Chapter 101 – First Signs of the Future
Harry seldom dreamed, the way other people do. He frequently had terrible nightmares, reliving the events when others lost their lives, experiencing over and over the horror, fright and frustration of each battle and attack. With Severus' Dreamless Sleep, he slept through the night with no dreams at all. Lately, though, Harry had begun to fall asleep with Severus without taking Dreamless Sleep and was usually able to sleep through the night without nightmares. He suspected that Severus' magic kept the nightmares at bay; he always felt safer and more secure when he slept in Severus' arms or with his head pressed against the man's chest, listening to the sound of his heartbeat.
Sunday night was such a night. Harry slept soundly and comfortably for most of the night, but he did have a dream. He thought it was a dream, anyway. It wasn't pleasant, but at least it did not invoke the full-on terror of some of his dreams.
The ravens came to him again. He was watching a battle, of that he was sure, but he had a hard time figuring out who was fighting whom. He knew that wizards and magic were involved because of the weaponry: arrows flew through the sky, he saw trebuchets in the field and saw them used to hurl large stones and boulders, and occasionally, he spotted the streams of light that were shot out of wands as spells were cast. It was noisy, confusing and frustrating because he could not make out any details. He wasn't even sure that all the combatants were witches or wizards – were they muggles? Or even human? He sensed that the ravens were trying to tell him secrets again, but he could not hear them, or understand what they were saying.
It was always hard to say later how long a dream lasted. The dream eventually ended, and Harry returned to undisturbed sleep, although when he awoke, he was surprised that he could recall the dream vividly.
Severus was already up and dressed by the time Harry awoke, and he quickly went through his morning routine before joining Severus in the sitting room. Severus was sitting with a cup of tea by the fireplace, and looked up from the journal he was reading as Harry entered.
"Sleep well?" he inquired, with a tone of voice that suggested that he really did want to know.
"I had a dream, or a vision, again, Severus." Harry confided, immediately regretting having said so when he saw the look of alarm on his bondmate's face. "Nothing horrible, I don't even understand it. I saw a battle on a big field. I could not see any details, I don't know who was involved in the battle or where it was being fought. I saw arrows flying, and stones and boulders shot from trebuchets, and the light of spells being cast, so I know this has something to do with magic, but . . . ."
Severus rose immediately, relief on his face, and enveloped Harry in a hug, gently stroking the smaller man across his back. "I would like to inform the Headmaster, Harry, if that is agreeable with you. We have to take your visions seriously, even if we don't yet understand them. You clearly have some link or access to a source of information that can help us. Albus has the broadest view of the world and world events. Do you agree? Is this how it started before?"
Harry considered that. "If this does tell us useful information, I suspect the Headmaster will be the first to see what it means, so of course, tell him. To an extent, I suppose this is how things started before. There are some vague images at first, and things get clearer over time."
Severus nodded his understanding. "I will inform the Headmaster at breakfast. Are you ready to go?" As Harry nodded, Severus helped him into his cloak as the two prepared to head to the Great Hall for breakfast.
The entire school was still abuzz with the news from Sunday's events, with everyone poring over and commenting upon the morning's edition of the Daily Prophet, which featured expanded coverage of the events in Hogsmeade and London, as well as more extensive coverage at events in the foreign cities. Harry was secretly pleased to see that Neville remained very much the center of attention, and seemed to be more comfortable with the role than he'd ever been before. Draco, now sitting at the Slytherin table as Charlie was at the Head Table, was also quite the focus of attention amid his House mates, sharing over and over the details of the attack and his role (which expanded slightly with each telling) in repelling the demon in Hogsmeade.
Hermione was studying Harry's face. "Are you alright, Harry? You look, I don't know, a bit edgy this morning. Is something wrong?"
Harry smiled – whoever ended up married to Hermione was not going to have any secrets, that was for sure. "I'm fine, Hermione. Just had a dream last night, that's all."
Considering that she was the one among his Gryffindor friends who had not spent five years sleeping in the same room with him, it was further tribute to her absolutely frightening powers of perception that she was the only one who realized how odd that statement was, given his usual sleep problems. "Are you not taking Dreamless Sleep any longer, Harry?" she inquired very softly.
