Harry potter and the Time of Retirement
Everything related to Harry Potter belongs to JKR
Chapter 49 – Year 2
The following weeks were surprisingly normal, all considered. Harry got used to live in Godric's Hollow and, while making fun of her and himself, ended up planting some of the seeds given by professor Sprout in his courtyard. They were growing quickly, too.
Hannah introduced him to everyone she knew, first and foremost her parents. Apparently "they heard so much about him from Hannah" and were more than welcoming of Harry, inviting him to pass by whenever he wanted. Considering the lack of kids of Hannah's age around there, he was not surprised. Neither was he when she started knocking at his door almost every single morning and afternoon, often together with Susan, either to gossip go out or do summer homeworks. He was lightly stressed, but still amused by their easygoing desire to spend time together.
All that culminated in that afternoon, with the two girls organizing a "Welcome Back Party" with all of their Hufflepuff's year mates. In Harry's house of course, and of course he was to create all the refreshments. "Wait, I never said we could do anything here" was Harry's attempt to stop them when they started saying how everyone had already wrote back that they would come. With some amused smiles on their part, he ended up being ignored as Hannah and Susan kept listing what food and drinks were necessary.
Sighing, and giving up on stomping his foot down with two well intentioned little girls and cancelling everything, he finally conceded that he would be happy to see everyone and sure, why not, they could have a party at his place. Once.
So, with the table in the living room loaded with transfigured food and drinks – good enough, was his taste test result – and a crate of butterbeer he bought from the Three Broomsticks, Harry waited for the arrival of everyone. In the background, some music was coming from the radio, the WWN playing some songs of Celestina Warbeck.
Hannah had tried to get him to create some decorations like balloons, garlands and festoons but Harry flatly answered that if she wanted that stuff, she would have to create it herself. After a couple of failed attempts in his house, she came back the day after with some suspiciously well made ones. "Your parents, eh" said Harry, while she giggled and hanged them on the walls.
Soon, someone knocked at the door only to open it without waiting. "Harry, where are you?" all but shouted Justin, followed by other inquiries and shouts from the rest of the group. Soon, the former group of 2nd year Hufflepuffs was inside Harry's living room happily chatting, eating and drinking.
While technically the party was for Harry, Hannah had probably already shared both what he said and that he didn't want to say more as no one made him any question about his misadventures. They simply started sharing news about their holidays and the situation of their summer assignments. It was a while before the chaos subsided a little, and most of them were eating or relaxing instead of talking over each other.
"Harry, this place is nice" commented Wayne, smiling. "And it's all yours. This has potential."
"Sure, but for what we are doing we could have been anywhere" added Ernie. "There are no fireworks, alcohol, anything forbidden."
"There is plenty of chaos, Ernie. Good luck doing that with your parents in the next room" commented Harry, making Ernie snigger.
"Not to brag, but my place is larger" said Justin. "Of course, using magic over there would collapse all of our electrical stuff."
"Like that fridge or whatever it was, right?" asked Zach, rolling his eyes.
"How do you even know about that?" asked Harry, sipping from a glass of butterbeer.
"Oh, I volunteer to go and pick him up with my elves whenever we do something together, Harry" answered Zach. "My charity work towards muggleborns, I guess."
"How nice of you" commented Ernie.
"Please. Every time they come I make sure to show off what we can offer. You weren't exactly complaining about my Coca-Cola" said Justin, smirking.
"I still insist you too wanted to play that weird video game" added Wayne.
"Are they corrupting you, Zach?" asked Harry, amused.
"If you go to some foreign, backward country you try their food and drinks, Potter, but nothing more" answered Zach. Slightly embarrassed, though.
Harry smirked, and turned to look at the group of girls. Susan and Megan were apparently busy talking about Quidditch and Megan's new broom. Hannah was with Sally, but he could not understand what they were talking about.
"So, what did I miss the rest of the year? What about Lockhart, for example?" asked Harry, to his side of the room.
"Oh, he is gone" said Ernie. "He gave us a pompous speech on how he was proud of how much we grew under his tutelage, but new adventures were calling for him and so long."
"Still, he was quite brilliant the rest of the year. You did miss out on something there, Harry" said Justin. The interesting part, though, was despite some grimaces or eye rolling no one contradicted him.
"I doubt he suddenly became a good teacher" said Harry.
"He all but stopped giving classes, and that's the point" said Zach. "That clown created a dueling club, coopting Snape and Flitwick to show off their best spells."
