Muggles
When Harry and Brandt arrived at Elmswood Lodge, they were startled by the presence of Arcturus Black sitting in a chair across from the fireplace. Harry hadn't seen him yet, since before the break, so his attention was immediately drawn to the dark crack in the man's face from the corner of his eye.
Curious about it, he asked, "What happened to your face?"
The question drew a shocked expression from Brandt as Arcturus reached up and ran his hand down the disfigurement.
"It's not something you need to be worried about, Mr. Potter. You know that I have extended my life to help you and your sister, and with such unnatural magics as the one I used, there are always sacrifices and costs that come with it. Otherwise, wizards truly could live forever."
Harry tried not to stare at the man's face but found it hard not to stare at what looked like a crack in an egg that had nothing but darkness inside.
"My Lord," Brandt stated, snapping Harry out of his staring. "I assume you're here to talk to Harry about his meeting?"
"I would prefer to just see it myself," he said. Then called, "Darby!"
His personal elf popped in, holding a large stone basin, rows of runes covered the entire exterior and the top rim of the bowl. There was a clear liquid in it that sparkled a bit in the light. Darby let the bowl go and it floated upwards until it was hovering at Harry's chin height.
"Do you know what a pensieve is, Mr. Potter?" Arcturus asked and Harry shook his head. "It is a device to place your memories in, so that others may view them as you did. It is a great tool of magic as you can examine a point in time and even find other things you may have missed the first time. One is often distracted by what lies right in front of them, but their mind still can recall all the things that have happened, so you may be able to focus on something different during subsequent viewings."
That certainly sounded incredible, "How do I do it, sir?" Harry asked.
"Brandt will extract the memories from your head. You just need to focus on the memory, and the magic will do the work."
The steward kneeled in front of Harry, "I am going to put my wand to the side of your head, concentrate on the memory of the meeting, you can start when we arrived at the lobby outside the office, and finish when we got to the elevator. When you think you've got everything in your head, just give me a nod." Harry got a little nervous as he felt the wand tip on the side of his head. "Sometimes it helps to close your eyes. Just nod when you're ready," Brandt repeated.
Harry focused as much as he could on arriving, the senior undersecretary, the man laughing with the Fudge as they exited the office, exchanging pleasantries with the minister, the give and take, and finally talking about their next meeting. Adding on the exit from the room, the flashes of the cameras, and entering the elevator… mission accomplished. He gave a nod with his eyes still closed.
"Memento excerptae!" he heard Brandt say, as he experienced a sensation that was like someone running a hand through his hair… except not his hair… his mind. He opened his eyes to see ghostly fibers hanging from the tip of Brandt's wand.
"That's a memory?" he asked.
Brandt nodded and carried it over to the stone basin, flicking the strands into the bowl. Harry watched as the threads dissolved into the shining liquid, turning into an overhead view of the man in the blue coat gesturing to him and Brandt to have a seat. Everything from the memory in Harry's path of vision had a bit of color to it, everything behind his head had much less color, and some spots were just shades of gray and wisps of smoke.
Arcturus explained, "This is your memory. When I tell you to, we will all put our faces into the basin. What you see now is the start of the memory, areas with color are things you saw directly, faded colors are things your mind fills in the blanks for, gray and wispy areas you didn't notice or think about but your other senses felt out. Do you see how almost everything has color? That proves how good your memory is and how much your mind can extrapolate from the rest."
Arcturus proceeded to tap on a few runes around the outside with his wand, and then he and Brandt stuck their faces into the basin. Harry looked on in shock as their arms seemed to go limp as they relaxed. A bit nervous as he didn't see any bubbles coming out of the liquid, he slowly leaned forward and put his face in as well. As soon as his nose touched the water he felt like he was falling. He spun head over heels until he landed on his feet.
Looking around, he was standing next to himself and Brandt, plus the man in the blue jacket. Both were frozen in place. When he reached out to touch himself, his hand went right through, like a ghost. Looking around quickly, he saw a more solid version of Brandt and Arcturus behind him on the edge of the memory, next to black space.
"You did an incredible job isolating the memory," Arcturus told him. "You really started it from this point. A less focused mind would have at least the rest of the hallway behind them, but not you, Mr. Potter."
Harry blushed a bit at the praise as the memory started to play. After they were sitting down, Arcturus made some hand gestures which sped up the memory until Delores Umbridge came out. He made the same face at her that Brandt had as she told Harry to take off his hood.
"That woman is a plague," Arcturus said with a sneer. "However, that doesn't mean that she can't be aimed at people I don't like. If I can point her to someone that will draw her ire, it's a good way to keep her attention elsewhere while I do what I can to accomplish something I know she would stand in the way of."
The memory was sped up again until Fudge exited his office with the other man, and Arcturus froze it again, turning to Brandt, "Do you recognize that man?" Brandt shook his head. "That is the MACUSA ambassador to the British Ministry. That probably means the Americans are on board with Bagman's project."
"What project?" Harry asked.
"It's something Hogwarts-related," Brandt told him. "As soon as it is official, we will let you and Lyra know about it before anyone else."
Brandt watched as Harry seemed to be fishing through his memories again. He mumbled "McGonagall…" before focusing back on the memory at hand.
They went through the full meeting, with Arcturus adding compliments to Harry, and laughter at Fudge at various points. Brandt was also very impressed, as the two meetings he had with the man ended up with some money being spent or changing hands during the meeting. Harry got exactly what he wanted for free.
