4) Bad news and letters

In the morning he was sitting in his office going through papers, when the green flames in the fireplace announced someone coming by flo. The next moment Mr. Weasley stumbled out of the fireplace. Dressed only slightly better than back in the days of Harry's youth.

"Hallo, Harry! I have a real important thing to tell you, can we talk somewhere freely?" He was pointing at the paintings.

"Sure Mr. Weasley, come upstairs." He said and they went.

Harry said to his godfather's paintig: "Sirius, would you be so kind and keep everyone out of your picture?" Sirius smiled and turned into his dog shape what would scare all the others out.

"Harry, Kingsley overheard something today. The problem is he didn't hear all of it and he couldn't get any names so it might as well be all rubbish."

Kingsley Shacklebold was still a spy for the order, still pretending to dislike the Weasleys and growing fat from Molly Weasleys cooking.

"Go on, then." He offered his guest a seat.

"Thanks, I'll have to return to work soon, Ron is covering for me, and I think he told somebody that I was busy with a biting bagel. Anyway, Kingsley heard that one of the new teachers is supposed to be from the Ministry."

"What! The Ministry is trying to interfere, again! Hasn't Fudge learned a thing?" Harry was angry. The last person the Ministry had sent to teach in Hogwarts had tried to use the Cruciatus Curse on him. If it hadn't been for Hermione... .

"Fudge was always trying to save himself. When Dumbledore was Headmaster he was afraid that people would realize what a scum he is and now that they do know he wants something against you to stop your influence on the people. He wants to get elected again, you know."

"I AM NOT TELLING ANYONE WHO TO VOTE FOR! I AM NOT INFLUENCING ANYONE!" Harry didn't mean to shout at his best friends father, but Arthur Weasley was used to burst outs like this having seven children and a very resolute wife. Also he knew Harry too well to take the shouting personal.

"I know you don't. But you are still The Boy who lived. And they all know you dislike Fudge and they all know why."

Harry had calmed down a bit. "Thank you for warning me, I'll have to think about it."

"Tell Ginny that her mother is expecting a decent length letter any time soon or she will send a howler. Imagine a teacher getting a howler in front of the whole school." He chuckled and went downstairs to head for work.

Harry sat on the sofa, and looked at Sirius' portrait. His godfather just changed back and looked at Harry a little concerned. "Don't look at me like this, Sirius! I'll manage somehow."

He went to his office and called for Professor Snape. While he waited, he thought how weird it was that beside Professor McGonagall, Ginny and Hagrid, of corse, Snape was the one to be trusted. The door opened and the grumpy looking Potions teacher appeared. Harry went upstairs and told him what he had just heard.

"I was not here, when the Headmaster had them over for the interview. They both have good records, especially that Herbology teacher, but I know neither."

"Do we have old school records?"

"If you had read their files throughoutly you would have stumbled across that tiny bit of information that none of them attended Hogwarts."

"Don't give me that kind of talk, Severus. You know I have a lot to do and stupid files are not my preferred bed lecture!" Harry looked his former teacher directly in the eyes. Snape avoided his view.

"What is wrong with you? I thought we settled that? We are even! Do you remember? No hatred, at least not in private!"

Snape did not answer for a while, struggling with himself. Harry was not able to make out what Snape was hiding.

Harry didn't want to wait any longer and he did not want his time wasted like this. He already was behind schedule this morning.

"So, are you going to tell me where they went to school?"

Snape turned to his usual straight face. "Ormand Nox went to Durmstrang and Gregor Wallace to a small wizarding school in Sweden."

"Well, that won't help at all. I should be going now, I have to deliver some letters I guess."

He turned to go, but stopped before leaving the office. "If there is anything you want to tell me, you usually will know how to find me." And he left through the fireplace.

Harry stumbled out again in a wizard's pub somewhere in London. Coughing he realized that the pub was full of people staring at him. Harry didn't like to do it, but he disapperated just to the front of the house he was heading for, leaving a bunch of wizards and witches to discuss if he had really been there or not.

