Chapter Fifty Five

Dinner with the Minister

That night the four of them made their way to the Top of the Tower Restaurant to meet with the Minister of Magic for dinner. Mr and Mrs. Granger were really excited that they got invited to eat with the Minister and were looking forward to it. They weren't worried to much that they were going to be eating with the Minister of the Magical Community of France, he was just another Wizard to them. They were all dressed smartly in either nice dresses or suits. Harry didn't have a suit of his own, so they went shopping for one for him that afternoon after the invite and some sightseeing. He was dressed smartly in an Armani three piece suit, and Hermoine was wearing an identically colored Dress. They made their way to where the Maitre D' was standing and told him. "We have a reservation for eight P.M. with minister Leblanc tonight."

"Yes he is waiting for you all. If you would please follow me." He lead them to a nice table that was near the window so that they could see the bright lights of Paris that night. When they were seated the Minister introduced himself and made quiet conversation while they were waiting for the waiter to take they're order.

"Well it is nice to meet you Mr. Weasley, Mr and Mrs. Granger and Ms. Granger. It was a bit of a surprise to us when we heard that the great Harry Potter was seen in the tower, but once it was confirmed, I just had to meet you all, and to entertain you tonight with dinner. Go ahead and order anything that you want, dinner is on me tonight." He was smiling nicely at them as they made small talk about the weather and what they thought about Paris and the different sights that they had seen so far.

"I seem to like some of the different museums and other sights that we have seen so far this day sir. I found it interesting that the Mona Lisa is actually a Wizardring portrait that moves and you can talk to her also. I commend the lady for not moving and acting as a muggle picture all this time except when she is with other Witches or Wizards. She has said that she also takes and go visits where she also has a portrait at. She said that she has one at the school Beaucbaton's and also one in Hogwart's. She says that she visits them only when the Museum is closed, or at night. She was in love with Leonardo Da Vinci, and he was a great Wizard himself. That was quite interesting talk we had with her, and I will have to look up her portrait when we get back to the school." Harry and Hermoine were already talking about what they were going to be looking for when they got back to the school. They were happy that they were going to be having another friend at the school, and they knew that the other friends would be interested in meeting her also.

"Ah I know whom you speak of. Yes she is quite a lady isn't she? I hear that your Headmaster has actually met her when she was alive. They were quite some friends, the three of them. That was back when he was still young, and he lived in Paris right after graduating from hogwart's. You will have to tell Headmaster Dumbledore hi for me, I'm sure that he will remember me. He was the one who helped me get this position back when Grindeweld was running amuck over Europe. He is a great man Dumbledore is. I know that he will remember me, and that he would be glad to hear that you have met me." He was going on like this for a bit while they ate their meal. During the dessert, he asked. "So tell me about yourself Harry. I would be interested in hearing about what your life was like before you went to Hogwart's." The Grangers were also interested in this, so Harry went into his tale telling them about what his younger life was like.

"Well I guess I will start with as far back as I can remember. I don't really know anything about what my life was like with my birth parents, except for what Mrs. Weasley has told me. I hear that it was a loving family, and that I am a mixture of both my mother and my father. I have my mother's and grandfather's eye color, and my dad's messy jet black hair. My mother was like my adopted family, in that she had red hair also. I was told that it is a trait that is passed on from Witch or Wizard to the next Witch or Wizard in the family. I know that my grandfather had red hair also, but I never met him that I know of." When he said this, the Minister of Magic had a far away look on his face, but Harry didn't notice, or if he did, he didn't say anything. "All I remember about that night is seeing a green light hit my mother and her falling to the floor not moving. I didn't know it at the time, of course, but she was dead. I also remember a green light coming at me and that's the last I remember of that. I know that I was taken in by the Weasley's after that, and raised as one of their own. My next memory was my 4th birthday party where the twins had gotten a hold of dung bombs from somewhere, and set them off in my room. They got into real trouble, but we all had a good laugh at it. They were just showing that they thought of me as their brother, and not just someone that their parents had taken in. I got my first toy broom that day, and I was a natural at it, even tho I couldn't go any farther off the ground than 3 feet so as to not get hurt. What my parents didn't know was that Charlie and Bill had taken me up on one of their brooms and letting me try it out. I was so excited when they let me on, that I wasn't frightened at all."

