation was over but Harry decided to end it in a way he had learned from his old mentor, "The bacon sandwiches were quite excellent this morning weren't they Sir, but you might want to wash your beard afterwards, the brown sauce does tend to run."
There was a glint in the Headmaster's eyes and he smiled and replied "Thank you Harry, my colleagues would have avoided telling me, I think they find it amusing to have their boss walking around with sauce in his beard."
"Thank you Headmaster, I better go to classes now."
"Quite right, run along," said the Headmaster, still smiling at his pupil.
Harry was waiting in the corridor outside the Potions Dungeon chatting to Hannah when Draco Malfoy and the small gang of Slytherins who took Potions with them arrived.
"Look who it is, the Famous Harry Potter. What's the matter Potter, decide it's not enough to humiliate your ex-girlfriend's new boyfriend? You're too good to play Quidditch at Hogwarts, you've got to join a professional team," sneered the blonde-haired boy "Scared to take on Slytherin, more likely."
"Actually, Ron told me it was so easy winning the Cup last year that they didn't want me on the team and I should look to see if I could find somewhere else to play," retorted Harry, which promptly shut down the jeering Slytherins. What followed was, unfortunately, one of the worst potions lesson Harry had had for a couple of years. Professor Snape had spent the first twenty-five minutes berating Harry and his likeness to his arrogant and highly over-rated father and Harry had snapped his favourite quill pressing too hard while trying to ignore a particularly cruel remark.
Charms didn't go much better. Harry was so wound up from the onslaught in Potions he was having trouble concentrating on the mental imagining require for the higher level shielding charm. He had almost perfected the 'Plenus Aegis' charm over the weeks but he couldn't seem to perform the charm when he was worked up, which was very disappointing, and also rather worrying. As a result, most of the charms Professor Flitwick had cast found their target, and Harry developed a nasty twitch in his neck, much to Dean Thomas's amusement, who proceeded to call him 'Rain Man' and started repeating the last word of every sentence. While the Wizarding-born students found this behaviour bizarre, the Muggle-born students found it hilarious, and Harry found himself the recipient of rather more attention than he wanted.
At the end of the lesson Professor Flitwick told Harry the Headmaster wanted to see him and the password for the gargoyle that guarded the entrance to his office, so Harry trotted off to meet his mentor and was asked to enter as soon as he knocked on the outer door.
"Hello Headmaster, you wanted to see me?"
"Yes Harry, it was just concerning the contract, I have read over it and it seems to be a standard contract, you shouldn't have to research any toast, but I would like to advise you on the 'interview' clause."
"Hermione already told me I would have to do interviews."
"Well, I read the section, and there are no minimum limitations on the length of the interviews or what questions you have to answer, facts which very much work in your favour. I would like you to know that there is nothing wrong with using a well known muggle expression 'No comment' and if you do not like how the interview is going, I would advise you to just tell whoever it is that the interview is over."
"Thank you Headmaster, I'll remember that."
With this concluded, Harry reclaimed the contract and they began a brief conversation about the DA Society. Harry was pleased that the consensus amongst the teachers was it should have been started years ago. Then the Headmaster asked Harry if he had any other concerns about the year so far. Harry had a brief conversation just really highlighting his feelings about the strange behaviour of Michael Corner and also how quiet the year was. He was relieved when the Headmaster said he was keeping an eye on Mr. Corner and then he added with a smile that the year was only a month old and they had repelled two attacks so perhaps Harry was used to too much trouble. After all, prior to his arrival, they had many years where no one tried to kill anyone.
Feeling happier having had a chance to express his feelings and buoyed by the success of DA he returned to the Gryffindor dorm ready for an early night. Harry was pleased that when he awoke the following morning the twitch seemed to have worn off, as today was the first practice of the 'Pride of Portree' reserves.
He was feeling the sort of nerves he used to get in his first years of Quidditch, and, despite it being half six and the practice not being till nine, Harry had little choice but to get up and have a shower, grabbing all his gear and going down to breakfast before anyone else was even stirring. With his stomach doing somersaults, he picked at his food, managing a few mouthfuls and forming the rest into six piles, which he pushed around the plate, going over Chaser moves in his head. When the first students started entering the Great Hall, Harry decided to leave, but he was intercepted on his way by several students wishing him look and even more who glared at him as he passed, obviously not very happy he might be playing against their favourite team. In the Entrance Hall Harry was met by Tonks and Remus.
