I do not own Harry Potter, the Wizarding World, or any canon characters.
Extended Family
Chapter 108 – Miniature Course, Maximum Competition
Takes place after chapter 103.
"Hey Katie? Do you have a few minutes to help me with something?"
Katie walked over to him, resting her chin on his shoulder and wrapping her arms around him from behind. "Sure thing. What's up?"
Harry was nibbling on the end of a quill and looking at a piece of parchment. "I'm making a miniature golf course and wanted some ideas for some hazards and the like."
"Oh when Dad was talking about it a few weeks ago? That sounds like so much fun! Where're we going to do it?"
"Here. Our back garden is pretty big and none of the other homes have as much space." He smiled slightly. "I can't wait for the future home space to be ready. We'll have so much space to do fun stuff."
"Yeah me too," she sighed happily. "Still, we can make a nice little course here. Hmm, well you need at least one water course, with either a pond trap or like you hit the ball into a river and it floats down if you get it right."
"Ooh I like that." Harry scribbled it down on the parchment. "I was thinking of a quicksand trap. It sucks the ball in and spits it back at the tee."
"Brilliant! Oh oh, how about a literal rough? As in plants that'll smack the ball a bit if you land it in there."
"I'm sure Nev will have some ideas," Harry grinned. "Better be careful on which ones though. Don't need a tentacula getting handsy, especially with the babies."
"Do an ice one! Where you have to slide it over the ice like that Muggle game. Hockey? Is that what it's called?"
"I think so. That might be tricky but definitely fun to do. At the least maybe I can do one where you have to bounce the ball of things just right to get to the green."
They bounced ideas back and forth and soon had a list of courses planned. Then they tried to plan out each one, seeing which would work and what spells would make them possible. After crossing some ideas off and adding new ones, they looked at the completed list. "I like it," Katie said. "That looks like it'll be a lot of fun. What's next?"
"I'm going to ask Luna to help me artistically design them and Tracy to help me build the course. I can transfigure a good chunk of them but they'll be more stable with some proper landscaping."
Katie grinned. "I'm so excited. This is going to be fun."
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Katie whistled as she walked into the back garden, carrying Dahlia. "Oh my goodness, it looks like a real construction project!"
There was a large table with the course designs laid out on it. The miniature golf course had an even more miniature model built on the table and the detail was intricate. A large board floated beside it with the course in question diagrammed out with schematics and measurements. Piles of dirt and rocks and wood sat about, complete with miniature scaffolding and building pieces. A few of the courses were already finished and the back garden looked half changed.
"Luna did a wonderful job with the model," Harry said, pointing at the table. "At first she drew them out but then surprised me with this gorgeous model layout."
"It was fun," Luna said brightly. "Gave me an excuse to play with clay and wood to design a three-dimensional piece."
"If you're going to build it, might as well do a proper job of it," Tracy said with professional interest. "Luna did a surprisingly great job of building things with scale and proportion so we decided to do it that way proper. We're going to build up the framework of the whole course but as we get to certain holes, we'll bring in models and set them up before we play."
"It's kinda sad it won't be a permanent fixture with all the work you lot are putting into it," Katie said as she looked at the models and the schematics.
Tracy waved a hand. "We're keeping all the designs and plans; it'll be easy to rebuild it in the future." She smiled when Dahlia was looking at the model table closely, squirming a little in her mother's arms. "Aww, little banshee is all interested! Does she want to work with me when she grows up? She can be an architect and a constructor. Does that sound like fun?"
Katie smiled as she passed Dahlia over to Tracy. "She's more of a de-constructor right now. She figured out how to move the side of her crib so she could squirm out."
"As a fellow free spirit, I can relate," Luna said solemnly.
Katie laughed. "Of course her goal was to find her daddy and latch onto him."
"As a fellow latcher, I can relate," Luna said impishly and latched onto Harry.
Harry hugged her back, chuckling richly. "The first time she did it, it startled me. I legitimately thought she was sleeping in her room and I was in the pantry. Was not expecting something to grab me from behind. I might have shouted in surprise and startled her too."
"I heard him scream from across the house," Katie giggled.
