Harry potter and the Time of Retirement
Everything related to Harry Potter belongs to JKR
Chapter 65 – Year 3
"Things are getting rowdier" commented Lupin, who was leading their small group, after a guy covered in Irish green had slapped his back hard and screamed in his ear something close to "Go Ireland!"
"Let the fans be" said Harry, smiling but not stopping. "This could be their happiest moment of the year."
"Poor Sirius" commented Anne, shaking her head. "He has a long night ahead of him."
"I wouldn't worry too much" said Lupin. "In fact, knowing him, he might be enjoying some of this."
"True that" added Harry. "He was complaining on how being an auror wasn't as exciting as he thought, after all. He won't be complaining tomorrow."
"Boys will be boys, then?" asked Anne to both of them, one eyebrow raised in light sarcasm. Lupin snorted and walked on, as both tents and shouts around them started to get thinner and thinner.
"Plenty of women in there, too" spoke on Lupin, a small smile on his lips. "Including Sirius' niece. I wonder if she is still working."
"She is" said Harry. "Overtime and all that. Wasn't she talking about it?"
"She was" said Lupin. "Oh, no doubts she can take it. She seemed quite competent."
"I am not sure about her pink hair" commented Anne, grimacing a little. "But she is young, maybe it is just a phase."
"Nothing wrong with pink hair" said Lupin, shrugging. "It suited her."
"Sure did" commented Harry, smiling condescendingly with the benefits of hindsight. 'Of course, this time around nothing might happen' he mentally concluded after a second. For what he could gather about those two, they became friends and more in service of the Order of the Phoenix.
"We are quite far away, Remus" said Anne, turning around and checking their surroundings. In truth, no lights were visible anymore; only some cheers and shouts still reached them from the campsite.
"I have been told to follow this direction until a particularly tall and marked tree" countered Lupin. "Let's walk on just a little more."
"Give me a sec" said Harry, taking out his wand and casting Lumos, only to be copied by the rest of the group. "Did you hear something?" asked Lupin, suddenly, a frown in his face.
"Like what?" asked Anne. "No, anyway."
"I thought I heard some rustle" said Lupin. "Might be some critters, Remus. We are still in the woods" commented Harry, yawning.
"Let's just move on" said Anne. "I am really sleepy now."
At this they restarted walking, but less than a dozen steps away they stopped again and turned – someone had just called out to them, in unintelligible words.
"Is that an african wizards?" asked Lupin, puzzled.
"He seems black enough" quipped Harry. "This time he is not speaking French, though."
"He might be drunk" added Anne as the man, dressed in a colorful robe, was approaching them. And in truth his eyes were a little glassy, and his walk uncertain.
"Sir, may I help you?" asked Lupin, stepping onward, as he had almost reached them, mumbling things all the way. The man didn't even look at him, as he tried to sidestep Lupin and move on to Anne and Harry.
"Sir, please don't ignore me" stated Lupin with an awkward smile, grabbing his arm with his free hand. The man struggled a little, weakly, while Harry and Anne watched on in amusement. As the man's eyes crossed Harry's, though, his smile disappeared instantly.
At the same time, from the trees in the darkness somewhere in the woods, a red light came and struck Lupin turning him unconscious, his wand falling to the ground. As he fell the man stumbled on once again, aiming directly for Harry and Anne – before rushing ahead with one big jump.
"The hell" murmured Harry, wand already on guard and stepping backwards exactly as the man tried to hug them. Anne, though, had not been as wary and got instantly enveloped by the guy, before they both disappeared in thin air.
Alarmed, Harry still cast a quick Protego around himself and not a second too soon as another red light crashed against it immediately after and, much worse, it came from a different direction altogether than the one from where the curse aimed at Lupin came from. Throwing himself on the ground, turning "off" the Lumos from his wand tip and casting as many disillusionment charms as he could, Harry crawled behind a nearby bush and waited.
