The Triwizard Tournament organisers had filled the last week of term, and the last week of the Tournament, with all the remaining events. Harry's final flying competition, the standardised marathon race, was set for the final Friday of term. That would end the whole Aerobaticum.
But before that was the Pariturium. The final swathe of events – the third round, the semis, and then the finals themselves – on the Wednesday and the Thursday.
After all that was the Gauntlet's Third Task on Saturday, followed by the Closing Ceremony on the Sunday. It was set to be a very busy week, especially for Harry, but he was looking forward to it. It was, after all, the culmination of a year's hard work. Win or lose.
On the last proper Monday of the year Harry received two letters at breakfast. One delivered by his own eagle owl, Agrippa, and another by a handsome and rather flamboyant tropical bird. He knew immediately one of the letters was from Sirius, as nobody else sent Harry letters using strange birds. The identity of the correspondent who'd sent a letter with Agrippa was less clear. The handsome tropical bird didn't stick around too long, dropping off its letter and flying right away. Agrippa did wait around for some treats and a bit of affection. Harry saw to him, then set about examining his letters.
Harry attended to Agrippa's letter first, and realised it was a paper envelope which had been written on using a muggle pen.
Aunt Petunia and Uncle Vernon, then, Harry decided. They were the only muggles who would think of sending him a letter at school. He opened it curiously, and read through the letter written in his aunt's neat writing. The phrasing was a bit formal, but that was usual for Petunia when she thought there was any chance of being seen by anyone outside the family, so Harry didn't mind overly much.
Dear Harry,
We are writing to let you know that we have been invited to Hogwarts by your school in order to watch your participation in the finals of the duelling tournament this year. We have of course accepted the invitation and will be arriving by train on Tuesday evening. We will be staying in Hogsmeade village for the remainder of your tournament and have been told we can visit with you on Wednesday morning.
With love,
Aunt Petunia and Uncle Vernon
Harry leaned back on the low bench at the Slytherin table, stunned that Petunia and Vernon would be making their way to Hogwarts. He was so stunned he nearly fell off the bench, having forgotten it had no back, but caught hold of himself just in time.
"What's wrong?" asked Blaise when he noticed Harry. "You look like you've seen a nundu."
"My aunt and uncle are coming to Hogwarts to watch me in the duelling," Harry said eventually. "I just... er... it's a bit of a shock, to be honest."
Blaise rolled his eyes.
"Merlin, you'd think you were getting letters from bloody Sirius Black after that kind of reaction!" he said. "But it's just your aunt and uncle."
"Er, no, definitely no letters from, ah, Black," Harry said, fingering the rolled up parchment containing Sirius's letter. "It's just that they're muggles. I never expected to see them at Hogwarts, you know, didn't know if it was even allowed..."
Blaise shrugged.
"It happens sometimes. Muggleborns do have parents, after all." He turned back to his breakfast. "God, next time you nearly die of shock from something boring let me know before I waste time on it. Honestly, a letter from your bloody aunt…"
Harry ignored him and opened Sirius's letter.
Harry!
Well done on getting so far in the competition! I'm back in England—well, Scotland now actually—and Dumbledore let me know he'd be happy for me to come and watch your matches. We've got the perfect cover—you'll see. I've got myself a wand and all the jobs Dumbledore needed doing are done, so I'm back for good. Which is great.
Anyway, how'd you like my bird? His name is Rodrigo and he's beautiful, isn't he? I know he's flashy but I couldn't resist keeping him when I came home.
See you soon,
Padfoot
Harry hadn't been expecting either of those pieces of news. His aunt and uncle at Hogwarts, and Sirius Black back in the country and risking an appearance at the Triwizard Tournament. And on top of that, all three of them there to watch him perform. It added a little bit of pressure to win, Harry supposed, but there wasn't all that much left to add considering the events would all be very well-attended by members of the public and press from a dozen or more different countries.
At least he had until Wednesday morning to figure out what he would say and do with his aunt and uncle. Harry couldn't imagine Vernon being too excited by tales of the Forbidden Forest with its man-eating giant spiders, hostile centaurs, and herds of unicorns; nor the deep lake with its giant squid and merpeople, or the windows in the dungeons which looked out into the murk. There was 'health and safety gone mad', and then there was all that, which even Vernon would have a problem with.
