Two weeks later
It was like sitting in a class at Hogwarts once again. Harry, Ron and the other trainees were sitting in desks that were lined up in rows. Hodges was at the front of the room, while behind him a piece of chalk was suspended mid-air, writing down sentences they were supposed to copy as notes. It was a rather dull day. They had a test coming up over the section they were finishing up. It was one of those days where there was neither any actual training or going out into the field. Harry disliked those days. Hermione said it was because he was used to action, combining that with his saving people thing, and now that the war was over, needed something else or someone else for him to theoretically save. Needless to say, he hadn't appreciated her trying to use what limited muggle psychology she knew on him. It had nothing to do with saving people. He just wasn't the type of bloke to be satisfied sitting down all day doing notes. He became an auror to make a difference. This right here wasn't making a difference at all.
"Harry," Hermione had said to him at some point weeks ago. She was giving him that look of hers, which meant she was just seconds away from a lecture. Ron gave him a sympathetic look. He understood, having riled Hermione up, unintentionally or not, many times. "It takes time. You know this. You won't become an auror overnight."
"I know," He said, annoyed. "But you haven't seen what he's making us do. It's like we're at Hogwarts again. We've barely gotten any field time lately."
"Have you spoken to him about it?" Hermione asked.
"I've tried," Harry scowled. "He's refusing to talk to me."
Ron was chewing on a chocolate chip muffin, swallowing to say, "He's probably still upset about the whole muggle thing, mate. You should've heard Percy. According to him, he was really ticked off."
"Not that I blame him," Hermione muttered, much to the annoyance of Harry and Ron."
"Hermione!"
"What?" She said defensively. "You technically broke protocol, Harry. It's a serious violation."
"I know that."
"And yet you did it," Hermione shook her head. Her face softened after that, dropping the subject. For now. "Look, I know this isn't exactly what you've signed up for, but you've made it this far. You can't quit now. You're nearly there."
"You're right," Harry said begrudgingly. He sighed. "I'm not going to quit. I'm just...bored."
"It happens," She said. "It'll get better, I'm sure."
"Potter!"
Harry jerked. Ron was shooting him a look, presumably to warn him but it was too late now. Grimacing, he glanced up at Hodges, who was standing right there in front of Harry's desk. Fantastic. "Err, sorry, Sir," He muttered.
But Hodges wasn't easily placated with a simple apology. "You think you can just daydream while everyone else works?"
"No, I-"
"What, you think that being a celebrity and savior of the wizarding world means you can slack off?"
"No! I was just-"
"Do you think you deserve special treatment, Potter?" Hodges sneered.
Harry glared up at him heatedly. He felt Ron kick his shin, silently warning him once again. This time it meant not to do anything stupid. Like giving the man a piece of his mind, what he really felt. "No, Sir," He said steely. "I don't."
Hodges' face came very close to Harry's. "Then you better start wising up and acting like you deserve to be here because I've got a good mind to kick you out of this program right now."
Behind Harry, some people dissolved into whispers. It really was just like being at Hogwarts again. No doubt the rumor mill was going to be stirred up. He wouldn't have been surprised to find that it had circled throughout the entire building by that afternoon. Things seemed to just naturally go that way when it came to Harry.
"Yes, Sir," Harry struggled to keep his voice even.
Hodges broke away, turning around. Harry clenched his fists. Ugh, what did he do to wind up with someone like him as his trainer and boss? Was this for all the bad things he'd done? Or complaining about Snape?
"He's a git," Ron muttered so only Harry would hear. "He's really got it out for you."
"No kidding," Harry said, shaking his head. Some days it really was worse than the treatment he'd received from Snape. That spoke volumes, surely. "Bloody menace."
"Why?" A girl around their age, perhaps a couple or three years older than them to Harry's right, said. She was almost always rolling her eyes at him and Ron or scoffing for no reason other than the fact that she could. She didn't like them very much and they didn't like her. "Because he doesn't bow down at your feet?"