At the end of the memory, Arcturus closed his eyes and focused on something, which caused Harry to stand up straight outside the pensieve and take a deep breath of air. Brandt and Arcturus stood up quickly too but didn't have the sharp intake of breath that he did. Arcturus waved his wand towards the stone basin and all the contents vanished.
"With that, I will take my leave," Arcturus said as Darby stepped up and took the pensieve, vanishing with a pop. As he was heading to the fireplace, he stopped and turned back around.
"Mr. Potter, Brandt informs me you are going out with a muggle today. While I'm sure she is a nice person, I caution against long-term contact. Muggles are very industrious and intelligent, but they can never be what you are. They cannot be magical. You will always need to keep secrets from them, and they will always be envious that you can do things they cannot. Many of them will turn that envy into hate and despise us, simply for being better than them. Do not let that keep you from enjoying the fruits of their labor and spending limited time with them. Again, I just advise against long-term attachments." Then, without giving Harry a chance to respond, he entered the floo and the flames whisked him away.
Harry thought about what Arcturus had said, his relatives did hate him, but were they envious or just horrible people, to begin with? Mrs. Davis, Tracey's mom, was nice, but even Tracey was sad that she didn't have magic. Would Liz be like that too if she knew more about him? He tried to run through all the muggles he knew, and separated them into those who were nice to him or not, and then again those who knew he had magic and those who didn't. Sorting them out like that didn't show any pattern either way.
Brandt told him to change into his muggle clothes, so he changed into jeans and a t-shirt, along with a slightly long leather jacket and a watch cap to keep his head warm in the cold. When he came back out, he found Brandt had changed too… just not much. He still had a long robe-like coat on but had changed his under-robe into a black sweater and gray pants.
"How are we getting there?" Harry asked.
"Miss Tonks said she would meet us out front of the Leaky Cauldron and that she had arranged a car for us."
Harry put on the face-concealing cloak and the two of them walked from Elmswood to the dingy pub at the entrance to Diagon Alley. After the craziness with the press at the Ministry, he was happy to have the hood to keep him anonymous. Once they got through the pub, they looked around to see if they could find Tonks, and heard a horn honk from across the street.
Tonks was leaning out the window of a sleek black car, with a golden phoenix painted on the hood, "Hey Steward! Over here!" Tonks yelled at them.
They carefully crossed the street and Tonks pushed open the side door and tilted the seat forward for Harry to climb in the back, then Brandt reset the seat so he could sit up front.
"I don't know much about cars," he said while looking over the interior, "but this seems like a nice one."
"It's a 1977 Pontiac Firebird, Trans Am," Tonks said with a bit of pride. "Got a friend who loaned it to me for the day."
"Firebird?" Harry asked. "I bet Lyra would love it."
"I bet she would, now where are we going?" Tonks smiled.
"Hampton Court Fairgrounds," Brandt responded.
Tonks shifted the car into gear and sped off down the road. Harry was amazed by the control she had over the car, with the speeds she was traveling at. It took them about half an hour to get where they needed to go, and she finally slowed down as they pulled into a dirt parking lot with a lot of other cars. It was only then that Harry noticed that Brandt was as pale as a ghost and gripping the armrest with his fingers dug in.
"I think I prefer the Knight Bus," he said as he slowly released his hand from its grip.
"I think you're just a big baby," Tonks teased him.
"So where's Alastor today?" Harry asked as she looked for a place to park.
"Not here, thank Merlin. It's my day off," she explained. "He's assigned to protect Lyra, not you. I wanted to come along because it should be fun. Though I wouldn't put it past him to make a surprise visit, just to annoy me and make sure I'm constantly vigilant."
They got out of the car, and Brandt took Harry's pouch and wand. He felt a little lighter and slightly off-balance after Brandt had taken them from him. As he shifted around to adjust to not having his focus within arms reach, Brandt held out a magical absorption bracelet for him to take. After a few seconds of indecision, he clipped it to Harry's left wrist.
Harry could already hear the sounds of the fair and could see a Ferris wheel sticking up into the sky out in the meadow beyond where they parked the car, along with a few other tall rides. He could only recognize the Ferris wheel from something he had seen on TV. The rest of it was a mystery, but one that he was going to enjoy finding out about.
They waited next to the entrance, as they had arrived a bit earlier than planned to meet Liz and her parents. Brandt made a joke that the ride should have taken them twenty minutes longer if they weren't being driven by an angry dragon, to which Tonks responded by blowing smoke out of her mouth at him.
Twenty minutes later, they heard, "Harry!" and turned to see Liz running over with what must be her parents following her.
Harry jogged over to meet her and they stopped right in front of each other. Harry wasn't sure if he should hug her or how to greet her, so after they both shifted back and forth in front of each other, he settled for offering her a formal handshake as he had before, in the record store.
The adults had caught up behind them, and her father said to Brandt and Tonks, "Your boy certainly has good manners."
"They aren't related, remember?" her mother whispered loudly.
"Harry, this is my mum and dad. Mum, Dad, this is Harry." Liz introduced her parents.
Her father stepped forward to shake Harry's hand, "It's Alvin, and this is my wife Sheila."
"Pleased to meet you," Harry told them. "This is Brandt and Tonks. Brandt doesn't have a second name and Tonks doesn't like her first name." This caused the muggles to look at them strangely.
"We'll tell you all about it while the kids are having fun," Brandt said with a sigh. "Something we should let you know about now though, Harry hasn't had a traditional childhood, and as a result, this is his first funfair. So, Liz, you'll have to show him all the things he can do here, ok?"
Liz's eyes and smile widened, and she looked back at her parents, "Can we head in?"
Alvin Manning looked at his daughter seriously, "Behave yourself, young lady. You know our meeting point if we lose you, right?"
