Harry potter and the Time of Retirement

Everything related to Harry Potter belongs to JKR

Chapter 62 – Year 3

"No. Still no reaction" concluded Dumbledore sheathing the Wand, taking off the Cloak and finally removing the Ring from his finger. Harry, that had been a little nervous at Dumbledore asking to wear all three of the items after several fruitless attempts, caressed his Cloak as if to check for some damage before leaving it on the desk.

"I guess reality and fairy tales don't mix well, even with magic involved" commented Harry from his chair. "The Hallows are powerful artifacts, but still artifacts."

"The traces I could find on the Stone gave me hints on how the other two items have been created, but it is still a mystery" said Dumbledore. "As with all others, this too will require time to be solved."

For a while neither of them spoke, until Harry looked at the headmaster straight in his eyes. "Of course, we still have to activate the Stone. That is the only combination we haven't tried yet."

"I am not sure we should disturb the dead, Harry. It feels wrong" complained Dumbledore, as he sat down.

"If it is even them, their souls, that we are talking about" said Harry, deep in thought. He remembered his one, solitary use of the Stone very well but also how none of the shades he then met tried to stop him from, basically, suicide. He knew now how that would most definitely not be his reaction, should he be recalled to life by a child of his in such a terrible moment. Or, maybe, they didn't know he was about to face Riddle and were merely happy to see him.

"It is what the legend says" said Dumbledore, interrupting his thoughts. "Either it works or it doesn't."

"Way too early to say that" argued Harry. "It could create illusions of what the user expects. It could create shades similar to what our magical portraits shows, only apparently sentient. Or something else entirely."

"If it is the former, there would be no point in summoning them" said Dumbledore. "They would just confirm our hopes, or our fears."

"What is pointless is debating it when we have the Stone in our very hands" concluded Harry, tapping the desk with his fingers. "I understand caution, but I thought we made our mind up already."

"We did" admitted Dumbledore, quietly. "Very well, then. Candidates for the summoning? You said you wanted to call on your parents."

"After we are sure whatever is summoned doesn't suffer for it, maybe" said Harry. "I have two candidates that I feel comfortable with. What about you?"

"Me?" asked Dumbledore, paling down a little. "I… no, no one. No one."

"Sure" said Harry, awkwardly. No way he was going to touch again Dumbledore's weakest spot, not after his furious reaction the first time. "Then we go with mine. I thought long about it, and my candidates are either one of the Peverells or Herpo the Foul."

"Herpo the Foul? Why someone so… Oh, of course" said Dumbledore. "The original creator of an Horcrux. True, he could give us some priceless insight."

"That is one of my reasons. The other is that, being notoriously scum, we shouldn't feel too guilty in playing with his soul" commented Harry, scoffing. "Who knows, if he is in muggle hell he might even appreciate a little respite."

"That possibility make me feel even more like we are dealing with things not meant to be toyed with, Harry" said Dumbledore, frowning. "We are still in time to stop. Remember, of the three brothers, only the one that shied away from the powers of the Hallows avoided a tragic end."

"I insist we should do it, and I am willing to use the Stone myself" said Harry, shrugging. "If you suddenly want to back down, say it openly. At least we would save some time."

"Forgive me if I don't share your childish penchant for self destruction, Harry" said Dumbledore, slightly annoyed. With a second of hesitation, he handed over the Ring. "Go ahead, if you insist, but it's on your head."

"Once a decision is taken…" murmured Harry, standing up. Focused, he tried to think of Herpo the Foul. He wished for his soul to appear. He caressed the Stone, too, just in case.

"Nothing" said Dumbledore, after a while. From the tone, Harry wondered if he was disappointed at the failure or satisfied because it was Harry's failure. "What have you tried to do?"

"Just to call forth Herpo" answered Harry, annoyed. "Maybe too much time has passed. Or, some connection between summoner and summoned is needed."