"I don't seem to need it every night anymore." Anticipating her next question, he continued "I don't have nightmares so much anymore either, so it's not always a disaster if I forget to take the Dreamless Sleep. It was just a dream."
That was not nearly enough detail for her, and her expression made it clear that Harry was NOT done with his story. As the conversation was bubbling all around them about yesterday's events, he was able to speak softly to her and have some privacy, so he continued. "I saw the ravens again. They showed me a big battle, but I could not make out any details. Severus is telling the Headmaster, but it was such a vague image that I can't see it being of much help."
She nodded her approval of the steps they were taking, as she patted Harry's arm. "That's the right thing to do, let the Headmaster know. If it connects to anything else going on, he'll figure that out fastest."
X X X X X X X X X
Albus told Severus that he would be free to meet with him right after lunch, conveniently at a time that Severus did not have a class.
They settled into chairs by the fireplace, each with a cup of tea, and Albus with a plate of lemon drops. "Is something bothering you, my boy?" the older wizard inquired.
"It's Harry," Severus began. "He had a vision last night, a dream. The ravens came to him, and showed him a battle. He said it was vague – he could tell it was a battle, and saw enough to be sure magic was involved, but he could neither see who was fighting, where they were fighting, any details at all. That was all he could recall, although he said it was very uncommon for him to even remember dreams."
Albus considered that, and nodded. "How did the visions work the first time?"
"In a similar manner, as I understand from him. Very vague at first, with more details becoming clear as time passes. He said this was the first time he'd had this dream or vision, and he had very little detail."
"Well then, my boy, I think we have to wait and see. If he does see anything more specific, let me know immediately. For now, there does not appear to be anything we can do about this."
Albus took a sip of his tea, and popped a lemon drop into his mouth, savoring the sharp tang and sweetness. "There is something I'd like to discuss with you, though, Severus. A conversation I had with Minister Bones that might be of interest to you."
Severus looked a bit ill at ease – matters involving the Ministry were seldom pleasant, in his experience.
"The Minister has a group of her more senior, seasoned, advisors starting to think about the future of the relationship between the magical and muggle worlds, given these recent events. Assuming that we are able to preserve a world with muggles in it, will we be able to maintain the veil of secrecy we've enjoyed? There are going to be changes to the world that the muggles can't be expected to ignore. The physical changes will be obvious, but they're such bright and inquisitive creatures, they'll know almost instantly that some months disappeared from their lives. And then there are the squibs. We've always had squibs, but the ones who knew about the magical world were born into it. Now, thousands of people who were living in the muggle world and totally unaware of their magic have learned about us. I haven't heard any proposals or conclusions from the Ministry yet, but wanted you to know that they are thinking about this."
"Thank you, Headmaster. I don't want to bring this to Harry's attention myself right now, but would not rule out that he'll wonder about this at some point, or Miss Granger will worry and speak to him about it. I'll brief him then. I assume that's acceptable to you?" Severus asked.
Albus had smiled at the reference to Hermione. The girl was a never-ending stream of surprises; she missed nothing. He nodded to Severus. Just as Severus himself was about to stand to depart, he recalled that he did have one other thing to mention to the Headmaster.
"I received an owl from the Potions Masters Guild. They are nearly done with their brewing of the lycanthropy potion I submitted." Severus acknowledged Albus' look of surprise at that statement with a sneer and a nod. "I know, record-breaking speed for them. They wish me to meet with them at the Ministry as soon as possible, as they have a few questions. Of course, the potions will need to age at least eight weeks before it can actually be tested, and it will need to be tested before they are willing to recognize my potion as part of a potential treatment for lycanthropy, in some cases. I discussed this with Harry, as I fully expect there to be questions about the source material, and I would have to mention Harry's translation of Slytherin's notebook. He's perfectly fine with me mentioning his role."
"Ah, but I see your reluctance, Severus! We don't want to have to disclose the existence of the Chamber of Secrets or go into too much detail."
"Exactly, Albus. I've been thinking this over, and was considering saying that Harry Potter had discovered Salazar Slytherin's lost private library and we've moved all the books to warded storage in the castle, for preservation and research. Among the books were notebooks made by Salazar on all manner of topics, one of which discussed his thoughts on lycanthropy and a treatment he had devised. Harry translated that volume from the original Parseltongue and made a gift of the translation to me, and I've used it as the base of my own research to develop the potion I submitted."