Harry had disguised himself with his invisibility cloak he could have done without it, but this way was much more convenient. Melinda Purr's file had just said that her mother had raised her alone and had a small shop in outer London. But this shop was not what Harry had expected. Not at all. It was more looking like a wizards shop than anything else. Harry looked through the dirty window and saw stones, moon charts, dusty tarot cards and all stuff muggles think that are magical (and really are mostly). Harry apparated inside. This place was really weird. Harry heard someone moving in the back. A woman maybe in her thirties appeared with a huge load of books in her arms. She nearly dropped them by tripping over a chair, but Harry prevented her from falling, getting visible and lent her a hand.

She was truly shocked and looked at him like a ghost.

"Excuse me, madam, I usually don't drop in like this, but I did not want you to get hurt." Harry took the books out of the shaking hands and forced her to sit down on the chair she just fell over.

"How did you do this?" The woman still stared at him.

"I apparated."

"Appa..., what?"

"Apparated, that's how wizards move around, well at least if they are able to, some never learn."

"Wizards? So it is true?"

Harry was a little confused, did that woman know something about the wizarding world or did she just think she was?

"What do you think is true, Mrs. Purr?"

"When I was pregnant, I had a dream, a dream about a completely other world, were people do magic even when they brush their teeth."

Was that woman a seer or had it been the magic child in her that made her have that dream, Harry wasn't sure.

"Well it is kind of that way, but no decent wizard would clean his teeth with magic. Some young ones would, though." Harry smiled when he remembered Ron vanishing all his teeth instead of cleaning them.

"This is not a dream, right.

"No, it isn't. I actually came to talk with you about your daughter."

"Melinda? What about her?"

There were loud steps approaching as an eleven year old girl took two steps at a time jumping down a staircase.

"Hey, mom I wanted to... . Oh sorry! I did not hear the bell ring!" The girl was skinny, had brown eyes, brown hair and a really cute smile.

"The bell did not ring my dear. This man just appa...something in here."

"Apparated. My name is Harry Potter and I am here to deliver a letter for the young lady here."

He got the brown envelope out of his pocket and reached it over to the girl.

"You could have just sent it by mail, sir." Melinda said. Eager to open it, but not daring in front of the stranger.

"I didn't think that you would be used to owl post. But when I look around, it might not have bothered you at all. Well, open it then, it doesn't bite." Harry encouraged her.

"Owl... " Started Mrs Purr and Melinda finished "Post?"

Harry grinned at both of them and finally Melinda couldn't wait any longer and ripped the envelope open.

She read aloud: "Dear Miss Purr, we are pleased to inform you, that you were accepted to Hogwarts School for Witchcraft and Wizardry... Mom!"

"Are you telling me, that my girl is a witch? A real one?" Mrs Purr finally got her voice back.

"I am pretty sure about it."

"But how?"

"It's natural. They are born. Muggles can have magic children and wizards sometimes have Muggle children, though they are called Squibs and are very rare. There are quite a few muggle-borns though."

"What does it mean, Muggle?"

"It's the word wizards use for non-magic people."

"Mom! I heard that man that always orders the moon charts say that word once!"

"Did you? What is his name?" Harry was surprised, he didn't know a lot of wizards going into muggle-shops.

"Thomas, I think."

"Thomas, Dean Thomas?"

"Guess so."

"Mom! You went out with him a couple of times, you know his name! So, Mr Potter, you know Mr. Thomas, how is he? Would he be a good Dad for me?"

"Melinda!"

"Well, Melinda. Dean and I went to school together, you know. We weren't close friends, but there was a war with a dark wizard and Dean was on the right side, he was always nice. I couldn't tell you if he was a Dad for you. I don't know him that much, but I guess he would be all right. I just got the idea, that Dean could take you shopping for your school supplies and show you and your mother around Diagon Alley, I will talk to him, if that's okay with you?" Harry looked from the child over to her mother who was still confused. He decided that this was enough for today and got up ready to apparate.

"I guess I'll send you a note, so don't be surprised when there is an owl tapping on your window, it is just delivering mail. Miss Purr, I guess I'll see you at Hogwarts then." And with a wave of his cloak he was gone.