Harry potter and the Time of Retirement
Everything related to Harry Potter belongs to JKR
Chapter 63 – Year 3
"Done" murmured Harry, as he admired himself in the mirror. Black had insisted, quite at length, that they should support Ireland in the finals and how they would show that by wearing their colors as much as possible. Harry, amused, transfigured green one of his most sacrificeable robes and got, largely in advance from Justin, some muggle green color to apply on his cheeks.
"Ah, memories, memories" he said to the open air, satisfied. He had done something quite similar for himself and his kids in the past, whenever the whole family went to watch some important quidditch match, and he wasn't unhappy in doing it once again.
With one final quick glance at the mirror he picked up his wand and apparated directly outside of Grimmauld's place. It was quite early, barely after lunch hour, and the sun was beating strong on everything. Quickly knocking on the door, scoffing at Kreacher's usual hostile face that appeared behind it, and walking onward inside the manor were almost automatic steps for Harry by that point.
'Of course this time around the little bugger focused on Dumbledore' thought Harry, annoyed. Kreacher had been quite grateful, and suddenly devoted, to the headmaster thanks to his promise that he would destroy the locket. To him. Towards anyone else he remained as nasty as usual.
'And the locket itself is quite fine, too!' concluded Harry with a mental sneer. The horcrux was gone, but understandably Dumbledore didn't want to destroy one more relic from Hogwart's founders. Not that the headmaster showed any restraint in telling Kreacher that 'it was done', receiving quite the hug of gratitude from the elf in return. The sweet, grandfatherly smile that he showed during the hug seemed to Harry a new level of hypocrisy but as the Horcrux itself had been eliminated he let it slide.
'Nevermind' thought Harry, opening the door to the living room. 'Let's not ruin the day.'
Inside, though, there was only Lupin. "Oh, hello Harry. Welcome, I was waiting for you."
"Hello Remus. Waiting? I hope I was not late or anything" said Harry, sitting down in a chair. "Where are Sirius and the new lady?"
"Not here" said Lupin, smiling at Harry's surprised expression. "I got an sudden message by owl, yesterday night. Sirius had to rush and help at the campsite prepared for the finals."
"Oh" commented Harry, slightly frowning. "So, what's happening now? I don't want to watch the match while he works. He bought us the tickets, it would be rude."
"No need to worry about that" said Lupin, shaking his head. "He should still be free for the match. Just not before."
"I see" murmured Harry, thinking. "So long as we are all together later, it's no big deal. What about his lady friend?"
"No idea. Sirius just told me to pick you up and go to the auror's tent" said Lupin, shrugging. "I think we will still meet her, only later."
"Very well" concluded Harry, standing up. "Then there is no reason to remain here any longer. Are we going now?"
"Sure. Let's go" said Lupin, cheerfully, offering Harry his arm while taking out his wand. Soon after, they had apparated at the main hall of the Ministry of Magic. For Harry, it was quite a shock – he had been in this place daily for years, and going back was the last thing he was expecting.
Still startled, Harry checked out the hall – surprisingly semi desert, considering how normally it was packed full of wizards – before turning towards Lupin. "Did I miss something?"
"More than you think, Harry" countered Remus, amused. "The stadium is under lockdown, people can't simply approach it. Security reason, you know."
"…we are here to fetch a ride" said Harry, after a second of contemplation.
"Absolutely. Sirius asked that cousin of his that is also an auror to come and pick us up" spoke on Lupin. "He mentioned a girl in pink… must be some extra girly auror" he concluded, sniggering a little.
"Yeah, about that…." murmured Harry, better understanding the reference. In the distance he could already spot some pink, and it was not on robes. Smiling lightly, he rose his hand and waived a little – not that anyone would ever need help to identify them, in a empty hall where the only other people were in uniform, or hurriedly walking away to their destination. Soon, someone was hurriedly approaching them.
"There you are" said one woman in her early twenties, head full of pink hair and a face full of stress, as she approached them. "You better be, anyway. I am Tonks, Sirius' cousin. And you must be Lupin and Potter."
"Well, yes?" answered Lupin. "I am Remus, he is Harry. Nice to meet you, Tonks. Are we under arrest?"
"What?" she asked, as the surprise let her lose her frown. "No, no. Sorry, I mean it" she went on, closing her eyes for a second. "But it's madness out there, the statute of secrecy is going down in flames. And now I even have to play babys…." she stopped, as her voice was getting agitated once again. "Sorry. Let's go."
Without saying anything more, she started walking towards one of the hallways; Harry and Remus, after exchanging a glance of understanding, followed her while remaining silent. As they approached a double door for some large office, noises and unintelligible shouts started raising in volume. Tonks, a small grimace on her face, opened it and it was suddenly chaos.