"That sounds fair. If my understanding of the laws of both magical and muggle England regarding treasure trove is correct, Harry became the owner of the books when he discovered them. It is possible, I suppose, that Hogwarts might have a claim since the library was within the castle, albeit in an unplottable and unreachable place, unless one spoke Parsetongue. However, he's given us the books, so that's really not an issue. In any case, his translation of the work is beyond doubt his own, so the gift to you cannot be challenged. If you have any concern about that, we can consult our solicitor, to be sure," Albus offered.
"No, no, I'm very sure about the legality of my claim to the potion I submitted," Severus replied. "It's actually my goal in going through this process to be able to get the potion produced and put into use in those cases where the afflicted individual can manage the spell component of the cure. I was more concerned about your thoughts on how much to disclose about Salazar's library and notebooks."
Albus nodded in understanding. "Well, I think your approach is just fine. If there are questions about the location of the library or the current ownership of the books, you can defer to me. If they want to speak to me, I'll either meet with them then, or we'll arrange for a meeting in the future. Either way, I'd much prefer that you not head over to the Ministry, given what went on yesterday. You can explain to the Guild Master that I wish to maintain adequate safety precautions here at Hogwarts, and right now, you are one of just a few people in the castle who have completed Augusta's training; if I need you, it's best if you are here rather than in London. Why not propose that they come through the floo in the Ministry Annex in the lobby – I'm sure it's got direct access set up to a Ministry office, and I'm sure Kingsley will accommodate them. I'll have the house elves create a conference room down there for your use, so there is minimal disruption to the school."
Severus stood as he nodded to Albus. "As you wish, Headmaster. I shall owl them immediately, and propose that we meet here tomorrow afternoon." With an impressive sweep of black teaching robes, Severus headed toward the lobby and the revolving stairs.
Albus looked after Severus as he left, his eyes twinkling madly. He was very pleased, very pleased indeed, with the decision to have the Potion Masters Guild review the potion, and that both Severus and Harry were willing to go through this process for such an altruistic purpose was wonderful. He'd also caught Severus' shining hair swinging as he swirled out the door, and reflected on yet another positive aspect of the relationship between his two favorite wizards.
X X X X X X X X X X
Not a soul who had signed up to be in Mrs. Longbottom's class failed to show up, right on time, if not a few minutes early, and everyone was excited about it. She dove right in to her curriculum, and could not have asked for a more serious, attentive audience. She managed to make mention of the fact that members of her first class were the ones who banished the five demons that appeared around the world the day before at least half a dozen times in the first session, but everyone was so fired up about the class that no one took her to task. At least a few realized that she was bursting with pride about her grandson, and were willing to let her brag a bit.
The stories about how difficult some of the work was turned out to be true. The walls of the castle took another beating from the miscast spells. Many Hogwarts students ended up losing hours of sleep during her program, because they had to keep up with their regular studies and prepare for her classes.
On top of all of that, the Introduction to Magic programs began to run on Wednesday evenings. At first, Professors Dumbledore and Sprout felt that there would be no conflict between Mrs. Longbottom's class and the squib program, so they overlapped. When Harry heard about the schedule, he approached the Headmaster about having Mrs. Longbottom start her Wednesday class earlier, so people could attend both.
"This past Christmas, at the Weasleys, I learned things about the wizarding world that I'd never imagined, and I've been living in this world at least during the school year for over five years. Remus was fantastic, but everyone who grew up in the magical world shared insights. I'm sure the speakers that are going to present will do at least as good a job, and I really don't want to miss this."
Albus had never imagined that anyone with magic, who was already attending Hogwarts, would have any interest in a program that was so basic, but of course, once Harry decided to attend, all the muggle-borns and a fair percentage of those born and raised in the magical world also wanted to be there. At least, that program could be held in the Great Hall and was not going to damage the building. He spoke with Augusta who was a bit put out, but when Albus dropped Harry's name, she came around and agreed to end her Wednesday evening program in time for anyone who wanted to go to the squib program to do so.
Severus was curious himself about Harry's interest, and broached the subject Tuesday evening. "I have not seen the agenda itself, but Harry, this is really for people who just learned some weeks ago that this world exists and they are a small part of it. Why on earth do you want to go?"