She rolled her eyes, and said sarcastically, "Yes, Father. I will meet you under the Ferris wheel if we get lost."
Tonks kneeled in front of Harry, "Don't worry, we'll find you if anything happens." Harry saw her wand sticking out of her jacket sleeve and felt a tag of magic on his coat as she patted him on the shoulder.
With approval given, Liz grabbed Harry's arm and started to drag him into the fair, with the adults following slowly after.
As they started in, Liz's mom asked, "So, can you give us more information about Harry? And why are you looking out for him? Lizzy said that he's an orphan."
"It's a bit of a complicated situation," Brandt began, "and some of it we legally can't talk about, but I'll do my best. Harry's parents were killed when he was a little over a year old." There was a sharp intake of breath from Alvin and Sheila. "Harry spent some time with relatives, but it wasn't a good fit for him, and partially due to the situation with his parents' death, he was put into the protective services."
"That must have been terrible for him to be moved around like that," Sheila said with sympathy.
Tonks was listening closely for any clues to Harry's past, as Brandt continued, "At first it was, but he also became a better person as a result. It also led him to be with the girl he now calls his sister."
"Lizzy said something about a sister when they were at the record store, but she didn't get to meet her," Sheila commented.
"Harry's placement put him near Lyra, and they grew close enough to call each other brother and sister. Lyra's great-uncle comes from an old family who used to have a hereditary seat in the House of Lords but gave up their seat in the mid-1600s. By sheer coincidence, Harry's paternal great-aunt is also a member of this family. A recent event made it so Harry no longer needed to be in protective services but he and his sister still do receive protection from the government anyways when they are in public. That is why Miss Tonks is here."
"That's quite a lot to take in," Alvin said with a bit of shock. "Can you tell us anything about the situation in which Harry's parents died? I don't want to bring anything dangerous around my family."
Brandt made a face like he didn't know how to respond to that until Tonks whispered in his ear. He listened to her and then nodded.
"Mr. Manning," Tonks started, "I'm a Junior Officer in the Met, currently in the academy to join the D9. I can give you a little information regarding Harry's parents, but not a lot. OK?" Both parents nodded. "Do you remember in the 70s and up until 81, there were those strange killings of someone trying to use gas leaks to cover their tracks?" The Mannings traded concerned looks and nodded. "Harry's parents were part of the task force that led to the apprehension of the criminals involved. However, it also led to their deaths. Unfortunately, I can't give any more information than that, and say that the people involved are no longer a threat."
"Those were dark times," Alvin said, as he looked forward to Liz dragging Harry to a ring toss game. "There was talk about those deaths being IRA attacks or some deranged serial killer, but the Met never gave out any information on who was behind it."
"And I won't either," Tonks said firmly.
"So what's with your names?" Sheila said brightly, trying to lighten the mood.
Brandt began, "Well, in my case, I am very distantly related to Harry's sister, Lyra. She is my sixth cousin. When I was discovered living in Norway, Lyra's great-uncle asked me to come and live here. Part of the condition to rejoin the family was giving up my family name and working for him for ten years. I've found it to be very much worth it."
Before the Mannings could respond to that, Tonks told them, "In my case, I don't like it, so I just go by my last name."
"It's Nymphadora," Brandt informed him and Tonks slugged him in the chest, knocking him down.
"Wow, you really don't like it," Alvin said as Brandt groaned and stood back up slowly.
Tonks gave Brandt an evil glare as he stood back up, reiterating, "No, I do not like it."
"So Brandt is here due to the family connection, what connects you to this family… Tonks?" Sheila asked.
Brandt was about to say something, but a glare from Tonks silenced him.
"My training officer got an assignment to look after Harry and Lyra when they're out of school. He uses it as part of my training for urban environments, recon, stealth tactics, and asset protection, among other things. It's entirely possible he's watching me now, even though it's my day off."
"That sounds intense," Alvin whistled.
"You don't know the half of it," Tonks replied.
Harry took the moment to run over to the group and hand Tonks a stuffed animal he had won at one of the games and inform them that he and Liz were going to go on a ride, a tilting pirate ship. Brandt chuckled and pulled out his camera, knowing that Arcturus would appreciate the pirate humor.
"Tonks?" She turned to Alvin. "That was quite a punch you've got there, want a friendly wager?" He pointed to a punching machine to the side of the alley they were walking down, across from the pirate ship ride.
Tonks sized him up, he was in pretty good shape, and probably played some competitive sports growing up or in college. All the same, he wasn't a metamorphmagus, so he had no chance of winning.
"You don't mind losing to a girl?" she smiled.
"I think I have a chance or I wouldn't be making the wager. What do you say to twenty quid?"
Tonks pulled out two tenners and passed them to Brandt. "He can hold our wagers," she said and waited for Alvin to do the same.
Once he was ready, Alvin dropped a couple of coins in the machine and the punching bag dropped down. He smiled as he took off his jacket and handed it to his wife. His jacket was certainly hiding his physique, and must still be an athlete of some kind as his arms were jacked. She raised her eyebrows and gave a subtle glance to his wife who gave a grin back.
Alvin squared off in front of the bag, leaned back, and gave a strong punch, swatting the bag up to its starting point. The digital reader went up and up until it settled on 783. He gave a satisfied nod and stepped back, gesturing for Tonks to take her turn as he put his coat back on.