Harry took a break to take a drink from his wine glass, and then set it down to continue with his story. "The next thing I remember was when I was six, and got to go out with the other boys to play quidditch with them in our back yard. Since I was the smallest, I was able to be the Seeker, and I was quite interested in it even back then. I wasn't able to get the Snitch all the time, but some times I was able to get it. That was also the first time that I broke my arm. I was about 10 feet off of the ground when a stray bludger hit me in the arm, and I fell off of my broom. Charlie was able to catch me, but the bludger still had broke my arm. Mum was able to fix it easily enough, but I had to stay off of the broom for the rest of the summer. That really was a bad time, because all I could do was go out to the swimming hole and swim when I wanted to fly. It wasn't that I was injured, but they had a rule in the house, if your injured while flying, you are not allowed back on the broom again for two months. That doesn't apply while your in school, but it does while at home." They all had a laugh at this, and were enjoying the tales of Harry's childhood.

"I remember Christmas that year, and I got some books on Ani-Magi from a stranger that I didn't know and I seemed to absorb them quite well. Well at the time I didn't know who had sent them, but mum and dad told me later that Professor Dumbledore had sent them to me, and that he thought that I might like to read up on them. I was a bit surprised that mum and dad would let me study up on something that was so dangerous for someone of that age to be looking into, but they told me that it was alright as long as I waited until I was at least at Hogwart's to look into becoming one. They never told me at what year I had to wait til, so I became one in my second year and I am a natural Ani-Magi of a Phoenix, and a regular Ani-Magi of a Golden Gryphon. I know that this is a very rare ability, but it seems that I have the rare ability of doing this. Let's see here, where was I, oh yes. In my eighth year, I was the spelling bee champion of Greater England, and did pretty good in the nationals. I ended up taking 7th place in the finals because I misspelled misspell. Now that is funny if I don't say so myself. Yes I have heard of you Hermoine before we met up at Hogwart's, I know that you were the champion that year, and the years up to the time you entered Hogwart's. I just figured that out, so please don't think that I didn't remember you on purpose." He gave her one of his winning smiles, and she gave him one also.

"My ninth and tenth years were kind of boring except that we went to Romania when I was nine, and Egypt when I was ten. Romania was quite interesting in that we were able to see the dragon preserve that my brother Charlie works at as a Dragon Handler. We stayed there for a couple of weeks, and found that it was an interesting area, but had to go back early when one of the dragons escaped." Harry had a shiver at that thought, they barely made it out of Romania without anyone getting hurt. They had to take an emergency Port Key back home, and they were happy when they found out that no one was hurt there, and that they had caught the Dragon rather quickly.

"The next year was when we went to Egypt where my brother Bill works as a Curse Breaker. It was quite interesting in that we saw some of the more interesting parts of the Pyramids that muggles aren't allowed to see. We saw what Bill had been doing at the time in that he was working at breaking into the ancient Egyptian Wizards tomb, and had just opened one up and declared it safe. We were allowed to go down into it with him and found that it was quite interesting. Bill had pulled out a ancient scarab that was made of pure gold, and an ancient spell scroll. He wasn't the one who broke the curse on the scroll, but he was part of the group that deciphered it. It was the ancient scroll of Manurab, or the spell of 'Death Defying Logic'. It wasn't a very special spell, but they were able to put it in the books of some of the more advanced spell teaching books around. Well after we came back from Egypt is when I received my letter from Hogwart's and you know the rest." Harry smiled at them and they were flabbergasted about his young life, but they were happy that he was still alive.

"You have led an interesting life Harry, I hope that the rest of your life brings you happiness and good times. Well if you will excuse me, I have a meeting I have to go to in the morning. Don't worry about the bill, it is already taken care of. Please enjoy the rest of your meal and the rest of your time in Paris." With that the minister of magic swept out of the restaurant and left them to enjoy the lights and the sounds of Paris at night.

The rest of the vacation in Paris went by without much hoopla. They spent it touring the different parts of France, including a tour of the wine country. They spent the rest of June and part of July with the Granger's back at their place in England. They went swimming, and to movies. Harry started up with his learning of the Guitar, and it seemed that he was a natural at it. He could be seen singing and playing his Guitar late into the night with Hermoine and her parents listening. Harry and Hermoines relationship grew at this time, and they became closer that they ever were. When they made their way back to the Burrow at the end of July, they were even closer, but were keeping it quiet from their friends and family.

A/N: Ok I hope that this satisfies you all that wanted me to put in something about Harry's childhood. I hadn't planned on doing that, but it just came out while I was writing. It made this chapter a lot longer than my usual, but I'm sure that you all appreciate that. Please as always read and review. —Donald