The Dance Keeperoliver Chapter 3
A/N: Well, I seemed to have raised many questions concerning Harry's ideas about his new life. James Lily was chosen because if he used his real name, people would think he was trying to gain false fame.
Harry is supposed to be dead. However, he still wants to be found so that he can learn who he is, and who his friends and family are. He will not change his appearance, but it will be changed any way. Death does strange things to the body.
It won't be easy for him, as he has no place to go, or money to live on. He does not know of magic. He is not aware of his stick being a wand. He didn't know what happened inside the casket that helpe3d escape it. One reviewer thought it weird that he performed this with out a spell. Call it incidental magic. Harry needed something, and his magic helped him, with out him knowing it.
Well, I guess that's it for now. I think it is time for me to raise more questions, as I blunder my way thru another chapter. As always, Ollie the Keeper of the Quill.
TD-}
As James made his way thru the streets of the village, he found his stomach complaining. He looked down at it. "What do you want me to do? I have no money. I have no where to stay. The clothes I am wearing is all I have, and you're complaining about needing food. Right now, that is the least of my worries." His stomach growled again.
Harry kept walking, not knowing what he hoped to accomplish. He knew no one.
Then he remembered what took place in the casket, and thought, 'It worked before, maybe it will work again. I need money to find some food, and a place to stay.' Harry looked around, and saw nothing. Then he thought, How did I know about money? How do I know about anything?
Harry didn't realize that he had pocketed his stick, and his wishes didn't work with out it. However, by accident he filled one of his wishes, when he came upon a vacant house that looked partially destroyed. He approached the gate to the house, when a sign appeared on it that thanked Harry Potter, and wished him luck.
He opened the gate, and walked toward the house. He saw the damaged door, and pushed it aside to gain entry. Expecting to find a mess inside, he was surprised to find the room he entered in relatively fair shape. It was clean though a slight mess, with furniture moved in an odd pattern. He didn't know what to expect when he entered the kitchen. He was pleased to find it clean and well kept, and thanked who ever that the cupboards were full of can goods. He found something to open the can he chose for food, and got it open, and began to eat, as he once again walked thru the house. He knew it was his mum and dad's home, and he felt he had his rights in taking up residence here.
He made his way upstairs, and found the room that was destroyed. It must have been his room, as there was a crib, and a rocking chair that were much the worse for wear. The chair was missing the legs on one side, and the crib was missing the rails in the front of it. He saw toys, and baby blankets all over the room. He turned and left it just the way it was.
The next room he found must have been his mum and dads room. It was clean and fresh like nothing happened just a short distance away.
He walked to the bed, and collapsed on it. It was the last thing he remembered that evening.
TD-}
The next morning, James got up, and looked in the closet to find something to wear. He was surprised to find a closet full of both men and Women clothes. He found a shirt and a pair of slacks he liked, and put them on. He found they fit better than the clothes he was wearing. He found a pair of shoes as well, and tried them on. They were a little big, but not enough to bother him. He also found a shoe box in the closet, and pulled it down. Thankfully, his parents liked to think ahead. He found some money in the box. He didn't know what it was or how much it was, but there were two types. There was paper money, and some gold coins. He put both in his pockets.
He went back downstairs, and made his way to the kitchen once more. He got another can out of the cupboard, and opened it. He ate the contents as he made his way thru the house, this time the daylight helping him to see better. Not much better though. He saw a mirror on the wall, and walked over to it. He looked at his image, and didn't like what he saw. His face was covered with dirt, His glasses were in the same shape. He took them off, and it was like the difference between night and day. His vision cleared up, and he could see finer details to what he was looking at. Mainly a faint red mark on his forehead that resembled a lightning bolt. It was barely noticeable.
After finishing the contents of the can, he went back upstairs to clean up. He went back to the bedroom, found clean personal clothing and socks. And went looking for the bathroom. He found it just down the hall. He also found shaving gear.
After cleaning up, he decided to go out, and find something different to eat, and maybe find someone who knew him, or knew of him.
TD-}
Hermione was with her mum and dad. She hadn't seen any one of magic for a few days. She was trying to get over the loss of her closest male friend. She never realized how much the loss of Harry would mean to her. He had been the one to keep the three of them together. Her, Ron and him. Without Harry, Ron and Her were almost strangers. They didn't know what to say to each other. When they were together, they still felt they were missing something. Harry meant that much to them.
Her mum and dad saw this in Hermione, but didn't know what to say to get her over this feeling of loss. They never had to approach this feeling before, and felt helpless. What they did know was that Hermione was more in touch with the world of magic, than she was with the rest of the world. With out it, she was more lost than she had ever been before she learned that she was a witch. Dan and Jean Granger felt that the magical world stole their daughter away from them and for that it would never be forgiven.
