Onto the next installment. Very scattered, very choppy, I know, I know. There was no beta and the prompt wasn't very forthcoming to me. I'm sad with the results.
Also, a huge fan of young Harry have an adorable crush on Charlie Weasley. Sorry, not sorry.
Prompt- Zoo
Summary: Harry bumps into his old primary teacher when treating his family to a day out at the zoo.
Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter. If you recognize it, it probably belongs to J.K. Rowling. Or someone else.
Fifteen year old Harry Potter's life was far from easy. With an insane, dark wizard and all his wonderful followers after him, an evil toad from Hades, and training an army, it would be a massive understatement to say Harry was simply stressed.
So on one warm, sunny Friday, Dumbledore decided a little break was in order for their young hero. With many strings pulled and special connections used, Dumbledore allowed Harry, Fred, George, Ginny, Ron, and Hermione to leave school for the weekend to visit Sirius, Remus, and the remaining Weasley clan—sans Percy, and Fluer Delacour.
So they took off to Grimmauld Place and spent all of Friday relaxing and spending time together. But the kids were starting to get restless. They really didn't want to spend their entire mini-vacation at the grim, depressing headquarters. But what else were they to do? They couldn't really go anywhere within the Wizarding World—they were all too recognizable and with the Death Eaters everywhere, it wasn't safe. But only Harry and Hermione had any sense of the muggle world for them to really do anything there.
So Harry was stuck with the dilemma of being stuck with the screeching portrait and the vile house elf, or try their luck in the muggle world. They needed a place where they wouldn't stick out too much, somewhere that'd be interesting for everyone, and fun. When the idea struck Harry, he was left with a conundrum. The place he had in mind would be almost perfect for them... Yet, Harry did not have any good memories there. But maybe this could be the perfect opportunity for him to create newer, better memories.
It took a lot of pleading and downright begging before everyone made their way to the London Zoo.
He wanted to do something to repay everyone for everything they'd done for him, so Harry was persistent in paying for all of them, planning to spoil them with the short time he was allowed to.
On Saturday morning, one could find the oddball group of witches and wizards—and one dog—dressed in muggle clothing, roaming around the zoo with great joy. Everything was going swimmingly. They'd all enjoyed a variety of muggle sweets, Hermione got new books and large plush lioness, the twins were up to their usual hijinks, Bill and Charlie were enjoying an outing with their family, Fluer was spouting off random information about the animals and the differences between London's zoo and the ones in Paris, Ron got to feed some otters, Arthur was asking a million questions a minute about muggle everything, Molly got a few knickknacks to add to her collection, and Remus and Sirius were just enjoying the freedom and seeing Harry relaxed and happy for the first time since they'd both re-met him. And Harry…. Harry could barely remember a happier time in his life.
Everything turned after they'd visited the Lions' den—a big hit with the all Gryffindor group— when the twins noticed Harry's longing glances towards the reptile room—he really wanted to know if that boa constrictor had managed to escape, or if he was locked back up in captivity.
With the twins' persistence, everyone agreed to visit the reptiles. Most, however, found themselves entertained as Harry and Charlie took turns listing random facts about the different reptile inhabitants, even more when Harry began to translate what the reptiles were saying—and not just the snakes. Turtles, lizards, alligators, and crocodiles were all filled with chatter that had the group in hysterias. Only Ron and Ginny seemed to have any type of aversion to Harry using his parseltongue to speak with the various reptiles while the others weren't even bothered when he started to speak to the snakes. In fact, Charlie's face looked as if Christmas had come extremely early and was currently bouncing on the balls of his feet in excitement.
It was while Charlie was babbling about Harry's parseltongue and how amazing it was that he could speak to more than just snakes when he saw them.
A large group of students was ushered in, a gaggle of chaperones following them.. Usually this wouldn't bother Harry too much, as it was still a school year and it wasn't uncommon for there to be multiple schools milling around on a school field trip. No, what made him forget to breath, however briefly, was the fact of which school was now crowding in the reptile house.
The group didn't bother him too much: Surrey Primary School. He recognized several of his former primary teachers loitering around, surveying the crowd and keeping an eye on their charges. It would be rather unlikely that any of them would connect the teenager to the scrawny, quiet child that sat in the back of their classrooms and was considered the 'troubled one'.