He thought he could hear some sounds in the distance, but soon only silence surrounded him. Frowning, and suspecting some foul play, Harry cast Revelio but once again nothing happened. He was truly alone: whoever attacked them might have fled already.
Still suspicious, Harry cast Vermillious letting a jet of red lights spread into the sky; instantly, he also crawled away to another nearby bush but, once again, nothing happened. No spells hit his original cover, no one reached them. After a couple minutes, still wary but less tense, Harry finally stood up and cast Lumos again.
Nothing happened. Not letting his Protego dissipate away, he walked to the immobile body of Lupin. A quick check confirmed that the red light was a harmless Stupefy, and a Ennervate later Remus was already aware, cradling his head in confusion.
"What happened?" he asked, painfully.
"Someone stun you, and that drunk guy kidnapped Anne" said Harry, eyes constantly looking around at the dark woods surrounding them.
"Kidnapped?" asked again Lupin, surprised.
"Pretty much. They disappeared the second that guy reached us, well, her. I think I heard him say something, might have been a portkey" answered Harry.
"….why?" said Lupin, almost to no one, as he stood up. Noticing his wand, he picked it up.
"No idea" said Harry. "We should really go back to the campsite, Remus. It's not safe, here."
"But Anne!" he complained, worry clear in his voice. "Oh, Sirius is going to kill me."
"Not you" said Harry, shrugging "but he might kill the authors of this prank."
"You think this is a prank? Maybe a drunken one?" asked Lupin, almost hopeful.
"No" said Harry, simply. "This was elaborate. Someone wanted her. Or me."
At the last comment, one that Harry had almost murmured, Remus sent him a sideways glance but choose not to say anything. In silence, tense and checking nervously every little noise around them, they walked back towards the campsite.
They were soon back among the crowd, who had kept celebrating without a thought. Drunk people of all ages and nationality – though this time the number of British and Irish people was clearly much higher – were wandering around, in clear joy.
Uncaring, Harry and Lupin walked on until they reached once again the big tent of the aurors. With only a second of hesitation, they walked in.
What followed was, most definitely, not a fun end of the night. Neither Sirius nor Tonks were present and they had some difficulties just getting the attention of a tired, sleepy and stressed out old auror. Only after long explanations the wizard finally understood that it was not another drunken fight or joke but a real problem, and even then he was unable to provide on the spot any kind of assistance.
Ordering them to stay in one corner and wait, he left for who knows where. Harry and Remus remained standing, brooding in their own silence, while the world kept exploding around them with noises, celebrations, and drunk wizards and witches being carried in and out of the tent.
It was almost a full hour later until the old auror returned. With a grim expression he ordered them to follow him and so they did, all the way outside of the tent first and the campsite later. Things were, at least, calming down and most of the tents were dark and silent. Only some hardcore fans were still stumbling around, bottles in hand, but even they were no longer shouting and were only chilling around alone or with friends.
Not long after, once they reached an open area, the old auror stopped and offered Harry and Remus an item to keep on. One portkey trip later they were back into the deserted hall of the Ministry of Magic. Without stopping for more than a couple seconds he resumed walking, leading the three of them deeper inside the building.
"This is getting too long" complained Lupin, on the way. "How long until we can meet Sirius and start searching?"
"No idea" said Harry, grumpily. "Beside, we have to meet Bones first. Standard procedure."
At this the auror's head turned around, giving an inquisitive glance at Harry, but he didn't stop.
"How do you… did Sirius tell you that?" asked Lupin, surprised.
"Something like that" commented Harry. "Hard crimes are rare, of course they get pushed onto the department head."
An elevator ride and a short walk afterwards they were knocking on a set of impressive wooden doors. On their side, Harry could read the name of the occupant: A. Bones, Director.
"Here they are, madam" said the old auror, opening the door but not stepping inside himself.
"Yes Gregory, thank you. Go back to the stadium" said Bones, while still reading some parchment. Raising her eyes and looking at Remus and Harry, she kept talking. "You two, step in and sit down."