"Alright Harry, looking forward to the step up to the big leagues?" asked Remus, smiling.
"If looking forward to means you feel completely sick, then yeah I am," replied Harry, trying a small smile, but it didn't seem to fit.
"You'll be fine Harry, you're just nervous. We got the day off so we'll be there supporting you," added Tonks
"Thanks guys, I think I'll need it, most of the school seems upset I maybe up against their sides. I'd have thought they'd be happy, I've never even seen a league game before."
"You have nothing to worry about Harry, they are bigger, stronger, faster and have more experience, but I've seen you on a broom, just enjoy it," said the werewolf with a grin.
Harry laughed "Good pep talk Moony, if you'd have said they were going to kill me you'd make a great Divination teacher. I better go, don't want to be late for the first practice. I'll see you later, I hope." And Harry left through the massive doors, waving to his two summer teachers, who seemed to be inseparable, a fact which made Harry smile. In his opinion, Moony deserved to have some fun and he liked Tonks.
*****
Much thanks to Dice who while grossly under appreciate by the Canadian Government is much appreciated by me !
The Contract
Harry was still in a state of shock when he entered the Common Room, where celebrations of the 320-0 victory other Ravenclaw were well underway. When Harry entered attention was turned to him and there was a roar of approval. People started crowding forward, patting his back and shaking his hand. Ron and Ginny saw the look on Harry's face and quickly entered the melee to rescue him and see what was wrong.
"You didn't get in trouble over what happened with Corner did you Harry?" asked his best friend.
"They are going to let you play; I mean, they haven't banned you again, have they?" asked Ginny "Because I'll tell them what happened, they can't do that."
"They haven't banded me..." started Harry "But ...."
Ron interrupted. "Thank Merlin! Great performance today Harry."
"Ron! They haven't banded me, but I won't be able to play for the team again this year."
"What?!" Exploded Ginny and Ron in unison. "Why not?" Both looked nothing short of furious. The sight of two aggravated, fiery haired Weasleys was enough to make Harry shrink and lose any confidence he had in controlling the conversation. When Harry did reply, it was a small and meek eleven year old who was talking, one with messy hair, broken glasses and absolutely no idea how to get on to an apparently non-existent train platform. Harry's voice was quiet and completely void of aggression with traces of someone who had been battered into submission and was only just finding his feet.
"Well, I met a man after, someone called Angus Stalker, and he's signed me up for 'The Pride of Portree' as a reserve," said Harry shaking his head, still in a state of disbelief himself.
Ron looked at him in disbelief and blurted "Yeah right, good one Harry. 'The Pride' are only like, second in the league. If you are goin' to joke about it, make it realistic."
Ginny's reaction was the complete opposite of her brother's. She could see Harry was serious and it was just like Harry to be shocked by something like this, but she knew he was good enough to go pro, he was amazing in the game today. Ginny thought if they had played with just him as Chaser they probably would have still won. This, combined with a slightly uneasy feeling about the state of their friendship, caused her to offer the olive branch. "That's amazing Harry, you'll be brilliant. Where are you going to play, cause I'd love to watch some of the games," Ginny smiled slightly, despite a certain amount of disappointment at not being on the same team as Harry. That smile quickly grew and was joined by a blush in response to the look she received in return from Harry. Harry's expression changed from one of shock and terror, to one of relief, joy, gratitude and a little something else thrown in the mixing pot, something that made his eyes sparkle a little.
Ron looked almost as shell-shocked as Harry when he realised his friend wasn't joking. "That's great mate, you're a Professional Quidditch Player! But why can't you be a member of the house team?"
"Look, I'm sorry about the team Ron, but I know you'll win the Cup easy. It's just, well you know how much I'm doing with the other stuff. I can barely find time to relax as it is, in fact, this might actually lighten the load." Harry had buried his face in his hands. "You know I'm going to be an Auror, or try anyway." That was the first time this year they had heard the kind of self doubt that plagued Harry the previous year. Ron, and Ginny especially, had gotten used to Harry's new persona and the thought of any regression wasn't really a pleasant one. "I know you'll hate me for this Ron, but Quidditch is just a game to me, something I do to have fun. Angus asked me to play and it will actually take some pressure off." Ron and Ginny couldn't really stay mad at their friend, they knew Harry's goals and Quidditch obviously wasn't one of them. It was Ron came round pretty quickly, still in shock, but he managed to ask a perfectly reasonable question.