"Do you remember our discussion about things a five-year old wizard would learn in his mother's kitchen?" To his embarrassment, Severus did recall that.
"It's pretty much assumed that people coming to Hogwarts have a certain basic knowledge about the magical world. If you are new to magic, you pick up what you can as quickly as you can, but there's always something you miss. I was so amazed with the things I learned when Remus and you were explaining things to the Grangers at Christmas. This is going to be like that, I hear. Different people with different areas of expertise will be speaking at the most basic level about all sorts of things. I might have learned some of these things by now, but I'll bet that there is lots I've not picked up, and this is my chance to learn."
Severus nodded in reply, and had to admit to himself that one of the outcomes of the discussion to which Harry referred was his own realization Hogwarts probably did need two Muggle Studies programs, with a better one to introduce muggle-borns to the magical world. This sounded like the basis of the course he'd intended to propose for the Hogwarts curriculum itself. He started to think that he should plan to attend the program himself, to evaluate the contents of a regular course on the subject.
"Oh, I wanted to tell you – I met with the Potion Masters Guild this afternoon. The Headmaster asked that I not leave the castle, so they flooed to Hogwarts through the Ministry Annex office here."
Harry smiled at that – he could not agree with the Headmaster more about keeping Severus out of the Ministry! "How did it go?"
"Better than I might have expected," Severus allowed, smiling as he reflected back on the two-hour meeting.
The formalities of greeting each arrival, from Master Dorester, to the six Potions Masters who had been names to the Brewing Jury, to sundry officials of the Guild such as Andre Serrent, Elliott Dorester's assistant serving as its secretary, took time, as Severus knew all of them and was expected to exchange at least a few personal pleasantries with each.
Severus welcomed them in Kingsley's office, wearing his everyday teaching robes, rather than changing to the kind of clothing he would have worn to the Ministry. He noticed with a small smirk how they each noticed, and reacted to, the evidence that Severus' chosen career was that of a school teacher. He directed them to the just-created room that was now located off the Ministry Annex, in which a large and highly-polished mahogany table was surrounded by comfortable leather armchairs. The group reacted to this, as well; no one expected to see such fine furniture in a school, or in a Ministry office for that matter.
As the members of the group were selecting seats and getting comfortable, there was a further surprise. Lucius Malfoy and Lord Volpine followed the group through the floo, and indicated that they wished to observe the proceedings. Severus greeted them as cordially as he had the others, and pointed them to chairs at the end of the table, but he was very curious as to their interest in this gathering.
When the meeting finally began, Master Dorester explained the formalities, for the record. As Severus knew, the Guild's review process had two objectives: the Guild must verify the claimed benefit or purpose for using a particular potion, and that the formula for the potion produced repeatable results. In this case, it was already a matter of public record that Remus Lupin had been cured of lycanthropy after, per his own testimony, ingesting the potion brewed by Severus, and performing certain spells. Severus assumed that the point of the meeting today was to answer questions from the Brewing Jury, the Potions Masters tasked with working from the notes that Severus had provided to Master Dorester as Remus' hearing at the Ministry several weeks ago to recreate the potion Severus had brewed.
"I have invited this group of six Potions Masters to serve on the Brewing Jury and replicate the potion from your notes, Lord Snape. I assume introductions are not necessary, but will note their names for the record: Ewan McCorquedale, Walter Mason, Philomena Mills, Warren Wren, Mabel Bitterson and Chester Coleman." Each nodded as their name was read, and Severus returned the nods, but he groaned inwardly at the name of Chester Coleman.
Whenever Severus worked on a potion that he would have to teach to his students, he had long ago developed the habit of identifying the place or places in the process that the idiots brewing the potion would make a mistake. Even fairly simple potions had their "idiot point," as Neville Longbottom had proved time and again. This was by far the most complicated potion he'd ever brewed, and it had at least half a dozen "idiot points." Severus would wager that Chester had stumbled into every single one of them. He and Chester had taken their Mastery program at the same time, although while Severus studied under Master Dorester, Chester was studying under another Master, Abner Galeson. The two Masters collaborated at times, so it was natural that their students would come to know one another and even work together. It was one of the great mysteries to Severus as to how on earth Chester was granted Mastery – in Severus' opinion, the man truly was an idiot.