Tonks was wearing a puffy coat specifically for the reason that it let her adjust her body underneath more subtly. Since Alvin took off his coat, she had been developing and tightening her muscles to the point that she could strike the hardest. Rotating her shoulders and stretching her arms, she took off her coat to show off the muscles of her arms, giving them a flex before passing her jacket to Brandt, then dropping coins into the machine. Both of the Mannings looked a bit shocked at the reveal.
Tonks squared herself off but in a strange stance. Standing almost sideways, she reached her left hand out until it was touching the bag, with her right arm as far back as possible. Quickly leaning back, she sprung forward, driving her right fist into the bag with incredible speed, driving the bag upwards with a loud pop. The numbers climbed up, past Alvin's score until it reached 869. Tonks turned around, gave a big flex with her arms over her head, and gave a small roar before retrieving her coat from Brandt and picking up the money.
"That was…" Sheila started.
"Impressive," Alvin finished.
" Don't worry, snacks are on me," Tonks said as she waved the bills in her hand.
They turned back to watch the kids get on the rocking ship and Brandt made sure to take pictures.
Harry was having a great time, and Liz was enjoying his reaction to all the little things she was able to show Harry for the first time. There were a lot of games to play for prizes that she told him were impossible, but fun. They played a few games of the ring toss and Harry managed to win a tiny stuffed elephant which he brought back to Brandt to hold.
Most of the first hour involved Liz pulling him to various stands and stalls explaining to him the game or what was going on and then paying for the two of them to experience or play whatever it was. They went on a few rides, the rocking pirate ship, a tall slide on the outside of a large tower that she told him was called Helter Skelter. Liz told him that tower was one of the largest she'd ever been on, and they repeated that three times. It brought back memories of playing at the park down the street from the Dursleys.
When they stopped to eat, Alvin tried to get information out of Harry, asking about his classes and what he liked about his school.
Trying to remember what Brandt had told him, he said, "There are a lot of science classes, basic physics, chemistry, botany, zoology. I also like to box with my friend Greg, but we just started and I don't think I'm that good yet."
"That's a lot of science classes for someone your age," Alvin commented.
"It's just the basics," Brandt supplied. "In two years he'll take advanced math classes and then he can do more advanced studies. From what I've observed from his studies so far in chemistry, he might have a knack for natural pharmacology."
Harry had no idea what that meant, but after looking straight at Brandt, he heard a voice in his head say, "Potions." It was the same feeling he got when Snape put the image of bandaging Greg in his head. He needed to ask Brandt about that later.
"Oh, like holistic medicine," Sheila chimed in.
Another word he didn't know, but he tried to keep up, "One of the first things I remember was helping my relatives with the gardening. I like plants and animals."
"Do you have a place to swim at your school?" Liz asked.
"There's a lake, but it's too cold," Harry said. "But I used to go swimming a lot where I lived. The water was warmer there."
"Where do you live that's so different in temperature?" Alvin asked.
"I'm not supposed to talk about it," Harry said sadly.
"Sorry about that," Brandt chimed in. "There are just some things in Harry's life that are secret, for the reasons I told you."
"Does the lake get warmer in the summer?" Liz asked.
"Does it, Tonks?" Harry looked at her.
To the Mannings, "I also went to Harry's school when I was younger. It doesn't get much warmer, but you're not supposed to go in, or the monsters will get you… or at least that's what the older students always said."
"Do you have your own Nessie there?" Sheila asked.
She was referring to the Loch Ness Monster, which the muggles played up as a great myth to lure tourists to the area. Often someone would take a picture of it, but it would never come out properly. Many muggles said they thought it existed, but didn't really believe what they said, it was just a marketing gimmick. What they didn't know is that the monster was real. It was a magical creature, called a Kelpie that had the form of a horse, and when submerged in water, its body appeared as a long stream of underwater plants, flowing behind it as it galloped through the depths of the lake.
Most of the tourism in the area was managed by The British Ministry of Magic, which also placed obscuring charms and wards on the entire area so it wasn't possible for anyone to get a good look at the creature above or below the water. Additionally, in 1929, the magical photographer Lowell Frost invented an enchantment that, when placed on an object, would obscure photographs of whatever the object was attached to. After it was a success with the Loch Ness Monster, "Nessie," the Magical Congress of the USA hired Frost to supply them with enchanted amulets to distribute to the bigfoot population around North America.
Tonks smiled and told Sheila, "Yes and no. From what I was told as a first-year, and what I told the kids when I was older, we have a giant squid lurking below the surface of the lake."
Harry was a bit shocked at her candor, but when he saw the looks of disbelief mixed with humor, on the faces of the muggles, he could see that they thought it was just a fish tale.
"I'm guessing it's just too cold to swim and the professors and older students just weave stories of monsters to keep the kids out," Alvin said with a smile.
Brandt nodded along with that explanation, despite not going to Hogwarts himself, and knowing the squid was real. Liz and Harry had finished their corndog and were raring to go again, so the adults finished their food as well to follow along behind them.
Liz brought Harry straight to bumper cars after lunch and even though he explained to her that he had no idea how to drive the cars, she just forced him into the seat of one and told him to push the pedal and spin the wheel. The unpredictable nature of the car and the bursts of speed combined with the crashes scared Harry to death the first time. He could feel the magic-absorbing cuff getting warm as he must have been giving off some kind of magical reaction. However, in subsequent rides in the cars, he focused on having fun and purposely crashing into things instead of just getting knocked around by everyone else.
Harry told Liz he needed a break after that, so they looked around to find something more peaceful. It took a few minutes, but Liz pointed out a small tent that advertised getting their fortunes read and pulled Harry inside.