They watched as she sat and looked through pictures she had gathered through the years at he school. The loss of Harry had been a drastic blow to their daughter, and it would take a long time for her to get over it.
Hermione looked at the picture of Harry's first game of Quidditch, as he held the Snitch up, after pulling it from his mouth. Hermione laughed at the memory of seeing Harry like he was ready to vomit, trying to get the snitch out of his mouth.
She found a picture of her, Ron and Harry down by Hagrid's hut, sitting there talking to the gentle giant, as Fang drooled all over Ron. The look on Ron's face was priceless, as he raised his hand, and a string of drool stretched from his fingers. Her and Harry were laughing at their friends predicament.
The next picture turned her sad. It was Harry standing in the common room, looking up at Ginny as she came down the stairs ready to go to the Ball with him. She remembered how her and Ron, later ruined the evening for the two, as they argued.
Hermione put the pictures down, as she knew what was next, and didn't think she could face them as yet. The Memorial Service, the Wake and the Funeral were hard on them all.
Hermione had yet to go to the bank and retrieve her inheritance from Harry. To do it, would be like putting an end to his existence. To face the fact that he was truly gone. She just couldn't do it.
TD-}
Luna was never seen with out her book. It was her constant companion. It was her reminder of a friend she never knew she had.
She looked back to her lone meeting with Harry. It was after the Chamber incident, and her and Ginny were sitting talking about how bad Ginny felt being the one who caused so much trouble. Luna tried telling her it was not her fault. She had fought off Voldemort longer than most would have been able to. Then Harry came over and sat with them. He smiled at Luna and thanked her for being Ginny's friend. Then he turned to Ginny. "You need to listen to your friend Ginny, she knows what she is talking about. Tom had taken in witches and wizards a lot stronger than you, and were never able to break his hold on them. What you did was amazing, and brave."
Ginny glared at Harry, and Luna thought she was going to explode on him. "I wasn't brave, I was a little girl that couldn't get what she wanted, so she hid her self in a book that told her what she wanted to hear."
Harry looked at her, "Really? Then please tell me how you were able to pitch the book into a loo to get rid of it? How were you able to keep things so that no one died? OH I know there are excuses about the how and the why it happened. The truth of the matter is, A weaker person would have had the Basilisk running free in the school killing muggle born and half bloods. You fought him enough to keep the incidents down to a bare minimum."
Luna remembered how Harry had made it sound like Ginny was the real hero of the incident. How he was just lucky to be able to help her. Lune wished that she had got to know Harry better after that. She found him to be a true friend. One that would never let anything happen to a person he knew.
Luna sat and opened the book for the one millionth time to read the note Harry left her, then opened the book to where she left off, and began reading. The book was amazing in itself. It told her that Nargles and Wrackspurts were more common than people believed, and if a person were to wear the right eye wear, they could see the creatures and find out where they frequented, nested, fed off of, and avoided.
This was where she came up with her Spectrespecs. By using the guidelines in the book, she discovered the right lenses that canceled out the vibrations given off by the creatures to avoid being seen.
She learned that the Crumple Horned Snorkack was nothing more than a Reindeer. Kris Kringle was the one to start the Snorkack theory to throw people off his trail. Rather sneaky of the little guy.
She also learned of creatures that she never heard of, like the Puff-a-dil. They were very very rare. They could be found when a Dandelion bloomed into it's puff ball. If you found a freshly bloomed puffball, not over ten minutes old, When you blew on it, you wound find a small sprite called the Puff-a-dill. The Puff-a-dill lived twenty four hours, and pollinated more Dandelions.
Luna once more closed the book, thanking Harry for the one hundred time. The gift was the most wonderful she had ever received, and it was made more wonderful by the love that Harry wrote in it.
TD-}
The Weasleys were not their selves. They lacked the spirit they always carried with them. The swagger of the Twins, The playfulness of Ron. The fire that was Ginny.
It was getting to the point where all they did was sit around the table and stare. Then one morning, Fred and George decided enough was enough. They came charging down stairs and announced to all, "Listen up family members. Harry gave us a gift, and we think it is time we put it to use. It is Saturday, so there is no work today. The house is clean, so there is no cleaning today. The garden is weeded, and de-gnomed, so there is no outside work to be done. We all have clean clothes, so no laundry needs to be done. That leaves only one thing to do. Go to Diagon Alley, take some money out of the bank, and spend it like we have it. Mum, you need a new wardrobe. Dad you need some new trinkets. Percy you need something new to read. Ron, I think they have the new Cleansweep Keeper model out. Ginny. You need a new wardrobe as well as some new shoes. So come on. Move your arses as it is time to go shopping. And we don't want to hear excuses. George and I need some things for our experiments, I mean for school."