Harry thought perhaps he could offer something about the battles fought at the castle, maybe even show Vernon the gallery of paintings off the History department, as his uncle did enjoy historical battles... Moving paintings would be a novelty, as well.
Petunia would be a bit easier as she enjoyed books, so would probably like a visit to the library. She was always pushing books on him and Dudley, even though Dudley never read any of them and Harry was quite selective in which ones he spent time on. Most of the more overtly magical things would be too stressful for his aunt, Harry thought, so he would have to avoid them... She liked plants, but perhaps a tour through the greenhouses would be a bit too much. He'd have to play it by ear.
"Harry!" said Tracey from a little way down the table, where she sat with Daphne and Millicent. "I just got a letter from Mam and Dad—they've got tickets to our match on Wednesday! So we definitely have to win now!" She paused. "Oh, what's the matter? You look a bit... distracted..."
Harry shrugged.
"Nah. Just, um... My aunt and uncle will be coming to Hogwarts to watch my last few events," he said. "Just got a letter from them about it, so I was thinking what to show them... since, er, they've never been here and to be honest probably never will again."
And reading between the lines, Harry assumed his aunt would have had years and years of wondering about what Hogwarts was like after first her sister going, and then the nephew that she'd raised… It was a lot.
"Ooh, that's a good point! Well, I'm sure we can come up with something interesting! Although we do have to keep practising for our bout so we'll have to fit it in between that and everything else," said Tracey.
"We're still on for practise after breakfast, then?" Harry asked.
"Definitely!" said Tracey. "Well, after I send a letter back home, I mean. Then we'll go right away!"
Harry spent the rest of his breakfast thinking about what he would show his aunt and uncle. When they'd finished, Tracey went to send her letter home while Harry took his time back in his dormitory to get ready for their paired duelling practise. With the semi-finals looming on Wednesday there weren't many days left to prepare, and Harry didn't want to lose any time at all, even with the added stress of his aunt and uncle coming to the castle.
While Harry had a bit of time he had a quick look around for Draco. But Draco was nowhere to be seen, not in the dormitory nor the Common Room, and he hadn't been at breakfast either, so Harry assumed he was in the secret room on the seventh floor.
It was a great hideout. Impossible to access – to find, even – unless one knew the trick. Harry felt like he could do with a room like that. He wasn't sure what for, exactly, but it seemed useful. Certainly something nice to have in his back pocket. Or his robe pocket, he supposed, since he didn't usually wear trousers anymore. With Sirius coming to Hogwarts, Harry thought perhaps he could ask the fugitive wizard to take a crack at opening the room himself.
It was an option, anyway. Maybe Sirius would have better luck.
Harry spent the next two days alternating between practises with Tracey for the doubles and the singles in duelling, last-minute drills with Hooch on the Nimbus, and whenever he got time, sneaking off to the seventh floor for another go at Draco's secret room. He'd given himself quite a heavy schedule, but without lessons to complicate things, found he had just enough time to do everything and get some sleep, too.
Almost too soon it was Wednesday morning, and Harry went out right after breakfast to meet his aunt and uncle – and Sirius, presumably in whatever disguised he'd arranged with Dumbledore – as they arrived from Hogsmeade village. Harry and Tracey were the only pair of second years from Hogwarts still in the competition, but the other three pairs from Beauxbatons and Durmstrang as well as everyone else in the other years' doubles categories also had parents and family arriving, so a long procession of thestral-drawn carriages wound their way up along the path to Hogwarts castle not too long after the end of breakfast.
When the carriages pulled up in front of the castle, coming to a gentle stop after passing the gardens, Harry recognised Gwen and Colin immediately as they stepped down from their carriage. He gave them a brief wave while Tracey dashed towards them, and stood back to look for his aunt and uncle, and whatever Sirius had come as. A dog, Harry assumed.
Petunia and Vernon climbed down from a carriage near the back of the procession, and Harry walked across to meet them. He managed to avoid bumping into the other competitors and their families as he did so, but only just, as most of them were milling about to the sides of the carriages.
Just as he reached Petunia and Vernon, Dudley climbed out of the carriage – rather laboriously – to stand with them, although both Petunia and Vernon stood a little bit away from him.