The room was packed full of both wizards and witches. Some of them, those on their feet, appeared to be british aurors – their uniforms a clear enough sign; the majority though seemed to be foreign. Asians, Africans, Arabs and Mediterraneans, and a solid number of blonde guys and gals that could pass for british if only they were not loudly complaining in other languages. Their clothes, too, were as varied as them.
Lupin stopped at the room's entrance, surprised. Tonks, noticing that, stopped too and commented tiredly. "These are the worst offenders from yesterday. The majority get scolded at the stadium and let go with a warning. Whoever thought mixing one hundred thousands wizards from all over the world was a good idea is a complete mo…." she stopped again, as her voice had kept raising in volume, and took a deep breath. "Follow me" she said after a second, and walked on.
Lupin took a second to recover so Harry, with a mean snort, passed him by and kept following Tonks. No one payed them any attention and soon they were in a side office. Inside, there was one older auror peacefully sitting in front of a table covered in random items, the Daily Prophet open in his hands, one cup of coffee close to him.
"Back into the fray, cub?" he asked once he spotted Tonks.
"How much seniority would I need to get your assignment, Charles?" she answered, irritated.
"Enough to realize pink hair are unprofessional, I think" he countered, one eyebrow raised in sarcasm. "Here is a portkey, Dora. And cheer up, once people start pouring into the stadium we can all relax a little."
"Some already relax more than others" she countered, face tense. "And I have overtime until after the game." As the guy shrugged she offered the item, a random towel, to Harry and Remus. "Once you grab this, don't let it go. Don't mess up" she added, staring down at Harry.
"Sure, sure" he said, grabbing it with as much strength as he could. As Remus and Tonks did the same, they were soon going through the pleasures of portkey travel.
"Uff" moaned Harry, a bit disoriented. As usual, the trip had not been pleasant. Taking a second to recover, he started recognizing his surroundings. They were in a small open field, on the border of what seemed a huge encampment of tents. Even if calling them tents was… debatable; they were of all sizes, shapes and colors and both people variedly dressed and various kinds of animals, most clearly not natives from Britain, could be seen everywhere.
"I don't see the stadium" asked Harry to the open air. Tonks turned towards him, annoyed. "We took care of that, it is properly hidden. If only our lovely attendees understood the need for secrecy."
"This is madness, indeed" whispered Lupin, turning his head around like a kid in a toy store, before pointing at a large shape in the distance. "Is that an elephant?"
"Damn right it is!" growled Tonks. "Stay here" she added, and hurriedly walked towards away.
Harry, with a small smile, started following her soon after. Lupin tried to call after him uselessly; after a couple meters Harry could hear him catching up.
"She told us to wait, Harry" complained Lupin, still not trying to stop him.
"I want to enjoy the show, Remus" said Harry. "Look around you. When are we going to see something like this ever again?"
"Never, true" said Lupin, turning his head and staring at a particular tent. A windmill was on its top part, and a watermill was on its side, placed inside a puddle. The wheel was turning, even as the water itself was stagnant.
Eventually, they catched up with Tonks. She was loudly complaining to a dark skinned man, as what Harry assumed were his wife and children kept playing with the animals or preparing food. The lack of care the rest of the family showed to Tonks seemed to be getting to her as she kept waving at them too, only to get bemused looks in return.
"I wonder what they are saying" said Lupin, getting closer to the elephant.
"It's French" commented Harry. "She is asking how they even managed to carry it here, and he said they used Reducio on it and placed it in their pockets."
"Smart" said Lupin, while patting the elephant on its side – him, and a lot of children from nearby tents. Harry smiled at the show, but otherwise didn't move and kept admiring the campsite.
Eventually, the African wizard took out his wand and waved towards the animal, reducing it almost to the size of a Quaffle; his wife picked it up and moved it inside a wide pot, next to the entrance of their tent. The groan of disappointment from the children could be easily heard, and Lupin too had quite the unhappy expression on his face.
"Bloody foreigners" grumbled Tonks, catching up with Harry. "It's normal to have them as pets where I live. It's not normal!"
"At least you can tell they feel welcomed, as if they were at home" commented lightly Harry, as Tonks glared down at him. "So, are we going?"
"If nothing else happens" answered Tonks, while nodding to Lupin that had joined them once again. "Let's go."
And so they went, crossing through the camp. Here and there Tonks, without stopping, had to scream warnings and scold various wizards and witches, pointing at her Auror badge whenever they didn't listen to her complaints. Which was most of the time.
"I wonder how comes that magic turns so many of us into weirdos" commented Harry while giving a sideway glance to a man dressed in a wide, flowery muggle night robe.
"Isolation and independence" said immediately Lupin, while caressing his worn but still prim and proper tie. "When you live mostly alone, you either let yourself go or you make an effort to conform."
"I guess you chose the latter" said Harry. "Does it help?"