They did so, silently. The room was barely lit by a couple of lanterns as the windows, even if they were probably deep underground, only showed a random nocturnal panorama, with no moons and barely some stars.
"Of all the moments to create problems, this is the worse" started Bones, almost growling. "All of my aurors are already busy, or recovering from their overtime."
"You might be having it bad, but we are not enjoying this either" countered Lupin, irritated. "One of our friends might be in great danger right now, so forgive us if we expect you to do your job."
The two exchanged a glare, before the director's eyes moved to Harry. "A kidnapping, and the culprit was aiming for a relatively average lady with no enemies known…. and you. What are the chances she truly was the target?"
"Low" admitted Harry "but not zero."
Bones scoffed. "I have been told she is linked to Black. Maybe someone wanted to get revenge on him, but that too is unlikely. I'll check with him, later."
"Did you warn him about what has happened?" asked Lupin, suspicious.
"Yes" answered Bones. "He is already combing the woods through, in search of leftover clues at the event scene. You are here" she continued, standing up and moving to a nearby cabinet "to give me more insight. Care to share your memories of what happened tonight?" she asked, turning around and showing the two of them a pensieve.
Harry shrugged, while Lupin nodded. They both took out their wands, providing their memories. Bones examined Lupin's first, but reemerged from the pensieve soon after. "You got knocked out quite quickly" she commented with a tip of sarcasm, making Lupin glare at her once again.
"Let's see your side of things now, Potter" she stated, before activating the pensieve once again. This time, she remained inside far longer, much more than Harry knew his memory lasted. When she reemerged once again, she sent him a weird stare before falling deep in thought.
"You managed the situation quite well" she finally murmured, hands folded in front of her face "but the situation remains mysterious. At least we have a general idea of who attacked you."
"You do?" asked Lupin, surprised. Bones nodded.
"Here" she says, tapping a pile of folders on her table "we have a list of those reported missing during the last twenty four hours. Most have been found already, drunk and laying in some corner of the campsite. But one man remains at large, and his description matches the wizard I saw in both your memories."
"Who is he?" asks Lupin.
"Some nobody" answers Bones, shrugging. "A perfectly normal wizard from Congo or wherever, here with friends for the finals. He disappeared before the match started, apparently, but no one thought much of it. His friends got worried only late tonight, and even then they thought he might have found some woman and ditched them for her, only to spend the night in her bed."
"Why would such a guy attack us, then?" asked Lupin, exasperated. Bones doesn't answer, turning her stare to Harry once again. "You took your wand out before anything even started, Potter" she says, her tone flat. "Care to explain why?"
Harry stare back at her, then scoff dismissively. "His eyes, they were muddled. He was not drunk, he was under control."
Bones nods, a grim smile on her face. "Been a while since I saw someone under Imperio, but the signs were clear."
Lupin look at her, then at Harry. "If you say so" he adds, frowning. "But this also mean that guy is innocent, sort of. Who was behind him?"
"That's the question" says Bones, quietly. "What worries me more is, this was well planned. Someone, at least two people, managed to put someone under Imperio and steal one of the approved portkeys from my team."
"Modifying it, too" added Harry. "I doubt they wanted to send me, or miss Anne, to a pre approved place."
"Yes, undoubtedly" agreed Bones. "This must have been planned largely in advance, and probably by more than two guys. It was hardly a joke."
"Interesting as all this can be, what about her?" says Lupin, clearly making an effort not to shout, as he pushed his face towards Bones. She looked at him with understanding.
"Hopefully, she will be let go" she answered, before sending a stare at Harry. "If we still assume she was not the real target, of course."
"Unless she was lucky enough to see someone's face" added Harry. "And even then, provided they are not bloodthirsty or stupid, they would just Obliviate her."