"Fred, that is not our money to spend. It belongs to Harry. I don't feel right spending it." Molly cried.
"But mother dear, of course it is ours to spend. That was why Harry gave it to us. He didn't want it to sit in a vault and collect dust. What better way to honor Harry than to fulfill his wish. For us to live."
Ron jumped up from his seat, "Here, here. I agree with the twins for the first time in my life. Harry would have wanted us to do this."
Ginny sat in silence for a minute, thinking. "You know what mum. The idiots have a point. And I would like to look nice for Harry. As a memorial sort of. That way when I dress, it would be like I was wearing something Harry bought me.'
Molly looked at Arthur, and he nodded his head. "All right then, I suppose we could do this just this once. I think we all could do with some cheering up. Fred, George, why don't you go to the bank, and draw out some funds and meet us in the Cauldron. Ginny, Ron go get ready. Percy, you go with the twins and reserve us a table in the cauldron. Your dad and I will get ready as well." and they all took off for their tasks.
Fred and George made their way to the bank, and walked up, to a teller. "Fred and George Weasley wish to make a withdrawal from the Weasley family vault please." George stated to the Goblin.
The Goblin looked down on the twins, "And do Fred and George Weasley have a key?"
"Of course fine sir. We have it right here. Oh if it wouldn't be a bother, could we please have a statement of our account to pass along to our mother and father?"
The Goblin looked at the key, and, and saw in it something that startled him. It was one of two keys made for the Harry Potter Memorial Vaults, given to those he loved. "It would be my honor to serve those so loved by the savior of our world. You must feel honored to be given such a gift."
"No sir, we do not. We feel honored to have known Harry for the short time that we did." Fred expressed to the Goblin.
"It seems that Harry had some real friends. Friends that cared for him a great deal. Of course the honor was to know him, and I am sorry for my callous remark."
"Oh no sir, there is no apology needed. We felt the care you said in those words. You did not mean it as an insult. No, if you would be so kind as to lead us to our vault."
When they were taken, it was not to where they usually went. "Excuse me, but our family vault is on level 9." George asked confused.
"You old vault could not hold the funds that were given you sir. We had to assign you a new vault."
"I thought our vault was big enough to hold a million galleons?"
"A million Galleons. Oh no sir your vault holds much more than that. Why you must own more than three million galleons."
"Three? Where did it all come from? We thought that the reward for Voldemort was only one million."
"From the Ministry it was. Then there was the reward from the British Government, and Gringotts, and finally gifts from foreign countries that were happy to see the end of terror. In all, over three million galleons. Like you asked, there will be an exact count for you when we return."
The vault was on the fourth level, and it was the deepest the twins had ever been in the bank. And unlike the higher levels, this level was lavish in it's setting, with tapestries, ornaments, lighting, and carpeting. Inside the vault, the twins hurt their neck, looking up at the pile of gold in front of them. They grabbed seven bags and filled them with over a thousand Galleons each, and headed back up to the main floor, and picked up the account information for the vault. They read where funds were added every day from different sources. The Goblin had been wrong. Three days ago, there was three million Galleons in the vault. Now there was over five.
When they got to the cauldron, they found the family sitting there waiting for them. When asked where they had been and what took them so long, Fred took the account paper work and handed it to his dad.
"What is this Fred, I thought you were going to get us some funds?"
"We have the money right here dad, but you need to read this," and George handed a bag to each one there. Ron gagged on his food when he saw what the twins just have him. Ginny had a beautiful smile on her face at what Harry had done for her family.
Arthur dropped the parchment he was reading, and looked to the twins. "Is this true?"
"Every bit of it dad. And there is more every day." George answered.
"Arthur, what is it? What's wrong? Is there a problem? I knew we shouldn't have touched that money, it belongs to Harry. Why wouldn't you boys listen."
"Molly, calm down. What the twins gave me was an account of our funds. The million that we got from the ministry. That was not all we got. All totaled, we have over five million in the bank. With more being added every day, like George said."
"Where did it all come from?" Molly asked.
"Different countries, people sending donations. Gringotts. Companies, like Firebolt and Nimbus. Dozens of different sources. Now listen, all of you. Until we straighten out this mess, all we will draw on is the Million we received from the Ministry. The rest should not be ours. We will figure out what to do with it later. Now lets eat."
