Disclaimer: It's not mine, I don't own, the garden's been planted, just sprouting the weeds that I've sown.
Story Summary: Harry was looking forward to a nice normal holiday then he finds out that Aunt Petunia has had a baby, and as if that wasn't enough. A strange boy shows up and turns Harry's life upside down. Then there's the school year!
This Chapter: Harry gets some more help, mingled with more responsibility. He finds out once again how small the world is and brings home something he probably shouldn't have.
Author Notes: That's more like it! That's it PUSH THE PURPLE BUTTON! Keep it up guys or I'll have to get the nifflers...Thanks for the reviews... I hope you like this chapter...and Yes many more interesting things are going to happen to Harry.
Chapter 3Routines
As Harry peddled to work the next day he was in good spirits. He hadn't had that dream and had actually gotten a decent sleep. He hadn't even minded when Denekar woke him up for a feed. When he arrived at the staff entrance gate he noticed a tabby cat sitting there.
"Morning Professor." Harry said getting off the bike he had claimed as his own. McGonagall nodded in reply.
Harry flashed his staff pass and walked in with the cat on his heels. He made his way over to the reptile house and stashed his bike in his office. He checked the chart and fed the snakes under the watchful gaze of his animagus guardian. He then retreated to his office once again to study the dated log that listed when the snakes were to be fed. He was thankful that the previous keeper had kept up with the records. He'd actually logged in each reptile's needs till the end of the year. He noticed that some snakes had alternating feeding days that changed between before and after Wednesdays and Sundays, which were his days off.
His musings were interrupted by a soft 'merow' from his professor. Harry looked up to see Sam in the doorway with a silly smile on his face.
"So, you have yourself a watch cat." He said amused. Harry snorted.
"I'd be careful, she might take offense and I may not be able to vouch for her bite a can guarantee she has a pretty mean… er…meow." Harry said deliberately not looking at his teacher. Sam laughed.
"Anyway, Dr. Martin wants to see the green python." Harry nodded and stood up a smile still on his face. He retrieved the snake that called himself Herdis before walking with Sam back to the vet wing. While they checked over Herdis, Harry introduced himself to the Australian Brown who went by the name Eerin. Dr. Martin said they could both go back to their enclosures and Harry managed to convince Sam to carry Herdis for him while he took Eerin who wasn't as placid. After they were both secured, Harry and Sam made their way to lunch with McGonagall in tow.
Harry looked at the variety of meals available today and ordered a large serve of spaghetti, then looked down to his professor.
"What would you like, Professor?" McGonagall looked at him a moment before jumping up to the shelf where people would put their purchases before moving on. She looked at the dishes before pawing the glass by the tuna casserole then motioned for a small serve. Sam smiled and shook his head Harry sat down and had lunch with him and the professor talking about random, meaningless things.
Harry spent the afternoon talking to random snakes and had a chat with Shra about her vision. The other snakes had confirmed that she had the sight. Shra herself actually seemed used to being told she had voiced a vision. She said she would keep an eye out for the vision's meaning but other than that there was nothing to be done about it.
When Harry got home for the night he was thankful for the cafeteria at work when he looked at his meager meal and fell into bed that night barely noticing the lumps that were in his mattress. That routine held for the rest of his holidays… well mostly. Every so often something would happen to change things a bit… or a lot. The first happened about a week after Dobby had visited. Harry had come home exhausted, having cleaned up one of the larger enclosures at the request of the occupant. When he went up to bed that night he found another guest. One he also recognized.
"Winky?" The soup stained house elf had stood as he came in and bowed.
"Master Harry, sir. I is bringing a message from Master Albus." She handed over the letter, Harry thanked her and opened the letter.
Dear Harry,
I received your letter from Hedwig, I believe Hagrid is taking care of her for a while, but I figured since this is coming to you by elf it would be alright. Dobby informed me of his visit to you and consequently I have decided that I will get Winky away from the other house elves at Hogwarts, but to do so I would have to get her out of the grounds, as the house elves service the entire area. Quite a feat but they are willed creatures.
