Harry's Future, Part 48
Harry sat on a rickety looking, but supposedly sound, chaise lounge on the lawn near the edge of the meadow that gave his small estate it's name. He had James cradled in his arms and he split his attention between his nearly three month old son and his godson Ted Lupin who was getting his first lessons in broomstick flying. Ginny was standing in the higher grass of the meadow while Ted sat hovering about three feet off the ground, his hands white knuckled as he gripped the handle of Abagail's custom made broom. The broom's owner was sitting in the grass next to Harry watching intently.
"He's looking a little skittish, don't you think, little one?" Harry asked.
"He looks positively petrified, Harry. Didn't his gran ever let him near one?" Abagail asked.
"Apparently not. When I mentioned yesterday when she dropped him off that we'd be starting lessons today she said we'd be starting from scratch. Apparently Andromeda never really used one. But I'm sure Ginny will get him to relax."
Ginny had finished explaining what she wanted Ted to do. To help him get over his anxiety, she held on to his upper arm to steady him as he drifted slowly for several yards, then turned and went back the other way. He made several circuits this way and then Ginny let go and instructed him to take a few laps himself.
Ted was a little shaky on the turns but after several more passes he started to get the hang of it and his face began to show signs of a small smile. Ginny offered him encouragement and told him to take longer runs before turning. After a half hour or so he was showing more confidence and Ginny called for a break. Ted came to a halt at the edge of the lawn and slowly, if a bit wobbly, settled until his feet touched the grass.
Abagail was on her feet by then and she hurried up to offer her congratulations and then she took hold of her broom and climbed aboard. In moments she was zipping back and forth over the meadow, her thin voice barely audible as she verbalized her happiness. Harry looked over at Ginny who had come to kneel down next to the chair.
"She sure has come a long way, hasn't she?" Harry asked.
"Yes, she has, Harry. Ted, you'll be flying like that all too soon. Just remember it takes a little bit of time to get comfortable with how to move and adjust your body to keep yourself on the broom," Ginny said, then with an impish grin added, "Unless, of course, you're born to it like Mr. Wonderful, here."
"Hey, be nice," Harry retorted, then looked down at his son. "Your mother is always picking on me, James. Hopefully, when you're older you'll be able to help defend me."
"Well, I like that. Trying to turn our son against me. Times up, give him here," Ginny said seriously, holding out her hands.
Harry reluctantly relinquished James and turned his attention to Abagail who was currently skimming across the field about waist high. After a few more minutes she came to a landing and waved Ted over, who resumed his seat, more confidently this time, and he began to move about over the grass, making wide sweeping turns. By the time they needed to wrap things up for lunch the young wizard-to-be was able to make smooth transitions from straight away to turn and back again, and make short higher speed dashes.
Sitting around the breakfast counter in the spacious kitchen of Meadow Crest, Harry, Ginny, Abagail, and Ted were finishing up their lunch. Perhaps it was more accurate to say that the rest were watching Harry finish his as they were already done. As Harry scraped up the last mouthfuls he looked over at Ted and said,
"So, young fella, how did you enjoy your first try at flying?"
"Um, good, Harry. I guess I was kind of nervous at first. It felt like it wanted to roll out from under me, that's why I was holding on so tight. It got better as I started to relax a bit, though. At the end I was really enjoying it," he said with a grin.
"That's the tricky part about it," Ginny began. "The more tense you are the more the broom seems to want to roll you off. You want to hold on just tight enough to guide it, not try and strangle it," she added with a grin.
"Now, that's why you're a better flying teacher than I am, Gin. I never experienced that when I learned. I was so mad at Draco Malfoy that I just hopped on and I guess nature just took its course. But that will be all the flying for today, Ted. You have to pace yourself or you're going to wind up really sore in all kinds of places. What do you say to some wizards chess this afternoon?" Harry asked.
"Sure, Harry, that would be great. Your chess pieces are really cool," Ted replied.
"What about you, little one?" Harry asked.
"I have work to do, Harry. I've sketched up all the animals for the book. Now I need to start work on finished drawings. Most will be in pen and ink, but we've decided that we want to do some tinting and some of the more spectacular ones will be done in full color," she replied airily.
"Hmm, it seems I need to get into Flourish and Blotts this week then and ask about a publisher. Maybe we can all take the trip and do lunch at the Cauldron. Maybe Wednesday?" he said with a questioning look.
