Harry potter and the Time of Retirement
Everything related to Harry Potter belongs to JKR
Chapter 40 – Year 2
"It's quite cold" said Hannah, shivering inside her coat.
"it's Scotland, it's winter…." commented Susan.
"And you are witches. You know, the warming charm?" said Zach, casually.
In front of them, the quidditch stadium was almost vibrating with the excitement of the day. While there were flags representing all of the houses, the predominant colors were clearly those of Hufflepuff and Ravenclaw. 2nd year Hufflepuffs were sitting down, none absent, in their house's section of the bleachers and a loud mix of shouts, chatter and occasional songs could be heard coming from everywhere around them.
"So, this is Ravenclaw's turn" said Ernie, sitting down.
"A tough nut to crack, but we have our chances" commented Megan, while fixing her own yellow-black scarf.
That started a discussion between some of them, on how likely it was for the team to win. The debate was somber: Hufflepuff had already lost against Gryffindor and Slytherin, while Ravenclaw played well against the latter and won against the former. Chances seemed low.
"Whatever" said Wayne to Harry, the two of them sitting on the border of their group. "I miss our own games, not this. We haven't played in a while."
"What can I say" answered Harry "Those that were fan of quidditch are all training with madame Hooch to get into the teams."
After a short pause of silence, he continued. "It's not like we couldn't organize something ourselves, right? There are more than enough players left, in our year."
"I think Weasley tried to" said Wayne, sadly "but everyone was dragging his feet. They want to, just…. not enough."
"Yes, I heard about that" added Harry, amused. "The Slytherins told him no… well, among other things. Maybe if us or the Ravenclaws tried to organize it, it would work better."
"Maybe" continued Wayne. "I might even do that myself. I can't go on just doing homeworks every day."
With a sly smirk towards Harry, he continued. "That is not your problem though, am I right?"
"I might get bored more easily than you" was Harry's answer. "Let's see now if this match will be enough to entertain us".
And in truth, as they were chatting, the two teams had flied inside the field, greeted by the cheers of the public. Looking around himself, Harry could see some envious looks aimed at the players coming from some of his classmates.
"One day I'll be there" said Megan, frowning; Susan, close to her, was nodding along. Meanwhile Harry could see Justin and Zacharias whispering among themselves about tactics and training.
With a relaxed smile, Harry leaned into his seat and put out his wand. 'Warming charms indeed' he thought, casting Focillo on himself and, after a second of consideration, on Wayne next to him who thanked him with a smile and a nod. At the same time, the match began.
As usual, the players were very good…. for school children. Hufflepuff started with a small lead of two goals, and that got Harry's section of the stands as enthusiastic as they could be. Cheers and songs could be heard, especially from the older students, and Lee Jordan's commentary was already hinting at wrong predictions and comebacks.
Unfortunately, it didn't last: slowly but surely Ravenclaw managed to even the score, and then to get its own lead – two consecutive goals here, three there, eventually they were 60 points ahead.
"Not good" said Wayne to Harry, even though his eyes were stuck on the field. "This is what you were saying last time, right? We need the snitch to win, but if we protect Diggory too much we will fall behind even more."
"Yeah" said Harry "and I think Ravenclaw is aware our seeker is our best bet, because check what they are doing."
Wayne looked up, and he could see Ravenclaw's seeker circling around Diggory, or trying to stand in front of him. "I can't see the point, though. Just slowing him before he spot the snitch is useless, NO!"
The last shout was a reaction to a bludger well aimed at Diggory whom, his path obstructed by the opposite seeker, had been forced to turn dangerously by the side, almost losing control of his broom.
"Yep" said Harry "that was the point. Even an irregular bludger here and there will force him to be constantly on guard. I guess Ravenclaw has decided they will try to win by a point lead."
"Our chasers can't be that bad, though" said Wayne, irritated. "Can't they manage to score more with one less beater after them?"
At that moment, the stadium erupted with shouts at one more goal by Ravenclaw, second in a row. At this, Wayne just raise his hands in the air, helplessly. "Ow, man…."
