There were some students whose mistrust simply increased after the boggart story spread. Of course Dolohov is scared of Harry Potter, they said; Potter is the guy who puts dark wizards in Azkaban. Many people however, like Fenwick, had improved opinions. Professor Hagrid called on Tony at the first opportunity and praised him loudly, "tha's how it's done! Polly lets yeh harness 'er if yeh talk to 'er while putting it on nice and slow, jus' like Tony did there." When none of his fellow Hufflepuffs seemed hostile, Tony was surprised to find that he didn't mind the attention.
Snows were melted, Spring was beginning. It was a Saturday morning, and while most students were going to Hogsmeade Tony and Umar were sitting in greenhouse one, reading. It was a quiet place that smelled like moist soil, where Tony liked to be when it was still chilly outside. Tony didn't see any point in going to look at shops when he had no gold to spend.
Then they saw the silhouettes of a big noisy group walking outside the thin semi-translucent walls of the greenhouse.
"Why do we need to stop in here?"
"I want to see if..." Lily's voice trailed off as she pushed the door open. "Oh you are here, Tony, I thought you might be. Hi Umar."
"Hi Lily." Tony said. She was accompanied by the most popular and admired third and fourth year students, including her crazy-brilliant brother Albus, her very sane-brilliant cousin Rose Weasley and Rose's thin blonde boyfriend from Slytherin.
"I wanted to ask if you two would come to Hogsmeade with us."
Lizzie Fudge and Lucy Weasley nodded with encouragement. Only Liam Finnigan was making a face.
He said, "um..Lily..."
"What?" She challenged.
"Why are you inviting Dolohov, and—" he didn't know Umar's name.
"Grime man." Offered Rose's boyfriend. Rose dropped his hand and looked at him as if he we was suddenly someone else. Umar of course, didn't seem to care.
"Liam," Lily said with effort, "I am actually really tired of you being rude. Tony is my friend."
"But we heard what your dad said about him."
"That was a boggart! Dad would never say that."
Liam wasn't satisfied. "But he fought a war against people like—"
"The war was against Voldemort." Said Lucy, rolling her eyes at Liam.
"And it was more," said Lily. "...it was against hate and...and prejudice...and..."
Rose stated, "The war was against judging any persons, beasts or beings based on their parentage. Uncle Harry would definitely never be angry with Dolohov because of his father."
"Thank you." Lily sighed.
"Plus," said Lizzie, "Tony's boggart was so romantic!"
Albus frowned. "Not necessarily. Consider Lily's boggart—she fears the disappointment of Dumbledore because to her he represents wisdom, power, goodness et cetera. A lot of people think of our dad like that too. So maybe," Albus looked at Tony as if trying to discern whether what he said was true, "maybe Tony's boggart wasn't about Lily; maybe it was fear of the anger of the whole community, or ultimate judgement."
It was definitely about Lily. Albus was right, though, that Tony saw Harry Potter as a symbol of power and goodness, which combined with being Lily's father, made him terrifying. The group looked at Tony with curiosity, but he didn't give them an explanation.
"Anyway," Lily tucked a bit of hair behind her ear. She was uncomfortable with the turn of the conversation. "will you come to Hogsmeade? It's the last trip of the year."
"I will, if you want to, Umar."
Umar shrugged, then nodded.
As they walked across the grounds, Tony noticed the scraggly base of a few daisy plants, barely visible because they were chewed short by Hagrid's winged foal, Polly. It was her favorite food and she had almost cleared it from the grounds. That reminded Tony of the howler. He asked Lily, "What was it that your brothers were doing, that time they got in trouble for being out in the forest?"
"Al was trying to brew Felix Felicis—liquid luck, you know—and needed daisy root."
"What did he want to use the luck potion for?"
Tony didn't realize Albus was listening to them, but he turned around with a frustrated look, as if he had been asked that question too many times. "I didn't have specific plans; I certainly don't need to cheat on exams. It looked like an amusing one to try, that's all. Of course now all my supplies are confiscated."
The blonde Slytherin snorted. "Your poor potions supplies, Al...what about my permanently scarred arm from that giant spider? We had more bad luck trying to make that than it would have been worth."
Finnigan whispered to himself, "scarred arm...that fits a Malfoy..." and in less than a second had a long elm-wood wand pointed between his eyes.
"Do you want to say that again?" The blonde demanded.
"Curse him, Scorpius, he's had it coming." Albus agreed, but the girls protested.
"Scorp, he's a little twerp but it's not worth the trouble!"
"Liam! That was uncalled for!"
"Not okay, Liam."
Tony made the mistake of muttering, "I don't get it." And everyone looked at him.