"You just have to visit the reservation, 'Ri!" Charlie gushed, using the nickname that Bill, George, Fred, and he had started calling the raven-haired teen back at the beginning of fourth year. He grabbed Harry's wrist and started pulling him in a random direction. "I wonder if you could speak with them as they are closely related to snakes…" Harry shrugged.
"I don't really know. I mean I didn't hear Norbert—er—speak, and neither did the one at the second trial. But it could be possible that I was just too preoccupied with other things to take notice." Charlie nodded and tugged Harry closer to hear him over the roar of children and teens speaking around them. Remus was watching in amusement at Harry sudden blush, Sirius letting loose a bark-like laugh as Snuffles.
"Com'on Harry, I think I saw a komodo dragon near the front, let try him!" Charlie exclaimed and started to drag Harry who tittered weakly and complied until a voice stopped him dead in his tracks.
"Harry Potter… is that really you?" Harry's group froze, not knowing if the feminine voice was a friend or foe. Nonetheless, they all started to form around and behind Harry, letting him take lead. Charlie's eyes narrowed at the woman as he and Harry turned around before draping an arm around the younger teen's shoulders and pulling him close.
"Ms. Knight!" Harry exclaimed in false cheer, trepidation filling his heart. The young teacher—Ms. Knight— was a fairly young woman, only nearing her late twenties, and had been new to the school when she'd begun her career teaching Harry and Dudley's English class. She was a kind teacher who took a special interest in Harry's life, noticing how he was treated compared to his spoilt cousin. He hadn't liked her at first. During their first guardian/teacher meeting, she'd gone on to rave about his intelligence and obedience while denouncing their precious Dudley's behavior in the very next breath. That had led to four days with no food at the Dursleys and locked up in the cupboard when he wasn't doing chores.
After that, however, she seemed to realize her folly and turned to a new tactic. She hid her affections towards Harry and would constantly assign him lunch detention for the smallest things, only to let him work on his homework, read a book, or take a nap during that time. She'd also bring him extra snacks and played the piano for him. It was from her that he learned how to play the piano and various other instruments.
"What're you doing here, Ms. Knight?" He asked politely from his spot under Charlie's arm. He appreciated the protective grip the man had on his shoulders as he spoke to his former teacher. Mrs. Ivoshkov smiled lightly.
"It's Mrs. Ivoshkov now sweetheart. And I'm just herding around a horde of rug-rats for a field trip." She answered. "And yourself?" Harry shrugged.
"Field trip of my own with my family." He explained.
Charlie relaxed his grip on Harry as the he realized that this muggle wasn't going to harm his pseudo-brother, but didn't release his grip just yet. It wasn't until Harry stepped away and towards her that Charlie let go and watched with curiosity to his interaction towards the woman, and the other adults that suddenly rushed over.
"How've you been, Mrs. Ivoshkov?" Harry questioned, moving forward to shake her hand. He started as the young teacher pulled him in for a firm hug.
"How am I? Oh dear, how are you?" She exclaimed, pulling back. "We were all so worried about what happened to you!" Harry cocked his head to the side.
"Worried? We? Who was worried about what, Mrs. Ivoshkov?" He asked, eyes filled with concern. Mrs. Ivoshkov just huffed and cocked her hip out .
"The other teachers and I were worried, Mr. Potter." She stated simply. "We had checked your record to see where you were heading off to school and saw that Stonewall had previously accepted you, but when we checked with them, they had no record of you! So we checked again, and the paper said confidential." Harry flushed and rubbed the back of his neck.
"I go to a very private boarding school somewhere in Scotland." He stated. Remus took that moment to step closer to his cub and clear his throat. Turning, Harry flushed a deeper scarlet.
"Right…" He muttered before turning to his former teacher. "How about some introductions?" He proposed, much to everyone's amusement.
"That would most likely be a good idea, cub." Remus chuckled, an easy smile on his lips. Harry grinned at the affectionate term before nodding.