Inside the tent, it was dark, and smelled of various perfumes, while bits of smoke from burning incense drifted through the air. As they passed through the opening, nearly all the noise from the fair outside vanished. There were still some sounds, so Harry didn't think it was magic, but the atmosphere certainly felt like it. The room was small and dark but there was a table in the center covered with a red and purple tablecloth with tassels hanging off the side that shifted a bit in the wind from outside. A small crystal light hung from the ceiling that bathed the table and only the table in light.
They looked around the room, but there didn't seem to be anyone else there. Just as Liz turned around to leave, they heard a voice from the darkness, "Come in, come in, and sit down."
Turning back around, a woman entered the light at the table and sat down. She looked a little younger than McGonagall and wore a dress that revealed her shoulders along with dark lipstick and a beaded shawl around her head. She reached her hands out onto the table so they could see her long nails, painted the same shade as her lipstick, and quite a large number of bracelets. Harry recognized some of the symbols on the bracelets from some that Meliandra in his class wore from time to time.
"Sit, sit," she repeated to them, and they did as she instructed, sitting on the other side of the table. "I have foreseen your visit, I can tell this will be a good fortune to be told… for one of you. For the other, possibly not."
She pointed to a sign on the corner of the table which read, "1 Reading for 20£, 2 for 30£."
Harry looked to Liz, who said, "Just you. If it's bad, then I'll know mine is good. If it's good, then mine's only possibly not good."
"A smart one, you are," the woman said, "but are you sure you wouldn't like to know your future?"
"I'm good," she said flatly.
Harry passed her two ten notes, which she sniffed and then placed under the table.
"Let us begin," she said with an air of mystery and took out a large deck of cards. "Have you had a tarot reading before?"
Harry shook his head, and said, "I have a friend with a deck. She says she told me she occasionally helps her mom with readings."
"Good, good," the woman said as she shuffled the deck, "I can feel her energy flowing through you." She placed the deck down in front of Harry. "Place your hand on the deck, and let your body's energy flow through it."
Not knowing if the woman was a witch or not, Harry still did as he was instructed. He placed his right hand, the one without the absorption cuff, on the deck, and tried to let his magic flow into the deck, the same as he would do with a potion or his broomstick. The fortune-teller took the cards back and shuffled again, then spread them out in front of him.
"Before we begin, focus on something in your life, a task or an obstacle. Something you must get done and need guidance for. Then, with that in mind, take ten cards from the deck and leave them face down. Take from anywhere in the deck, any card at all."
Harry really wanted to finish his quest and his promise to the Usurper.
He wanted to finish it so it wasn't hanging over his head.
He wanted to finish it so he no longer felt the compulsion to do it.
He wanted to finish it because he owed a great debt.
He wanted to finish it because it was for a friend.
And he wanted to finish it because he wanted to move on to other things in his life.
With all that in mind, and with Liz looking on in interest and a bit of disbelief in the process, he drew ten cards out of the spread deck. When he finished, the woman collected the remaining cards, moved them to the side, then arranged the ones he placed into a pile.
"Due to the region we are in, I will be telling your fortune with the Celtic Cross Tarot Spread. If we were in France or Georgia, the formation of the cards would be different."
That made sense to Harry. Arithmancy differed depending on the region, so why not Divination? She began to lay the cards out, the first card in the center, the next one on top of it but turned to the side, then four cards around the first, like a cross. Finally, four more cards were in a line to the side, however, as she placed the last card down, she fiddled with it and it split into two cards that had been stuck together.
"It looks like you took eleven, not ten cards," she told him.
"I'm sorry?" Harry wasn't sure if he should apologize.
"It's not something you should apologize for, if you took an extra card, you were meant to take an extra card. This one was stuck to the spot for the outcome of your fortune, so there are two outcomes to this reading, I can't be sure whether that means there are two possibilities or if they both will happen."
"Aren't you the psychic?" Liz asked skeptically.
"The future is like looking into a blurry mirror," the fortune-teller told her. "You see bits of what may happen, but the simple act of me informing you of the future may change it."
"Sure…" Liz said sarcastically.
Looking back to Harry, "I will read your fortune from the cards you have selected, as best I can see. If you would like to learn more about the placements and possibilities, you can buy the deck and an explanation when I've finished."
Harry saw Liz roll her eyes a bit.
The woman examined the spread of cards, "This is very powerful reading. The average reading will have two to four of the Major Arcana cards, while you have six, with the extra accidental card included. You have an unusually large goal that you are trying to achieve… but it doesn't have to do with money or fame," she trailed off.
"The majority of the Minor Arcana are from the Suit of Cups, indicating that your goal is more of an emotional one or a matter of the heart. There is also a strong connection to the element of water, showing an unusual maturity for someone your age."
She pointed to the middle card on the bottom, "The first card represents your current situation. It is The World, reversed, and the only reversed card you intentionally picked, as the accidental card is also reversed. This shows that you lack closure or completion, but do not worry as if you were complete, you would have nowhere to go from there."
"Crossing on top of yourself is the Ten of Wands, which tells me that a heavy burden is keeping you from completing your goals. Below you is the Three of Wands which tells you what you should focus on to achieve your goal. What I see is that you need to focus on Exploration, Foresight, and Leadership."
That rang a bell for Harry as he did need to focus on Exploration to achieve his goal of finding the King residing in Hogwarts.
She continued, "In your recent past, I placed The Tower, which signifies a disaster, sudden change, upheaval, or revelation. In the present and related to your goal, is The Magician which represents many things including action, diplomacy, disaster, pain, power, sickness, and skill. The next is your future, and it is very important to interpret this one correctly. In this place is the Five of Cups; and as I said before the cups represent emotion and water, the five represents Loss, Bereavement, and Regret. This doesn't necessarily have to do with you, as someone else who is experiencing these things may lead you to your goal."