"Or some pass code is required. Or it works only under the full moon. Or something else entirely" added Dumbledore, almost uncaring. "The story doesn't give us much to work with. It might take forever to solve this riddle."

Harry looked at Dumbledore's now stretched hand, clearly in wait for the Ring to be returned, and grimaced. "It's too early to give up. Let's see with the Peverells, especially the one that created the Stone. Cadmus, I think."

"If with Herpo it didn't work, why should you be able to call him?" asked Dumbledore, sitting down again and folding his hands.

"Maybe Herpo's soul was damaged by creating an Horcrux, and can't be called at all. Beside, Cadmus is one of my ancestors and that might just be enough" said Harry, focusing again on the stone. He knew it worked with no special requirements, after all. Or did he need to feel he was near death, too, for the Stone to activate?

A few seconds passed, but nothing appeared. Harry let loose a growl of irritation. "Apparently, Cadmus is out too."

"Harry, let's take this as a sign from up above. Dead people should be allowed to rest in peace, not be forced back at the livings' whim. I should learn that too" said Dumbledore, a sad voice, while shaking his head.

"Ghosts are a clear sign that people can die with unfinished businesses" countered Harry, unconvinced. "Few might choose to remain here, but regrets linger on."

"You are out of candidates, though" pointed out Dumbledore.

"Not yet" said Harry, unhappily. "There are still my parents."

"Even if you were able to call on them" said Dumbledore, slowly "would it be worth doing it? Is it for their sake that you are disturbing them, or for yours?"

"A good question" said Harry, thinking it over. What would he wish for, in their position? The answer came to him immediately. The destiny of his children, of his family, over which he had no certainty; he would pay a very high price to know what happened to them, if they were safe. If they could contact him, even if only a minute, even if it was uncomfortable or painful… 'they should', he thought.

"It's for both of us" answered Harry, finally. His expression showed no doubts anymore. Eyes closed, he focused on his parents. What he still felt for them, long dead. So long, from his perspective.

"Good heaven…." murmured Dumbledore. Harry, slowly and with a smile, opened his eyes. In front of them, standing quietly, were the shades of James and Lily Potter.

They were not ghost, they were not real people. If you focused you could see something through them, but they were not transparent. They gave an eerie aura, yet not a scary one.

Harry stood up and started staring at them, expressionless. Only his unblinking eyes betrayed his inner turmoil. Dumbledore too got closer, almost touching them. "James, Lily… it's been so long. Is it really you?"

The shades merely smiled, as Lily nodded with her head. After staring at the headmaster for a second, they stepped towards Harry.

"I imagine you can't speak" said Harry, with a tone that betrayed his desire for it to be otherwise "but can you hear me? Can you understand me?"

They both nodded, and got closer. James placed a hand on Harry's shoulder, but he could feel nothing from it. Nor heat or cold, no weight at all.

"This is… chilling" commented Harry, quietly, before raising his voice again. "Still, I am happy to see you. You seem to know already but I am your son, Harry."

Both of them smiled, but made otherwise no move.

"I am sorry we disturbed you, my dear friends. I hope being here is not as unpleasant as the legend of the Hallows says" said Dumbledore from his corner. James turned at these words, and shrugged. Lily hugged herself, almost as to admit it was not a great feeling, but then smiled again at Harry.

"Still…" started Harry "we will not have another chance like this one. Mom, dad, I wanted you to know I am doing well. Life is not easy, but I am grateful you gave me the chance to live it. I will never forget you… us."

Lily got closer and took his hand between hers, while James placed his arm on her shoulder.

"We are watching over him, don't worry" added Dumbledore, before changing his tone to a stressed one. "It would be easier if he didn't combine both of your… strong will power, let's say. And your recklessness, James."

At this James chuckled, or so his expression suggested to do as silence remained unbroken in the room. Lily just shook her head, but a smile had remained on her face.

"That's all" said Harry, finally. "If there is an afterlife, we will meet there. One day."

