Part 12
Hogwarts: Dumbledore's office
August 20th, 1994.
-
-
-
-
-
"Sit, James."
Dumbledore nodded as he crushed the lemon drop between his teeth.
"Tea?"
"No thank you, Albus."
James shook his head as he took his seat. He carefully put the tea paraphernalia aside and leaned against the chair.
"I see you did some shopping today."
Dumbledore smiled as he took out another lemon drop to consume.
"I'd rather do it now than later. I don't really enjoy crowds."
James shrugged. He observed the old wizard as he smiled in understanding. He sighed.
"This is about the meeting, isn't it?"
Dumbledore simply nodded as he sipped his tea. He wasn't eyeing him, but James could feel Dumbledore's stare not wanting to miss any expression.
"I really don't want to make anyone upset, Albus. Especially Sirius...," James slumped, "but I have to keep my distance from him and Remus."
"They are both very keen and clever."
Dumbledore agreed.
"No, it's not that," James looked away, "I mean, yes, I have to take extra precaution in their presence. It's just... I don't want to get attached."
Dumbledore raised his brow but didn't press it any further. The look on James' face told him not to do so.
"Then, is it possible to be civil with each other? I am not asking you two to be friends, but do not make any more trouble than we already have. Is that understood, James?"
James assented.
-
-
-
- After being excused from Dumbledore, James headed straight to Hagrid's.
"Eve'ning, James."
The half-giant welcomed.
"Good evening, Hagrid. Did you get a chance to write the letter?"
"Yes, yes I did. Did you finish your shopp'ing?"
Hagrid reached in his pocket to pull out a warn-out piece of paper and presented to James. It had massive inkblots to cover the errors.
"I hope I didn't rush you."
James laughed and carefully folded the paper and stored in his pocket.
"Oh, and this is a little present."
He held out the bag containing the tea materials.
"For me?" Hagrid was genuinely surprised, "oh, you shouldn't have, James. ..But uhh..., what is it?"
"A teapot and some of my favorite tea. See? You press this here when your tea's been brewed."
James explained as the half-giant narrowed his eyes at the contraption.
"Err, You're g'oing to have to show me, James. Would you like to come in?"
Hagrid fully opened the door.
"Sorry, Hagrid. I should get going. But I'll make you some tea tomorrow after breakfast if you like."
James kneeled to stroke Fang's head as the giant dog stepped out to greet him. He was about to stand up and leave as he heard something peculiar.
:Is he actually still asleep?
:I think that black-beard did something to him. Oh, but who cares? Were you listening to my story at all?
"I hear hissing.."
James peeked inside to get a better look at the cage in the far corner.
"Oh! It's Eznik! He must ha've awak'en," Hagrid guarded the door with the sheer magnitude of his body, "uhh, al'right then. I'll see you l'ater, James. Come on, Fang."
Hagrid immediately closed the door as Fang reluctantly went in. James blinked his eyes as he tried to figure what had happened.
'There are definitely more than one in there. And if I'm not mistaken,-..' James' thoughts were interrupted as the door abruptly opened.
"Oh, and th'anks for this."
Hagrid held up the bag and smiled sheepishly. James smiled back.
"You're welcome."
-
---------------------------------
-
-
Hogwarts: Library
August 20th, 2005.
Harry sighed as he rubbed the bridge of his nose.
Two days passed since Snape left for some business he really didn't care to know, and two days of nothing from Remus...
'...Where are you?'
Harry took his glasses off and wiped them with his shirt. He was alone in the massive library, literally covered in old issues of Daily Prophet. Everyone seemed to be busy getting ready for another year at Hogwarts. Draco was either locked up in his dungeons brewing or disappeared completely from school premises. Likewise with Ron. He was marking on books, writing important notes, and planning what to teach for each year-levels. He will be using the DADA classroom to teach, but he would return to his own home afterwards. Hermione was busy with the kids, which, shockingly enough, Harry has yet to meet. The oldest will be attending pre-school this year while the younger one will be at Hermione's parents' while she assisted Draco. Apparently, Draco could brew potions with his keen sense of smell he developed over the years, but he still needed help to identify some ingredients, grade papers, and call on students when they should ever raise their hands.
'Hagrid's out for Merlin knows whatever reason... Can't contact Remus or Sirius. Dumbledore is alive but I have no idea where he is..'
It seemed as though everyone was avoiding him on purpose. Ever since he asked about his godfather, Ron and Hermione looked uncomfortable being with him. Even Draco went to great means to evade encountering. Hagrid was constantly gone from his hut. What the hell was going on?
"Even the newspaper is hiding something from me.."
Harry groaned as he stacked the Daily Prophet into a pile to return them in the shelf. He realized every article were irrelevant to him and those around him. Not a single 'V' for Voldemort appeared. He noted some pages were simply missing or ripped out intentionally, and he thought it was safe to say it was the latter. Someone as intelligent as Snape would never make this easy on him. He probably had every important articles burned or something..
'What time is it?' Harry turned to see it was almost three, way passed lunch. No wonder he was hungry. He placed the papers back and headed to the kitchen. No one came to tell him probably because no one ate or they were simply not in Hogwarts. His presumption was confirmed when the usually chaotic kitchen was eerily quiet, but all that changed when the two house-elves saw Harry enter.
"Ah! Sorry, sir! We didn't know! We didn't know!"
The bigger of the two started to panic as the other looked frightened. Harry held out his hand.
"It's all right. I'm not mad at you. I just wanted to grab something to eat."
Harry tried his friendly smile to calm the elf's nerve.
"Yes, sir! Alverdine will make sir's lunch right away, sir!"
The house-elf with a decent clothing immediately started the fire and took out pots and pans.
"Uhh, a simple sandwich is fine, really."