"Thank you, Master Dorester," Severus replied, "I assume that the Brewing Jury has begun the process of brewing now, and the members are possibly at the point where their potions must mature for a time?" The older man nodded. "Are there any specific questions about the brewing process? No one could have actually tested the potion yet, as it needs at least two months after the brewing process is completed to mature and ripen."
A sheaf of parchments was handed over to Severus. They were the brewing notes of each member of the jury, reciting what they did and the results they achieved at each step. Five were picture-perfect replications of Severus' brewing experience and the formula he provided to Master Dorester. There was every reason to expect that those potions, when ready, would produce exactly the result Severus' original potion had produced. The sixth potion, being brewed by Chester Coleman, was likely to turn to sludge, if it did not cause a cauldron to explode beforehand.
Nodding to the five competent jury members, Severus commented "I believe you have each replicated the potion I presented for your consideration, and I predict the potions will work exactly as mine did. Lord Coleman, I fear that you have not quite replicated my potion exactly as it was written. I see here that after the third step, your potion was a deep crimson, not the lime green it should have been. The third step is very important, because the careful addition of the exact amount of carefully slivered salamander tongue at the precisely-timed moment, with the requisite number of stirs both clockwise and counterclockwise, are vital steps in checking the acidity of the potion at that point. The lime green color signals that the acidity has been reduced appropriately. A crimson color at that point is caused by the potion retaining far too much acidity, most likely from either improperly prepared salamander tongue, or not following the instructions about adding it."
Severus went through Chester's notes, stopping at each "idiot point," where Chester had made exactly the mistake Severus would have predicted, with exactly the wrong outcome in the potion. Where each competent brewer now had a crystal clear potion that almost looked like spring water in a stoppered bottle sitting in a dark cabinet for two months, Chester had a bright orange, opaque substance that was closer to the consistency of cake batter.
Master Dorester cast a very disappointed look at Chester, as he took back the parchments that Severus had been reviewing. "I apologize, Severus. I always work with a jury of six, because the Guild rules require that the potion be replicated by at least five Masters in order to be approved. Lord Coleman, we'll review your potion and these notes in detail back at the Guild offices." He handed the sheaf to Andre, who placed them into a large envelope.
Philomena Mills, a witch several years younger than Severus who was making quite a name for herself in theoretical potions, had a question. "Lord Snape, if I may, I am most curious as to what suggested this approach, and the very unconventional combination of a potion and an animagus transformation spell."
This was the question Severus had been expecting all along, and he was surprised that the meeting was over an hour old before it came up.
"Mistress Mills, I have access to some ancient books, a thousand years old, only recently translated for me. These records were made by someone who was aware of the initial accident that created the first werewolf. As he knew what that wizard had wanted to do, and knew the steps he took to accomplish his objective, his account provided very rare insight into the condition. The writer had considered what went wrong with the experiment that created the first werewolf, suggested steps that could be taken to undo the results of the accident, and in the process, accomplish the original objective."
Madam Mills looked completely puzzled by that explanation, as did everyone else in the room. Severus smiled, and offered " Allow me to begin at the beginning."
Severus proceeded to tell of the wizard long ago who wished to transform as an animagus into a magical creature. He told of how this wizard had theorized a potion that would enable him to maintain the connection between his mind and his magical core as he did so, and of the errors he made: use of several plants with lunar properties in the potion and his own insufficient magical strength to successfully cast the spell component. He told of the eventual success achieved by the author of the book, with a modified potion, used with stronger wizards. "The records of this potion were lost to history until recently, when the ancient text was discovered and translated. Additionally, some of the ingredients and techniques in potion brewing are very different now from what was common a thousand years ago, so I had to completely modernize the old formula and the techniques involved for use in our age. For that reason, this is to be regarded as an original formula and was not submitted to you as an adaptation of an existing potion."
That technically answered her question fully, although Severus knew that there was at least one inevitable follow-up question, and he wondered who would voice it. He was surprised, given the company, that it was Andre who spoke next.
"Lord Snape, may we be informed as to the identity of his long-forgotten wizard, how his book came to be found recently, and who translated it?"