"No," Harry whispered furiously. "He singles me out. I'm sick of it."
She sneered. "Boo hoo. Poor little Potter. Are you sure you're fit to be an auror if you can't take a little heat? What happens when a suspect has it out for you in the field? You gonna cry and complain? We all know you don't belong here. Stop kidding yourself."
"Ignore her, Harry," Ron advised, gently grabbing him by the sleeve, shooting the girl a dirty look. "She doesn't know what she's talking about."
" I think I do," The girl continued in a low voice. Harry stared straight ahead at the board, determined not to show her any attention. "Everyone acts like you're the next Merlin but you're nowhere near special. You're just a kid with luck. You won't always be lucky. You'll encounter someone smarter than you, more dangerous. You'll see. And then they'll all see."
"Sod off!" Ron hissed. "You don't know what you're talking about. Harry's faced things you don't even know about."
She rolled her eyes. "Everyone practically knows everything about the famous Harry Potter's adventures so try again, Weasley."
"You should be silent!" Hodges' sharp voice rang through the air.
The three of them lowered their heads but the girl waited a moment or two before speaking up again, her voice quieter than before. "I'm just saying. Have you ever thought about why you're so widely famous, Potter?"
"Might have something to do with surviving an unrevivable curse," Harry said dryly. "But that's just a guess."
"Still," The girl-Harry knew he should probably pay better attention so he could know her name-said. "Haven't you asked yourself why? Plenty of people have done impressive things before. What makes yours so special?"
"Are you jealous or something?" Ron glared at her.
"Not in the slightest," She said coldly. "I just don't think he deserves all that fame considering it started when he was an infant. Do you see how ridiculous that is, getting famous all over the wizarding world for something he doesn't even remember?"
Harry stayed silent. He'd pondered that very thing before; feeling as though he were the only person not to fly comprehend it. On a basic level, he knew why he was famous, of course. That much was clear. But at the same time, it almost felt like the deed was done by someone else, what, since he remembered very little of what happened and if it weren't for the dreams and the visions he got from the dementors, he wouldn't have known what happened at all.
But that didn't mean he wanted to hear that from someone like her, given how she'd taken a dislike to him. It would be like hearing it from Malfoy.
"Sounds like you are to me," Ron mumbled
She glared at him.
Harry tried to ignore them so he could pay attention. He didn't want to give Hodges another reason to get in his face, pointing out for the umpteenth time why he felt that Harry didn't belong at auror training.
The door to the training room burst open. Some people flinched, others brandished their wands, pointing it at the figure that loomed in the doorway. Wands were lower, faces going sheepish when they realized they were not in any incoming danger. It was only but an auror, an official auror that was only just promoted to one before Harry and his class began their own training. He was a lanky man; his brown hair was wavy, falling close to his ears. He looked like he didn't have much muscle on him, not to mention that sweat was glistening on his brow line. He'd been running, judging by that and the way he panted.
Hodges stopped talking. He turned toward the unknown man with a glare, likely for the interruption. "What is it, Reeves?"
Reeves straightened up, clearing his throat. "I was told to come inform you about a new development in the-"
"Spit it out!" Hodges barked.
"There's been another attack," Reeves announced.
This piece of information sent off more whispers within the room. Harry and Ron glanced at each other before turning back to face Reeves.
"What happened?" Hodges demanded to know. His head snapped in the direction of the class when some of Harry's fellow trainees allowed the volume to get to an unnecessary level. "Quiet!"
Reeves explained, "There was magic detected in London once again, near the site of the first attack. A couple muggles inside a building were hurt when the suspect entered and began shooting spells. Many hid, believing it to be the work of a muggle shooter or some sort of other illegal device. Unfortunately, the suspect escaped so we haven't a clue who was behind it. We were able to round up all the muggles that had witnessed it happening and obliviate them, although because of that, we don't have a statement."
