To someone who is as fed up and bored as I am

by Nebresh

Harry gets a mysterious letter in the summer after the Ministry incident. While his new correspondend learns about muggles, Harry finds out how the magical world works.

6. Chapter 6

I do not own Harry Potter.

This chapter does not contain a single letter. I am not sure if this is good or not.

It was another morning, and Harry Potter sat in the garden, eating a sandwich Tonks had brought him. She was sitting next to him in muggle clothing. "When they arrive, you will first greet Mr. Greengrass, then you take her hand and kiss it."

Harry rolled his eyes. "Really, Tonks..."

"Yes, really, Harry."

The air in front of them flirred, and a man in a morning suit and a girl appeared. They both stayed on their feet easily, and Harry had a few moments to scrutinize them. The man was tall and lean, with short cropped dark blond hair and sharp eyes that scanned the surroundings out of his clean shaven face. The girl turned to Harry. He was sure that he had seen her before at school. She was a bit taller than he, slightly built. Her long dark blond hair was bound in a pony tail, and she wore summer dress with long white stockings and black shiny shoes, looking a bit like Alice in Wonderland. She turned to him, and her blue eyes widened. "No."

Harry had risen to his feet and stretched out his hand to the man. "Mr. Greengrass? My name is Harry Potter. I would like to welcome you and your ward to my uncle's house."

The man hesitated for a second, before a smile crept across his face. "Mr. Potter. I am pleased to meet you. May I introduce your pen-friend, my niece Ernestina?"

Harry took a step towards the frozen girl, took her hand and brushed his lips against it. "Hi, Ernie."

The girl shook her head. Her voice was barely a whisper. "You are J? Could someone please kill me now?"

"And leave me without a partner this September?" Then, Harry returned to the program he had rehearsed with Tonks. "May I introduce auror Tonks, my bodyguard?"

Mr. Greengrass bowed slightly. "Enchanted, auror."

"Mr. Greengrass." Tonks had risen, too, and nodded her head.

"Would you like to take a seat? A drink?"

Mr. Greengrass sat down next to Tonks, while Ernestina still stood motionless, her eyes flashing from Harry to her uncle to Tonks and then back to Harry.

"And I thought that you would like to try a coke, E."

She took a deep breath. "You must think me a brute and an idiot."

Harry shook his head. "Not at all. Tonks told me that your characterisation of Harry Potter was, even though not the whole truth, at least very perceptive. Come on, take a seat and a coke."

The girl obeyed. The blood that had deserted her face moments ago flushed back. "Thank you, and I apologize..."

"There is nothing to apologize for, Ernie." He opened a bottle of coke and filled four glasses, distributing them to his guests and raising his. "Cheers."

Mr. Greengrass took a sip, then swallowed and nodded. "Interesting taste. A bit sweet for my taste, but it could be a hit with children."

Harry turned to his guest and was rewarded with a hesitant smile. "I like it. Thank you for having me here."

Harry smiled. "You are the first guest I have ever invited over. Thank you for coming to visit me." For a few moments, they sat in silence, not quite uncomfortable, then Mr. Greengrass drank his last coke and rose.

"Auror Tonks, I shall leave my ward in your hands. Mr. Potter, if it is agreeable, I shall return at four p.m. to pick up Ernestina. Maybe we can find some time to chat, then."

Harry came to his feet and bowed slightly. "May I invite you two for dinner, then, Sir?"

The man hesitated, looked at the house, then nodded slightly. "Thank you for your invitation. We will make the time." Then, after a last small bow, he turned, went out into the garden and disapparated.

"I really wish I could do that." Harry sighed.

"You will learn next year. It's not all that difficult." There was a bit of smugness in Ernestina's voice. "Uncle Raginald showed me last summer." Then, her eyes shot to Tonks.

The auror scratched her ear and grinned. "Sorry, it seems I had some ringing in my ear for a moment. I'm not on auror duty here, Ms de Bokken, but as a friend of Harry's. And I don't know anyone growing up in our world who didn't learn apparating while underage. It's not difficult."

"Unfair!"

"Sure. So there's something that Harry Potter can't do?"

Harry scowled. "Lots of things. And for you, I am J."

"Sure, J. Now, what have you planned for today? Will I see cars? And barbies? Uncle Raginald has given me a thousand pounds. Is that much money?"

Tonks grinned. "That depends. But I am sure it is enough."