Therefore I have decided to pass charge of Winky from the school to you. She will be your house elf and you will be responsible for her. I personally have added extra wards so her magic won't be detected, however anything emanating from a wand will show up on ministry scanners. Sorry to ruin your fun. I know it may seem a bit much but I have also given Winky a book for you to read that should help you with any questions. Anything else you can ask either Winky or myself.
I do have to admit that I have another reason for entrusting you with a house elf. To be honest I was seriously considering sending Dobby to you before he came to me with his observations. Winky will be sending me weekly reports on your well-being and will come to me should an emergency arrive. You understand that with Voldemort up and about again, I must be informed immediately should he discover where you are and attempt to pass the wards. Other than that task Winky is yours to request of as you will.
Sincerely Albus Dumbledore
Harry read the letter through twice to make sure he had gotten it right. He looked from the letter and Winky and back again and thought 'Hermione's going to be pissed.' Instead he looked back to the waiting house elf.
"Do you have the book Professor Dumbledore mentioned?" He asked Winky as if she were merely here to deliver the message and not here to stay. Winky handed Harry the thin book and he looked at the title. The habits and values of the average house elf by Albus Dumbledore. Harry looked at the author twice and a third time. He wasn't aware that Dumbledore had written any books. He skimmed through stopping at parts that could answer his questions then looked back to Winky who had stood patiently while he sat on his bed and read the book.
"OK. It says to set up basic rules first so here goes. Winky, I would like you to take better care of yourself, which includes making sure what you are wearing is clean. Next this is a muggle house, even if it has been warded several times over. That means no one under this roof except me and Denekar are to see you, unless I call for you while with someone. Now as for rest, which I expect you to get enough of, you should find a small bed in the cupboard under the stairs. You can use that but you'd best hide anything personal so if any of my muggle relatives look in there they won't see it. Is that alright?" Harry spoke gently. He didn't like having to order her about but looking at how she was caring for herself he thought he'd have to for her own well being. Winky smiled up at him, nodded and disappeared to settle herself in. Harry sighed and got changed and climbed into bed wondering what he was going to tell Hermione, if he ever managed to gather enough wits to even attempt an explanation.
The first interruption to his routine turned out to be a good one. Winky took over the night time feeding of Denekar, leaving Harry to sleep as much as he could. Unfortunately he discovered the better rested he was the more often the dream plagued his night. Luckily work kept him busy, and the dream was kept at bay whenever he came home exhausted. He had taken to helping out other keepers here and there to wear himself out. An act that his ever present 'watch cat' didn't understand and obviously didn't approve of. But Harry had confided in Winky and so McGonagall was told to leave him be.
Harry still kept time to talk to the snakes especially to see if Shra had any more visions or news on the one he had witnessed. No news yet but most of the snakes agreed that she didn't have another vision until the last one had happened. One night after coming home after helping clean out the elephant yard, Harry headed straight for the shower to rid himself of the stench of elephant dung. When he got downstairs for dinner he noticed that Dudley wasn't there.
'Probably off smoking' Harry thought having seen him doing so with his gang once when he had left work late. As soon as he sat down Uncle Vernon glared at him.
"Listen here boy, and make sure you remember this. I'm to host another dinner for a possible client. This time he'll be bringing his child along as well and after last time you will stay down here where I can keep an eye on you. You'll be in charge of Denekar while Petunia cooks and you'll entertain the child as well. You will also wait at the door to take their coats as Dudley already has a dinner invitation for that night."
'He's had a lot of "dinner invitations" lately' Harry thought but instead he merely said "Yes, Uncle Vernon." And quickly ate his dinner so he could fall into bed.
In preparation for this dinner Harry had gone out and bought himself some neat-casual clothes with his pay, which came to him in cash instead of the standard check everyone else got. He bought himself a short sleeved button down shirt and black jeans as well as an assortment of other clothes for him to wear to work. Professor McGonagall surprised him with a belt holster that actually turned itself, and the wand in it, invisible to all but the wearer. Harry had been shocked but very grateful because most of the better fitting clothes didn't have room for the wand and several times Harry had to use the cover of a snake rod (something for snakes to coil around instead of a hand) when people had spotted it.
As Harry stood by the door waiting for the guests Uncle Vernon glanced him over and didn't object to his choice of clothes. When the doorbell rang Harry opened it and spoke before thinking.