"In feeling normal?" said Lupin. "A little."
"Compared to what I had to deal through lately you could be the most normal guy around, buddy" said Tonks, turning her head towards Lupin. "And I'll say that even with you being friends with my cousin."
"Sirius is getting boring too, you know?" quipped Harry. "He is even settling down with some fancy lady or something."
"Yep, my mom went on at length on that" said Tonks, smiling for the first time since their meeting started. Her smile didn't last. "Said that if even him could find someone, there is still hope for me."
"Typical mom comment" said Harry, nonplussed. "You mean you never had a boyfriend? Hard to believe that" added Lupin.
"I'll take that as a compliment" said Tonks, giving him a warm smile. "And I had a couple dates, in school. None with someone my mom liked, that's the point."
"Aaahhh" said Lupin, nodding in understanding. "Well, people change fast after Hogwarts. Maybe it's for the best if you wait until you are older to find someone."
"Did you say the same to my parents, too?" asked Harry, scoffing a little in sarcasm.
"Nope" denied Lupin, proudly. "In fact, during their wedding day, I went on at large on how lucky they were to have already found their special someone."
"Smooth" commented Tonks. "Too smooth, even. I hope you are not one of those sleazy guys, under that tie."
"I lack the galleons for that" answered Lupin, shrugging. "I make up for them with my overwhelming personality."
"Yes, I can tell" commented Tonks, almost giggling. Harry, amused, just shook his head. "How much longer?" he asked, as the tents seemed to be getting fewer in number.
"We just arrived, boy" said Tonks, pointing at a large but otherwise quite normal looking tent not much distant from them. "Auror HQ, shiny and prestigious. Sirius is in."
Soon they were inside. It wasn't exactly luxurious: several tables with a lot of parchments spread on them, aurors sitting or standing with various wizards, a couple of what seemed like lost kids in the corner and, behind a fabric flap, some bundles on the ground that looked a lot like people sleeping.
"Dora, welcome back!" said a voice. As they turned, Sirius approached them and gave a heavy slap on Lupin's back. "And welcome, you two. Not a minute too soon, things are getting better now."
"Are they? I just had to scold a wannabe zoo keeper, on the way" complained Tonks, rolling her eyes.
"Idiots will be idiots" said Sirius, unconcerned "but it's only two hours until the gates of the stadium opens. Most families are cleaning up now, or making sure they are ready."
"You should do the same, Padfoot" said Remus, smiling. "Either that, or choose a different perfume. And maybe shave a little."
"Don't you demean my rugged auror style, civilian" countered Sirius, faking outrage. "But I could use a shower, true. We have one in the back, of course, bad as it is."
"Eh, I get to share the one prepared for captain Bones" added Tonks. "Much better than what you proles get."
"Sure you do, Nymphadora" countered Sirius with a sly smirk, drawing an outraged look from her and an amused smile from Lupin.
"Shut up, Sirius" she complained, irritated. "What a lovely name" added Remus, with a saccharine tone, drawing her glare. "And don't you start either, pal" she threatened, as Lupin held his hands head high in mock surrender.
"I am glad you are all having fun" butted in Harry "but what are we supposed to do for the next two hours?"
"Oh, right" said Sirius, scratching his cheek. "Technically I would have been free by now, and we would be going to take Anne, make some introductions and move on to the stadium. Sorry."
"Anne?" whispered Harry to Remus. "His ladyfriend" was the answer in return. Harry nodded, with a small smile of understanding.
"We all had to put in some extra time, kiddo. Why don't you enjoy the camp for the next hour?" suggested Sirius, nodding towards the exit of the tent. "Moony, what about you? We have plenty of things to do, if you stay."
"I don't mind giving a hand" said Remus, shrugging. "What kind of help are we talking about, though?"
"You are a professor, right?" asked Tonks, smirking and pointing at the still scared or crying children in the corner. "You could help me with those. Or take over completely."
"But you were doing such a great job, Dora" commented Sirius, with a fake impressed tone. She just scoffed with irritation in return. "Just because I am a woman doesn't mean I am good with brats. Hadn't it been Bones ordering it…"
"I can help" interrupted Lupin, full of confidence. "In fact, it seems fun enough."
"Great, great. I have to go back to my duties too" added Sirius, as Tonks next to him nodded. "One hour, Harry, no more. Have fun."
"Yes, dad" answered Harry with a roll of his eyes. Sirius' pat on his head didn't help, but he took it in stride. With a wave of the hand, Harry left the tent.
Once outside Harry let his eyes wander around. He still had vague memories from his youth, of course, but nowhere near enough to find the section where most Englishmen decided to settle. Counting on his luck he started walking, aimlessly.