The game went on, and Ravenclaw's lead only grow bigger. Eventually, Diggory must have got impatient as he started to move quickly in a circle high in the air above the stadium.
"You won't get him there, damn 'claws" screamed Justin.
"Will it help?" asked Wayne to Harry.
"He is harder to hit now" commented Harry, shaking his head "but he is also more distant from where the snitch could be, and it gets harder to see if you go too high."
"Also, we can't expect their seeker to simply wait, now that Diggory is away" said Ernie, and indeed Ravenclaw's seeker had given up on chasing Diggory and was immobile above the players, quite busy watching everywhere for a glint of gold.
When Ravenclaw's lead was at 130 points, their seeker started moving, slowly.
"Could it be…..?" asked Wayne, uncertain. Diggory must have noticed too as he flew down from up high, moving in the same general direction of Ravenclaw's seeker whom, noticing him, speeded up considerably.
It soon became a head-to-head race between the two seekers – except that now both of Ravenclaw's beaters had started following them, and were busy throwing as many bludgers as they could towards Diggory. He managed to avoid two, but the third made him sway aside enough to lose the lead.
"Is this Ravenclaw's hour?" asked Jordan's voice to the stadium, as a noticeable groan of disappointment came from the Hufflepuffs. Meanwhile, black and blue-robed students cheered their team on.
Ravenclaw's seeker got closer and closer to the snitch, but as he passed by the group of Hufflepuff's chasers one of them threw the quaffle right in his face, stopping him instantly. Ravenclaw's section of the bleachers erupted in outrage, while Harry's classmates all had big grins on their faces.
"Foul! Foul!" screamed Lee Jordan.
"They'll get a free shot though" said Susan, but Megan countered immediately.
"Let them have it. We managed to score three times while they were busy, totally worth it."
Madame Hooch, the referee, had obviously not appreciated the act and took a solid 3 minutes berating first the guilty player and then the whole team; still, after a quick goal scored by Ravenclaw against the lone Hufflepuff keeper, the match restarted.
Everything was a lot less friendly after that, with the chasers pushing each other way more to gain control of the quaffle and the beaters being more vicious than ever. Ravenclaw's lead in points started growing again but right after they finally managed to be 150 points on top, Diggory began another descent down on the field.
Immediately, Ravenclaw's beaters started aiming at him again but this time Hufflepuff's own placed themselves in their way to protect him. Meanwhile, in the field, the chasers started a final struggle for the quaffle, with Hufflepuff in attack.
"Come on come on COME ON GUYS!" screamed Megan, with cheers and screams reaching a deafening volume. Everyone in the stadium, even some professors, were on their feet watching the new race between the seekers, as bludgers flied back and forth between the beaters and the chasers were all but fighting for the quaffle.
The two seekers were pushing each other side-to-side, until Diggory managed to slip on top of Ravenclaw's, having him stumble away and gaining a small lead. Five seconds later he rose high in the sky, hand raised in thriumph with the snitch inside it and most students under him exploded in celebrations.
"YES!" shouted Wayne in Harry's face, shaking him madly, while Hufflepuff's students of all years went crazy. Some girls were hugging each other, some of the boys with their arms up in the air or screaming like madmen. Harry, sedately, gave a look at the scoreboard and sat down, shrugging.
"Harry, it's time to celebrate! Sure, it's a tie, but…. what is the problem?" asked Wayne, following Harry's finger busy tapping in the air towards Lee Jordan. Meanwhile, Hufflepuff's cheers were quickly disappearing.
"Oh, no!" said Sallie.
"This can't be true" complained Zacharias while Justin simply looked on, an incredulous expression on his face.
Almost together with Diggory's final run, Ravenclaw's chasers had managed to steal the quaffle and score one final goal. The stadium remained silent for a second, then Lee Jordan erupted on air. "Ravenclaw wins! An incredible last second goal!"
The stadium, once again, exploded with shouts – only, this time, they came from Ravenclaw's students and were soon followed by polite claps and cheers from the rest of the school. Only in Hufflepuff's section of the stands everyone seemed frozen with disappointment. Eventually, slowly, Harry started clapping. "Well played, I guess. Nice match".