Hodges was practically trembling with anger. Harry didn't want to know how the man seemed to get so worked up so easily. "And why didn't you think of getting one before you obliviated them?"
Reeves shrunk a little. "We were concerned that someone would leave , Sir. The muggles, they were obviously startled and running around all over the place. We had to do something!"
"Incomptent fools!" Hodges snarled. Reeves flinched. "You had one job to do and you couldn't even succeed at that! Why do you work here if you all insist on acting like imbeciles?"
"I'm sorry," Reeves tried to do some damage control. "It was an overwhelming situation. We did the best we could, Sir."
"Heh!" Hodges said loudly. "Overwhelming? You haven't seen overwhelming yet, boy. When I went out in the field during the war with the threat of Death Eaters on our tail, people dying left and right, that was overwhelming."
Reeves lowered his eyes to the floor. "Yes, Sir. Sorry, Sir."
No one in the training room was saying a word. They knew better. The only noise was the sound of Hodges' breathing that came out sharply through his nose. "I want you all back out there and find me somebody that knows what happened," He ground out through grit teeth.
"But Sir," Reeves was wide-eyed at the request, "I told you we already obliviated them all."
"Then I reckon you better go and hope you're wrong," Hodges glowered at him.
Reeves faltered, his mouth opening and closing several times. Finally, he nodded, looking resigned. "Yes, Sir. Right away, Sir." He turned to leave but then Hodges barked at him to wait.
"Hold up a moment, Reeves. What building was attacked?"
Reeves thought about it. "I believe it was called Eureka, Sir."
Harry nearly fell out of his seat. Eureka? That Eureka? The one where Tom Riddle, the muggle he'd broken the rules for, worked at? That very one? How? Why? This was the second time that an attack happened and Tom was around for it. Was it deliberate? Was someone after Tom? Harry couldn't be certain of that for sure. The first one could have been a coincidence since Tom had been on his break; unless the attacker knew that and thus, that was why he'd chosen that time.
But why now?
Or maybe he was overreacting for nothing. The attacker could have been there for anyone or maybe it was just completely spontaneous with no motive other than the thrill of committing the crime and or getting recognized for doing it. After Voldemort's death, there had been a number of wannabes who tried following in his footsteps. It was actually one of the first major challenges that came once Kingsley took office as minister.
"Hey," Ron nudged him, frowning. "You okay?"
"Yeah," Harry muttered.
"You sure?' Ron raised his eyebrows. "Looked like you were gonna fall out of your chair there for a moment."
Harry shrugged. "I'm fine."
"Whatever you say," Ron clearly didn't believe him.
/
Tom was intrigued by Harry Potter, that was for sure.
The man was a walking air of mystery. There was just something downright peculiar about him that seemed to draw Tom in. And it was bloody annoying that he didn't know why, why this man had caught his eye. But he did. He did and now Tom wanted to see more of him.
To think, wizards were real! Magic was real and everything he thought was part of a child's imagination, childish play that he'd shaken off much earlier than typical children did-it was real. There were people doing magic everyday. There were more people like Harry, who-if he'd come across before the events that transpired two weeks ago-he would have assumed was a common man. How many other wizards were living amongst them? Did Tom know any at Eureka? Perhaps so and they just hid it well.
Tom surprised himself with how much he'd genuinely enjoyed sitting on that uncomfortable park bench with Potter. He wasn't typically tolerable of that sort of thing, having no patience to sit through it and pretend he was interested in the other person enough not to leave. But in that instance, he had been. He had questions and riling Potter up didn't fail to amuse him. He was a bit on the uptight side but Tom could work with that.
Honestly...Tom was amazed the other man hadn't gone running in the opposite direction yet. People didn't stick around for long with him if they didn't have to. He scowled. It was ridiculous and he'd long gotten used to it.
He leaned back in his recliner, arms folded across his chest, flipping idly through the telly. He became annoyed when there was nothing he wanted to watch that was on; he shut it off, throwing the remote on the couch and sighed.