"It was a very high-pitched scream," Harry grinned, making Luna and Katie laugh.
A crash made them look to the table and their laughter increased in volume. Tracy was holding Dahlia's arms as Dahlia toddled on the table, stepping over the models and knocking small buildings and things over. "Rawr!" Tracy growled. "Gigantic Little Banshee is gallomping over the country-side! Flee puny littlelings! Fear the wrath of the Gee Elle Bee!"
"Rawr!" Dahlia roared as she gleefully stomped, her smile from ear to ear.
"Oh my heart, that is too cute," Katie gushed.
"Dally! Your Auntie Luna worked hard on that!" Harry gasped.
"It's okay," Luna said happily, patting Harry. "Art is meant to be enjoyed and Dally is enjoying it very much!"
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"Ahhh oh my goodness!" Jean shrieked with delight. "She's a little dragon!" She scooped up Dahlia who wore a dragon onesie, complete with tiny wings and a small tail. "You are so adorable!"
"Rawr!" Dahlia said, waving her hands before hugging Jean tightly.
"Luna made it for her," Katie smiled. "The other day she was pretending to be a Gee Elle Bee and was walking over a miniature model and Luna made her the dragon costume so she could get more into character."
"What's a Gee Elle Bee?" David asked as he tickled Dahlia who wriggled and giggled in Jean's arms.
"Gigantic Little Banshee," Tracy said smugly.
"Where did that nickname come from?" Samantha asked while also cooing at the dragon-attired baby.
"The first time we watched her without her parents, she screamed for hours," Tracy explained. "So I called her little banshee ever since." She winced when Daphne kicked her in the leg.
"She cried for barely an hour," Daphne corrected, glaring at her wife.
"That's when we learned to always have something of Harry's whenever we watch her," Hermione said. "Is she still like that by the way?"
"Haven't had the heart or the desire to test it," Katie snorted.
Multiple families convened at the Potters for the mini-golf day. David and Thomas of course were eager to play as well as others. The back garden had been completely transformed and people wandered about the course, admiring the work that was put into it.
"Now I hope that I don't need to be able to use magic to play," David teased.
"Of course not," Harry said. "The magic is in the course. Magic won't help you play unless you're using spells to help."
"Which would be cheating," Katie said, glancing at her dad.
"I'm well aware," he sniffed, giving his daughters a look.
"Dad used to use magic when we were kids when we played a game that he didn't want to lose," Katie said in a loud whisper.
"Only when you two were cheating!" Thomas said while the others laughed.
"We're supposed to be allowed to cheat!" Lyla shouted.
"You did and I used magic to even the field!"
"Right then, let's get started, shall we?" David rubbed his hands eagerly before opening a case that he brought with him.
"Is that a personal putter?" Harry asked, impressed.
"Yes, yes it is," Jean and Hermione sighed.
"He had it made for him," Jean sighed.
"And if he couldn't use it, he wouldn't play at the course," Hermione sighed.
"Hey, there is nothing wrong with getting a tool made for you to your standards, especially if you use it towards something you are passionate about," David argued.
"I need to get one," Thomas mused.
"Dear Merlin," Samantha sighed, rolling her eyes.
"I want one too," Sirius said.
"I didn't know you played mini-golf," Harry said.
"He has been getting into it," Andromeda said. "But you know your godfather, any chance he can get to get something ostentatious, he will."
"And gaudy, don't forget gaudy," Sirius said.
"If only I could," Andromeda said dryly.
They assembled at the first hole. It looked very normal: a long rolling green lane with small hills leading to a flat green.
"Looks simple enough," David said as he put his ball on the tee. With an expert eye, he sighted the lane and swung his putter with economical grace. The shot was good, the ball rolling off the starting plate. Yet when the ball hit the lane, the ground beneath flowed. He watched with astonishment as the ball moved over the ground like it was water. It careened off the hills and just missed rolling on top of the green. Instead, it looped around and came back to him.
"Oh right, the name of the hole gives a bit of a hint," Harry smiled while the others laughed.
"The Evergreen Sea." David grinned. "Alright then, let's try that again." He hit the ball with a bit more force and was gratified to see it skim over the faux-ground and watched it bounce up onto the green. He putted it neatly into the hole. "3 strokes, that's Par. This is going to be fun!"