It took a while for everyone in their section, happy and mostly unhappy, to calm down. Slowly, students started leaving the stadium and heading back to the castle. On their way the group meet a sad looking professor Sprout. While she was busy talking with some older students, once she saw their group she stepped into their way.
"Good morning, professor Sprout" said politely Susan.
"Bad morning" added Justin morosely.
"Good morning, kids. Don't look so desperate, please, it's not the end of the world."
"One couldn't tell, from their faces" said Harry, smiling bitterly.
"Oh. Mister Potter" said professor Sprout, turning towards him. "Maybe you should be worried, after all. The headmaster wants to see you, mister Potter. Come with me."
Their walk to the headmaster's office was mostly silent, despite some initial attempt by Harry to talk about the recent match. Professor Sprout simply shook her head, and said that she genuinely thought their house would win this time, and "how was she going to face the other professors, with three losses in a row".
She perked up a little when the name of Diggory came up – both as a student and as a player, he was clearly high in the professor's opinion – but by then they had arrived in front of the gargoyle statues that blocked the entrance to Dumbledore's rooms. "Red mints" said professor Sprout, and soon after they were knocking at the headmaster's door.
"Come in"
"Pomona, Harry, welcome. Please sit down. I hope we will have a pleasant chat."
"Thank you, headmaster. Harry, you sit there" said professor Sprout. She exchanged a couple stares with Dumbledore and, eventually, she stood straight on her chair and turned towards Harry.
"Now, Harry, normally I take care of my 'puffs by myself. But, after sharing what happened lately with the headmaster, we thought more appropriate to talk to you here, the two of us."
"Exactly. All of our students get in troubles here and there, it's even expected" started the headmaster, giovially. "So, when there is serious misbehaving we tend to wonder why otherwise good kids decided to act that way. Do you have any idea what I am referring to, Harry?"
For a second, the tentation to truly play the part of the petulant boy was there – only for a second. Harry sighed, and said "I am aware I broke some school rules, headmaster."
"That's putting it lightly!" said professor Sprout, a bit more agitated. "Lately you have been…." She continued, only to stop when the headmaster stared at her wordlessly. When she returned silent, the headmaster smiled and spoke.
"We didn't call you here for accusations, Harry. You will receive the appropriate punishments, but I am more interested in knowing why an usually quiet student decided to… almost flaunt publicly how little he cares about his school, his house and his studies."
With silence in the room, Harry assumed it was expected for him to speak now. A small, bitter smile on his face, he started "Just to be sure, this is about homeworks, Snape and Hagrid?"
"Professor Snape, Harry" corrected professor Sprout, while the headmaster nodded.
"Very well. I felt like getting out of the castle, I have been lazy with homeworks but I am still vastly ahead, and professor Snape" commented Harry with a clear expression of disdain on his face "is a miserable excuse for a teacher."
"Mr. Potter!" said immediately professor Sprout "How dare you speak like that? And in front of the headmaster!"
Dumbledore remained silent for a second, only to address him without his usual smile. "Harry, let me tell you something. Professor Snape is a renowned potion master. Sure, he doesn't shine when dealing with our younger students, but no one could teach the subject to our advanced classes better than him . Considering how hard it is to even find a potion master willing to teach children, Hogwarts is very lucky to have him." At this he paused, almost as to challenge Harry to say anything. Once it was clear Harry wouldn't, he continued.
"This should not be needed. He is your professor, you will address him appropriately or suffer serious consequences. But I think you will benefit from knowing that, as a man and as a teacher, Severus Snape is worthy of respect."
"Let me stress the part about serious consequences, Harry. I am horrified at what you said" added professor Sprout, vehemently.
"If I may" started Harry, only to receive a nod from the headmaster "Leaving his personal flaws aside, i have been confirmed that him and my father were sort of sworn enemies. He certainly likes to reference him often enough, in public too. That is inappropriate by itself." Harry paused a second, frowned and continued. "What's worse, I heard that he was a part of the same murderous group that made me an orphan, and yet he insisted on picking on me from day one. No one seems to be horrified by that" he concluded, a scornful look aimed at professor Sprout.