"Stop acting like this is all normal, Harry" complained Remus, somehow bothered by how the conversation was progressing. Harry shrugged, and added nothing. Bones shrug, too. "You do seem weirdly at ease with the situation, Potter. But I am not surprised, not with what Dumbledore said about you."
"Hardly the time for that, director" countered Harry, shaking his head. The old woman smiled, grimly. "Indeed. Recovering the victim is priority number one, now, but how to do that is a problem. Unless you two have some ideas where she might be."
"How could we?" says Lupin, as Harry shakes his head, next to him. "No idea. At best…" he hesitates, before going on. "If they do give her back, it could be in several ways but the two most obvious are with the same portkey they already used, or dumping her at St. Mungo. And in both cases…"
"Yes, good thinking" said Bones, nodding in appreciation. "The wards around the stadium can still warn me if a portkey arrives outside of normal time slots, and I can send some of my men to the hospitals. At the former, especially, we could nab one of the culprits."
"And what if they don't give her back?" asks Lupin, uncertain. Bones didn't answer, her face expressionless. Remus' shoulders drop at the sight, and he closes his eyes.
"Mister Lupin, I suggest you go to sleep now. There is nothing else you can help me with. Mister Potter" continues Bones, now looking at Harry "It is possible you are in danger. I strongly advise against going back to your home, tonight. You could stay here, you would be safer."
"Hardly" says Harry. "There are also chances one of your aurors was involved, right?"
Bones frowns at this, but says nothing. Her expression seems to suggest, in fact, that she agreed once again. Meanwhile, Lupin stood up. "Let's go back to Grimmauld's place, Harry. We should talk with Sirius anyway, once he is free. And we can wait there for news about Anne."
"I guess" says Harry standing up himself. Bones looks up without trying to stop them. "Very well" she conceded, eventually. "I will warn him about that, too. Try to get some sleep, and stay indoor."
"Good night, Director" concluded Lupin placing a hand on Harry's shoulder and gently pushing him towards the doors. As Harry nod in goodbye and walk away, he doesn't miss the inquisitive stare that Bones sent towards him. Nonplussed, he moved on.
Back in Grimmauld's place there was not much for them to do. Lupin decided to stay up, waiting for Sirius to be back, and after making him promise to be awaken once Sirius arrived Harry went to bed. He hesitated a second in front of Sirius's own room, before moving on to what he assumed was Regulus's place.
The room, unsurprisingly, was much cleaner then the rest of the house. With a dismissive mental grunt towards the local house elf, Harry wasted no time examining the books and knickknacks still littering the shelves and, after undressing to a mere shirt and underwear, he climbed into the bed.
He woke up naturally, some time later. He felt good, which was surprising considering how late he went to bed… until he opened the windows and noticed how the sun was already on its downward arc. It must have been late afternoon. With a grimace, he slowly dressed up and walked to the living room… only to freeze for a second, confused, when he saw Lupin calmly sitting at the table, reading the Prophet.
"Oh" almost murmured Harry. "Hello."
"Hi Harry" said Remus, distractedly, before looking at him. "You seem surprised. Something happened?"
"No, my bad" said Harry. "It's so late and no one woke me up. I was pretty sure you all just left me here."
"To be honest" started Lupin, a small smirk on his lips "we did, sort of. Sirius passed by already, he updated me on what happened. They found Anne, Harry."
"That's good… I hope. Is she ok?" asked Harry, sitting down. On the table there was a pitcher with juice and some cookies, and Harry began to munch on a couple of those.
"Sirius wasn't sure, not completely. She seemed fine, no injuries or even signs of any fight on her clothes. But she was confused, she had no idea where she was."
"Obliviated?" asked Harry, frowning.
"Maybe. The aurors took her to St. Mungo, and that is where Sirius is now" answered Lupin.
"Should we go there too, and visit her?" asked again Harry.
"Not today" said Lupin, shaking his head. "Sirius was strict on that. Bones grilled him, they really want you to stay indoor until they know what happened and why."