Harry had no idea what this last one could mean, but he had gone through a recent upheaval and The Magician was an obvious reference to learning magic at Hogwarts.
"The next card is how you see yourself, and that is shown in the Ten of Cups. This is the highest number of cups below the named cards. You see yourself at peace with joy and family, filled with emotion, and surrounded by water. Following that is how others see you, shown to me as the Justice card; people see you as the one bringing reconciliation, fairness, and truth."
All of that struck a chord with Harry. When he was with family, he was definitely surrounded by water… on an island. People did seem to associate him with justice, whether it was as The Boy-Who-Lived, or suspecting him enacting it on Vincent Crabbe. Truth? That could be the Pinocchio Tincture that was solidly associated with him now.
"Your hopes and fears lie in the next card, the Seven of Swords. This is the only Sword suit you drew, so it may have more meanings than just signifying the betrayal and deception that will guide you to your destination."
She paused as she looked at the last two cards, "The first card that was played was the Death card. This is one of the outcomes of your goal." That got Harry's heart racing, but she tried to calm him, saying, "Do not be afraid of Death. Death merely signifies change, transformation, and transition. It does not necessarily mean the absence of life. You also drew The Moon in a reversed form which signifies confusion, the release of fear, and unhappiness. On the completion of your task, be wary of any or all of these outcomes."
"Can we go now?" Liz asked Harry.
Harry was still digesting all of the information from his reading, and trying to memorize the layout of the cards.
As if interpreting his thoughts, the woman pulled out a polaroid camera, and took a picture, passing the photo to Harry, and saying, "Would you also like to buy the deck and a booklet to explain the process to you?"
"How much?" he asked.
"You really believe in this?" Liz asked, exasperated a bit.
"Thirty pounds, but to help you achieve your goals, I'll knock it down to twenty," she smiled as she put together the cards and pulled a small booklet from under the table.
Funny enough, it was her haggling that brought Harry back to the present, so he tried to make a counteroffer, "How about ten and If I achieve my goal, I'll come back and give you another ten in thanks for your guidance?"
"I will hold you to your promise," she smiled, and accepted his note, putting the deck of cards in a box and the box and booklet in a small bag for him.
Harry thanked her and they left the tent. Seeing the adults at a table across the way, they crossed over to them.
"Any great insights into your future, sweetie?" Sheila asked Liz.
"We just did a reading for Harry, It was really long."
"It felt like real magic," Harry said with emphasis to Tonks and Brandt. "I bought the tarot deck from her and a booklet to explain everything."
"I think I'll go get a quick reading," Tonks said and headed towards the tent.
Brandt took the bag with the things Harry had bought and said, "You should have your friend Meli take a look at this, see if she can read your fortune too."
"Do the two of you also believe in psychics as well?" Liz asked Brandt.
While Brandt could easily play this off as a joke, he also thought that this was a lesson Harry needed to learn about the way muggles could think about things they didn't understand. So he told Liz, "Of course, there's plenty of evidence to suggest that some people have powers that others don't. That's not to say the person in there is real or not, she might just be a con artist, but just because you might not be able to do something yourself doesn't mean that nobody can."
"Sure, whatever. There's no such thing as magic," Liz said while rolling her eyes.
Harry had a short flashback to when his uncle jabbed him in the chest while repeating that same thing to him. He looked at Liz and frowned a bit, but she didn't see.
Tonks came running back out of the tent, and over to them, "Nope, she's a fraud. I tested her myself."
"How did you do that?" Alvin asked.
"I asked her about the weather for the rest of the week. She got it all wrong."
"And how would you know it so well?" Sheila asked.
"My dad does the evening weather for the BBC."
Alvin raised his eyebrows, "Tonks? The guy with the glasses and the hair? That Tonks is your dad?" The Tonks in front of her nodded with a smile.
"I would never have expected him to have such a kickass daughter," he told her.
"You want to go another round?" she asked, pointing to the sledgehammer strongman game a little further down.
"Sure, but no bet this time, just for fun," he said.
"You can win me a toy," his wife said with a smile.
Liz looked at Harry, "Can you win something for me too? You got the elephant for yourself last time."
"I guess…" Harry told her, but in truth, he wasn't feeling great after hearing her say that there's no such thing as magic.
"I'll win you something too, cupcake," Tonks told Brandt.
The group approached the high striker game with the sledgehammer and Alvin went first, paying the parlyaree and picking up the heaviest hammer he had. After handing his jacket off to his wife, like before he took a big step back and swung it over his head, hitting the plate and launching the pin toward the top. It barely struck the bell, making a faint ringing noise, but still winning the top prize. Happily, he picked out a stuffed lion and passed it to his wife, exchanging it for his jacket.
Tonks went next, passing her jacket to Brandt and drawing a surprised look from the man working as she passed him the money to play. As she was picking out a hammer, Harry approached Brandt.
"Can I have my pouch?" he asked quietly.
Brandt wasn't sure why, but they made a small huddle and presented Harry with the bag. He reached down inside without taking it and scratched at the Lamassu fang on his staff, in the same way that Hermes had been pecking at it before. It did end up giving him a boost of strength that he could feel flowing through him.
Tonks picked out the second heaviest hammer, and told Alvin, "Size doesn't matter, it's how you use it."
Then with perfect form, she swung it around fiercely and smashed the plate at the bottom sending the pin rocketing to the top for a loud ringing of the bell. With a smirk on her face, she picked out a large stuffed monkey and said, "I'm going to keep this one for myself. Your turn Harry."