Closing his eyes, Harry focused again on the stone, wishing for the shades to go back. In the background, he could hear Dumbledore give his own farewell. Once Harry reopened his eyes, only he and the headmaster were left inside the room.

"Incredible" said Dumbledore, amazed, before turning towards Harry. "Are you fine? I imagine it was…"

"I am not completely sure they were really my parents, and not my desires given form by the Stone" said HArry, quickly interrupting him. "If they were my parents, I don't regret calling on them. It was worth it."

"They seemed happy enough to see you, too" commented Dumbledore, after a moment of silence. "We also learned something about the powers of the Stone. And its limitations."

"Maybe a real dialogue could be done with gestures and pointing at written letters" added Harry, shrugging "but it would feel somehow wrong, I'll admit that much."

"Cadmus Peverell died because of the Stone" said Dumbledore. "If we ever use it again, it must be only for the greatest reasons."

Harry remained in silence, thinking. It was nice being able to pass a message to his parents, but there was something heavier weighting down on him, the real reason he had come. Chances are he would never again be able to use Stone after this day. This was his last chance.

Closing his eyes, he wished for the only souls from his past that he could think on to come. Ginny, and Ron – his Ginny and Ron, his wife and his life long friend. Aware of how wrong it felt, and of what kind of explanations he might have to give Dumbledore afterwards, Harry did it anyway pushed on by desperation and a sudden wave of longing.

"What are you doing, Harry?" asked Dumbledore, severely. "I hope you are not trying to summon random souls, now. The Stone is not a toy."

Disappointed, Harry opened his eyes – only Dumbledore in front of him. "I was doing nothing of the sort. Just thinking."

"If you say so" said Dumbledore unconvinced. "Give it back to me then."

Once again he pushed his open hand forward and this time Harry let the ring fall into it. Satisfied, Dumbledore sat down again on his chair, Harry following suit.

"Overall, I would consider this a success" started the headmaster, nodding. "We might have rushed the summonings, but nothing bad happened because of it."

"We received no hints for our other project, though" commented Harry. "I genuinely hoped we could receive some revelations on the Horcruxes."

"If your memories on loan, let's call them that, are still accurate we got all of those cursed items anyway" said Dumbledore. "I see no good reason to learn more about such dark artifacts, to be honest. I would be happy if even the memory of them disappear together with Riddle."

"With their existence now known to Sirius and maybe Bones, I doubt that is going to happen" commented Harry, drawing an annoyed glare from Dumbledore.

"Indeed" he said, curtly. "And we have your impatience to thank for that, Harry."

"You are welcome" answered Harry, slightly acidly. "Anyway, I guess there is not much more we can do today. Unless you, too, want to use the Stone now."

"No" stated Dumbledore, with clear intent. "No. Not today, anyway."

"As an academic curiosity" said Harry "I wonder if the Stone would react in any way to the arch kept by the Department of Mysteries. They both deal with the Veil and the afterlife, after all."

"More knowledge you should most definitely don't have, Harry" said Dumbledore, frowning. "But I'll admit you raise a good point. Maybe I'll try to do that, one day."

"If you do, I would appreciate knowing the results" said Harry, shrugging. "If you feel like sharing."

"I am making no promises" said Dumbledore. "And yes, I am done for today. Do you have something final to say?"

As Harry shook his head, Dumbledore stood up. "Then it's time to wrap things up. Thank you for your help, Harry. If anything important happens, do not hesitate to warn me."

"I'll do that. For today, goodbye headmaster" said Harry, standing up and leaving the room together with his Cloak back inside the bag. Dumbledore's own goodbyes followed him on the way out.

Once the door closed behind him, Harry sighed heavily. The morning had not gone fully as he hoped. Experimenting with the Hallows and old souls like Herpo or Cadmus was interesting, but his real objective had been different. The chance of finally having closure, to know once and for all what happened to his own family was irresistible, so much that he would have gladly exposed his secret if necessary. And yet…

"Nothing" murmured Harry, sadly. What else there was to say? With a shrug, Harry slowly walked through the castle, heading for the exit. He was out of the gates already when he stopped and, with a bitter smile, turned around. He was forgetting his last duty for the day.