"I think that would be lovely, Harry," Ginny said. "But I think I'll ask Mum to come out and baby sit. I don't want James going through the floo network just yet."
"Your call, my love," Harry said, then looking at Ted, he added, "Ok, Master Ted, let's be off to the library and do combat."
"Yes, sir, m'lord Harry," Ted replied in a pretty good imitation of the black king.
Harry laughed and with a tussle of the boy's hair they were off. Abagail smiled as she watched them head off and then she too went off to her rooms and her work. Perhaps an hour later and two games into their play, Ted and Harry were interrupted by Kreacher standing in the doorway.
"Master Harry, Misters Maxwell and Milligan request to speak with Master Harry."
Harry looked surprised but he couldn't sense any tension so he assumed there was no emergency.
"Um, sure, Kreacher. Show them in, please."
Kreacher bowed, stepped aside and with a gesture directed the two Aurors into the library. Harry stood up and met them with an extended hand. After shaking hands, Harry indicated Ted and said,
"This is my godson, Ted Lupin, son of Remus Lupin and Nymphodora Tonks. Ted, this is Chief Maxwell and Deputy Chief Milligan of the Department of Magical Law Enforcement."
"Hello, sirs," Ted said a bit timidly.
"Hello, Ted," Maxwell said, "we both knew your mother well. She was a very fine Auror. We miss her."
"Thank you," was all Ted said.
Milligan simply held out his hand and shook Ted's, with Maxwell following suit. Harry indicated the extra chairs and said,
"Please, have a seat. Nothing wrong, I hope," Harry said.
"No, sir," Maxwell said.
If Harry felt the honorific was out of place he made no show of it.
"On the one hand we were curious to see how the gentry lived," Maxwell said with a grin. "Plus we wanted to get your input on some applications that we received. They're from recently graduated students and they all listed you as a reference so we thought we'd come out and discuss them with you."
"Sure, I wouldn't mind at all. As to gentry, I think you might have to look around some more to find some. I'm just a lowly professor," Harry said with a grin.
Both men had expressions that clearly indicated that they weren't buying what Harry was selling. Maxwell withdrew a sheaf of parchment from his robes and handed it across to Harry. While Ted sat quietly nearby, straining slightly to get a peek at the pages, Harry thumbed through the applications to see the names. The two Aurors watched as their former boss went through the papers, or parchments, his head nodding.
"They were all good, actually excellent students. I'd say any or all of them would make fine Patrollers. I see two that would most likely make strong candidates eventually for moving up to the Aurors. I'm referring to Andiron and Snipes. How many slots are you looking to fill?" Harry asked in finishing.
"If you think they're all good we'll offer them all positions. With the loss of Whitby and Anderson deciding to retire, plus a couple more of the older Aurors making noises about retiring before the end of the year, we need to move some of Muntab's Mob up sooner than later and that will leave Patroller slots to fill, plus we think we need some additional staff to add to those rotating to Azkaban," Maxwell said.
Harry nodded then his eyebrows pulled down and he said,
"Muntab's Mob?"
"Oh, that's what some of the old timers have started calling your DA alums who have been training to move up. The youngsters consider it a badge of honor of sorts. The Patrollers have been trying to come up with a name for themselves as a result."
"What's wrong with Patrollers?" Harry asked.
"Nothing really, Chief," Milligan interjected with his usual wry grin. "Most of the Patrollers figure that they'll stay Patrollers. They'll advance some, but most know they won't make it to Aurors. They're fine with it but they're looking to add some, oh, mystique to it, I guess."
Harry's face looked serious and somewhat concerned as he said,
"I'm not sure I like the idea of them getting so clannish, if you know what I mean."
"I wouldn't let it concern you, Chief," Milligan replied. "They're just looking for some sense of identity within the department. Besides, I let it get around that if they let things get too out of hand, you wouldn't like it and you'd have something to say about it. I also happened to mention that you had plenty of contacts in the Ministry still and you'd wind up finding out sooner than later and you weren't all that far away."
Harry snorted and with some irritation responded,
"Well, isn't that just grand. I can't tell you how much I appreciate being used as a club. Again."
"Again?" Maxwell asked.
Harry went on to explain the incident involving Ginny and the two Slytherin Beaters. By the time he was finished Milligan was chuckling and Maxwell was failing at trying to hide a smile.
"Sorry, Chief," Milligan said with a final laugh.