Copying what the others had done, Harry paid the man and took off his jacket, hesitantly passing it to Liz. The Mannings all just stared at Harry's physique in just his t-shirt as Sheila said, "You've got to be the toughest twelve-year-old that I've ever seen." Harry blushed a bit and went to pick out a hammer, ending up with one size smaller than Tonks. Stepping up, he gave it a mighty swing and grazed the plate, barely knocking the pin into the air.
Looking embarrassed, he turned away from the game, but the man working the booth stopped him, "Keep swinging till you've got it, laddie. I want to see what you can do."
Inspired by the vote of faith, Harry turned back around and took a practice swing to get his aim right. The pin was launched almost halfway up the pole. With a nod from the worker, he squared off again, and slammed the hammer down with all his strength, as the pin went almost to the top, but a few feet below where Alvin had reached.
"Good try!" the man complimented him. "Grab what you want from the small prizes for the little lady there."
Liz pointed towards a pink teddy bear, which was taken down for her.
Liz seemed a bit disappointed at being the only one to have gotten a smaller prize at the game and made frequent glances towards the larger prizes held by her mother and Tonks. Harry was still enjoying himself though. There were plenty of sights and sounds, and a few more rides and games. The Ferris wheel was interesting, but not as much fun as flying on a broom. Liz liked it a lot and enjoyed pointing out many of the places they had been that day from the top of the ride. When they got back down, Brandt gave some bad news.
"Harry, we need to get going, you'll need to get back to Kings Cross Station soon to take the overnight train back to school," he announced to the group.
That didn't seem right, but the looks out of the corner of his eye toward the Mannings meant that he was saying that for their benefit. He'd be back at school in less than an hour. Liz's parents also commented that they should be heading out as well, which caused their daughter to complain a bit. Harry tried to mimic her groans at needing to leave early. Regardless, they started walking as a group for the exit.
Along the way, they passed by some of the games again, and next to the ones that Liz had told him were impossible. One of them had a shaky rope ladder you had to climb, but completing it gave a stuffed animal as big as Harry. Wanting to make her feel better, Harry asked Liz if she wanted one of those prizes.
"I told you that's impossible," she said. "No one wins those."
"I climb trees all the time, it couldn't be too hard," he countered.
Alvin steered the group over and paid the man for Harry to attempt it, "Give it a shot, I'm guessing no one has won it so far today, right?" He asked the parlyaree running the game.
He shook his head, "It's very hard, but the prize is worth it. It might take you a few attempts, but if you get both feet on that last rung, you win."
Harry took a look at the game, it was designed to be shaky, so if you were slightly unbalanced, you would fall immediately. Lyra would be able to do this in a second, but he was almost certain that could do it too. He started by putting his hands on the ladder and tilting it back and forth, trying to find the center of gravity and where to balance himself. The spot was ridiculously thin, and he realized that using his hands would only make it harder to finish.
So, standing straight up, he took his time and just walked up the rope ladder like it were stairs, with one foot directly in front of the other. By keeping his body vertical instead of lying flat, he was able to keep himself centered over the middle with ease. It took him only a few moments to walk right up to the last rung and then jump off, turning back to see the shocked faces of everyone watching.
Walking back to Liz, he asked, "Which one do you want?"
She ended up taking a large green teddy bear, bigger than she was. Then the rest of the way to the exit, she pestered Harry with questions about how he was able to balance like that, that it was impossible. Though the last thing she said felt like nails under Harry's skin as she said it.
"Only circus freaks can balance that well."
Freaks.
He was a freak.
But so was Lyra, Brandt, Tonks, and everyone else he knew now. Being a freak was fine, but he didn't like people who used that word, regardless.
They said their goodbyes at the gate, and Liz gave Harry a hug, which he hesitantly returned, then they walked quietly back to the car. Tonks had been ready to start asking Harry how much he enjoyed the day, but Brandt stopped her as he could see Harry was trying to think hard about something.
When they got closer to the car, they could see someone leaning against it. When they were a bit closer, they could see it appeared to be a police officer. Getting closer, they could see it was Alastor Moody, dressed as a muggle police officer, with a leather eye patch over his magical eye.
"Forty-four," Tonks said to him without preamble.
"Forty-three," he replied.
"Wrong," she replied firmly. "One time you made the signal in a mirror while I was trying on a hat, and it reflected onto another surface. Forty-four."
"Huh…" he was quiet for a while. Then reached into his pocket and pulled out a blue coin with the logo of the Auror Corps on it. He tossed it to Tonks, who caught it and stared at it in shock.
"You've got the next week off," he told her as she stared at the coin in her hands. "100% total time off from me; no challenges, no poisonings, no missions, no sneak attacks, no need to watch for signals, nothing. You'll still need to report to Bones, but show her the coin, and she'll give you your pick of assignments."
With that said, the auror casually strolled away, leaving her staring at the coin in her hands. Harry and Brandt looked back and forth between Tonks and Moody who had just stopped a group of teenagers and was forcing them to pick up some trash they had dropped.
"What just happened?" Brandt asked.
"You didn't notice it, but he's been following us all day. Remember how I told you he gives me markers to track? He was doing it all day today, and I was keeping a tally of them, but I beat it. I didn't just complete it, I beat the bloody challenge." She said that last part with pride.
"What's the coin?" Harry asked.
She held it up, "Challenge coin. All the Instructors carry them, they award them to Aurors that go above and beyond or exceed their expectations. However, all the others are gold. Moody carries blue ones. I'll need to ask Tristan if he ever got one."