Walking around the castle he reached once again the courtyard, finding it deserted. Moving on, he went back to Hagrid's hut and knocked on it.

"Oh, Harry" said the half-giant, as he opened the door. "Here yew are. It took so long I thought yew forgot about me."

"I would never" denied Harry, with a small smile. "It just was a… busy morning. Are you free to go out?"

"To be honest, not 'nymore. It's lunch time, I was cooking already" said Hagrid, shaking his big head, before getting excited. "But yew can be my guest today! I am quite curious of what the two of yew were doing all morning."

"Sure, why not" commented Harry. "What's the menu?"

And with that, they both stepped inside. Hagrid instantly let loose an angry shout at Fang, that had taken advantage of his distraction to steal an half cut piece of sausage from the table. With a grumble of dissatisfaction, Hagrid cleaned up one side of the table, picked up a chair and told Harry that he could start cutting slices, if he wanted to help.

With a light smile, and memories of aunt Petunia in his mind, Harry did that while commenting on food and cooking. Not long after they were sitting down, busy eating and gossiping.

"Well, of course I don't expect to know the details" complained happily Hagrid. "I don't stick my nose into the headmaster's business. I wonder how yew were involved, though."

"He needed one of my family items, more than my help" said Harry, shrugging. "It was still an interesting morning. Could have gone better, though."

"Mmhh? Why, what have you done?" asked Hagrid, mouth half full of food.

"Why does everyone ends up with that?" asked Harry to the air, stressed. "I did nothing. I just… hoped, strongly, to get something today. And I didn't."

"We can't always have what we want, kiddo" said Hagrid, smiling. "We adults can't, yew shouldn't either."

"I wasn't wishing for candies, you know?" commented Harry, exasperated. "Nevermind, it's my problem anyway. And it's over."

"Good" added quietly Hagrid, serving him more meat pie. "What about now, then? Any plans?"

"Oh, right" said Harry, smiling. "I wanted to talk about those. I will be going to the world cup finals, soon, with Black and Lupin. And I wondered if you were going too."

"Yew are? Lucky boy" said Hagrid, impressed. "I did want to go myself, ye' know? But the tickets are expensive, and I have my duties anyway."

"I can feel that" said Harry, grimacing. "It's my godfather that planned everything, he is a big spender lately. I imagine he just wants to enjoy life after… well, you know."

"Oh, I see" said Hagrid, nodding his head. "That explains why professor Lupin is going, then. He doesn't look too… prosperous, let's say, and if I am the one saying that..."

"I imagine" said Harry. "Did you two had any joint lesson, anyway? I have been told Lockhart always did, last year."

"That wizard" scoffed Hagrid, irritated. "I'll tell yew this, Harry. I felt much more confident in trying it out as a teacher after watching what Lockhart did. That man might be a Defense genius, but couldn't teach my hens to lay eggs."

"Oww, poor Lockhart" said Harry, laughing lightly. "My classmates were ambivalent towards him, at the end of the year. His classes were entertaining, they said."

"HIS classes?" almost shouted Hagrid. "That man kept pestering professor Kettleburn all the time, and treated me as if I was some kind of lackey. No, no, good thing he left, and good riddance."

"Sure" concluded Harry, diplomatically. The rest of the lunch moved on with more gossip and news but, as Hagrid claimed he had to restart working and couldn't enjoy some after-meal drinks, Harry soon apparated back home.

Once inside, he placed the Cloak back into his chest, sighing heavily as he did. The morning did not fulfill his expectations, but there was nothing to do about that. Changing his own clothes into something more comfortable, Harry went down to his greenhouse. His mind, unfortunately, was still focused on his past life and all those he left behind.