Harry nodded. "I've never had a thousand pounds. You could buy dozens of Barbies for that money. Now, would you like to see a muggle house?" He rose and led his guest into Privet Drive 4. "As far as I know, our house is quite a good example for a muggle middle class house. He led her through the hallway into the open area behind. "This used to be my uncle's living room, and over there was the kitchen. Now, my aunt wants an open space with the kitchen connected to the living room area. There wasn't much to see except for the ladders and materials of the decorators. "They have thrown out most furniture, and the rest is in storage, so there is not all that much to see, actually. On the right is the guest lavatory, and now we go upstairs." Dudley's room was still mostly complete, and Harry led her into it.

"Now, this is a TV or telly." He switched it on, and was rewarded with a surprised grasp when some cartoon with green turtles flickered over the screen.

"Actually, it's not that far removed from WWN, when you think about it. Only with pictures."

Ernestina scrutinized Tonks. "Harry has sent me a book about muggle technology. I understand how it works, but still, it's different in real life." Tentatively, she took the remote control from Harry's hand. "If I press a button, some invisible beam shoots to the telly and tells it what to do?"

Harry looked to Tonks, who shrugged. "Infrared, I think. Yes, that's about right."

Ernestina switched some channels and found the volume control. After she had turned the sound louder and mute, she turned to Harry again. "May I try something?"

"Be my guest."

She gave him a strange glance. "We really need to talk about our culture later." Then she grabbed the remote with thumb and two fingers, as if it was a wand and swished into the direction of the screen, her eyes closed in concentration. Harry held his breath. Hermione had warned him against catastrophic failures when magic and technology met, but nothing happened.

She opened her eyes, scrutinised the screen and shrugged. "Didn't work. I had some theories I wanted to test, but they are now falsified."

Harry took back the remote from her hands and switched it off. "Is there anything else I can show you right now?" She shook her head.

"In that case, why don't we go to town?"

Both females eagerly agreed, which – looking back – should have given Harry some idea that he was looking at a day rapidly approaching meltdown. Tonks led the teenagers out of the house and to the next bus stop to Greater Whinning, where some investor had opened an American style shopping centre. While they were walking down the road, several eyes followed them. Tonks turned to Ernestina. "When someone asks you about your clothes, tell them you are into retro."

"What is retro?"

"I will tell you later, but basically, your dress is severely out of fashion. Something we will remedy."

At the bus stop, Ernestina turned to Harry. Her eyes moved up and down his body several times, and she seemed to start to speak, but turned away again. Then, with eyes downcast, she stuttered. "I am sorry. I am behaving like a boor."

Harry had been a little disappointed that the pretty girl who was supposed to be his pen friend was mainly talking to his body guard. Now seemed the right moment to restart their conversation. "In the interest of my wizard studies, but why exactly do you apologize?"

He seemed to have found the right answer, because the girl looked up to him and smiled. "You have invited me to your home, knowing that I had written some not all that flattering words about you. Then you accept my apology for that, and instead of concentrating on you, I look at muggle technology and talk to Ms Tonks. In polite society, we should have talked about the weather for two hours, about our health for another hour, before we should have gone to more substantial affairs."

Harry grinned. "You will have to show me how that is done. But now, I will show you that I can be much more boorish than you and allow for three direct questions that I will answer without holding back."

Her eyes gleamed. "They will have to be carefully chosen, gracious Sir."

"Take your time." Harry led her into the bus, and Tonks paid their fare. She sat down next to him, and for the first time he had seen her this morning, a smile crossed over her face. "I need to put them as broad as I can. Who knows when I will have this chance again?"

Harry groaned. "Later today, if you want. But I will have my price. One answer for an answer."

"Fair. Why were you the one that Sylaris considered as fed up and bored as I was?"

Harry smiled and evaded. "Hey, I don't understand Hedwig, how can I understand your owl? Honestly? Because I was. I am here, with little communication, and out there, a war is going on. The long story is going to cost you, so I won't count this as a question."

" So, why are you the heir of Slytherin?"

Harry shot a helpless glance to Tonks, but she was standing a bit too far away to hear their conversation. He hesitated for a moment. "To the best of my knowledge, I am not. The only heir of Slytherin I know is..." He shot her a sharp glance. It wouldn't do to have her faint in the bus. But her face showed that she had understood anyway.

They sat in silence for a moment while she processed this information. They she turned to him again. "Why don't you answer fan-mail?"

"First, because I don't have fans, and second because I have never received any fan mail. And because it would be rather ridiculous." He raised his eyebrows.