"Well we have got a 320 point lead anyway. How you going to train and play when you're here though?"
"All the practices and matches are going to be here at Hogwarts. They are only reserve games and apparently not a lot of teams field full reserves and none of them has a pitch."
"That's because they can't afford them, only the top six clubs can afford to run two teams. Hey, we'll be able to watch Professional matches!"
The rest of the day was a bit muddled for Harry; he didn't really know what to think and it was all a bit much. He did wonder how much reserves got paid, and how long a contract was, since there was no way he would let Quidditch stop him becoming an Auror. In the end, he spent most of the day in the library and the Room of Requirement, since news of Harry's scouting had spread round the school and these were the best places to avoid the attention. He still had to deal with a strange reaction from fellow students, some congratulating him and telling him they couldn't wait to see the games, others telling him they hoped he got stuffed by their favourite team, whoever that maybe.
It was after about twenty of these conversations that Harry decided enough was enough, and decided to just head back to the tower. He gathered up his things and returned the more dangerous volumes to their homes in the Restricted Section, although he booked out a few of the obscure titles he had taken to studying, in particular a book on 'duelling charms through the centuries' which went out of print two hundred years ago and, Harry had discovered, was the source of a few of the charms Professor Flitwick used on him. The success of some of these spells had interested Harry and he had begun researching them. In the course of the research, he had discovered that the shielding charm students were generally taught was a fairly new spell, created because of the difficulty of the more ancient one; but with the difficulty came several advantages, not least was a higher percentage of success against more powerful magic, something that interested Harry and he had focused his research on learning the higher level shielding charm.
Life over the next couple of weeks was fairly routine for Harry and his friends. The only sour note was related to Michael Corner, who apparently had no recollection of the entire Quidditch match on Saturday and avoided suspension for his action due to this and the fact his actions were completely out of character. He had apologised profusely to both Harry and Ginny; Harry had accepted his apology immediately, still sure that something was definitely strange about the scenario. Ginny, however, was a different story and she verbally laid into him for a good minute without pausing for breath. It took a certain amount of grovelling and a smaller amount of crying by Michael and a stern look from Harry before she accepted Michael's pleading and allowed him to leave. Harry made a mental note never to upset Ginny too much, she was like a Chinese fireball when she got angry, and Harry smiled mentally when he imagined her breathing fire and burning her ex-boyfriend to a crisp.
Classes had become routine with the exception of Charms, where Harry was partnered with a master Charms practitioner in the little Professor. Knowing this was an once-in-a-lifetime opportunity, Harry strove to practice every piece of bizarre and unusual magic he had collected in his research much to the delight of Flitwick, who swore to the other teachers that he hadn't had such a gifted Charms student since Lilly Evans. Flitwick, in turn, worked hard to challenge his student, and Harry found himself facing more and more obscure jinxes and hexes as he tried to produce the higher level shield charm consistently while discussing the advantages and disadvantages of spells as they practised, a practice that was often watched by the majority of the class. The anything goes method of practice sometimes ended up causing some amusing side effects following the lessons; after one botched attempt at the older Shield Charm, Harry had spent a full afternoon talking backwards, making spell casting impossible. Fortunately it was a Monday and he had his Animagus lesson with Professor McGonagall who accepted the written explanation from Harry and instead asked questions that could be answered with a nod or shake of his head.
The Animagus training was, in fact, almost complete. McGonagall had declared his form perfect, and he could transform with as little as a minute's concentrated thought, so the lessons really consisted of being told to repeatedly change to and from the lion and human form with a shorter period of concentration each time. Harry had found that the pain had left; there was only a lingering unfamiliarity with being two different animals, sometimes trying to stand on his hind legs as a lion, or walking on all fours as a human, that he found discomforting.
DADA was, as usual, a subject in which he naturally excelled. The work on tactics was over and they were concentrating on resistance to charms, jinxes and hexes, something that Harry seemed to do naturally, unlike several other members of the class. While the jelly legs jinx now left Harry with little more than a wobble, the majority of the class danced and fell about, much to the class's combined amusement.
Hannah and Harry made a great team in potions and while they couldn't work together during the lesson, their time in the library and the Room of Requirement meant they had normally practised poisons and antidotes many times before the rest of the class got to make them, and they had even started to make substitutions during class, knowing the effect a little grated mandrake root would have on the final outcome.