Unusual, thought Harry.
When Harry reached the three Dursleys Vernon stuck out his hand by way of greeting. He was never one for hugs, not even with Dudley, really. Harry shook his hand and then received a short hug from his aunt, as neither Dursley was overly fond of physical affection.
"Alright, Dudley?" Harry said. "I wasn't expecting you to come."
"Hello, cousin!" said Dudley, beaming. "Good to be here! Feels like I haven't seen you in ages!" He winked. Harry knew there and then it was Sirius who stood in place of Dudley, no doubt using the Polyjuice Potion to appear as his cousin. He spoke with Dudley's voice, but Dudley didn't behave like that, or say those things, and certainly not in that way.
"Er—good to see you too, 'cousin'," Harry said. "Did you have a good time in, er—at school, I mean?"
"A very good time!" Sirius-as-Dudley said. "But it's nice to be back at home."
Harry would take Sirius aside later to go over his thoughts and concerns with him, although quite how Harry would get over seeing Dudley's face while hearing Sirius's words, he wasn't sure. Instead, Harry turned towards Vernon and Petunia.
"Did you get in okay? Were the carriages alright?" he asked. "And how about the hotel—well, the inn? I've never stayed there obviously but I have been in and it's quite nice, isn't it? Erm, a different ambience to the sorts of places we get in Surrey, but..."
"It feels quite ... historic ... in style," Petunia said. "A lovely atmosphere, once you acclimate. And really very clean—I hadn't expected it to be quite so... quite so... spotless!"
That was rare praise coming from Petunia, Harry knew. He assumed she'd probably thought wizards lived in filth without access to any of the cleaning products and techniques that Petunia was familiar with and so utterly unconcerned with mess that they hadn't developed any spells for it either. Harry wouldn't have put it past her to bring some wipes or antibacterial spray along with her, but it wouldn't have been necessary. The Three Broomsticks had no elves as far as he was aware, but Madam Rosmerta was evidently a witch with a lot of skill with household charms and the desire to keep things clean.
"Self-driving cars!" exclaimed Vernon when Harry turned towards him. He seemed in two minds about the idea, which Harry thought on brand for Vernon, who rarely trusted anything new without good reason. "And not a computer in sight! It's like I'm in bloody Japan! Not sure I like them, but they got us here without crashing, so I suppose your lot has them working right..."
"Er..." said Harry. Could his uncle cope with the revelation that the carriages were drawn by invisible flying horses? He chanced it. "Actually, Uncle Vernon, the carriages are pulled by invisible horses. They're called thestrals, and they can fly, but they don't do it with the carriages so you don't need to worry about that. They're really well trained. They live in the forest—it's a nature reserve. There's all sorts in there..."
Vernon considered that piece of news, then nodded, mostly to himself. He seemed pleased with it more than anything, so Harry left him to chew it over. Probably felt happy that there was something driving the carriage, even if it was an invisible flying horse.
"Shall we go inside? I can show you the castle, although I won't be able to take you to my Common Room because, er, it's for Slytherins only..." Harry said. He left out that he wasn't entirely sure Salazar Slytherin hadn't included enchantments and other protections to specifically ward against muggles getting anywhere near his sanctum. Seemed like it might ruin the mood.
His aunt and uncle nodded along and followed after him, while Dudley – Sirius – drew up alongside him and leaned in.
"I've been inside before, you know," he said in a low tone. "Me, your dad, Moony and..." he trailed off. "There's a trick, but you can find all the Common Rooms if you know it. I'll tell you later," Sirius said with a big grin. The expression was strange over Dudley's face, but Harry assumed he'd get used to it at some point over the next few days.
As Harry walked his aunt and uncle through Hogwarts, he gave out little bits of trivia that he remembered.
"One of my mates' ancestors designed and built this part of the castle," Harry said once they'd gone through to the Entrance Hall. "Er, not the really old bits, just the newer bits. And some of the windows, I think. Over there is where they keep some of the trophies and stuff like that," Harry said, gesturing to the trophy cabinet at one side of the Entrance Hall. "There's actually a whole trophy room, but I don't think there's any point us going there really."
Harry moved towards the cabinet.