For the first twenty minutes, he saw mostly wizards and witches from everywhere, or a couple random English wizards that he didn't recognize. The sight was still entertaining enough to keep his spirit high. He, quite literally, stopped in front of a tent that was Pagoda shaped and placed next to one in the form of a pyramid, before checking out the respective families. Interestingly, neither of the owners seemed to be Chinese or Egyptian, for what he could tell by sight only. Shaking his head, but entertained inside, Harry moved on.
'They should really do these kind of things more often' he thought, checking out two wizards exchanging decorations for their camps. 'This is how you separate us from muggles, not with laws'. And indeed, the campsite – where, with the aurors' undeniable desperation, every attempt to hide magic was now threadbare – had its own style already, one that couldn't be realized with magic.
Colors, lights, the very way people interacted…. Harry, a wide smile all the way, just kept touring the place.
Soon, he met the first familiar face: Zacharias, and his parents. Their tent was hardly that, but a full blown undersize wooden replica of an English manor, including two mini-oaks acting as columns for their fence and gate.
Invited inside Harry found himself in a fancy living room where Zach's mother – much more pleasant than her at times snarky son – offered him some tea and cookies. He exchanged a couple more words with Zach and his quite similar looking and a bit haughty father on who they thought would win the match.
Both Smiths, apparently, were quite interested in quidditch and they were definitely looking forward to the coming match. "Especially that young Bulgarian sensation, Viktor Krum. He must be really talented to be selected at his age. Or a publicity stunt" commented Zach's dad, with an ironic smile. Zach, on his side, added that even a publicity stunt might be able to defeat a team as bad as Ireland, while Harry – a small smile on his face while ignoring them both – thanked Mrs. Smith for the tea and asked her for directions.
Once out – "Maybe we will see each other at the match, too" said Zach – he followed the directions Mrs. Smith gave him to reach a section of the campsite clearly taken over by british families.
In there he started recognizing people left and right, and stopped to address a couple of them. He received also several passing greetings from many former year mates from Hogwarts and their families…. and several mute stares from some wizards and witches he didn't recognize on the spot, only to identify as parents of his former Slytherin year mates.
The first of those glances, he assumed it was his old and never completely dead reputation as boy-who-lived, but as it kept repeating again and again the similarity started to make him nervous. Once he noticed Nott, his Theodore Nott from now 4th year, staring at him together with his father (or grandfather, if he were to judge from his face) Harry was seriously tempted to chat him up and ask for some explanation.
He never managed to, though, as a pat on his shoulder stopped him on his tracks. Turning around, what was left of his good mood disappeared. "Hello, Harry" said the red head in front of him.
"Percy" answered Harry, surprised, before thinking how obvious, of course, it was that the Weasleys came to the finals, just like in his youth. "I…. you seem well."
"I am. Thank you" said Percy, remaining silent for a couple seconds, before shaking his head. "Are you here for the finals? I mean, of course you are."
"With my godfather, yes. It should be fun."
"It should. I am here with my parents. Everyone, actually" said Percy, again turning silent. Harry looked at him with a small grimace on his face.
"I wish I could ask you to say hello from me, but I might have had a disagreement with your father some time ago" commented Harry.
"Yes, I know about that. Dad isn't angry anymore, I think. Not really, anyway" said Percy, nodding lightly.
"Good to know. So…." said Harry, with some hesitation.
"So. I wanted to say this for a while. Thank you, sort of. For what you did" said Percy, now looking down at his feet.
"You are welcome" answered Harry, now embarassed himself. "I wish I made less of a mess of things, though. I still feel guilty about your sister". Percy snorted.
"Maybe you should, for that. Poor Ginny" said Percy, rising again his eyes to meet those of Harry, a small frown on his face. "She had nightmares for weeks after that, and now she refuses to even hint at that afternoon."
At this, Harry scoffed harshly. "Yes, I do feel guilty. I would say sorry in person, but it doesn't seem like a good idea."
"No, it's not. Not yet" added Percy, before shrugging. "This was all, really. I wanted to thank you because, no matter what, I still think you saved our lives. If Ginny died because of me, I..."
"It's ok" said Harry, quickly. "You are welcome. And I hope both you and Ginny will move beyond what happened, one day."
"She is really tough, for her age" said Percy, taking one step back, but with a hopeful smile on his face. "So don't worry too much. Just let her deal with everything at her own pace."
"Oh, I am not planning to bother any member of your family any more" said Harry, sighing. "All of you, feel all free to ignore me should we meet again during the game."
"Will do. I make no promises for Fred and George, though. Goodbye, Potter" said Percy, nodding at him and turning around without waiting for an answer.
"Goodbye, Weasley" said Harry in a low enough tone that he wasn't sure Percy could hear. Either way he didn't turn so Harry, now a bit depressed, started walking back towards the aurors' tent. He could tell, from the way people were behaving, that the gates of the stadium would soon open.