"I understand you spent some time with my brother-in-law, Charlie, the other day."
"Yes," the Deputy Chief replied, all business again. "That place gives me the creeps."
"I know what you mean. I've been in there twice and neither time ended well. He told me you were going to assign Anthony Goldstein to help out," Harry said.
"That's right. Goldstein is a sharp one and knows how to ask good questions. This will be good training for him, too."
After another quarter hour of discussion, Maxwell said,
"Well, sir, we don't want to intrude on your summer any further. We appreciate you taking the time to talk to us."
"It's no problem at all. I'm glad to be of help. Please give my regards to everyone and let them know that they are welcome to visit. Here or at Hogwarts," Harry said as he rose.
The two Aurors also stood up and they shook hands. Milligan looked down at Ted and gave him a wink and Harry walked them to the front door. When he returned he saw Ted looking at him.
"You're looking awfully thoughtful, young fella," Harry said.
"You quit the Aurors, didn't you, Harry?"
"I resigned, yes. Why?"
"Did you notice that they called you sir and Chief still? How come?"
Harry just shrugged and said,
"Habit, probably."
Ted looked at him with squinty eyes but said nothing more. They went back to their interrupted game. The magical chessmen seemed to be pretty perceptive despite their belligerence and with young Ted at the board they tended to behave themselves and showed more patience at the basic level of play. Harry smiled when he thought of how badly they treated Bill and Charlie when they played.
These activities set the pattern for the first few weeks of the summer for Harry and his family. Ted would get his flying lessons in the morning and he'd play wizards chess with Harry in the afternoon. Occasionally he would play a game of some kind with Abagail or go exploring on the grounds, in the woods on the edge and along the banks of the stream and pond.
They took their trip to Diagon Alley that first week and Harry's friends at Flourish and Blotts suggested that Ginny and her collaborators talk to the folks at Willikins and Burbarry's, the principle and oldest publishers of Britain's magical community. While no one could prove it, it was suggested they had a hand in producing the famous Book of Kells.
Harry was enjoying himself immensely. It wasn't one of the benefits of teaching that he had in mind but the long summer break was quickly growing on him and he couldn't remember feeling so at ease in his life. His evenings were spent in the library reading and doing some writing of notes for how he might go about infusing his Applied Magic material into the study plans of the other courses per Professor McGonagall's direction.
A disturbance in this idyllic country lifestyle arrived midway through the third week of July in the persons of Bill and Charlie Weasley arriving on his doorstep. When Kreacher announced the brothers Harry figured they were there to talk about the upcoming camp session. He was wrong. As he sat down with his two brothers-in-law in his library he asked,
"So what's going on?"
"Harry, I think I could use your help with something at the Mysteries Department," Charlie said.
"What's the problem?"
"We found a door and we can't find a way to get it open. Bill has looked at it and he hasn't found anything in the way of curses or whatever but we can't figure it out. We thought you might be able to make some headway with it," Charlie replied.
"And if all else fails, make the door disappear?" Harry asked with wry grin.
"Um, no, not really. Since we don't know what's on the other side we'd rather not try anything that drastic. We just thought you might be able to sense something, maybe or find some key to it, as it were."
"Ok. I figured I'd have to take part in it somehow, this doesn't sound so bad. When do you want to do it?"
"Would now be too much trouble?" Charlie replied.
"Sure. Just let me tell Ginny I'm leaving."
The three got up and left the library and made their way to the master suite where Ginny was spending some time with James. He was still sleeping in the suite. Ginny wasn't ready yet to move him to the small nursery down the hall. They found her playing with James on the bed, dangling little toys for him to look at and reach for. She looked up as Harry entered and her brothers hung back.
"Hello there, you two. What's the matter, don't you want to say hello to your nephew?" she asked.
"Um, we didn't want to just barge into your bedroom, sis," Bill replied.
"Don't be absurd. Come in and say hello and then tell me what you three are up to. You have that look that something is up."
Bill and Charlie came in and stood next to the bed and looked down at their nephew who had abandoned his game and was regarding his uncles seriously. They each offered fingers that he grabbed and squeezed.
"Ok, so, what's going on and how does Harry fit in?" she asked.
"We found a strange door down in Mysteries. Bill and I can't make any headway with it, so we thought maybe Harry's unique capabilities might be able to get to the bottom of it," Charlie replied.
"I don't suppose my saying 'be careful' will mean anything," she said sardonically.