Severus smiled to himself at the opening Andre had given him. "Master Serrent, the wizard whose book was found is far from forgotten. Salazar Slytherin is one of the founders of Hogwarts, and one of its Houses still bears his name. His personal library was hidden by wards and charms within the castle that only a Parselmouth could penetrate. While there have been a number of individuals with that ability at the school over the centuries, only two that I know of ever found his library and perused his books. Most recently, Harry Potter located the library and presented its contents to the school for study and preservation. He is the one who found some ancient texts and provided me with a gift of the translation of one in which Salazar wrote about lycanthropy. Salazar wrote his notes in Parseltongue, hence the need for translation."
The room erupted as Severus sat calmly with a small smirk on his face, picking a piece of lint off the sleeve of his black robe, as he waited for the hubbub to abate. Fortunately, all the questions that were posed at that point were ones that he and Albus had agreed would be referred to the Headmaster, so the remainder of Severus' interview proceeded quickly. At this point, he estimated that the five competently-brewed potions needed about six more weeks to age and mature, so he expected that there would be an additional meeting at that time to discuss actually testing these potions. To his surprise, Lord Volpine rose to speak before the group disbanded.
"Lord Malfoy and I have interest in beginning commercial production of this potion as soon as it has approval from the Potions Masters Guild. We will be discussing licensing arrangements with Lord Snape in due course. However, I wish to volunteer for the testing, when it is time to test the potions that the esteemed members of the Brewing Jury have created."
That answered an open issue. There were only a few known werewolves, because most afflicted with lycanthropy tended not to make that fact general knowledge. It could have been difficult to find someone willing to step forward and identify themselves as a werewolf, given the numerous restrictions and limitations, let alone the discrimination that society allowed against werewolves. Lord Volpine's offer assured them that the next phase of the review would proceed without delay.
As the members of the Potions Masters Guild returned through the floo to their offices at the Ministry in London, Severus expressed his thanks to Lord Volpine, and with surprise evident on his face, to Lucius.
"I am very pleased at your plan to begin commercial production of the potion, but must warn you, Lord Potter and I have discussed this, and he is most anxious to see this become widely available to all who need it, without great cost."
Severus expected that Lucius' interest would ebb, once that condition was made known, but the haughty voice assured him, "That is our goal as well, Lord Snape."
When Severus shared this story with Harry on Tuesday evening, he'd almost wished the younger man had attended the meeting, as he peppered Severus with questions and comments about who asked what, and how everyone reacted. Harry's final comment was about Lucius. "I told you, Severus, he's changed; he's on a new path and he's not going to stray from it."
Severus still looked unsure about that, but Harry was undeterred. "Really, Severus, I am as sure of that as I am of the fact that I missed you today." The young man's eyes glowed with pride and determination, as he pulled Severus up from his seat on the couch and drew his face down toward him for a surprisingly passionate kiss.
X X X X X X X X X X
As the Aurors who'd flooed in for Mrs. Longbottom's program left a bit earlier than expected that first Wednesday headed out of the classroom, Maxwell Darmut sidled up to Kingsley Shacklebolt. "Why on earth are we ending this class early tonight? The people in this class are among the most powerful witches and wizards in England; what could anyone in this class possibly hope to learn in a squib class?"
Kingsley smiled at his colleague. "This is Mr. Potter's doing. He's the one who wants to go to that other class. The boy was muggle-raised, you know. Knew nothing of this world until his Hogwarts letter was delivered, and he wants to learn more about the day-to-day aspects of magic."
Darmut processed that and decided to stop in, as well. He knew his wife would be fascinated by anything involving Potter, so she wouldn't mind his not taking advantage of the chance to be home a few minutes earlier.
Petunia Dursley was sitting off to the side, by herself. She felt lonely, especially when she saw some squibs arriving to warm greetings from students, and one couple, after being welcomed by one of the students, was even welcomed as if they were old friends by some of the faculty here! Petunia herself felt obligated to attend, because Amaranth Savoy had been so nice to her, and had worked so hard on the program. She had no interest in learning about this world, really, as she planned to return to her old, normal world as soon as Vernon and Dudley were awake and able to leave. However, this meant so very much to Amaranth, and she felt she owed it to the young woman to be there to show her support.
