Chapter two
The Letter
Author's note: Thanks for the reviews – hopefully you'll like this chapter too, although the real action doesn't start until a bit later.
Harry went into his son's room that night after he'd fallen asleep. He hadn't shown him the letter yet; he needed to decide, first, how much to tell John about his own part in the Magical World. Was there anybody left from his days at Hogwarts? And if so, would they recognise John somehow, although he had a different surname? Harry didn't want John to grow up like he had, with other people knowing more about himself than he did – but was he really prepared to tell John everything?
Harry thought of Dumbledore, who had waited so long before telling him about the prophecy, among other things, and how he'd reacted when he'd found out. With hindsight, Harry was more prone to understand Dumbledore's reasoning, but it had been terrible for him all the same, and he didn't want anything remotely similar to happen to his own son.
The next morning, he waited until they had all eaten breakfast before he spoke to John, still not sure exactly what he was going to say, how much he was going to reveal. John was about to go out, as usual (his sister had already gone to see a friend), when Harry called his name.
'John, have you got a minute?'
John looked at him in surprise, because Harry rarely sounded so serious, and when he did, it often meant trouble. 'What is it?' he asked warily. 'I haven't done anything bad, honest. Peter accidentally hit Mrs Davies...'
'Calm down!' Harry said, smiling. 'I'm not accusing you of anything...' He produced the letter, a neatly rolled up piece of parchment. 'This... this letter came for you yesterday.' John took it, a puzzled look on his face. 'Go on, open it,' Harry said, trying not to sound too eager.
'Dear Mr Evans, We are pleased to inform you that you have a place at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft & Wizardry', it said below the name of the headmaster. Harry could hardly bring himself to look at the names that would be there. What if someone terrible had become Headmaster? What if they hadn't been able to get anyone decent to do the job? It could be... Professor Binns... or Professor Trelawney... or even Dolores Umbridge! He had no idea what had happened in the Magical World since he left; as far as he knew, there might be a reign of terror even though Voldemort had been defeated. But then he did look, ignoring his son saying 'Dad? What is this? This just sounds so weird!'
'Headmaster: Rubeus Hagrid, Order of Merlin, third class.' Harry sighed with relief. At least it was someone he liked... Then, however, he came to think of the Blast-Ended Skrewts and wondered what Hogwarts was like with Hagrid as Headmaster. Hadn't they been able to find anyone more suitable – Professor Sprout, maybe, or Professor Flitwick?
But still, it could have been worse, he supposed. He looked at the end of the letter to find out who the deputy was. 'We expect your owl no later than 31 July, Yours Sincerely, Filius Flitwick, Deputy Headmaster. So there he was. But why not the reverse? Why wasn't Hagrid the deputy and Flitwick the headmaster?
'Dad!!' John had raised his voice, causing Harry to start.
'Yes?' he said, absentmindedly, still looking at the letter.
'What's this supposed to be, some joke?'
'No... It's from the best magical school there is – the best in the World...'
'Magical – are you all right, Dad? It isn't the first of April, you know.'
'It is the school I went to, John... Oh, I'm glad you're not a squib, even though your mother is a muggle!
John stared at him. 'Squid? What do you mean? And what's a muggle?'
'Squib, not squid – '
'You're... you're serious, aren't you? But why haven't you told me? Us? ... Did Mum know?'
'No... Your mother didn't know.'
At this moment Harry's daughter came back home. Harry looked at her, remembering how he'd had to put a memory charm on his wife in order to make her think that she had chosen her daughter's names: Lily Hermione. It had been easier with John; that had been the name of Cordelia's father. Harry, however, had thought of Remus John Lupin, and had also managed to persuade Cordelia to give John his middle name: Sirius. He had, briefly, considered naming his daughter Ginny, but decided against it. That would have been too painful, his heart still aching for Ginny whenever he was reminded of her.
'What are you two up to?' Lily said, smiling. 'Planning someone's funeral? What's John done this time, then?' Harry looked at her and realised that it was time for him to sit down with his two children and tell them everything.
Author's note: Yes, Flitwick doesn't put the letters in envelopes, but rolls them up instead. You'll just have to accept that. Please R&R!! More coming soon!