"I see" said the headmaster, almost sadly. "But Harry, your parents wouldn't want you to start a feud with your teachers, no matter what you heard about their past. Nor would they wish for you to be anything less than the best student you can be, here at Hogwarts."
Harry frowned at his tone for a second, before understanding. "Sir, don't assume I am cowering behind my parents' death. I broke the rules because I wanted to, aware of the consequences. Professor Snape is a separate matter."
"That doesn't make it any better, Harry" said professor Sprout.
"It does not, Pomona. It does not" added the headmaster, a grimace on his face. "You will not, ever again, leave the school without permission until you are old enough. Not unless you want to test how resolute I am on this. You will also focus more on your class work, Harry. Ignoring it is a mockery towards your teachers, and to your fellow classmates, no matter how justifiable is your confidence in your skills."
"Probably a lot less than you assume, Harry" added professor Sprout. "You are all learning the basics now, merely what is needed to understand your future lessons."
"As for your punishment" continued the headmaster "I will keep the point deductions you got lately frozen, for now. To avoid you problems within your house. As for your…."
"Frozen doesn't mean cancelled, Harry" said professor Sprout, interrupting the headmaster. "I want to make this clear. If you don't behave, they will be back and you will have to explain the loss to the rest of the house. If you don't value us, we will notice."
Harry gave a silent look to his professor, only to turn again towards Dumbledore, a cold expression on his face. After a second, the headmaster continued.
"Yes, of course. Anyway, we decided to have you work for Hagrid, every evening until we decide you learnt your lesson. I will personally talk to your professors, all of them, about this and the house points. Do not give them more reasons to think you are being treated in a special way."
Harry shrugged. "I see. Is that all, sir?" he asked, standing straight on his chair.
Professor Sprout too, while displeased, seemed ready to stand up herself. The headmaster smiled, though, and spoke again. "Actually, no, Harry. There is one more thing, but it is not school related. Pomona, could you leave us alone?"
"Headmaster?" asked professor Sprout, confused. After a second, she recovered. "Well, yes, if we are done with school matters…."
"We are. Thank you, I'll see you at lunch" said Dumbledore.
"Of course. Later, Albus. Harry, try to behave" said the professor, leaving the room. No one said anything until she closed the door.
"I have seen plenty of rebellious students in my years, Harry" started the headmaster, smiling. "They are usually much older than you, though. Not boys but young men, almost graduated, that find it irksome to live under the same rules applied to much younger kids."
Harry shrugged again. "I am not sure what to add, sir. I said my piece, and listened to yours."
"I think you are being unreasonable, Harry. You need Hogwarts vastly, vastly more than Hogwarts need your cooperation. Think of that" said the headmaster, his smile looking a lot less sincere. "But, as I said, there is more we need to deal with. Something you might appreciate, I believe."
At Harry's silence, he continued. "You have been invited to a Christmas party, at Mr. Malfoy's house, Harry. If you behave, you will be allowed to go instead of being restricted here at school for your holidays, as professor Sprout suggested to me."
After a second of surprise, Harry let a single chuckle escape. "Sir. Are you really offering me, as a prize, a party at Malfoy's? I could even enjoy it, sure, but you offering it…."
"Why, do you find it surprising Harry?" asked the headmaster.
"I heard" answered Harry "that you and Mr. Malfoy are hardly on the best of terms, sir."
"I should really investigate who is sharing with you so much unreliable gossip" said the headmaster, frowning. "Relationships between adults are complicated, and not easy to understand at your age. Any disagreement I might have with Mr. Malfoy does not imply, in any way, that we are in bad terms."
"Of course not, sir" added Harry, evenly. "Well, I'll remember this invite."
"I wasn't done, Harry" continued the headmaster, now focused. "The reason of the invite is welcoming one of Mrs. Malfoy's relatives back into wizarding society. An old friend of your father, and your own godfather which is why you are desired there. A man named Sirius Black."