"None of mine are in there yet," Harry continued, "but I think they'll add them in after the Closing Ceremony. They'll want them on view for visitors, I expect." He paused when he realised he'd never told his aunt or uncle he'd won any events. "Er, I forgot to say, but I won the free speed race—against a professional flyer, actually—and I came second in the free hazard, which is like an obstacle course but on a broom. And obviously I'm hoping to win the duelling as well..."
"I've read a bit about it in the papers," Vernon said, and for a moment Harry was perplexed – none of his events would have appeared in the muggle papers. Then he remembered his Daily Prophet subscription, the one that he'd paid for but which went to Number Four, that he'd never bothered to change once at school. He hadn't expected his uncle to keep reading them, and if he had that meant he'd probably seen Skeeter's columns... But his aunt and uncle had moved on by then.
Vernon and Petunia moved towards the cabinet to inspect the trophies, and after a few moments Petunia gasped and stepped back.
"What's wrong?" Harry asked, suddenly worried there had been a lingering anti-muggle spell placed on the trophy cabinet for whatever reason that his aunt had accidentally triggered.
"It's silly, really," Petunia said eventually, looking at a small medal and the sparkling wizard photograph of a young girl which sat next to it. His mother, Harry realised after looking at it himself. "But I saw your mother in that photograph and it reminded me of... well." Petunia peered at the medal and read the inscription. "'Winner of the 400th Society of Potioneers' Brewing Competition'," she read aloud quietly. "She always was clever," Petunia said, almost too quietly for Harry to hear.
Vernon was looking at the large shield on which the names of previous Head Boys and Girls had been placed, and which had been given pride of place in the Entrance Hall trophy cabinet. He pointed at one pair of names from a few decades prior.
"Look there, Pet. That's your sister's name, and—the boy's father," Vernon said.
Harry leaned in for a closer look. Vernon was right. In delicate lettering were the names Lily Evans and James Potter, along with the year of their appointment. Strange to see their names like that – not in an historical context, nothing to do with the War or reminiscence of old friends – just two students. Head Boy and Head Girl.
"No one's ever said my parents were Head Boy and Girl," he said. "And I never knew my mum won that competition, either..." There was so much Harry didn't know. So many things that went unsaid. Questions he didn't even know to ask…
"I remember when Lily was made Head Girl, of course," Petunia said. "She was living with us at the time, Vernon—do you remember?"
"I couldn't forget," Vernon said. "It was just the three of us—and the owl and the bloody cat—in that poky little flat." He paused. "That was the summer my life changed forever, you know."
"I didn't know my mum had lived with the two of you," Harry said. It was a strange thought. The very idea of his mother living with Vernon in a little flat...
"It wasn't long after your grandparents had died," Petunia said. "We needed somewhere to live, and Vernon was kind enough..."
Vernon mumbled something and shrugged. There was a little silence after that, at least until Sirius – who had stood to one side pretending to contemplate a statue while Harry spoke with his aunt and uncle – coughed.
Time constraints. Right. Harry needed to move them along.
"We can go through to the Great Hall as well so you can have a look at the banners and everything..." Harry suggested, keen to get moving again. He wanted his little tour of Hogwarts to be a happy, pleasant experience, and not mired in sadness or grief and other emotions no one wanted to think about.
Harry took his aunt, uncle, and Sirius through to the Great Hall. He pointed at each of the tables.
"So, these are where we eat meals. I sit at this one on the end over here, the one under the snake banners with all the green and silver, since those are the Slytherin colours and emblem. My mum and dad, they used to sit over there, at the table with the lions, because they were in Gryffindor..." Harry trailed off when he realised both his aunt and uncle were instead staring at the ceiling, which displayed the weather – accurate to the movements of clouds and even birds as they flew through the sky – instead of a typical ceiling.
"Oh, er, yeah—the Great Hall ceiling is enchanted to show what's in the sky outside. Sorry, forgot to say," Harry said. "You get used to it after a while."
"I hadn't realised it would all be so—so grand," said Petunia after a few moments. "Lily—your mother—said, but... it's different seeing it." She gazed up at the ceiling, and around at the decorations – which were admittedly rather more impressive than usual because of the Triwizard Tournament and the presence of the other schools – moving between all of the things to see as if caught in a loop.