"Is that why you let me sleep?" asked Harry, scoffing. "Nevermind. Good luck with discovering something if Anne remembers nothing" commented Harry, dismissively. "Unless they can extract some clues from that other victim, the African guy. Did they find him too, by the way?"
"Yeah, right. Him too, together with Anne. Uninjured and confused, but alive" said Lupin, nodding.
"Good. So, what now? Do we just wait here?" asked Harry.
"Pretty much. Either tonight or tomorrow morning we should receive a visit from Sirius and his boss, and then we'll see" said Remus.
"Oh, joy" commented Harry, rolling his eyes. "What a way to end the finals. And it was quite fun night, too."
"Right" said Lupin, now smiling. "You are rich now, by the way. What are you going to buy with your new gold?"
"Nothing" answered Harry. "If I really wanted anything I would have bought it already, my parents weren't exactly poor."
"Lucky you" commented Lupin, dryly. Harry looked at him for a second, without emotions on his face, before sighing a little.
"I am not going to say I am sorry I have some money, Remus" said Harry. "It was all honestly earned, during generations."
"No, I am sorry, Harry" said Lupin, immediately. "It was shameful to even point it out, and with you of all people. But I always have been sensitive over money. Both Sirius and your dad have always been… prosperous, let's say."
"And I imagine they had no problem in showing it off" said Harry. "Everyone agree that my dad might have been a tiny bit arrogant, back in his days."
"More than a bit, to be honest" said Lupin, smiling fondly. "All of us were, actually, except Peter. He was more the shy type."
"Have you thought about visiting him? "asked Harry, evenly. "Sirius will never forgive him, and for good reasons. But maybe you could talk with him a little, get some explanations."
"I don't know" mused Lupin, deep in thought. "On one side I want to, of course. For me, Peter is one of my fondest friends from school. On the other…."
"It's awkward, I imagine" added Harry.
"Definitely" said Lupin. "What am I going to ask, why did he betray us and kill James? Frame Sirius? Oh, and I don't think Sirius would be happy if I visited him."
"True, he is the kind of guy that would take that personally" said Harry, amused. "Hell, even worse. Why did you visit him and not me, or something like that."
"I fear you might be correct" said Lupin, grimacing. "And that is not one conversation I want to have."
"It's up to you" said Harry. "Beside, I think I have an idea of what happened. A mix of fear from all the threats he must have received, and greed. He probably had some inferiority to all of you."
"Peter…." murmured Lupin, before shaking his head. "He participated in our pranks, but he had never really shown any mean side. I refuse to believe he wanted to hurt any of us, or that he did it for money."
"So, the threats" commented Harry.
"Maybe" continued Lupin "but even that doesn't convince me. All he had to do was to ask our help, we would have helped him. Escorted him out of England, if necessary. Better that, than betray us."
"For me, he is just a rat now" said Harry "but I think my father would like to know. Not to forgive him" added Harry, as Remus was watching him with curiosity. "That is impossible. Maybe…. Just in case there was some serious reason that made him do that, something important that started what would be him and mom's death."
"Would it make any difference?" asked Lupin, uncertain.
"If one of your friends betrays you for fear, or money… that's just sad" concluded Harry, sadly. "If he was forced, really forced or blackmailed, at least I would understand. My dad, I mean."
"Mmhhh…" mumbled Lupin, not looking at Harry anymore. "I can understand the desire. But, honestly, I fear I would just hear he was scared, or greedy. And that would break my heart, a little."
Neither of them added any word after this, and so they sat down and waited. Between the prophet – a special edition commenting on the finals and the success of the event, with not even a word about Anne – and the tray of tea and cookies, hours passed. At dinner time they proposed, without any enthusiasm, to eat but even without any real food for the whole day neither of them truly felt like it.
It wasn't long until they both went to bed. The mood, in the house, matched the dark sky outside. Harry, not really feeling sleepy, remained awake long into the night, thinking of who exactly might have been behind all that, and probably – oh so very probably – after him.