Harry stopped her from making a feast fit for any king. The other one carefully set the table for him, hands somewhat shaky.
"Hello. You're Winky, right?"
Harry smiled as the small house-elf flinched and backed away.
"Are you new here?"
The house-elf shook her head when a small pop surprised Harry. Dobby came to her rescue.
"Hello, little Harry Potter, sir."
"Hi, Dobby. Is she your friend?"
Harry drank the pumpkin juice Winky served him.
"Yes, Winky is Dobby's friend. Did little Harry Potter find what he was looking for in the library?"
Dobby patted Winky's shoulder as she went to help the one called Alverdine cut slices of bread.
"No, not one bit," then, an idea popped in Harry's mind, "hey, Dobby? Do you know what happened to Sirius and Remus?"
Dobby's eyes went wide as he shook his head.
"No! No! Dobby not supposed to talk about Harry Potter's friends to little Harry Potter!"
He trapped his mouth with his hands as he violently shook.
"Dobby cannot answer little Harry Potter. Big Harry Potter said!"
He cried in his muffled voice as he was ready to bang his head on the table.
"Whoa, Dobby! It's okay, it's okay!" Harry pulled Dobby away from harm, "I told you not to talk about them?"
"Yes, the big Harry Potter didn't want Dobby to talk to little Harry Potter about his friends."
Dobby looked down, shamefully.
"That's okay, Dobby. You're just following orders."
Harry shrugged as he thought about the situation. His best friends couldn't tell him. Snape refused to tell him. Even he himself made sure he didn't get the information.. Color started to drain from his face.
Something terrible must have happened...
"Here you go, sir. Alverdine so sorry!"
The house-elf brought him a roast beef sandwich, almost dropping it from the nervous hands.
"It's okay, Alverdine," Dobby placed his hand on her shoulder, "this is Harry Potter, but a smaller Harry Potter."
Alverdine looked up and examined Harry for the first time.
"Why, it is Harry Potter! Professor Harry Potter!"
She suddenly took Harry's hand and shook it.
"You have those small plates on your eyes again?"
"Err, my glasses?"
Harry pointed.
"Yes, yes. Glasses. You're wearing those again."
Alverdine smiled and called Winky.
"I don't wear glasses anymore?"
"No, big Harry Potter do not wear glasses anymore. Big Harry Potter wears contracts."
Dobby smiled.
"You mean contacts? Those things you put in your eye?"
Harry placed his index finger in front of his eye.
"Yes, contacts! Dobby knows! Contacts!"
"Really?"
Harry made a face. He didn't know much about them, but he couldn't imagine putting anything in his eyes that wouldn't hurt.
"Winky, this is Harry Potter. The professor that comes and talks to Alverdine and Winky!"
Alverdine pulled Winky closer to Harry. The little house-elf shyly observed Harry, and nodded her head.
"Yes. Winky knows Professor Harry Potter. But little Harry Potter does not know Winky."
She looked away. Harry thought he saw a little guilt in those eyes.
"Did you work for someone named, Crouch?"
Winky squealed as Dobby screamed.
"No, no! Little Harry Potter cannot know Crouch! Oh, no! Dobby said his name!"
Dobby hopped around in circles looking for the nearest entrance to oblivion. Winky had disappeared deeper in the kitchen, while Alverdine stood with a big question mark above her head.
"Harry Potter cannot know! Little Harry Potter cannot know from Dobby!"
Dobby was about to wreak havoc if not for Harry.
"Dobby! Calm down! I won't ask if you calm down!"
Harry stood and took the wooden spoon away, which happened to be the weapon of choice for Dobby to hit his own head with.
"Oh, thank you, little Harry Potter! Little Harry Potter so kind like the big Harry Potter."
Dobby hugged Harry's leg. Harry gave out a big sigh. 'Well, that didn't go well..'
Harry sat back on his chair and started to take small bites from his sandwich. Somehow, he wasn't that hungry anymore. He leaned against the table as he slowly chewed his lunch. He wasn't allowed to see Sirius and Remus; everyone was reluctant to confront him about it, and most of all, Harry Potter himself thought wise for him not to know.
'There must be a way to find out..' Harry sipped his juice. He saw his Firebolt in his room but doubt he could fly anywhere with his sense of direction. Diagon Alley would be a great place to start, but that was too far away. He already tried looking for a floo powder in his room with no luck. Everything was set to prevent him from knowing something...
'Unless...' Harry glanced at Dobby who was talking to Alverdine.
"Uh, Dobby?"
"Yes, little Harry Potter?"
The house-elf immediately stood in front of him.
"Um, Hermione gave me a list of books I needed to study while I'm here. And I-.."
"Yes, Dobby knows. But little Harry Potter went to buy books with Harry Potter's friends."
'Too smart for his own good..' Harry sighed to himself as he nodded.
"Yes, we did. But there were some books we needed to order. And Hermione said she could pick them up for me, but with kids and all.. She's very busy, you know? I don't want to bother her when I can pick them up for myself," Harry leaned in for the kill, "do you think I can get some floo powder to go pick them up?"
"Yes! Dobby knows where to get floo powder. Does little Harry Potter need it now?"
Harry blinked.
"Uhh, yes... Please."
"Dobby will get it for little Harry Potter right away!"
Dobby snapped his fingers and disappeared.
Harry just stared at the spot where Dobby stood. He felt as though the wind was taken out of his sails. He had tons of backup stories lined up if ever Dobby questioned his motive. He slumped on his chair.
'Well, I guess they forgot to tell Dobby about the floo powder.' Harry shrugged and smiled to himself. He was definitely going somewhere now. He took another bite from his sandwich, which tasted better than before.
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
But I still don't like the idea of sticking something in my eye. I seriously need to consider laser surgery.