"Of course it will, love. I'm always careful," Harry said with a straight face.
Ginny snorted and then stood up, kissed him briefly and said,
"Off you go, but no heroics or anything crazy, alright?"
"Yes, ma'am," they all said in chorus.
The three wizards left the room and then the house, Disapparating to the Atrium of the Ministry. Without any fanfare they made their way to the elevators and down to the ninth level. Harry noticed that the door into the circular room of doors was wedged open and a wizard guarded the open way. He nodded at the three as they went inside. Charlie led the way into the Brain room which was now empty since the tank containing the few floating brains was damaged in the rescue of the Minister.
They moved through the room and came to a door that Harry hadn't paid much attention to before. Charlie pushed it open and it revealed a long tunnel with somewhat rough walls that appeared to be cut through the London clay and then lined with some type of plaster or mortar. The tunnel began a shallow downward slope and after the first hundred feet they pulled out their wands and used the 'lumos' charm to light their way. The trekked for several hundred yards and then came out into a largish space perhaps fifty feet across and maybe ten feet high. The walls were lined with brick. Several doors were arrayed around the room. Charlie turned to Harry and said,
"We found this shortly after we began poking around. These two doors just open onto what look like storerooms. This one here is the one we can't get open. I've had a few of my friends down here and they can't get it budge. Bill can't find any spells or curses so we're kind of at a loss."
Charlie took his wand and walked around the perimeter of the room and lit some magical lamps to relieve the gloom. Harry walked up to the door in question and looked at it closely. It was unremarkable in appearance. It was a plain wooden door with six raised panels, a simple brass handle and no hinges visible so he assumed it should open inward. He took hold of the handle and tried to turn it but it didn't budge. He put his hand against it and tried to feel what might be beyond. He felt nothing. He closed his eyes and tried to form an image of what might be on the other side. Perhaps another room, or tunnel, or maybe even a closet. It felt strangely solid. He thumped a panel with his fist and it felt solid, very solid. He stood facing the door, his eyes closed and he let a bit of the dragon surface. Something that had been nagging at his senses since he entered the room became more insistent as the dragon within woke up a bit.
He turned a bit from side to side to see if he could get a feel for what might be about. To his right the feeling felt stronger, if only just. He held out his hand and ran it over the brick work, then he started to sidestep along the wall. He came to the end of the wall that was directly opposite the tunnel and turned to examine the one adjacent. He was perhaps two thirds of the way along when the sense of something got much stronger. As he moved further along it dropped off again so he moved back to the spot that now stood out like a beacon.
His dragon senses were getting stronger and that other voice was beginning to grumble. There was something beyond the wall and the dragon didn't seem happy about it. Harry turned to his brothers and said,
"There's something back behind this wall. I think that door is a fake, a decoy. I can feel something here."
Bill and Charlie hurried over and the three of them began an intense examination of the brick work and masonry. Bill took out his wand and began to chant several different charms but to no avail. They pushed and prodded at this or that brick or section of wall. Harry was starting to get impatient because the dragon was getting more vocal in its grumbling.
"How about stepping back and letting me try something," Harry said.
"Uh, take it easy, will you, Harry," Charlie said anxiously. "We don't know what's on the other side. It might be something breakable, like a vault."
Harry gave a little snort and backed up a few steps, once again pulling out the ironwood wand. He envisioned the bricks of the section of wall as small blocks of ice and then with a swish and flick made the change. Then he muttered 'Incendio Draco' and a wide flare of flame jumped from the tip of his wand and in short order melted the now ice bricks. A rectangular portal perhaps four feet by eight was revealed.
"Very smooth, Harry, very subtle," Bill said with approval.
Harry didn't answer. His senses were being overwhelmed by the sense of dragons, or something related. His other self had gone silent but very tense. Charlie relit his wand and began a cautious entry into the short passageway that was opened. Bill began to follow but then he looked back at Harry and said,
"Harry, are you alright?"
"I…I'm not sure, Bill. Something very strange is in there. Maybe you should take a look and then tell me what you see."
"Alright, Harry," Bill said calmly, but inside he was very concerned as he had never seen Harry shy back from anything before.
Harry could see Charlie's figure disappear as he made a turn and Bill followed after. After a few moments Harry could hear the sound of two voices. The tones were such that he was sure nothing was dangerous but whatever it was wasn't going to be very good. He saw light begin to illuminate the end of the passage and then Bill appeared. He stopped at the end of the passageway. He looked ill at ease.