He was very bored.
It was his day off, although he would much rather be at the office doing something productive instead of merely sitting there. But alas, it was a mandatory off day; he'd worked so much without taking one that he was forced to just so it didn't look bad on them, so no one could spread it around that the company made him do that, mistreating their employees and all.
His mind drifted elsewhere, such as what Potter could be doing right about now.
He didn't know why, but he was. The man had been in the back of his mind since they'd met.
Was Potter working, doing those-oh, what was he again?-auror related things? What did that even entail? Was it similar to that of a policeman? So many questions and no way of getting answers. That day in the bakery was a pure coincidence, one he doubted would happen again.
He tapped his fingers on the table that was adjacent to his chair. He needed something to do, something to be a distraction to ease with not being able to clock in until next week.
Tom pondered.
He did have some unfinished paperwork in his office. Surely he could just pop in to take it back here and work on it. Yes, that was fine. He didn't particularly care if anyone saw him come in or not. He was above them. He could fire them if he wanted. They had no opinion on the matter.
He got up and left.
/
"That's it," Hodges said to them, giving them an unimpressed look, "go home. Study the material."
The class started to disperse. Harry quickly got to his feet and approached Hodges' desk. He could feel Ron's eyes on him. "Err, Sir?"
"What Potter?" Hodges snapped.
"I was wondering if you wanted me to go to the scene to see if I could get a statement or do anything to help?" Harry asked carefully.
"What are you playing at?" Hodges narrowed his eyes.
"Nothing," Harry said. "Just trying to be helpful. You sent me there last time. I just thought-"
"That was last time. Not now," Hodges said shortly. "Go home, Potter. You don't get brownie points for volunteering."
"I just-" Harry started, "I just thought I'd be of help seeing as I'm familiar with what happened last time. Perhaps I could see if I spot anything to help figure out who was behind it."
Hodges pointed a finger at him. "If I get word that you've gone. You're dead, Potter. I don't want you anywhere near it."
"But Sir-"
"War time's over. You don't get to be the hero forever," Hodges sneered.
Harry quieted, biting down on his lip to keep from saying something vulgar. "Yes, Sir."
/
"Want to come over for lunch?" Ron offered. "Mum's made that soup you like."
"No thanks," Harry declined. "I've got to watch over Teddy."
"He can come over too," Ron said. "Mum loves having him around."
"Err, you probably don't want that. I've got to start potty training him."
Ron blanched comically. "Oh. Yeah. You do that."
Harry snorted. "I'll see you."
"Bye."
/
Harry threw his invisibility cloak over his shoulder. If there was one positive side to not having grown much in comparison to everyone else, it was that the cloak would still fit over him.
"What is Mr. Harry Potter Sir doing?"
Harry whirled around. Dobby was staring at him.
"Dobby...I'm just..I'm about to go a little errand. I'll be back soon."
"Does Mr. Harry Potter Sir want any lunch before he goes?"
"No, thank you," Harry said, shaking his head. "I'll be back. Just stay put and try to ignore anything Kreacher says."
The elf looked sheepish.
/
Tom had a strange feeling as he approached the building. He didn't know why but he did. He tried to shake it off, brushing it off as nothing more than paranoia.
And then something strange happened.
He would later deny that it startled him; that his heart momentarily stopped, stomach dropping to the floor and a gasp that got caught in his throat.
Something bumped into him.
But there was nothing or anyone there.
/
Shoot.
Shoot.
Shoot.
Harry was under his invisibility cloak, standing just outside of the building when he bumped into someone. Stupid, stupid, stupid! His mind screamed.
Great, he probably bumped into a muggle who would freak out and the reverse squad would be summoned and then word would get back to Hodges that he was there and then he'd really be in for it.
When Harry turned to see who it was, he was surprised.
No, scratch that, he was stunned.
"Tom?"
"Harry?" Tom looked around, voice laced with confusion.