"I am pretty sure that you should receive quite a lot of fan mail. I for myself have sent you three birthday letters when I was home-taught. And you really never received any?"

Harry shook his head. "I won't count that as a third question. But no. I have only received letters from my friends, Professor McGonagall, Hagrid and your cousin Astoria, yeah, that's it. Oh, wait, there was this letter from Gabrielle. Well, that was a fan-letter, but I answered that."

"You forgot me."

"Didn't." Harry and Tonks had spent more than a few hours of this summer talking about the mysterious species called witches. He still was not sure if Tonks' ideas really were good, but here was a pretty young witch who was more interested in him than in the Boy-Who-Lived, and maybe this was the right time to try out some of the super-secret hints she had given him. She had given them with regard to Hermione, but he somehow had the feeling that this Ravenclaw and his best friend were not all that different. The smile that blossomed on her lips – quite full, pretty lips, with a hint of lipstick, now that he thought about it – convinced him that he would buy the next dinners for his bodyguard.

Again, silence reigned for a moment while Ernestina thought. "I'm not sure if this is a question to Harry Potter or to J., but maybe they can consult. Why did you say you were interested in an internship with my uncle?"

Harry looked at her. "Because he is the first one to volunteer something like that to me. And also because I saw this as a way to get to know you." He looked up. "We need to get out the next stop."

"A way to get to know me? Why?"

Harry had seen this question coming. Yes, he was definitely buying dinner for the next weeks. "That's question number four." He led her out of the bus.

"There are so many people." Harry did his best to act nonchalant, but he felt the same way. Diagon Alley was small, and it sometimes seemed rather crowded with a hundred or so witches and wizards around. But here, on a usual Monday, there were a few hundred people looking for the first offers of Summer Sale. Harry had never been taken shopping, so he did not navigate the crowd with the same sense of entitlement that a normal muggle teen would, but he could easily see what shocked his visitor. "Let's go inside." They went into the monstrous enormity of concrete and glass, directly into the front of a large clothing store. Ernestina stopped in the middle of the way, and Harry had to pull her to the side. She closed her eyes, and when she opened them again, her eyes had a new, calculating look. She went to one display and casually counted the items there. Then, her head moved slowly around, counting and calculating. "There are some two thousands of upper garments in this store."

Harry nodded, not really wanting to point out that the store had two more levels and most likely a full storage area. But Ernestina was not looking at him, her fingers were stroking a cashmere pullover. "How much is this?"

Harry looked at the price. "thirty-nine pounds, about eight galleons, I would think."

She stared at him and then at the tag. "Impossible."

Harry was surprised by her vehemence. "Why should that be?"

"Because just the production, even with magical means, would cost two or three hundred."

"Excuse me?"

"I will tell you later. Now, I need a sales-person. I want one of them for myself. She will take my measurements."

"You should be a medium, sweety." A sales-woman had picked up her last question. "But if you want to try it on, the changing booths are over there."

Tonks stepped between them. "Thank you." When the sales-woman turned away again, the auror smiled. "There might be a cultural divide here. In this shop, you will not get fitted. These clothes come in several sizes, and you pick the one that fits you best. Come with me. You too, Harry."

Ernestina ended up using almost a quarter of her money in this store alone, and Harry was reduced to the thing any young man will be when he shops with women – he was carrying bags. And then, there was the toy store. The girl gave a loud squeal when she saw collection of dolls, stuffed animals and plastic toys. It took Harry and Tonks more than an hour to finally drag her to the cashier. She pouted impishly when he could not carry everything and took two bags on her own. "So, you promised me pizze."

"Pizza, actually." They left the mall and Tonks used a corner to shrink all except two bags, then led them to an Italian restaurant a few hundred yards away. They found a table by the window, and his pen-friend sat down next to Harry. Her eyes were gleaming, when her hand quickly caught his, pinning it to the table. "You really know how to spoil a girl, Harry." Mirth sprouted from her face. "Maybe I will have Uncle Raginald enter negotiations with you." When Harry did not really react – mostly because he did not really understand what she was talking about – she took a deep breath. "Really, Harry. It was a wonderful morning with you, even if I did not really show it."

"That's ok, Ernie."

"Not really. But before we start, what do we eat?"

Tonks shrugged. "Hungry?"

"Enough to eat a hippogriff."

"Then you will have the vitello tonato, a pizza with ham and greens, and a coke. Make that a diet coke."