"Well, Mrs. Ivoshkov. This man is Remus Lupin." They shook hands, each with their own smile. "He was an old friend of my parents, my Professor last year and an honorary Uncle of mine." Remus practically beamed at his title. He then gestured to the large, black dog sitting at Remus' heels. "This is his guide dog, Snuffles." Mrs. Ivoshkov eyed the dog before grinning and scratching him behind the ears. Snuffles wagged his tail. Harry chuckled before motioning everyone else forward.
"He's Ron, my best mate." He said, pointing. Ron offered a small wave. "Then my other best mate, Hermione. After that is Ron's younger sister, Ginny, their older brothers are Fred and George." He pointed to the twins, who grinned at the shorter woman that made red flags rise in her mind. Those two were definitely troublemakers. "Then we have their older brother, Charlie. And their eldest brother, Bill, and his fiancé, Fluer." She smiled and nodded at everyone. "Then we have their parents, Molly and Arthur Weasley." He finished, taking a deep breath. The adults shook Mrs. Ivoshkov's hand, each with a genial grin on their faces.
"Everyone… this is my former English teacher, Mrs. Kathy Ivoshkov." Their faces soon filled with interest.
"Oh, you simply must tell us what Harry was like before we met him, deary!" Molly gushed, nudging closer to the young woman. Mrs. Ivoshkov beamed and nodded.
"I will, but first I have to know how Harry's been." She turned her mocha eyes onto said boy. "You had better be top of your class, young man. You were extremely smart when I received you and I expect no less now…" Her warning was firm as she wagged a finger in his direction. Remus rose an eyebrow when Harry blushed and swiped at his hair.
"Well… Hermione takes first place overall…" He mumbled. "She wicked smart, y'know. And…" Harry trailed off, gulping as Mrs. Ivoshkov shifted and crossed her arms, an expected look gracing her features.
"And where exactly do you stand? When we sent you off, you were already doing high school level papers and exams, several years ahead of everyone else." Harry just shrugged before staring at her in confusion.
"What do you mean I was doing higher level stuff?" He asked as everyone around leaned in, interest in their eyes. Mrs. Ivoshkov shrugged.
"We saw the potential, so we had you learning different material. From what I know, your teacher have been doing so from second year. You worked at an accelerated pace so they—and I—started keeping you in during recess and assigned you harder homework than your peers." Harry frowned.
"But Aunt Petunia and Uncle Vernon would—" Her expression tightened at the mention of his relatives.
"Have had a fit if they knew you were far ahead of the class—especially their precious son?" She huffed as he blushed and ducked his head. "Yes, well," She sniffed. "We made sure to keep your true scores far away from those retched relatives of yours." Her face softened. "Didn't you ever wonder why your work was harder than what was covered in class?" She asked, curious. Harry just shrugged again, unaware of the worried frowns marring most of his pseudo-family's faces.
"I just assumed it was punishment and left it at that." He stated bitterly, eyes crossing as he stared down at his nose. Mrs. Ivoshkov pursed her lips.
"No, Harry. We all knew better than to believe the rubbish those people spouted about you." She sighed. "And I would like to apologize for the mistake I made at the beginning of our term together. I hadn't realized just how you were treated with the Dursleys at the time and had been overzealous in my attempt to make them see just how wonderful you truly were. My colleagues were quick to inform me of the repercussions my actions could bring down upon you." Harry shrugged, an affectionate grin on his lips.
"That's alright. It was nothing I hadn't suffered before. One of Dudley's favorite games was to get me in trouble with his parents." He shrugged off her concern. "Plus, I only have to deal with them during the summers now, so I'm doing quite well." She sighed, internally groaning at how easily he brushed off her concern. But she also expected it. She supposed the boy was so used to handling himself that he didn't realize just how bad things really were. And he was definitely not fine, if the haunted look in his emerald eyes and new scars on his hands were anything to go by.
She then turned to Remus and noticed his confused, concerned gaze resting on her. She shook her head and glanced at Harry discreetly as the boy looked around the crowd, telling him she couldn't say with him right there. The corners of Remus' eyes tightened, but he nodded.
"Are you able to escape your horde of children for a little while?" He asked tightly, his own arms crossed over his lanky chest. She frowned and glanced at her watch.