"Hey, that should count for later, right?" Sirius asked as his ball went sailing through the lane and fell into the hole at a future lane.
"Nope," Ted snorted. "Not in the slightest. Against the rules."
"Hey! Stop being a solicitor! Hermione, back me up here. As Head of the House that you're vassal of, I demand it."
"Not now, I'm trying to line up my shot," Hermione said as she stood at the plate.
"Hard Water," Thomas read at the next hole. "Oh this is hockey!" They looked out over the frozen ice and the small poles that dotted the lane.
"The little net at the end is darling," Andromeda said.
"It's facing the opposite way from the tee though," Ted hummed. "Oh I see, you have to ricochet the ball off the poles to get it into the net."
It was funny to watch the players try to bounce the ball into the net properly. Surprising everyone, Tonks was the only one that did not slip on the ice, something she was very proud of. All but one took several tries to get the ball in.
"How did you get a hole in one?!" Sirius gaped at Jean.
"Dentists are good at spatial awareness and reasoning," Jean smiled. "That and I'm good at billiards."
"Did you use to hustle people at that too?" Andromeda asked.
"Sure did," David smiled proudly.
"I need you to start teaching me these things," Sirius muttered.
"The Literal Rough," Hermione read. "No kidding," she said sardonically. The entire field roiled with moving vines and grasping tendrils. Small bridges were the means to get over and around the living landscape. "Did you really plant devil's snare for a mini-golf course?!"
"No," Harry said. "Neville did. And he said it's not actually devil's snare. It's related but not as grabby or as aggressive."
"What's it called then?" Hermione asked with narrowed eyes.
"Lesser devil's snare," Harry said weakly. "Nev said it won't try to snag anything bigger than it! It'll go for inanimate things and insects but nothing larger than a rabbit."
"And you allowed this?!" Hermione asked Katie.
"It was her idea!" Harry said loudly.
"You have to admit, it looks really cool," Katie giggled, pointing at the lane.
"Don't worry," Luna said, "Dra-Dally's onesie has been enchanted to be plant proof."
It took some time to clear the hole and David had a tug-of-war moment with the lesser devil's snare trying to take his prized putter from him. Harry had to offer a transfigured one in trade for the belligerent plant to let go. Thomas came out the winner of the hole and they moved onto the next.
Water Flies had the players aiming their balls to go up a reverse waterfall. A lot of trial and error was needed, as well as some luck, to get the ball to travel up the capricious "falls" and while frustrating, they all found it interesting and fun and creative.
"Good thing Ron isn't here," Hermione smiled at the next hole. "I don't think he'd enjoy the Sticky Situation so much."
"Please don't tell me that the spider that spun that web is around here," Tonks said uneasily. The whole lane was layers and layers of spider web. The balls were enchanted to not be stuck but instead move slowly and some of the webs were very bouncy, sending the balls flying in random directions.
"Harry transfigured them, no spiders were involved." Katie shuddered. "I would have put my foot down on that one. I don't mind small spiders but anything bigger than my fingers would give me the weebles."
"I had to do it a couple of times," Harry smiled as he picked up Dahlia. "This one got into the webbing the first time and it took a while to get her web-free. Isn't that right, Dally?"
"Rawr!" Dahlia said before snuggling close to him.
"Oh no, that must have been a mess," Andromeda laughed.
"She got into the webbing and ran off," Harry said and the others joined Andromeda in laughing. "She left a sticky trail in the house and we found her stuck to the wall with all sorts of things stuck to her. She wasn't bothered at all thankfully, giggling up a storm."
"How'd you get her free?" Samantha asked as she howled from laughter, seeing the pictures that Katie summoned from the house to show them.
"I ran home to get some industrial grade sticky solvent," Tracy said. "Then I had to call Daph to figure out the right ratio so that we'd dissolve the webs but not hurt Dally."
"Mistress Castor found it hysterical," Daphne sighed. "I was shouting at Tracy as to how and why it happened and Mistress came in to see what the fuss was about. She said it was rare to hear me raise my voice and she just had to know."