Harry kept up his Quidditch training helping Tony, Claire and Simon, the new seventh year Ron had selected to replace Harry, work on their moves while getting more practice himself. Something was still nagging Harry though, the game with Ravenclaw was one thing, but it was more than that, he felt there was something missing from life at school. The Slytherins were too quiet, his dreams seemed to be those of a normal teenage boy and no-one seemed to be trying to kill him. Now, for a normal teenager this would seem normal, but for Harry this seemed completely alien, and quite disconcerting. It was towards the end of the second week when Harry received an owl that pushed these thoughts from his mind.
The owl that delivered the large envelope was a large eagle owl and when Harry had removed its delivery it beat its wings and took off at once. The force of this, however, knocked over several goblets of pumpkin juice and drenched most of the people sitting near Harry at the breakfast table, ensuring that he had the undivided attention of most of his classmates. Harry opened the letter to discover a long legal document with two entwined P's in the top corner, the first page of which indicated that Harry James Potter was to be offered a two year contract earning forty galleons a week. Harry was gob smacked and when Hermione and Ron asked what it was, he was unable to answer. He simply handed Hermione the contract, dropping a second sheet as he did so, which he retrieved, seeing it was a training and match timetable.
Ron read the contract over Hermione's shoulder; which was something she would have scolded him for in the past, but now she pushed her hair out of the way to give him a clear look, and Ron grinned at her as she did. It was these small acts of mutual understanding that Harry found so fascinating when they were together, for he had certainly never seen their equal in his years with the Dursleys. When Ron reached the section about money his jaw dropped; "Forty Galleons a week! That's double what most people get a month!"
Hermione had already started reading the rest of the contract. "You won't like this Harry, but you have to give interviews to the press."
"I didn't get that far, I was too stunned," said Harry honestly "I'll never be able to understand that, it's always talking about 'the aforementioned party' and 'clients'. I don't get it.
"It's just a legal document Harry, they always sound like that, but you might want to get someone to look over it for you before you sign it. Magical contracts are slightly more binding than muggle ones; you've seen what can happen if you break one," said his friend with a glint in her eye. She had, after all, become a bit of a legend in school with her charmed parchment from last year's DA Society.
"Thanks Hermi', I will." He took the contract from her and, amongst much whispering from the house tables, he approached the staff table at the far end of the hall. "Headmaster, I was wondering if you could help me," he asked the old wizard who had been happily eating a bacon sandwich before Harry's arrival and still had a little brown sauce in his beard.
"Of course Harry, what is it you need assistance with?"
"Well, I have been sent a contract Sir, and Hermione said it was a good idea to have someone read it before I sign it."
"I am glad to see you still value your friend's opinions. I agree with Miss Granger, I had a friend who once signed a contract without looking and was forced to spend a year testing the theory that toast usually lands butter side down. He has never been able to eat another piece for of toast, but, I will tell you the story another time." Holding out his hand, Harry gave him the document. "I will read this and return it to you this evening..." the old man glanced at the first page, "a princely sum indeed, Harry."
"I was surprised; I think it's too much, perhaps I could find a better use for it than sitting in a vault."
"Perhaps you could Harry," replied the Headmaster.
The conversation was over but Harry decided to end it in a way he had learned from his old mentor, "The bacon sandwiches were quite excellent this morning weren't they Sir, but you might want to wash your beard afterwards, the brown sauce does tend to run."
There was a glint in the Headmaster's eyes and he smiled and replied "Thank you Harry, my colleagues would have avoided telling me, I think they find it amusing to have their boss walking around with sauce in his beard."
"Thank you Headmaster, I better go to classes now."
"Quite right, run along," said the Headmaster, still smiling at his pupil.
Harry was waiting in the corridor outside the Potions Dungeon chatting to Hannah when Draco Malfoy and the small gang of Slytherins who took Potions with them arrived.
"Look who it is, the Famous Harry Potter. What's the matter Potter, decide it's not enough to humiliate your ex-girlfriend's new boyfriend? You're too good to play Quidditch at Hogwarts, you've got to join a professional team," sneered the blonde-haired boy "Scared to take on Slytherin, more likely."