Petunia was dismayed to see the people who stood to deliver little presentations – she'd had run-ins with a significant number of them. That nasty Molly, whose husband assaulted her in the lobby, was the first to speak. Petunia sulked as she sat there, and heard only part of the things Molly talked about, although she had to admit, reluctantly, that some of the demonstrations the woman provided of magical homekeeping were quite interesting. The strange man who was the head of this place spoke, as well. He definitely seemed loopy, to use a term her Vernon favored. There was a presentation by a ghost, for goodness sake! Petunia could not wait to get out of there when the session finally ended for the evening.
Nearer to the front of the room, Harry had taken a seat next to the other royal Harry, and his older brother, who had come back to Hogwarts from work they'd been doing at the Ministry. The magical Harry greeted the two. "Nice to see you both back here. What have you been doing at the Ministry? Something interesting?"
The older brother spoke first. "Yeah, they've got us working on identifying muggle installations that need to be preserved or restored. We spend lots of time meeting with squibs who have technical skills, to be sure they understand what we need them to do. The wizards realized that the squibs recognize us, so it's lots faster if we have the conversations."
Magical Harry nodded his agreement. "Some of those Ministry types are very controlling, so it must gall them that they have to rely on you to get things done."
The other Harry offered "Well, we've had training ourselves in the muggle military and schools, so we do know things from the muggle perspective that wizards don't understand. You're right – there were a few who seemed very upset at the beginning, but they've gradually gotten used to it." He suddenly realized who he was speaking to, at a squib program. "What on earth are you doing at the Introduction to Magic, Harry?"
"I'm muggle-raised, so I never learned all the things a magical child learns growing up. I've picked up some things here and there in the years I've known I was a wizard, mostly here at school, but there's loads of stuff that's just assumed that you know. I've been embarrassed several times over things I'd just never learned. When I heard about this, I knew I wanted to be here. You'll be back each week, won't you?"
"Wouldn't miss it! My brother and I have talked about some of the things we've seen, and we agreed that even if we went back to our old lives knowing nothing more than what we've seen of the magical world ourselves, this would have been fascinating. But the chance to learn more about this world is too good to pass up."
"Good to see you, then, and I'll see you next week," magical Harry offered as he bid the brothers goodbye and set off for the dungeons. It had been a long day.
The next day, the squib gossip network was abuzz with the fact that both of the young princes had attended the program at Hogwarts. From that moment forward, any squib who had been invited but decided against bothering to go back to Hogwarts for the program was not going to miss the remaining sessions. Likewise, word spread through the wizarding world that Harry Potter had attended the program, as well. Access to Hogwarts at midweek was difficult to arrange, but on Wednesdays, even the most tenuous reason to be at Hogwarts was used as an excuse to get permission to visit. As a result, the following Wednesday evening, all of the members of Mrs. Longbottom's class repaired to the squib program, and they joined a throng of squibs, and friends and family of presenters, students and others. Attendance had easily tripled over the last week.
Petunia sat further back this time, and found herself seated next to a pompous-looking man in the odd clothes favored by this crowd, although his clothes were of fine material and very well tailored. He reminded her a bit of that young man, Eustace, in that regard. They were both seated several minutes before the program was scheduled to begin, and struck up a conversation.
The gentleman nodded at Petunia and extended his hand. "Madam, I do not believe we've met. Permit me to introduce myself. Thurston Landon. My son, Eustace, will be presenting at this session, and I've come to show the boy some morale support."
Petunia smiled, pleased with herself for being right in seeing a connection between this older man and Eustace, and charmed in general at the old-world approach to an introduction. "Mrs. Petunia Dursley, Mr. Landon. I'm staying in the castle, and have worked with Amaranth Savoy on this program, so I'm here to show her support for all the hard work she's done. I believe I've met your son, Eustace. He may be a friend of Mrs. Savoy's brother – he stopped at our table one day at lunch to say hello, and she introduced us. Lovely young man."
A few moments of idle chatter followed, but that was cut short as the program began. Eustace was indeed one of the speakers, as were a few professors from the school. Petunia might have enjoyed a few more minutes of conversation with Mr. Landon, but he had to meet up with his son as soon as the program ended, so she waved goodbye to him as he pushed his way through the surprisingly large crowd toward the front, where the speakers had congregated.