While they were eating, and shopping, something was happening back at the Burrow. Hedwig was going crazy in the house trying to get out. She was locked in Ginny's room. She needed to leave, but couldn't. For five hours she tried to escape her capture. Ginny's room was a mess with Hedwig's feathers, pillow feathers, wall paper, paint scrapings and material. So violent was her attempt that she passed out from it.
Luna had decided to pay a visit to Ginny, to see how she was doing. When she got to the burrow, it was empty. She went up stairs to see if she could find someone, and when she opened Ginny's door, she saw the mess and Hedwig lying on the floor. She picked up the bird gently to see if she was alright.
"Hedwig, what happened to you? Did someone attack you? Did someone try to hurt you? Come on girl. Wake up. You have to be alright. If anything happens to you, Ginny will lose all of any sanity she has left. You have to be alright." Luna took the owl down stairs and made her a bed to be comfortable on. She then took a seat to wait for the Weasleys to return. It was another hour, when the floo flamed up, and Percy Weasley walked thru. "Luna, what are you doing here?"
Percy moved out of the way as the floo flamed once again, and Ginny walked thru. She saw Luna, and ran to her, and pulled her into a hug. The the rest came thru, and Arthur banished all the bags to the correct rooms. They all sat down to hear what Luna had to say. Ginny was sitting where Hedwig had been laying, but was now on Ginny's lap.
Molly went up and cleaned the mess Hedwig made after she heard the story.
When Hedwig finally woke up, she shot from Ginny's lap, and went straight up the chimney, and out into the air. By the time the family got out side, she was gone.
Ginny was crying. Hedwig missed her familiar, and was out looking for him, and Ginny knew she would never find him.
TD-}
Harry had just put his groceries away, and was settling down for the evening. He had been out all day, walking around, hoping someone would recognize him, but had no such luck.
He made him some dinner, cleaned up after he ate, and sat down to enjoy a cuppa, when he heard a scratching coming from the window. He looked up to see what it was, and saw a beautiful Owl scratching as if trying to get in. He opened the window, and the bird attacked him for some reason. Harry tried fighting it off, but the bird was persistent. The funny thing was though, the bird wasn't trying to harm him.
"What is it you want, bird. Are you hungry? Thirsty? Looking for something or someone? What is it you want?"
Hedwig landed on the table in front of Harry. She felt something was off with him. He acted as if he didn't know her. She sat there looking at him, wanting to get a response from him, but she got nothing.
Harry looked at the Owl in wonder. "You act like you know me? Do you?"
It was the first thing Harry did that she could answer. Hedwig nodded her head.
"So, you do know me. You know that my name is Harry Potter?"
Once again Hedwig nodded her head.
Harry thought on what he wanted to ask her next, "Have you been staying with my family?"
Hedwig shook her head no.
"Have you been staying with my friends?"
Hedwig nodded. She felt good that she was finally getting somewhere with Harry.
"Do I have any Family?"
Hedwig thought for a minute, then nodded.
"Do you know where they are?"
Hedwig nodded once again.
For the first time since he came back, Harry felt a sigh of relief escape his breath. "Do you think you could get them for me?"
The owl did something strange to Harry, as it raised it's leg towards him. "What's that supposed to mean?"
Hedwig raised it to him once more, but Harry didn't catch the significance of the gesture.
Hedwig flew around the house looking for something. She came back carrying a feather in her claw. She dropped on the table in front of Harry.
"What do you want me to do with this? It doesn't look like one of your feathers."
Hedwig was getting impatient. She took off once again, and came back with some parchment. She dropped this down next to the Quill.
"I still don't get it. Do you want me to write a note or something?"
Hedwig nodded.
"Then won't I need something to write with? And I still don't understand the feather, unless you want me to attach it to the note once I'm done?"
Hedwig was hopping mad at this point. She left once again, and came back with a fresh bottle of ink that had never been open. She put this down with the Quill and parchment.
"OH, I get it, you want me to use the feather to write the note. Well, why didn't you say so?"
Hedwig flew up to Harry's shoulder, and bit him on the ear. "OW! Ruddy owl, that hurt. Why did you do that?"
Harry and Hedwig glared at each other, and Harry lost the match. "I was just trying to be funny, Bird, there is no need to get hostile with me. I know you can't talk." Harry softened a little, "Thank you my friend. You were very patient with me. I imagine I knew you at one time, but I have to tell you, I don't remember a thing of my past."
Hedwig softened as well, and gently nibbled Harry's ear. Harry took the top off the ink, and dipped the feather into the ink and wrote a note to whoever the bird was going to take the message to.
Things were starting to look up for Harry. He didn't know who was coming, but he looked forward to their visit.
Hedwig knew who she was going to take the note to. The only sane person she knew.