"Well, maybe if you talked to more people you would know some things, Dolohov." Said the boy named Scorpius with a sour face.
Lily explained regretfully, "Liam was referring to the scar of the dark mark. Scorpius' dad was a death eater, like yours."
Tony's mouth fell open. He had never even suspected that there was anyone else at Hogwarts, much less this well dressed and confident boy.
"Except not like yours, because my dad never wanted to be a death eater. He never enjoyed torturing people!" Scorpius scoffed.
"That's not what I heard." Said Lizzie.
"Yeah? Well I've heard things about some of your relatives..."
Lizzie's face went red.
"Hey! I have ancestors who ate babies. Who cares?" Announced Umar. Everyone calmed down, but Rose had moved away from Scorpius to walk beside Lucy, and shot him a disappointed look.
"What is it, Rose?" Scorpius asked. She just kept walking. Albus put a hand on Scorpius' shoulder and stopped him to talk quietly while the group moved on. The result was that Scorpius stomped back to the castle and Albus caught up to them as they entered the village.
oOo
Tony enjoyed Hogsmeade more than he expected, drawn into a group that was, for the most part, very comfortable with each other. Liam remained fairly quiet.
Honeydukes was their first stop. Then they went to Weasley Wizard Wheezes, which was emitting bangs and whistles, and so packed with Hogwarts students that Umar shook his head and turned away. Tony stayed outside with him. Umar preferred calm and quiet, and Tony sympathized with that. Besides, he wasn't keen to meet any of Lily's uncles yet. Tony was startled when the group came out talking to each other in deep bass voices. Lily chuckled, sounding like Hagrid. Albus' voice was the most impressive. He made a wide sweep of his hand, presenting Tony and Umar a bottle of something bluish. "Grrrummble-Plumm Rumm... Troy summ!"
After looking in to the Quidditch supply shop their voices gradually rose to normal and the group decided to eat lunch at The Three Broomsticks. Tony remembered that he didn't bring money, and made the excuse of wanting to explore more, telling them to go in without him. Umar shrugged, saying effectively, "I would go with you but I'm hungry", so Tony continued up the street himself. He was quickly joined by Lily, however, who claimed she didn't feel like eating.
"Besides, I need a new hairbrush. Mine melted...long story...do you mind if we stop at Belinda's?"
After wandering up to the Shrieking Shack and leisurely down High Street again, talking about exams and quidditch, Lily pointed to a small shop. Belinda's was written over the door in graceful silver cursive.
Inside, Tony felt completely out of place. Everything was smooth clean glass or intricate silver. Bottles of potions labeled "instant painless wart remover" or "perfect shine shampoo" were arranged by color on the shelves and a couple of older girls were browsing nail-polish. Tony hoped it wouldn't take Lily long to choose a hairbrush.
His quick escape was not to be. A gorgeous witch with long black and orange curls came from the back and right over to Tony. She smiled at him with warm, genuine interest.
"Hello! You are a puzzle. But I think with a haircut and a few hints you could have a prize portrait."
Tony just stared at her.
"A galleon and sixteen sickles for hair treatment and consultation. Yes?" Her voice was as silvery and clear as the mirrors along the walls of her shop.
"Oh. Thank you, but no, madam."
She sighed, disappointed. Then a younger witch came from the back, hands on hips. "Belinda, the knot-grass arrived dried up again."
"Again? Awhh..."
Tony recognized the opportunity. "My mother sells knot-grass. She lives just south of London."
Belinda's expression brightened. "Does she? We use it in several products, and we have tried so many different sellers...I would be so relieved to find a reliable one. Here is a deal. You let me fix your hair, and write down your mother's address for me, and I will give her a visit!"
Tony wasn't sure who was getting the better deal, but she seemed so eager to cut his hair, and mother needed more customers. He agreed, and looked helplessly at Lily as Belinda led him to a chair by the mirrored wall of the shop and opened a cupboard to reveal a water basin and array of combs, clippers and potions.
Twenty minutes later Tony's hair looked like someone else's: clean and sharp. The skin on his face was clear, and Belinda had even pointed her wand at his robes and made them fit better and look freshly sewn. "That robe fix will wear off, but I want you to walk out of here looking ck! perfect. There."
Belinda turned Tony around to face Lily. "Look sweetheart, your boyfriend looks like new, hmm?"
Lily cocked her head. "Your hair is shorter. But you look the same." Then she blushed. "I mean, he is not my boyfriend."
"He looks the same eh?" Belinda laughed. "Meaning you have always seen him like this. A girl in love often sees potential, not reality! Oh you two are as red as cherries! I'm sorry." She laughed again as Lily payed for her hairbrush.
Belinda bullied Tony into taking a couple free potions with him. "Just tell your friends where you got them." She said.