"Sure, he got out of teaching those himself but the club was quite fun, and we learned something on top of it" said Wayne.
"The very first class was not that great, but it was the first" said Justin. "Except Malfoy and Weasley dueling and making a joke of themselves, that was awesome."
"I must admit he is not stupid, just ridiculous. Lockhart, I mean. He did the same with Kettleburn, the creature professor" said Ernie.
"Oh, right!" added Justin, enthusiastically. "Once in a while, Lockhart brought us to him to see dangerous creatures, and to learn what spells defend against those."
"Mind you, Potter, it was still Kettleburn that actually taught or cast anything. Lockhart barely gave the introductions" said Zach, rolling his eyes.
"Anyway, his classes improved" commented Harry. Nods, one enthusiastic from Justin and some more dubious from the other boys, followed.
"Which means, you owe me Ernie. Money, please" said Justin, smirking.
"Again? Plenty of people still thinks he made an ass of himself. You lost, Justin" countered Ernie, shrugging. At Harry's blank stare, Zack revealed that "they had a bet or something."
"I guess I missed out. Anything else?" asked Harry, relaxed. He received a couple of shrugs and shake of the head, but Wayne grinned and said "You missed Saint Valentine."
At his words, the other boys stopped, speechless. The girls noticed and started looking at them and so Wayne repeated, loudly "Valentine".
Chaos exploded once again, as apparently everyone wanted to share the same story. The same big story.
Eventually, Megan – pushing away everyone else, and not in the kindest way - managed to get in front of Harry and share what happened.
"You see, Harry, Lockhart organized something for Saint Valentine too. He hired dwarves, and had them dressed as…" she started, only to be interrupted by Ernie. "Wonder where he got them, by they way. They don't live in England."
"Yeah, I think they are from Sweden. Or Germany?" added Wayne, as Susan nodded.
"Can't you just shut up?" said Megan, stressed, before turning once again towards Harry. Behind her the boys made stupid faces, and even the girls had a small frown.
"So, yeah, dwarves. Dressed up as cupids, tasked by Lockhart to carry around love letters or stuff. Not a bad idea actually" continued Megan.
"Meh. No one in our year received anything… Hey!" said Justin, being startled by Megan's furious look and shushing gesture.
"No one cares about the letters. During lunch time, Harry" and here her smile grew in size "a dwarf went in front of the table of professors and started singing a love poem. It was not addressed to anyone, so it seemed only part of the day."
"It was weird though" said Wayne. When Megan turned towards him with another shushing sound he rolled his eyes and commented "Ok, listen, get over yourself girl" starting a small bicker between her and the other boys.
Harry looked at them, exasperated, only for Susan to approach him. "Let me conclude the story, because it's worth it."
"The poem was about unrequited love and the courage to go on regardless. Well written too, I thought it was to console those that received nothing. As in, most of the students to be honest" said Susan. Hannah, next to her, giggled and took over.
"But then, the poem started adding details. How a broken heart should not mean greasy hair, how a new love requires a kind soul, and how pining for dead lovers sounds romantic but is creepy" said Hannah, her eyes becoming two slits of mirth. "You understand where this is going, right?"
"I am almost scared to say yes" said Harry, snorting. "No way this ended well."
"It didn't" said Susan. "Everyone, and i mean everyone, started laughing at Snape. I think he wasn't listening, because it took a while before he noticed the stares. But when he did, and heard the final lines of the poem… Oh, boy."
"He exploded" said Sally-Anne, quietly. "Never seen him so livid. He took out his wand, and" she stopped there, unsure. Susan and Hannah showed a grimace, and didn't go on.
"He tried to kill the dwarf, Harry" said Ernie, as the bickering between the boys and Megan was calming down and they moved back to the conversation. "At least, I think he did."
"Dumbledore intervened!" said Megan. "He used some crazy white light that stopped Snape's curse, while the dwarf dropped his harp and ran out of the hall."
"Smart move, by the way" said Zach, as Justin nodded.
"The whole place went silent, as Snape stood up and left. It was, it was…." said Megan.
"A Valentine to remember" commented Wayne, smirking.
"Wow" said Harry. "Who set him up, anyway?"
"Oh, no one knows" continued Megan. "There are rumors that, when asked by a professor, the dwarf said it was a boy with a hood and a scarf on his mouth, very tall."