Tonks was still in a bit of shock as they got back in the car. She drove at a very safe speed, all the way back to the Leaky Cauldron. As the ride was much smoother, Brandt took the time to enchant Harry's stuffed elephant and Tonks's monkey with increased durability, a spell to keep dirt off them, and minor protection from fire and water damage.
Tonks dropped them off at The Leaky Cauldron and continued on her way, probably to return the car she had borrowed. Harry retrieved his wand and pouch from Brandt and donned the hooded cloak before entering the pub. Harry noticed there were a few other hooded patrons in there tonight, so he didn't stick out as much as they walked through to use the floo. However, instead of going straight to Hogwarts, Brandt told Harry they were going to Hogsmede, outside of the school, to a place called The Three Broomsticks to have dinner.
They arrived at a pleasant restaurant with a bit of music playing in the background. The establishment was about half full and there was a lively conversation going on at each of the tables. As they exited the floo, Brandt requested a booth in the back.
While they were waiting for their food, Harry held out his left arm, and asked, "When can I take the cuff off?"
"Once we're back inside Hogwarts. You'll feel like casting a bunch of magic, like when we got off the plane, so once we are inside the gates you can fire off a blast of magic when you remove the cuff." Harry fiddled with the cuff, and Brandt asked, "So did you have fun today?"
"Yeah, it was great!" he perked up. "Do wizards have funfairs?"
"Not really, no," Brandt told him. "Occasionally there are some large quidditch matches that will have things like that outside the stadiums before or after the games. Also when a match looks like it will go on for more than a few days, tents for food and games will pop up around it so people can take breaks from watching and do other things."
"They should do fairs, a lot of those things would be even better with magic," Harry commented.
"People would cheat at the games," Brandt said.
"Give them the cuffs," Harry suggested. "Make them play like muggles if they can't play without cheating."
"Good idea," Brandt said as their food arrived. "So what did you think about spending time with Liz?"
Harry frowned a bit, and looked at his food, "Arcturus was right," he said sadly. "It's not fun when you have to hide everything about yourself from someone. Tracey's mom and Hermione's parents are great, but they know about magic, so that's fine. I also didn't like how she talked about magic, and how I could balance so well like it just wasn't natural."
Brandt nodded, with a small smile inside, "Imagine Liz's life like a puzzle, it's flat and there's no place in it for a larger piece. It doesn't mean that you can't spend time together, but it would be very difficult to add magic into her life as it's not a piece that can fit into her puzzle."
Harry had to put down his hood to eat, so he started to get a little bit of attention, but glares from Brandt seemed to be keeping people away. When Harry was almost done, he seemed to have an idea and looked up to his escort.
"At the fair, you spoke into my head. How did you do that? Severus also did it to me once too."
"I wanted to talk to you about that. It's a field of magic called Legilimency. There are two fields of mind magic, and that is one of them. The other is called Occlumency. I've been trying to find a tutor for you and your sister in that field, but tutors are difficult to find as most people hide the skill. Occlumency focuses internally on your mind and Legilimency focuses on others. Nearly every powerful wizard will have a strong mind from Occlumency training."
"What else can you do with it?" Harry asked.
"Most people will use Occlumency to protect their mind from people using Legilimency. The two fields in their most basic uses are a shield and a sword. Legilimency can be used to see the thoughts inside of someone's head, and Occlumency can protect you from someone using Legilimency. However, there are many many more applications for each field of magic. There are a few basic things like keeping your emotions in check or basic communication with someone through eye contact, but there are also many other skills that I won't spoil for you now and when a tutor is found for you, they can explain it better than I can."
"You can't teach us?" Harry asked.
"Just like the knives, which I'm happy that you aren't playing with on your own, I can't teach you because I don't have the skill to instruct you." Reaching into his pocket, he pulled out a small dagger and spun it through his fingers, before sticking it into the table, "While I know how to use it, I don't know how to teach the use of some things properly." He put the blade back into his pocket, "Occlumency can be even more dangerous than a knife, as you aren't concerned with cutting your arm or body, it's your mind that you are training. Once a mistake is made, you will need serious magical healing, inside your mind or memories."
Harry swallowed nervously, understanding the implications. They finished their meal and headed back to Hogwarts. On the way out, several other patrons in the restaurant politely asked to shake Harry's hand. They weren't obnoxious like the reporters in the Ministry, so he smiled and said hello to a few of them before leaving.
The gates of Hogwarts opened to him as he arrived, and once inside, Harry looked around and saw the snow covering the path leading up to the castle. Brandt trudged ahead a bit and pulled out his wand, waving it around to make snow accumulate into a giant snow dragon, which he used a freezing spell to hold in place. A few students on the hill started to huddle together to watch.
Returning to Harry, he said, "Here's the target for when I take off your cuff, I'll take a few pictures."
Harry smiled and pulled out his wand as Brandt pulled out his camera. He took a few pictures of the snow dragon before removing the absorption cuff and taking a big step back. Harry braced his wand over his other arm as he saw Patricia and the older Ravenclaw do when they shot at the pixies on the way to the unicorns. Aiming for the head, he charged up a large bolt of magic for ten seconds, before letting it fly and obliterating the head and neck of the fearsome beast. He then did the same thing to the rest of the body until it was all gone. There were cheers from the students watching.
"Good job, Harry," Brandt complimented him. "I need to go now, tell your sister to send me an owl with any ideas she has for what she wants to do for a day out like you just had."
Harry smiled and nodded, then pulled his broom out of his pouch and flew towards the castle.