"Oh" said Harry. "I see."
"Mr. Black's return to us was surprising, to say the least" continued the headmaster. "It followed the capture of another man believed dead for years, a certain Mr. Pettygrew. Are you aware of the name?"
"It sounds familiar, but I can't recall why, sir" answered Harry.
"Oh, he was another of your father's friends, once. The interesting part is" said Dumbledore, staring at him with some intensity "that, under interrogation, this man revealed he lived in disguise for years as an house pet. The involved family was not aware of it, and except for the father it still is and should remain so."
"Creepy" commented Harry.
"There is more. The family remains unaware because a conjured rat had been left in Pettygrew's place. Pettygrew was found stunned inside a cart at Gringott's, noticed thanks to the bank's charms against intruders. We managed to get a list of those that were there, especially close to when and where Pettygrew was found. That father was there."
"Maybe he found out about the situation and decided to get rid of his guest without upsetting his relatives? Just guessing of course" said Harry.
"No, Harry, he did not. I assure you" continued Dumbledore. "There might be some explanations I can't imagine, of course, but the obvious one tends to be the correct one and I do have an obvious explanation for this surprising discovery."
"So long as it is a true explanation and not a random guess, sir" countered Harry.
"True, we should not forget the difference. Anyway, Harry" said the headmaster, leaning forward on his desk "the most likely explanation involves you. It would not put you in any trouble if you did it, and I wish you trusted me enough to be honest."
"I trust you, sir, that hasn't changed" said Harry. "But I don't want to be involved in things I had nothing to do with."
"And is this one of them? Then look me in the eyes, and tell me again you know nothing about this story. I'll believe you if you do."
"Actually, you seem to have already made up your mind, sir. Would you really believe me?" asked Harry.
"People lie, all the time. Often with good intentions. It is a personal choice, but not one we are forced to take. We can choose to be honest, especially with our friends."
"How often are you, sir? How many things do you keep private, just because you think it is for the best?"
"Many, Harry" said Dumbledore, with a tired tone and relaxing back on his chair "but I have been told I am one of the oldest, wisest and most talented wizards of our community. I can help those that confide in me. I wish you did, too."
"I understand, sir. If I am ever out of my depth, I will remember your kind offer for help. But I have nothing else to say, today."
Silence followed this last statement, and Dumbledore's eyes never left Harry's. The atmosphere became awkward, but Harry remained silent and didn't lower his eyes.
"Very well" said Dumbledore, eventually, looking quite disappointed; in an instant, though, he recomposed himself. "Our talk is concluded, then. Take seriously both mine and professor Sprout's warnings, Harry, and make more of an effort to adhere to school standards. Dismissed" he concluded, with a nod.
"Yes, headmaster. Farewell" said Harry, standing up and leaving. He was stopped right before opening the door, though.
"Harry, one last thing" said the headmaster. Harry half turned towards him, his hand still on the pommel of the door.
"I have not been asked to warn you about this party" said Dumbledore, an half frown on his face "so I assume Mrs. Malfoy will extend her own invitation, by owl or through her son, your friend Draco. I would consider it a favor if you didn't share my indiscretion today."
"Of course sir" said Harry, a small smirk on his face. "Favor for favor, have you shared your guesses with Mr. Black?"
"No Harry, I did not."
Harry nodded and, in silence, left the room feeling the eyes of the headmaster on his back. Slowly he walked all the way to the courtyard, deep in thought. Along the various hallways, overexcited students could be seen and comments about the recent match could be heard. Harry payed them no attention.
'Well, at least something went as it should have' thought Harry, while walking out of the castle's doors. 'Pettygrew can only benefit from some Azkaban. Or not' he concluded, a grim smile on his face.
'Sirius free is a nice change too, I guess. But i doubt meeting him is worth playing the good boy, around here' thought Harry, eventually shrugging and walking on. All students in sight were moving toward the great hall and, after a moment of consideration, Harry decided it must have been lunch time. Soon, Harry joined them. It had been a full morning after all, food would be welcome.