"Some older year with a grudge against Snape" said Zach, with apparent certainty.
"No one knows for sure" concluded Megan. "Whoever he was, he was careful to cover his tracks."
"Good for him" said Harry. "Snape will never forgive this, ever."
"Oh, he was insufferable the weeks afterward" said Hannah. "He gave detentions left and right, even for honest mistakes."
"And Dumbledore did nothing to stop him, of course" said Ernie, sarcastically.
"Crazy story" said Harry, shaking his head. "Missing Snape's public humiliation is a shame. At least I don't have to see him ever again."
These words seemed to dampen the mood in the room, with everyone showing some kind of an embarrassed expression.
"So it's true, eh" said Ernie. "I thought Hannah was wrong."
"He never said anything clear" complained Hannah to the group, before turning to Harry. "Are you really not coming back to school?"
"Probably not" said Harry, shrugging. "I have been expelled. I should call it a suspension, because Dumbledore gave me a way back in, but…."
"What?" asked Sally, as Susan said "Oh, that's great!"
"Nothing that I want to do, that's why I call it expulsion. I am out, guys. Have fun for me, too."
"If you can do it you should. Even if you don't want to. Come on" pleaded Sally.
"What are you even going to do for school, then?" asked Wayne, unconvinced.
Harry looked at them, smiled, and shook his head. "I said no, sorry."
The mood dampened, some kids went and picked up more food and drinks while the others whispered things to each other. Eventually Harry stood up, ostentiously to set up more refreshments. Looking behind himself he noticed the conversation had restarted, and that Sally had followed him.
"Harry, can we talk?" asked Sally, in a low voice.
"We were talking already" he countered, with a smile, while nodding towards the door. "If it's personal, come this way."
They went out of the living room, moving to the kitchen. Not much was in sight, as Harry hardly ever cook anything by hand. He let the stuff he had taken on the table, and they both sat down.
"I wanted to talk to you too, Sally. You know, to check on how it ended up with your parents" said Harry.
"Oh, that. Well enough, I guess. Sprout took us all to the ministry, Diagon Alley and Madam Malkin's. She even talked about how to find jobs and stuff. My dad said she seemed a responsible lady, at least, even with her weird clothes."
"I wonder what you think of her fashion sense, by the way" asked Harry.
"That she doesn't have one" giggled Sally. "Anyway, my parents thought it over for months, they said, and I can stay at Hogwarts and decide later" she concluded with a big smile that dimmed instantly. "But they are making me take summer classes, now. It sort of sucks."
Harry nodded, and shrugged. "Good luck. Your parents are not the first to try living in both world, you know? Usually it doesn't work."
"Why not?" asked Sally, puzzled.
"Magic and electricity don't mix, at all. If you work among muggles, if you have a muggle house you can't use your wand there. Plus, the statute of secrecy."
"I could live as a witch, but use magic to have it easier in a normal job… well, that is what dad said."
"Yeah, again, not the first to try. Good luck, I mean it. Beside, once you are older, the decision will be yours and that's good enough for me" concluded Harry, with a smile. Sally smiled back in return.
"I was so stressed last year, Harry. Had I kept lying to my parents it could have been a disaster. Thank you" she said, now blushing a little. "By the way, Harry. Even if it is silly, I have something for you."
While speaking, she took out a flat envelope from under her sweater. It was some kind of colorful card, similar to those that Harry saw in some muggle store. And yet, judging by the uncertain way the flowers were drawn on the front, this was probably hand crafted. Curious, he picked it up and opened it.
"Dear Harry, thanks for all you have done for me. Happy Valentine, Sally-Anne" read aloud Harry, smiling.
"Yes. I prepared it last February, when we still thought you might have been healed quickly" said Sally, quite embarassed. "It was supposed to be your Valentine's gift."
"I was the only one to receive something, then. Talk about bragging rights" commented Harry, amused. "Or not. I'll keep this private, or you will be teased again."
"Do keep it quiet Harry but, well, all the girls know already. They helped me create your card and yes, they teased me a lot" said Sally, now looking down at her hands, her cheecks turning a deep shade of red. "I still wanted to do it."
Harry remained quiet for a second, before smiling sadly and sighing. 'To be young again' he thought.
"I see. Thank you Sally, I'll keep this with care. It might be late, but Happy Valentine to you, too."
"Harry, are you sure you are not coming back to Hogwarts next year?" asked Sally, in a low voice.