"Harry. You should probably come see this. But I have to warn you. You aren't going to like what you see."
Harry nodded and then began walking towards his brother-in-law, who stood aside and let Harry go ahead. The passage way made a ninety degree turn to the left and went another dozen yards or so and then opened up into a large, roughly shaped chamber, perhaps even a natural cave. What Harry saw stunned him. In small niches in the wall to his right were perhaps twenty large eggs, different sizes and colors but obviously those of dragons. Directly ahead was the first of many free standing shelving units that contained a variety of jars of different sizes, filled with fluids in which floated all manner of objects, all of which appeared organic in nature.
Against the wall to the left was the worst of all. Several shiny metal tables were arranged in a line, separated by enough room to walk around. On the wall were racks of implements, many of which were obviously intended for cutting. Others he couldn't discern the use for which they were intended. It wasn't really necessary since the tables each held some preserved segment of a dragon. As the enormity of what he was seeing struck home Harry's brain exploded.
His mind was filled with the red hot roaring of the dragon. Incomprehensible words raged through his thoughts. His vision was clouded with red. Bill was the only one left in the room with him as Charlie had drifted down the long row of shelves, the circle of light from his wand visible on the walls of the chamber. Bill was looking at Harry. From the outside all he good see was his younger brother-in-law standing stock still, his eyes shut tight but with a hint of red as if someone was shining a light from the other side of his eyelids.
"Harry? Harry? Are you alright? Can you hear me, Harry?" Bill said as he got nearer.
He got to within three or four paces of Harry and he could feel the heat coming off the younger wizard as if it was a solid wall.
"Harry!" he yelled. "Harry! Get a grip on yourself. Calm down."
Harry was trying to calm down. He was trying to get he dragon under control as it roared it's outrage and cries for vengeance. As he battled with himself he felt another awareness intrude on his senses.
"Harry? Harry! What's going on? I can feel you all the way out here," came a familiar breathy voice.
Harry couldn't answer but he did gather his will and pictured it as a blanket, to cover and suppress the dragon, to get it under control. It resisted at first but finally began to subside. In his minds eye he could see himself standing before the great green dragon, trying to rear above him but he held it fast with his eyes, his mother's eyes, and it settled to all fours.
"I am you, you are me. We stand together or we don't stand at all. You're anger is my anger but your raging gets us no where. We have dealt with those that have done this. Now we must deal with the consequences and I will need your help, but we cannot do anything with you ranting and raving. Please, calm down and let us get to work."
The image of the dragon turned from him and walked away into the mists. Harry felt the rage bleed away and as he took several deep breaths to settle himself he had the absurd image of a massive reptile curled in a corner, pouting.
He opened his eyes and saw Bill staring at him. He gave a crooked smile and said,
"Sorry, Bill. This is all a bit upsetting. Almost lost my temper there for a minute. Had to get things under control." Looking around he continued, "What the bloody hell is this place?"
"Charlie would know better than I would, but it looks like some sort of dissecting theater. I know you two joked about that first hybrid winding up down here in little jars. I guess it wasn't such a joke after all," Bill said.
Any further comment was cut off by a call from Charlie.
"Hey, you two, down this way," he called out.
With their illuminated wands held in front of them, Bill and Harry made their way past the rows of shelving which eventually gave way to another corridor which after some fifty yards opened into a huge cavern. Harry ramped up the power of his wand and imagined the long lance of light that he had used on previous occasions. He played it against the far walls and saw other openings. At a distance it appeared that a crack had opened in the floor and there were several bridges over it. Charlie was standing on the one directly ahead.
"Does this all look a bit familiar to you?" Charlie called out.
Harry looked at Bill and said softly,
"It looks like the caverns under Gringotts where the vaults are."
"I was thinking the same thing," Bill said as they walked towards Charlie.
Charlie came down off the bridge to meet them and looking around said,
"This is starting to get very strange, very quickly. If you look down this chasm it looks like more caverns and those passages other there," he indicated the far walls, "look like they go on for a long way."
Harry did a slow turn to try and take in all that he saw around him. He ran his hand through his already unruly hair and said,
"How is this possible? How can there be some many of these caves under London without anyone knowing about it. The muggles have dug all kinds of tunnels for sewers, waterpipes and the underground and they've never found any of this?"