"I'm due for a short break in five minutes. Let me just speak to my husband about joining and I'll be right over." She replied before giving a tight smile and turning to hunt down her husband, leaving behind the bunch in her hunt for said husband.
She found him not too far off, a question lighting his green eyes. With a small kiss she guided him over to the main chaperone and spoke in soft voices to the two.
"You two remember Harry Potter?" She asked in excitement, bouncing in place. The other two brightened in remembrance of one of their favorite students. She hadn't been lying to the quiet boy and his family when she said he'd been far advanced for his age. Everyone had taken a special liking to the polite and intelligent child and had each gone out of their way to try and make his primary school career a bit more easy going as they all knew something was up in the Dursley household, even though they'd never been able to get proper evidence to take to any authorities.
"Is he here, Kathy?" The main chaperone, Ms. Westley, asked. She was an older, stricter woman with many laugh lines and steely, hawk-like, blue eyes. She had always been one of the quickest to catch Harry's cousin, Dudley, in the act of beating some poor child up—usually Harry himself.
"Yes, Martha." Mrs. Ivoshkov gushed. "Oh, and he's become such a striking young man! He's here with a group of red-heads and a few others. You wouldn't believe it was the same boy if it wasn't for his unruly hair and those striking green eyes of his!" Her grin faltered for a moment and her husband laid his hand on his wife's shoulder. He hadn't been employed at the school when Harry had been at Surrey Primary, but had heard several stories around the teachers' lounge about the young man and had always wished he'd taken the job a year earlier, if just to meet the boy once. "He considers the people with him as family." She whispered softly. "And the poor boy seems so haunted… like he's seen more pain and evil than everyone else. The man he calls his uncle—Remus Lupin he said— has that haunted look, too, but it's more prominent in Harry's eyes." Martha Jennings frowned, a lump forming in her throat, but she forced it down as Kathy continued.
"Mr. Lupin invited me to join them for lunch so I'm going to steal my husband head out for a bit, if that's alright." Alexander Ivoshkov had studied child psychology and she wanted his opinion on the matter. Martha nodded frantically.
"Please do, Mrs. Ivoshkov. I would like an update on that poor boy and you're the best at getting him to speak." She didn't know if it was the younger woman's age or just her friendly disposition, but Kathy had always been the one to get the boy to open up to her the most, speaking more freely to her than any of his previous teachers. "And make sure he starts sending letter to us or something. We worry far too much about that boy." He'd definitely left his mark in all of the teacher hearts and they would all appreciate a word from the boy, and possibly a picture, which she promptly suggested to her younger colleague.
"I'll try, but you know he's always been so camera shy…" Martha frowned and conceded.
"Just try please." Kathy nodded before bidding goodbye and dragging her husband over.
"So this must be Alexander Ivoshkov…." Harry started cheekily relaxing back in his chair at the small café in the zoo, coffees and teas resting in front of them on the table. Alex quirked an eyebrow as his wife flushed.
"Oh hush you." She muttered half-heartedly, eyes narrowing at the slight boy. Harry just grinned widely and chuckled.
"And how do you know me…?" Alex asked politely, eyeing the rest of the table. He'd been introduced to the bunch as they walked out of the reptile room. He liked Remus, the twins, Bill, and Charlie the most by far. The Hermione girl was quite interesting, reminding him of his Kathy's rather eccentric habits when books were in question. The two women and Remus all seemed to have a rather soft spot for reading material, actually, and had already gotten into a debate on the wonders of The Hobbit in the short walk from the reptile house to the café. They'd come to a stalemate when Harry had jumped in on Remus' behalf when the two girls ganged up on the scarred man.
The Ron boy—who had been introduced as Harry's best mate—seemed rather stand-offish and was quick to anger when Harry would join any of the intellectual debates that the three aforementioned bookworms would get into.
Ginny—or was it Jenny?—was seemingly uncomfortable with Harry and shooting some rather vicious glares at Hermione. Bill and his fiancé Fluer were a fun. Fluer was a bit stiff and proper, but seemed to ease whenever Bill would tease her. He could tell they were good together, even if Bill's mother—Molly—didn't seem too happy with the French woman.