They left, not looking at each other.
oOo
Tony was embarrassed when they walked past some sixth years ouside of Weasley's Wizard Wheezes and James Potter glared at him.
The next day he was embarrassed when Wendy Miller, the fifth year prefect, sat down next to him with a playful smile and asked his name and why he had snuck into their common room. She sprang up from the couch and apologized when he explained that he was, and always had been, Tony Dolohov.
However, he was even more embarrassed on Tuesday in the Great Hall when he saw his picture on the cover of Witch Weekly. Someone tossed him a copy. The cover photo looked like it had been taken from inside the window of the tea shop across the street from Belinda's. It was framed in lace curtains, and showed Lily and Tony walking in and out of the salon holding hands (which they had not been doing, but which Tony at least, would have liked) His appearance alternated each time they went in and out, between the old greasy Tony and the new clean-cut Tony.
Did he dare read the article?
Children of the Hero: a disturbing inside look at the three young Potters. By Rita Skeeter.
In spite of his questionable past, Harry Potter is almost universally revered as the greatest hero of the times. The fame of the Potter name has lent inflated success to his own career and his wife Ginevra's, whose bland coverage of Quidditch has never reflected the true madness and corruption in the sports arena. Indeed, the parents bask in fame, but meanwhile their children are struggling to break free of the Potter mold. James, who approaches his last year at Hogwarts, is well known as a trouble-maker, but his recklessness seems innocent compared to the dark and dangerous dabblings of his younger siblings, Albus and Lily.
These adolescents consider themselves above normal rules of order and decency. James has on his record tampering with school property, smuggling contraband items, sneaking off school grounds, and bullying other students. He has gone so far as to launch a classmate, Beau Kreappie, into the Hogwarts lake. Says Kreappie, "Potter is totally uncivilized. The only reason he hasn't been expelled is because he is famous. Being famous, or good at Quidditch, doesn't make up for being a jerk, and he probably cheats at Quidditch as much as he does in class."
In fact, it is certain that he cheats at Quidditch, given that he and his brother were caught brewing felix felicis.
That brings us to the brother, Albus. "Wand of elder, never prosper," they say, and if his unusual elder wood and Phoenix feather wand is not enough to ignite suspicion, the fourteen-year-old himself is showing strange and insatiable ambitions. Unlike his attention-seeking father and brother, Albus spends many hours alone reading and experimenting with advanced and dangerous magic. Mrs. Potter has been overheard complaining that instead of writing to his family he corresponds with witches and wizards as far as Japan, India, and Alaska. Is he attempting to distance himself from his family, and if so, is he distancing himself from the pristine Potter values as well? We should not be surprised to see this mysterious, uprising young wizard cross crucial boundaries in his pursuit of individual power.
Perhaps the most shocking of all, is the violent and rebellious nature of the little sister. Lily, she is named, but she is hardly lily-sweet...
Tony put the article down. Lily, violent? How could anyone publish that kind of lie?
...Her friends describe her as "a bold and agile seeker" and "a champion dueler." She has been known to lash out without explanation at a simple beetle on a garden bench. Furthermore, her loyalties have been diverted: at the young age of thirteen she is now entangled in a passionate romance with none other than Antonin Dolohov, Jr., the only son of the murderous Death Eater. Even disguised cosmetically, this boy is far from good-looking. He is anti-social and untalented. What does Lily Potter see in him? Maybe a reflection of her own interest in dark magic. Maybe an escape from her family's expectations.
If duty requires Harry Potter to take action against his own children, will we see his resolve falter? Will the magical community continue to adore the Potters as the family falls apart from within?
Tony was angry with himself. He knew his own reputation was hopeless. He shouldn't have let himself be seen anywhere with Lily, to bring these kinds of insults upon her. That day in Hogsmeade had been a mistake. He shouldn't have hoped.
Someone sat down next to him at the table.
"Hi Umar." Tony said without looking.
"Nope."
Tony looked up at James Potter, who was followed by Albus.
"Oh, sorry..."
"No problem." Said James. "Hey, I see you read the Skeeter article. Don't worry about it ok? She's always writing nargle dung about someone, and half the time it's us. Sorry you got dragged into this one."
"I'm sorry too, for...being there. "
Albus shook his head, "You have a right to be—" but James interrupted him.
"Glad to know there wasn't anything behind it..." Then he released the bludger: "'cause if you really were moving in on our sister we would have to toss you in the lake like we did to Beau Kreappie." He laughed casually and patted Tony on the back.
"See you. Come on Al."
Albus added, "don't open any mail if you don't know who it's from," which turned out to be a good suggestion over the next week as owls dropped various threats and poisons at the back of the Hufflepuff table.