Harry nodded slowly. He should have realised Petunia would have grown up hearing stories about Hogwarts, always knowing that she would never be able to see it for herself. Harry didn't need to imagine how it was seeing the castle and all its magic for the first time, since he'd experienced it, but he supposed it would be very different for Petunia.
He would have to try to remember that as he showed his aunt and uncle around.
"So, shall we go see other parts of the castle?" Harry asked. "Uncle Vernon, I thought we could go upstairs to the History department—there's a gallery there and there's a portrait I think you'd like to meet. Then after that, I thought we could go have a look in the library, Aunt Petunia?"
There were other places, like the Central Hall and the Transfiguration Courtyard, even the Summoner's Court out on the grounds, but Harry didn't have all day to show his aunt and uncle around. He'd have to prioritise. Perhaps if there was time.
They agreed, although Harry supposed there wasn't much else they could do, so Harry took them out of the Great Hall and up the main staircases.
"The stairs move sometimes," Harry explained as they made their way to the History department, "not, er, physically—well, one set does—but where they end up is different on some days. But you get used to it. I don't really get lost anymore."
But neither Vernon nor Petunia was listening. Instead, they were gazing up and around at the many and varied portraits on display all over the walls of the grand stairwell. Harry shrugged and left them to it – he'd been more interested in all the sights than in the bits of trivia his first time around the castle, too.
"Why does everything have to move?" Harry heard Vernon complain to Petunia in what he'd obviously thought was an undertone. "Pictures, paintings, furniture, and even the bloody stairs..."
Harry supposed he probably shouldn't mention the doors that went to different rooms at different times of the month, then, or the room that sometimes turned upside down when no one was looking.
When all four of them emerged onto the corridor of the History department Harry directed them to the non-descript bit of wall that hid the gallery.
"I don't know why they shut this bit off," Harry said as he slid the wall panel away, "but they did. I guess because no one uses it anymore... but it's got some really interesting paintings and portraits and stuff like that. I thought you'd enjoy seeing it, Uncle Vernon, because it's all historical. There's a load of stuff in there about the Norman Conquest! And I know you like that, so... Er, well, just have a look around," Harry said as they entered the long, disused gallery full of historical artworks.
Vernon seemed to perk up at that, so Harry assumed he was interested. Harry directed him to the series of paintings depicting the Conquest, particularly towards the portrait of the wizard general who was closest to William the Conqueror. The portrait spoke only broken English, having picked it up over the years in the way that portraits could, but thought Vernon would enjoy speaking with it anyway.
"You never said you went about exploring the castle this much," said Sirius while Vernon and Petunia looked around the gallery. "Your dad would've been proud."
"I—er, thanks," mumbled Harry. "It's not—I don't really go exploring like that. I did for a bit in first year, mind, once I got the, er, Cloak. I found this weird place where Dumbledore was... well, it doesn't matter. But this year I've been busy, and with that room on the—" Harry suddenly remembered what he'd wanted to ask Sirius. "Actually, I did want to ask if you could take a look at the room on the seventh floor. I know you can't do a lot since you're disguised and all that, but if we go for a walk up there later could you just, I don't know, see what you think? It'd really help."
Sirius-as-Dudley nodded.
"I'll have a go. But you really should go to Dumbledore with what you think, Harry," he said. "I won't tell him if you don't want me to, but he probably knows a thing or two about the castle's secrets. Have a think on it."
"I will," said Harry. "But—not just yet. I still want to..." Harry found it difficult to articulate why, precisely, he didn't want to bring Dumbledore in on the problem just yet. He was sure that Draco was up to something, and that it had something to do with Voldemort, and it wasn't that he didn't trust Dumbledore, but... Harry didn't want to go to him without something substantial, something concrete. "I want to figure out what he's doing first, that's all," Harry said. "And if I've not managed it by the Closing Ceremony, I'll let him know something's up." Harry paused. "If I haven't figured it out after the Pariturium finishes, I'll tell him. That's alright, isn't it?"
Sirius shrugged.
"It's up to you." He changed the topic. "I can show you the door to the Gryffindor Common Room, if you want. Well, maybe just the general area—don't want to go giving away all our secrets to slippery Slytherins, eh?" He winked.