The twins, however, were a right treat. He could see the intelligence in their eyes, hidden within those mischievous sparks. The way they were able to slip into any conversation and bring a lighter tone to it was a gift, and their back-and-forth way of talking was interesting to watch. They were impossible for Alex to differentiate, but Harry seemed to be able to without a problem, while even Molly seemed to have difficulties.
When Molly was finally able to coax Kathy into talking about Harry's life in her classroom his wife just could not stop praising the boy, while said boy tried to calm down her tales and was extremely modest about his accomplishments. She's even raved about his piano talents, which she had nearly had an aneurism when she found out he didn't still play.
"Well…. When Kathy here was still dear little Ms. Knight and was simply dating you, she had a habit of gushing about you during break." He answered happily, watching as his former teacher, whom insisted he call her Kathy, blushed scarlet, her expression horrified.
"Harry!" She exclaimed, eyes bugging. "You traitor!" She joked while Alex just chuckled along with the most of the table.
"It's nice to know that I wasn't the only one so enamored." He teased, brushing a lock of her hair from her face. She just stuck her tongue out at her husband and huffed, slouching in her chair to glare at Harry. Harry chuckled and leaned against Remus, whose arm was resting on the back of his chair. The entire time they'd been eating, Alex observed as Remus made sure Harry ate most of his food, eyes worried as Harry mainly pushed his food around.
"Anyway…" She huffed, glancing at her clock. "We have, like, ten minutes to go before we have to head back, so I simply must insist on a picture of you, Harry." She grinned as she pulled out her disposable camera. Harry groaned.
"But Kathy!" He whined. "You know how much I hate pictures!" Kathy simply scrunched her nose at him.
"Yes, well, the last picture I have of you is when you were ten and that was five years ago!" She complained. "I need a new one!" Harry grumbled good-natured as he threw several pounds on the table and stood up, the rest of the group following him.
Once outside, Kathy forced him to pose for several pictures, ones including just him and him with various people including: the twins, Hermione, Bill and Fluer, Charlie, Snuffles and Remus, and one with her and Alex. After that, he was practically groveling at her feet to not take anymore. She relented.
"Fine but you have to keep in touch with me, and some of the other teachers! We all miss you, you know." She reprimanded softly as she pulled him in for another, tight hug. The taller boy sighed before hugging her back just as tightly.
"I know, and I've missed you guys, truly. You guys are the reason my life wasn't too unbearable." Kathy sniffled and just hugged him tighter, saddened that the boy had gone through so much with only his teachers to somehow minimize the damage.
"You've become such an amazing young man, Harry, you truly have." Alex's eyes softened as Harry swallowed harshly when they pulled back, eyes brighter than they had previously been. The two shook hands and grinned at one another.
"You take care, Harry, and it was nice putting a face to your name." Harry gave a throaty chuckle and nodded.
"Likewise, Alex." He stated. "And you make sure you keep good care of Kathy, she's a wonderful woman." Alex smiled proudly in agreement. His wife was definitely someone special and he loved her more than life.
He shook hands with the rest of the group, happy that the boy seemed to have a solid group of people to call his family, much better than what he'd learned of those Dursley folk for sure, before he and Kathy watched the group walk off, all smiles and laughter and jokes amongst them.
"So what do you think of them?" Kathy whispered as they watched their retreating backs. Alex exhaled deeply and pulled his wife closer.
"That boy…. Harry…. He's troubled." He murmured, watching from the corner of his eye when Kathy cringed. "He's seen so much—you could tell in his mannerisms and eyes." He continued softly. "But he… he's strong, no doubt. He'll overcome whatever is weighing on his shoulders." He stated confidently.
"Those people… they seemed to truly care for Harry." She murmured. Alex nodded.
"Yeah, and if they stick with him like I hope they will, I don't think there isn't anything that boy won't be able to accomplish." Kathy wiped at her eyes and sighed.
"There was more to Harry that they weren't telling us." She informed him.
"I agree." He conceded. "But I have a feeling that, in the very end, everything will work out for him. Just you wait."
Okay, it seems a bit scattered, but I hope y'all enjoyed it anyway.
Reviews are always welcomed and I look forward to reading any that anyone posts.
~WildFireBurnsTheForest