"Luckily nothing was really damaged," Katie smiled. "And Dahlia was perfectly fine. A bit upset when we didn't let her near the webbing again though, poor thing."
"Don…Key…I have no idea," Sirius said, trying to read the next title.
"Those don't look like donkeys, those are windmills," Tonks said, pointing at the next hole.
"Don Quixote," Harry said. "It's a story about a bloke that tries to joust a windmill."
"Why?" Lyla asked.
"I don't remember. I'm basing it off of what Hermione mentioned before and how every mini-golf course has a windmill somewhere."
"He was a man that was given to flights of fancy and delusion," Hermione clarified. "He wanted to bring back an age of chivalry and either loses his mind or convincingly pretends to lose his mind in his pursuits. He calls himself a knight-errant and at one point, imagines windmills to be giants and fights them to defend his homeland."
"Who won?" Sirius asked seriously.
"Depends on the version you read. I like to imagine both won and lost," Hermione said.
"So are their miniature giants running about?" Thomas asked. "And even with context, that sentence is confusing."
"Not quite. I was also inspired by something from the Granger home," Harry smiled.
Jean laughed heartily. There were several windmills on the course, each pointing in a different direction, with the biggest standing guardian in front of the hole. The windmills spun incredibly fast, blowing strong gusts of wind that buffeted people and ball alike. "Those are fans," she giggled mightily. "They're even better than the fans we have at home!"
"So what was the thought process behind this course," David asked with a wry grin. "Do you need skill to sink the ball or do you need luck more?"
"Yes." Harry laughed alongside the others. "I think we just wanted to have fun and do something silly."
"Fair enough," David said agreeably. It took a while for everyone to navigate the gusting winds and time it right to send the ball through the hole in the windmill's base. Everyone enjoyed the experience, even Tonks when she was blown over by a windmill suddenly speeding up, sending her flying.
"Alright, the final hole," Sirius said as they got to the end. "What's the leaderboard like?"
"David and Thomas are tied for the lead right now," Harry said, reading the card. "Followed by Jean, Ted and Dora are tied, Hermione, Lyla, Katie, and last but not least, Sirius."
"Stupid donkey hole," Sirius grumbled. "Tanked my score. Ow! What was that for?!"
Andromeda shook her finger and wand at him. "You know full well what that stinger was for. Donkey hole sounds very rude."
"This is a trap," David said, looking at the final hole. It was a simple incline leading to a stone tower. The hole was at the top with a little flag sticking out. "No way this is as simple as it looks." He looked at the sign. "The Last Guardian. Is the tower going to come to life and we're going to have to fight it?"
"Oooh, good idea," Harry said. "I'm saving that for next time. But no, the tower isn't the last guardian."
"Hmm, seeing how I'm already at the bottom, I'll go first to test it." Sirius lined up his shot and hit the ball. At first it seemed like it would go up the ramp into the tower but at the last moment, a blur of white knocked the ball aside and the ball trundled back to the tee without problem.
"You're a monster," Sirius said to Harry.
"What do you mean?" Harry asked, eyes opened wide with feigned ignorance.
Sirius pointed his putter at Hedwig dancing on top of the tower, hooting smugly and flicking her tail feathers at him. "There's no way in hell we're going to get a ball past her!"
"There's a way," Harry insisted.
"She can't stop all of us," Thomas said. "Let's all take our shots in succession and one of us has to get through."
Hedwig took the comment personally and showed that she in fact could stop them all. She knocked the balls aside with talon and wing, hooting and barking all the while. She would kick them back, snatch them off the ground and drop them on the putter's head, and each time she would cackle and hoot condescendingly, especially so at Thomas with each blocked shot. She even turned her back on him and stopped the shots with ease and grace and malicious glee.
"I recant my statement," Thomas sighed later. He snorted when Hedwig blew a raspberry at him. "She doesn't have lips! How does she do that without lips?!"
"Hedwig is very talented," Harry said proudly and Hedwig blew an even louder raspberry.
"Do you two know how to get past her? You helped make the course," Lyla asked Luna and Tracy.
"I have an idea but would never interfere with Hedwig's fun," Luna said seriously. "But no, we did not help in planning this hole."