Harry let his aunt and uncle view the gallery, and its adjoining chamber where there was a complete dragon skeleton, for just a little while longer, as he was all too aware that they didn't have that much time until the duelling tournament started. When he thought they were about done with it, he ushered them away and up to the seventh floor so that Sirius could have a look at the secret room – after showing Harry and his aunt and uncle the approximate location of the Gryffindor Common Room.
As it happened, the Gryffindor Common Room – the Gryffindor Tower, Sirius had called it – was very close to the secret seventh floor room, so it wasn't a stretch for 'Dudley' to be by the tapestry of the dancing trolls and for his parents to be wandering around the halls nearby.
"A tip," Sirius said before he ducked away. "You can find any of the House Common Rooms as long as you aren't explicitly looking for them. You have to sort of think around it, but once you know how to get there, you won't forget."
Dudley-Sirius wandered away in the direction of the secret room, leaving Harry with his aunt and uncle.
"So, er, yeah," Harry said, gesturing to the hallway Sirius had said led near the Gryffindor Common Room. "My mum and dad would have lived near here when they were at school. I don't know where exactly because it's a secret and if you go looking for it you get lost, but everyone knows it's up here somewhere."
Now that Sirius had said the Common Room was located within a tower, Harry knew exactly where it had to be, although not quite how to get there. Still, with the tip Sirius had given him Harry knew it was possible. Maybe he'd give it a go at some point. After the Tournament, probably even next year if at all. But it was possible…
"Lots of secrets in this bloody school," Vernon said. "Meant to be part of the fun, I expect—we had a few of those at Smeltings, you know. Although we were allowed to know where the other houses had their common rooms..."
"Well, when they built Hogwarts—and cast some of the spells on it—it was a different time," Harry explained, "so the four Founders were a bit, er, cautious when it came to stuff like that. And because there's so much magic around the castle sort of ... changes on its own. Sometimes. You know, new passageways open up, or rooms get lost, or I read that once one of the classroom doors started opening up into the bottom of the North Sea and nobody knows why." Harry paused. "It stopped doing that, though."
"Bloody mad, the lot of you," muttered Vernon.
"I have classes up here as well," Harry said. "One class, anyway—Divination, which is telling the future and all that."
"Really?" asked Petunia. "You can do that? Your mother never..."
Harry shrugged.
"It's not that accurate, to be honest," Harry said, "and for the really big stuff, it's a special talent you have to be born with." He left out what he knew about prophecies, because that wasn't a conversation he wanted to have with his aunt at all. "But we've been learning to read the tarot and other stuff like that—tea leaves—so if you wanted over the summer, I could read your cards for you."
Harry made the offer not expecting his aunt to really want to take him up on it, since she never seemed the sort for that kind of thing. Still, it would be interesting to show her a different kind of magic from that which she would see him do in the duelling. And since it could be done without a wand, Harry could do it at home during the summer without triggering the Trace.
Vernon, seemingly bored at the mention of tarot cards and tea leaves, wandered off to look at a painting and took Petunia with him. While they were gone, Sirius returned, shaking his head.
"No luck at all," Sirius said quietly. "Couldn't even tell there was anything there. That's a well-hidden room, definitely. You know, your dad would have been thrilled with that as a challenge. I'm telling you—we mapped literally every other room in the castle, or at least that's what we thought, but none of us knew this one existed. If you hadn't sworn it did, I'd say you were lying just to make me feel bad!"
"Thanks for trying anyway," Harry said. He collected his aunt and uncle and then made a quick trip to the library – via Central Hall and one of the exterior walkways – so Petunia could have a look at the books. They spent a little time there, wandering through the stacks, ascending to the upper level to look out of the windows for a while. Harry let his aunt take in the ambience before leaving the pair of Dursleys and Sirius in the Entrance Hall so he could go and prepare for the duelling tournament with mixed emotions.
That his aunt and uncle had come to support him… that meant a lot to Harry. It was a sight – many sights over the course of the morning – that he'd never thought he'd see. It was… nice. More than nice. It was a little bit of normalcy.
But.
Harry wished it could have been his parents, his mother and father, there to watch him. But that was an old wish. The oldest wish, and something he could never have. It hurt. Still, in the combination of his aunt, uncle, and Sirius, he had the next best thing. Or at the very least, the thing that he had.