"Christ, it is a small world!" On the other side of the doorway the Tuckers were equally stunned. Harry recovered and invited them in, taking their coats. "Uncle Vernon, Mr. and Mrs. Tucker and their son Ethan are here." Harry said leading the family into the lounge. Uncle Vernon stood and shook hands with the adults and spared a slight nod to Ethan.
"Welcome to our home, Mister Tucker." He said formally.
"Call me Philip, this is my wife Nita and my son Ethan. You certainly have a lot of photos about." Mr. Tucker replied. Uncle Vernon smiled having planned for that remark.
"Yes, we have plenty of the entire family about, but as my boy Dudley is spending dinner somewhere else I thought to pull out all our pictures of him, after all what father doesn't like to show off his children?" He smiled toothily and continued. "Please call me Vernon, excuse me a moment while I fetch my wife." He disappeared into the kitchen. Harry turned to the Tuckers motioning for them to make themselves comfortable.
"If you don't mind, could you keep magic out of the conversation? My Aunt and Uncle don't exactly embrace the subject. They're the type of people that don't like anything outside their version of ordinary. Mind you I'd get ready for a lot of buttering up if he's looking for a sale, but it would save me a lot of hassle if you could just not mention it." Mr. and Mrs. Tucker smiled and nodded and Ethan voiced a soft OK. Uncle Vernon returned with Denekar in hand and Aunt Petunia right behind him.
"Philip, Nita, this is my little girl Denekar and my lovely wife Petunia. My nephew Harry here has lived with us since he was one." Harry noticed that Uncle Vernon didn't mention Harry parents were dead. Not knowing the Tuckers knew about magic he'd avoided the topic by not mentioning them. Uncle Vernon passed Denekar to Harry and sent him off to feed her. Harry took Denekar and turned back to the Tuckers.
"If you don't mind, I can watch Ethan until dinner is ready." Mrs. Tucker smiled at him.
"Off you go Ethan." She said kindly. Harry led him up the stairs to his room.
"Hey, Ethan I have someone I want you to meet. You've already seen someone like her." Ethan looked at him curiously. As they stepped into Harry and Denekar's room Harry called for Winky. She appeared with a small pop and Ethan jumped.
"Ethan, this is Winky, She's a house elf. I also know the one you saw about a week ago, her name was Peddy." Ethan was stunned. While Winky stood nervously he looked Winky up and down before proclaiming 'Cool!' Harry smiled and handed Denekar to Winky.
"Could you please feed her and get her out of that hideous sailor suit and into something she likes more?" Winky nodded and set to her task. Harry motioned for Ethan to sit on the floor with Harry next to his trunk.
"House elves are magical servants. They don't get paid though, but most prefer it that way. I also have an owl but a friend is taking care of her for a while. Wizards use owls to carry mail. They're really clever. Unless someone is hiding they can usually find them even without an address." Ethan wowed and watched Winky feeding Denekar. Harry dug into his trunk and pulled out his photo album.
"There are lots of things that are different about the wizarding world. This is one you should probably be warned about." He opened the album, "Photos, pictures and paintings can move. Sometimes the people aren't even in them. The portraits at the wizard school can actually leave their painting and visit each other. You can talk to them but these are just pictures. They move but you can't hear them." Ethan was even more fascinated with the photo albums than with Winky.
"Who are they?" He asked. Harry smiled sadly.
"It's my mum and dad, that's why I look a lot like him, except for my eyes, everyone tells me I have my mums eyes."
"Are they dead? Is that why you live here with people who don't like magic?" Harry nodded.
"They died when I was one. A really evil wizard killed them, he even killed my mum when she begged him to leave me alone. That made a really old and powerful magic protect me so when he tried to use the killing curse on me it reflected onto him and nearly killed him. All I got was this scar." Harry lifted up his fringe to show the scar which Ethan thought was cool. Harry smiled and decided not to tell him about it giving him visions of Voldemort. That would just scare him and he didn't need to know that the evil wizard was fully alive again.