"We don't know if they ever did or not, Harry. You know how the Ministry keeps an eye on that sort of thing and obliviates anyone that stumbles across something magical. Besides, we don't even know if all of this is in the same place that we think it is. Your Spatial Distortion Portal had a way of bending things around. Maybe the same is going on here. One thing's for sure. We need to have a talk with the Goblins at Gringotts," Bill finished.
"What about back there?" Harry asked as he jerked his thumb over his shoulder. "Do you think those eggs are viable, Charlie?"
"I don't know, but we can check. I've been through that a few times before. As to the rest I think the appropriate thing would be to bury it all somewhere, like you did with that second hybrid, Harry. Then maybe you can come back and burn the place out," Charlie finished with a grim smile.
The three 'brothers' took one last look around and then began heading back up to the 'normal' section of the Mysteries Department. Once they finally were standing outside the open door with its wizard guard Charlie looked at Harry and said,
"Thanks for coming out and helping, Harry. I'm sorry you had to see all that. All things considered I imagine that it was pretty difficult for you."
"You're welcome, Charlie. Yes, it was pretty awful. Hopefully, it's the last part of this whole mess and we can finally get it all cleaned up," he replied and then looked at Bill. "Do you want to head over to Gringotts and let them know what's going on?"
"I think we should. If we go poking around in those passageways and wind up in the vaults, it's going to cause an uproar," Bill said.
Harry just nodded and then with handshakes with Charlie the two went up to the Atrium and Disapparated to Diagon Alley near Gringotts. They walked together up the steps and the door Goblins swung the doors in for them. They stood in the entry foyer and a small Goblin bustled up.
"Mr. Harry Potter, how may the bank be of service to you?"
"Would you please ask Kandak if we could speak to him? It is a matter of great urgency," Harry said.
"Right away, sir. One moment, please," the Goblin said and the hurried off.
It was only a matter of a few minutes when the elder Goblin came up to them.
"Good day, young sir. I understand you have something you wish to discuss?"
"Yes, Kandak. Can we go to your office? We need to keep this quiet," Harry said.
As usual, the stern features gave nothing away but his posture stiffened slightly.
"Of course, young sir. This way please."
As they walked the Goblin looked up at Bill and said,
"You are Bill Weasley, formerly a curse breaker for the bank, are you not?"
"Yes, I am. But that was a few years ago. I've been teaching at Hogwarts since after the fall of Voldemort."
The Goblin simply nodded and when they reached the door to his office he swung the door in and gestured for them to go inside. He walked around to his seat behind his desk and gestured for them to sit down.
"Now, what is of such urgency and how may the bank assist you?" Kandak asked.
Harry leaned forward and began to describe what had transpired that morning. When he got to the part about finding the network of caverns connected directly to the Mysteries Department Harry saw emotion on the face of the Goblin for the first time. He appeared alarmed and angry. He reached into his desk drawer and pulled out a hand bell and shook it vigorously. It seemed an instant and two Goblins appeared in the doorway. Kandak nearly shouted at them in Gobbledygook and they ran off in different directions. Then he turned back towards the two wizards.
"I beg your pardon for my abrupt behavior but this is at once very important and very upsetting. We will have to thoroughly investigate this from our vault caverns. I would ask that the Ministry provide us access from those newly uncovered caverns. If nothing else we have a serious security issue to resolve. It may also answer an unresolved question about how a certain vault was violated some years ago."
Harry flashed on a vault and a number, seven hundred and thirteen. He looked at Kandak and said the number.
"Precisely, young sir."
Harry and Bill left a few minutes later, having told Kandak that they would talk to the Ministry about getting permission to have the Goblins help explore the caverns. After leaving the bank they walked along the Alley for a bit. They stopped and watched as the various witches and wizards went about their business. Harry looked up at his taller 'brother' and said,
"It looks so simple from here, Bill. But what is really going on below the surface? What don't we see? Is it like the Portal? You move from here to there and get where you want to go but off to the sides there's all that unknown."
"I don't know, Harry. I've seen some pretty strange things in my career with Gringotts. And think of all the strangeness you've encountered. Hell, think of all the strangeness you embody," he said looking down at Harry with a small smile to take some of the sting from those last words. "I have a feeling you will spend a good deal of your life dealing with strange things. But I don't think anyone is better suited to deal with them."
Harry gave a small nod and the two continued to ponder the implications as they stood watching the activity along the Alley.