"Beats me," Tracy shrugged. "I've been thinking of how to hit it into the hole too but I've no idea."
Jean had been holding Dahlia while taking a break and thinking about how to get the ball in. She looked down when Dahlia pulled on her long hair gently. "What is it, Dally?" Dahlia pointed at a side table and when Jean carried her over, she leaned down and picked up a slice of bacon off a sandwich. Then with more pointing, Jean carried Dahlia over to the tower.
Hedwig delicately took the slice of bacon from Dahlia and munched on it happily. Then she took Jean's ball and dropped it neatly into the hole.
"You've got to be kidding me," Sirius said while everyone roared with laughter.
"Honestly, it makes sense," Lyla laughed as she rushed to the table to grab a slice of bacon. It became a sort of bidding floor where Hedwig deigned to deposit a person's ball into the hole if she received what she deemed to be ample compensation.
"That was a lot of fun," David said once the last ball, Sirius', was popped into the tower. "I'd play this course again. What's the final scoreboard?"
"Jean wins by a stroke," Harry said. "Then you and Thomas, then Katie, Ted, Hermione, Dora, Lyla, and then Sirius."
"Thank you, Dally," Jean cooed and kissed a giggling Dahlia on the cheeks. "Grandmama Jean loves you so much! Yes I do! Someone is getting extra snuggles and a big ice cream treat later!"
"I got robbed!" Sirius grumbled.
"You were doing the worst up to the last hole," Tonks said, rolling her eyes.
"No not that, Hedwig robbed me at the end! I had to go buy more bacon and bring it back!" Sirius narrowed his eyes at the owl who returned the expression.
"That is what you get for being the slowest," Andromeda chortled.
Sirius ducked when Hedwig flew at his head, retaliation for the hand gesture he threw at her. "This was a lot of fun though! Hey, let's turn the rooftop garden at Grimmauld into a course one day. We can make a really fun one with all the space I got."
"Sounds good to me," Harry said comfortably. He smiled wide as Dora and Tracy and Lyla took Dahlia around the course, with Dora roaring and stomping alongside her. "It was fun to think of stuff to do and see how the spells would work."
"Your transfiguration work is exquisite," Andromeda praised as she examined the tower in closer detail. "You are working hard and learning much from your mastery."
"Thanks! McGonaMum was a bit miffed though."
"I thought she would be proud of you and your skills," Hermione frowned.
"Oh she was. But she was less happy about the mini-golf course. Something about defiling the sanctity of the Scottish sport."
"Oh, does she play?" David asked.
"She does, regular golf at least." He started laughing. "Imagine her on a Muggle mini-golf course!" They laughed hard at the mental image.
"Hmm, I might need to invite her out to a regular game then," David mused.
"If she treats golf like she treats any other pursuit in her life, good luck," Harry said with feeling. "You're going to need it!"
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Ghostwriter - Thank you. I think this one is even cuter in a way.
poka - I think the vast majority of Extended chapters are just feel good chapters, with a few exceptions of course. A few requests wanted some very bittersweet moments which surprised me, but yeah, the majority is just simple fun and wish fulfillment, which has it's place here and there I think.
odonnellzoo99 - I am the youngest in my family and as long as I can remember, I never bothered my much older siblings due to a very healthy amount of respect, and fear, of them. Harry delights in spoiling his sisters. He's happy he's in a position capable of doing so.
DOOOOOOM Lord of Waffles - that's why Extended works as well as it does. It lets me go back, take a single random thought, and then work on it without having to worry too much about working it in sequentially. I just have to be mindful of events that happened, which can be a lot, but it's worth it.
kaya - I'm glad you continue to love reading it. As long as people do, I don't think I'll ever stop playing in this setting.
alix33 - Smarties in the States are these sugary sweet tart things, that's really interesting. Eggie's name was my favorite part of the chapter.
TheSphynx - Thank you for the kind words. I'm glad you've enhjoyed it so. I've put a lot of work into this setting and I'm rather proud of it and am glad people still enjoy seeing stories coming from it. It just hits just right for me for a certain type of feeling. I hope you continue to enjoy.