"Whatever." She turned back to him. It was a nice feeling, actually. Here was a smart, rather pretty Ravenclaw girl who seemed to have eyes mostly for him. Well, he came a distant second to shopping, but how could he compete? "Harry?"

"Yeah?"

"What do you think I would have paid for my purchases in our world?"

"No idea, actually."

"Neither have I. Most of the things would be pretty much invaluable, there." She pulled out the pullover she had bought first while Tonks ordered their lunch. "See this?"

Harry did. It was a cashmere pullover in a medium blue which complimented her eyes and – he had to admit it – her form. "What exactly?"

She led his hand to stroke the fabric. "It's knitted, not woven. And very finely, too." That was true, but he still failed to see her point.

"It would take a tailor of Madam Malkin's about four days to produce such a pullover, and most likely the quality would be far from this. You might be able to educate some elves to do such fine knitting, but that would be even more expensive. At a rough guess, such a pullover would be about three or four hundred galleons. And they had some forty of them in six different colours, and they sold it for 8! How many sets of clothes do muggles have?"

Harry shrugged. "I don't really know. Most? Some twenty to forty, I would guess. Girls, maybe more. Aunt Petunia has three wardrobes full of clothes. Uncle Vernon has maybe six suits and ten or fifteen outfits. Dudley, maybe fifty?"

Ernestina nodded. "I'm rather rich. I have four sets of everyday robes, two dress robes that have been made for summer, one set of flying robes, two nightgowns and some warm underwear. A few knitted pullovers and six skirts." When Harry did not really react, she rolled her eyes. "Your friends, the Weasleys, have maybe two sets of clothes each, altogether."

Harry nodded. "Yes, they are rather poor."

Ernestina stared at him. "Poor?" She took a deep breath. "Their father is a rather high positioned department head. I would guess that not more than twenty of the staff earn much more." Total lack of comprehension forced her to go on. "Of course, many ministry personal have some riches of their own and are not dependent on their wages."

"But why do they own so little, then?"

"Hogwarts, basically. The tuition is very expensive. And then, they have all boys, so they will have to hold back some money to buy them suitable wives."

"Why should they buy wives? I mean, there are lots of girls around." He was saved from finishing his sentence by the starter.

Tonks shook her head. "You two do remember that we are in a muggle environment, don't you?."

"So sorry, Tonks."

Ernestina took a fork of boiled veal in tuna sauce and ate it with relish. "That's good." It seemed no hardship for her at all to talk about the food, the weather and her purchases for the whole lunch without getting boring.

It was almost three when they arrived back in Little Whinning. Harry had bought food for a cookout, and a discreet feather light charm from Tonks helped him carry his lot. They had just sat down on the terrace when Raginald Greengrass reappeared. "So, did you have a nice day?"

Ernestina nodded. "More interesting than I could have imagined in any way."

"Good. But now, you have had your muggle morning, maybe now Mr. Potter wants to talk wizard." He turned to his host and presented a bottle of wine. Harry was well aware that wine came in red and white, and that some wines were more expensive than others. He expected that this bottle of 1984 red was in the more expensive bracket. "Thank you again for inviting us."

Harry presented a chair for him. He was feeling self-conscious. Here was Mr. Greengrass, a rich businessman in his world, highly educated, aristocratic, in well fitting but not ostentatious clothes, and there was he, the magical orphan of his world.

"Ernie told me that you have lots of questions about the world you belong to, Mr. Potter."

"I am still not sure which world I do belong to, Sir. When I first came to Hogwarts, I felt like I was coming home. But my experiences at school have given me the impression that I might be better off living in the muggle world. Like – living to an old age."

Mr. Greengrass sat back and regarded Harry with mild curiosity. "If it does not bother you too much, would you mind telling me what you mean with that? Apart from the obvious slander of last year, of course. Harry looked at Tonks for guidance, but the auror just minutely shrugged. Your call, she seemed to communicate.

He looked at Ernestina, then at her uncle and came to a decision. "Sir, Ernestina has used all the free questions I granted her, and we had agreed to trade questions one on one."

Mr. Greengrass smiled. "I understand, Mr. Potter. But if it acceptable for you, I will offer to pay your information with information you would ask of me as payment for your story. And Ernestina will offer answers for your questions as a payment for the day she spent with you." The girl nodded eagerly, and so Harry shrugged and began to tell his story. He didn't even notice Tonks starting the coals in the middle of his fourth year. His guests were completely quiet while he spoke.