"It actually made me famous in the wizarding world. I'm the only one to survive a killing curse. I didn't know that until I was eleven. It annoys me really. Everyone is always interested in everything to do with me. It's hard to get privacy when you're famous. Plus it kinda makes my best friend a bit jealous. He has 5 older brothers who have all done something really great and it's hard to live up to."
"Five older brothers?" Ethan exclaimed "WOW! Does he have five younger brothers too?" Harry laughed at the near eight-year-old's imagination.
"No just one younger sister and he's really protective of her." Aunt Petunia called up the stairs that dinner was ready and the two got up. Winky handed Denekar, who was now dressed in a simple pink jumpsuit with a yellow duck on it, back to Harry.
"Thank you Winky. Ethan be careful not to tell my Aunt and Uncle about Winky. They don't know and it's best to keep it that way. You can tell your parents if you like but not until you've left ok?" Ethan nodded and they shook pinkies.
Dinner went smoothly with no one mentioning magic. Uncle Vernon made a big sale and Mr. Tucker winked to Harry when Uncle Vernon went to get the paper work. Harry slept well that night and got up bright an early the next day. Denekar hadn't even woken him, thanks to Winky.
Harry worked the next day. After feeding several snakes he made his way to lunch with Sam and McGonagall as usual. After, with no work of his own left for the day and not really wanting to offer his services elsewhere he went to Shra's enclosure she was always pleased to see him and even happier when he wanted to take her out. Putting up the usual sign saying the snake wasn't available for viewing he took her out and closed the hatch before making his way into the viewing area.
Shra thoroughly enjoyed the next few hours. She received lots of attention and a few pats as Harry stood in the middle of a cluster of people showing her to the crowd. It was eventually interrupted when Mr. Heath came around with a woman who looked about twenty five. The three of them went back into the staff only area, much to the dismay of the crowd around Harry and Shra. Once there they adjourned to Harry's office and Mr. Heath introduced them.
"Harry, this is my sister Theresa. She works at Perkins' in Diagon Alley." Shra curled herself on Harry's upper left arm as he shook her hand nervously.
"It's nice to meet you Harry. I'm not really one to ogle the famous but I was here anyway and Victor insisted I meet you."
"Thanks, it's good to meet you too." Harry noticed that she didn't seem to be flickering her eyes toward his scar, which was covered by his hair anyways, instead she seemed more interested in Shra. He smiled and ushered the milk snake back down onto his hands.
"This is Shra." He said holding her out to Theresa so she could pat her. She looked wary of her but carefully reached out a hand to pat her with one finger.
"That's an unusual name." Harry shrugged.
"It's the one she gave me." Theresa looked up at him.
"So you are a parselmouth?"
"Yeah, just a trait Lord I-don't-know-when-to-die gave me."
"But he is dead, isn't he?"
"I wish. He came back, about a month ago." Theresa looked horrified.
"Are you sure?" Harry pointed to a new scar on his right arm.
"The bastard used my blood to resurrect himself." Just then a meow was heard from the doorway. By the disapproving tone and look Harry knew that she was reacting to his language.
"Aw, come on Professor, he is a bastard." The look she gave him told him she still didn't approve and Harry rolled his eyes. Harry then noticed that Mr. Heath had left the room but his thoughts were interrupted by another voice.
"Professor McGonagall?" It seemed that Theresa knew his guardian. McGonagall transformed and nodded tersely to Harry's guest.
"Miss Heath." Theresa smiled.
"Actually it's Mrs. Perkins now but I'm surprised you remember me."
"I remember all my Griffindors." She replied matter-of-factly before she turned to Harry. "Mr. Potter, we should be leaving it's getting late." Harry looked at the clock. It was half an hour later than he usually went home. He stood up fast.
"Oh man, Aunt Petunia is going to be pissed!" Professor McGonagall sent him another disapproving glare. "Aw, Come on Professor, I'm on holidays, if I don't get it out of my system now I'll be swearing at school." He replied hurriedly pulling on his jacket.
"It was nice chatting to you Theresa. I'll probably stop by the shop sometime. I gotta run." Theresa nodded and Harry grabbed his (well technically Dudley's) bike and hurried out the door. Completely forgetting the milk snake that was coiled on his arm, blissfully warm under his jacket.