"By this point I am pretty sure, yes. I am sorry" answered Harry. When she didn't speak up, he continued. "I'll miss all of you, and I wish you specifically the best, Sally. It's truly unfortunate."
Sally nodded, and stood up. She was smiling now but the smile was brittle and her eyes, too, were turning red. "I hope you will come back, Harry. Write us, let us know how you are doing, ok?"
"Sure, I will" said Harry, casually. She frowned instantly.
"I mean it. Don't disappear once again, it's not funny" said Sally.
"I'll see what I can do" said Harry, sighing and nodding towards the kitchen door. She giggled, and passed by him. On the way, Harry felt her hand caress his for a second – or maybe it was just a coincidence. He shrugged, and followed her back to the others.
Slowly, the party winded down. Plenty of promises to meet again soon, or straight up plans to do so, were drafted before the kids decided enough was enough. Soon after they left for Hannah's house and her floo connection.
"And get one yourself, stupid" was Zack's farewell, as he drag Justin away to his house. Harry sniggered, said goodbye to Hannah and her parents, and left for his own place.
The following days passed quietly. No one noticed, or remembered, about Harry's birthday; his only thought was that Ginny probably noticed, and he hoped she wasn't too hostile towards him now. Beside that, it was a day like many others for him. Lazily, he dedicated a thought to Dobby: if the elf had really been involved in the Diary mess, what had happened to him?
'Poor loyal Dobby' thought Harry, feeling slightly helpless. There was very little he could do to help him, bar openly questioning Malfoy. And he really didn't want to do that.
August, too, followed. Hannah and occasionally others kept visiting, and Harry himself – pushed by his monotonous life – showed up for the birthday parties of his former classmates that fell during the month, but beside that he had to entertain himself.
His plants kept growing, and he added a couple of more magical specimens to his yard. Random thoughts about preparing his own set of potions eventually turned into preparing a couple of the most basic ones, now stored in his former nursery. Time simply passed by.
By late august, all Hannah talked about was returning to school… and reviewing all she and the others had forgot during summer. Once again, completely without permission, Harry's living room was turned into a crowded reunion of all new 3rd year Hufflepuffs. Hints, here and there, were given at Harry about any possibility of him coming back to Hogwarts and all were turned down.
Finally, September came and with that the final day before the start of the new school term. Hannah visited him in the morning, but her afternoon was taken with preparing her baggages and saying goodbye to her parents. As for Harry he spent a quiet, relaxed afternoon at home.
Slightly before dinner, an owl started pecking at his windows. Opening those, Harry welcomed it inside and recovered a letter addressed to him.
My dear Harry,
I doubt it will be a surprise to learn that I kept my watch over you. It was not with a light heart that I dismissed you from Hogwarts. Even then, I expected for you to stay safe inside your relatives' home and to either become more reasonable or start attending a muggle school for the time being.
I have been informed, instead, that you have now moved to your parent's home in Godric's Hollow. While I can understand such a choice, I do not approve of it. You might, and you did for what I have been told, be able to manage it for now but living on your own at thirteen years of age is absolutely not what you should do, or what your parents would wish for you. I am sure you encountered several difficulties already, over there, for which you are not yet prepared.
I want to stress how Hogwarts's doors remain open so long as we can discuss, together, what are the extent of your capabilities and the influence your unfortunate past had on your behavior. With no judgement or prejudices, I promise.
It is time for you to start listening to your elders' advices, Harry. If you insist on remaining there, I fear the coming months will be harsh for you. All your friends will restart their classes tomorrow and I am confident you will miss them more than them, together as a group, will miss you. You will also end up isolated from the blossoming community of young wizards and witches of your age, another important perk of our school. Such damage would not be easily repaired.
I am setting aside my pride in writing you today, and I hope you will do the same. Nothing would please me more than to help the only son of my old friends James and Lily and I look forward to your answer and your return.
Sincerely,
Albus P. Dumbledore, headmaster of Hogwarts
Folding up the letter, Harry shrugged. 'How many times did he mention my parents or the kids, anyway?' he thought with a grimace. 'Intentional or not, this is quite manipulative.'
Eyeing up the empty fireplace, his mouth curved into a sinister smile. 'It is getting cold already' thought Harry.
A few minutes later, a big log of wood and the letter were fueling a small fire inside Harry's living room. A few hours later, darkness spreading outside of the house, he went to sleep.