Harry had told his life story several times this year to Tonks' friend the psychologist. It had become easier and easier for him, and he had finally won the security to look his guests into the eyes while speaking. It was obvious that Ernestina was deeply fascinated with the story, and Mr. Greengrass shook his head. When Harry had finished, he nodded slowly. "I think it's easily understandable that you don't like our world as much as you possibly could. In fact, if I were you, I am not sure if I could have survived half of those affairs." He shot his niece a short glance. "If there is anything that the Greengrass family can do for you, just ask."

Ernestina moved uneasily on her chair. "Harry won't understand that, Uncle Raginald." She turned to Harry. "Uncle Raginald has just, as a representative of the Greengrass family, declared that our family is indebted to you, Harry. You can ask for almost any favour you want, and my family will strive to fulfil your wish. That does include a daughter of the family's hand in marriage. You can imagine that such a statement is not often given. And the right answer is to say I accept the pledge. Do not, in any case, thank him!"

Harry nodded and thought for a moment. "I accept the pledge, Mister Greengrass."

The wizard nodded. "So tell me about your opinion on Hogwarts, Mr. Potter."

"It's great, but not all great, if you understand what I mean."

"What would be the three things you would change if you could?"

"More information for us muggle-raised, another potion master and no thread of a mad dark wizard hanging over it." Answered Harry after a short deliberation.

"I can't help you with the third, and I think that you and Ernestina have a good idea to help with the first thing. Concerning the second – I will see what we governors can do about that. But don't get you hopes up. Dumbledore has a lot of leeway how he handles his school."

"Can you at least fire Binns, then?"

Mr Greengrass grinned. "My daughters have asked the same. And, come to that, I have asked my father in my time. We can't. When Cuthbert Binns was hired, they had never-ending contracts in force, and only he can retire."

"So we are basically stuck?"

"Yes. And no." He took a deep breath. "Hogwarts is a very static institution. It can only be changed from within. My father often tells me about the changes in the late 40s, when there were few pureblood students because of the Grindelwald war, and a lot of progressive teachers were hired. I myself was a Slytherin, but we had a lot more cooperation between the Houses than today. And we had a lot of clubs running along, too. Do you plan on continuing the DA?"

"Please, Harry. I want to participate, too."

"Wouldn't it be easier to find a decent defence teacher?"

"It would, but personally, I won't hold my breath. And from what you told me, and even more from the way you told about it, I have the impression that you liked what you did."

"I did. I was doing it for my friends, in the beginning, but later on, I did it for all of them. And for me."

"I can understand that. So if you can, I think it would be a good idea to go on. Even if you will have a lot to do with NEWT-preparation, the DA and the partnership idea that you and Ernestina have."

"Not to mention Voldemort."

As when he had told his exploits, neither Mr. Greengrass nor Ernestina gave a visible sign of discomfort at the name. "You think that he will seek you out again?"

"Yes. I am certain of it." Harry had not told them of the prophecy and he wouldn't. Even his friends did not know, yet.

"We can have dinner if you want to," Tonks interjected.

"So, what exactly have you two in mind for the partnership program?" Mr Greengrass asked between two bites of steak.

"I think we need to keep it as informal as possible, but also put some pressure on the others to participate." Ernestina said. "I thought that we invite everyone into the program and then try to match the people who want to. It's easier with the lower years, because they won't know each other too well. With the upper years, we will have to shuffle a bit."

"Anyone who wants into the DA, participates. No exceptions." Harry nodded. "Though that will leave us with a majority of half-bloods and muggle born."

"I don't think so. You are the golden boy again, Harry. And the tales they tell about your duel in the ministry are nothing if not extraordinary."

"They are wrong. Voldemort would have killed me if not for Dumbledore."

"That's not what they tell. And though I can understand that you don't like it, you can use this kind of political clout for your advantage. But that's something that needs more time and concentration."

After dinner, Ernestina rose and stood close to Harry's chair. "Do you still want to be my date for our summer ball?"

He nodded. "If you still want me?"

"Yes."

"Gladly."

"Then I will teach you how to do some steps. I love to dance and I will not have you crush my feet too much."

Formal wizard dancing was much different from the ballroom dancing shows that Aunt Petunia sometimes watched. It was very formal, to slow music that Mr. Greengrass had charmed a stone to produce. Still, it was fun, and he was close to a pretty girl. Actually, he had not been so close to a girl for such a long time in his life! So Harry was a little disappointed to let them go in the very late evening.