"Actually, Ron told me it was so easy winning the Cup last year that they didn't want me on the team and I should look to see if I could find somewhere else to play," retorted Harry, which promptly shut down the jeering Slytherins. What followed was, unfortunately, one of the worst potions lesson Harry had had for a couple of years. Professor Snape had spent the first twenty-five minutes berating Harry and his likeness to his arrogant and highly over-rated father and Harry had snapped his favourite quill pressing too hard while trying to ignore a particularly cruel remark.
Charms didn't go much better. Harry was so wound up from the onslaught in Potions he was having trouble concentrating on the mental imagining require for the higher level shielding charm. He had almost perfected the 'Plenus Aegis' charm over the weeks but he couldn't seem to perform the charm when he was worked up, which was very disappointing, and also rather worrying. As a result, most of the charms Professor Flitwick had cast found their target, and Harry developed a nasty twitch in his neck, much to Dean Thomas's amusement, who proceeded to call him 'Rain Man' and started repeating the last word of every sentence. While the Wizarding-born students found this behaviour bizarre, the Muggle-born students found it hilarious, and Harry found himself the recipient of rather more attention than he wanted.
At the end of the lesson Professor Flitwick told Harry the Headmaster wanted to see him and the password for the gargoyle that guarded the entrance to his office, so Harry trotted off to meet his mentor and was asked to enter as soon as he knocked on the outer door.
"Hello Headmaster, you wanted to see me?"
"Yes Harry, it was just concerning the contract, I have read over it and it seems to be a standard contract, you shouldn't have to research any toast, but I would like to advise you on the 'interview' clause."
"Hermione already told me I would have to do interviews."
"Well, I read the section, and there are no minimum limitations on the length of the interviews or what questions you have to answer, facts which very much work in your favour. I would like you to know that there is nothing wrong with using a well known muggle expression 'No comment' and if you do not like how the interview is going, I would advise you to just tell whoever it is that the interview is over."
"Thank you Headmaster, I'll remember that."
With this concluded, Harry reclaimed the contract and they began a brief conversation about the DA Society. Harry was pleased that the consensus amongst the teachers was it should have been started years ago. Then the Headmaster asked Harry if he had any other concerns about the year so far. Harry had a brief conversation just really highlighting his feelings about the strange behaviour of Michael Corner and also how quiet the year was. He was relieved when the Headmaster said he was keeping an eye on Mr. Corner and then he added with a smile that the year was only a month old and they had repelled two attacks so perhaps Harry was used to too much trouble. After all, prior to his arrival, they had many years where no one tried to kill anyone.
Feeling happier having had a chance to express his feelings and buoyed by the success of DA he returned to the Gryffindor dorm ready for an early night. Harry was pleased that when he awoke the following morning the twitch seemed to have worn off, as today was the first practice of the 'Pride of Portree' reserves.
He was feeling the sort of nerves he used to get in his first years of Quidditch, and, despite it being half six and the practice not being till nine, Harry had little choice but to get up and have a shower, grabbing all his gear and going down to breakfast before anyone else was even stirring. With his stomach doing somersaults, he picked at his food, managing a few mouthfuls and forming the rest into six piles, which he pushed around the plate, going over Chaser moves in his head. When the first students started entering the Great Hall, Harry decided to leave, but he was intercepted on his way by several students wishing him look and even more who glared at him as he passed, obviously not very happy he might be playing against their favourite team. In the Entrance Hall Harry was met by Tonks and Remus.
"Alright Harry, looking forward to the step up to the big leagues?" asked Remus, smiling.
"If looking forward to means you feel completely sick, then yeah I am," replied Harry, trying a small smile, but it didn't seem to fit.
"You'll be fine Harry, you're just nervous. We got the day off so we'll be there supporting you," added Tonks
"Thanks guys, I think I'll need it, most of the school seems upset I maybe up against their sides. I'd have thought they'd be happy, I've never even seen a league game before."
"You have nothing to worry about Harry, they are bigger, stronger, faster and have more experience, but I've seen you on a broom, just enjoy it," said the werewolf with a grin.
Harry laughed "Good pep talk Moony, if you'd have said they were going to kill me you'd make a great Divination teacher. I better go, don't want to be late for the first practice. I'll see you later, I hope." And Harry left through the massive doors, waving to his two summer teachers, who seemed to be inseparable, a fact which made Harry smile. In his opinion, Moony deserved to have some fun and he liked Tonks.
*****
Much thanks to Dice who while grossly under appreciate by the Canadian Government is much appreciated by me !