Harry potter and the Time of Retirement

Everything related to Harry Potter belongs to JKR

Chapter 45 – Year 2

"Home" said quietly Harry, looking around himself.

He was in a small, unassuming village. Very few houses could be seen, but they were mostly well kept. Only the cottage in front of him was in some disrepair, with a corner of the upper floor blown up from the inside; a disaster that contrasted heavily with the otherwise good state of the building.

If it had to be judged by looks only, Godric's Hollow was quite insignificant. A few hundreds inhabitants lived there, sure, but some of them were spread around the surrounding countryside; a small church, a post office, the old pub and a single shop with bare essentials on sale were all that kept together the relatively few houses actually present in the center of the community. It was hard to believe how many noteworthy historical figures had lived here since the middle ages, at least among wizardkind. Of course, none of them were the reason that brought Harry there, that day.

Long, long ago he could have moved in this town, with Ginny. It was his family's ancestral place and there was an easily fixable house already belonging to him, after all. But his whole life, at the time, seemed to revolve around his past and he was more than happy to distance his new wife from all that. It didn't really work, but he wanted to try. He didn't have such a reason anymore, though. In fact, he felt somehow serene when he approached the ruins of his parent's home.

Next to the door stood a sign explaining what the cottage was; just like Harry remembered there were plenty of messages of support for him written on it. Harry looked at it in silence for a while, before shaking his head. 'That will have to go' thought Harry, a bit emotional. It felt bad to remove the genuine feelings of visitors, but not bad enough to leave it there as a constant reminder of his parents' death.

The door was unlocked, yet dust and a screeching sound all but promised no one had actually walked in for some time, certainly years. The entrance hall itself was reasonably in order and through other open doors Harry could see the living room, with some chairs and a table lying flat on the ground. 'Dad' thought Harry, somberly. Looking around at the lack of debris, he thought that his last stand must have not been particularly impressive – only to feel terribly guilty afterwards.

Harry toured the ground floor for a while, before walking upstairs. Even where the walls were still standing one could see peeling wallpapers and humidity stains here and there – but they were nothing a couple of well casted Reparo couldn't fix. After touring the semi-intact rooms, the most noteworthy of which was his parent's very own, Harry stopped in front of a door showing some heavy cracks through with the open air outside was visible. 'My nursery', he thought.

He opened it, and walked inside. Nothing particular welcomed him – the room itself was in tatters, no furnitures left intact though one could guess what had been there from the rotting debris. The sight itself didn't mean much for Harry, not compared to the signs left by his own parents' presence throughout the other rooms. Looking up into the sky, he was only bothered by the damages. 'This will have to be rebuilt completely' he thought with some resignation.

He was no master builder by any means, but conjuring some walls and a roof was not hard. Of course, pulling up some pleasant looking, well insulated walls was another matter entirely. 'New storage room' thought Harry, with a grim smile and trying to make fun of the situation. He pulled out his wand, and started working.

Hours later, he was quite tired but most of the work inside the house had been completed. The old nursery now had solid, ugly and bare stone walls with a flat clay roof. The rest of the house had all of the cracks and small damages fixed, but Harry made a point to put order in everything manually, picking up and moving stuff without magic. He remained a little puzzled in front of his parents wardrobe and knickknacks, but eventually decided he would just place everything not strictly useful or interesting in the new storage room, making space for the rest. Some books here and there he kept, and some of the framed photos remained on the walls. None of them were moving, but it was hard to tell if they had lost their magic or were simply mundane from the start.

Downstairs, he took special care in fixing the fireplace. On top of it, a framed photo of him as a baby between his parents was placed right in the center; a quick Orchideus made sure there were flowers next to it or around the rest of the house.

Finally satisfied, he went out and pulled up the sign with visitor's comments out of the ground. He considered for a second using it as firewood, before smiling bitterly and bringing it up to the storage room. Placing it against the wall, he shrugged and murmured to no one "welcome home".

Fishing through his pockets, he felt some coins jingle but he knew he could buy little or nothing from the muggle store with that. Not that he had any intention of becoming a major customer: while he had full access to his own considerable fortune now, wasting it on muggle items would be incredibly wasteful. Caressing his wand inside his sleeve, Harry considered for a second some addition to the wards, before relenting. Those against the muggles were good enough already and, short of a Fidelius, there was very little he could do to improve security against wizards.

'That might actually be nice' he considered. 'If only there was someone I could ask to be the secret keeper. Someone close enough to me to make the magic stick.' After a second of consideration, and literally no one but his class mates coming to mind, Harry shrugged. There was Hagrid, sure, but his chances of convincing him to set up a place instead of being in Hogwarts were nonexistent.

Walking into the kitchen he started preparing some tea with some very dry leaves and sugar that was probably older than him, or his body at least. Images of his original life, him as an old man in Hogsmeade, flashed in front of his eyes for a second but he decided to ignore them. 'It's not the same' thought Harry.

Sitting down, hot tea on the small table next to him and a book from his parent's library in hand, he tried to relax.

The morning after, right before Harry had decided to go out and tour the place, an owl he didn't recognize arrived for him. The handwriting on the accompanying letter was unknown, too.

My dear Harry,

well played, absolutely. I was torn between anger at being so easily manipulated, and admiration towards the way you did it. I should have taken Dumbledore's warnings more seriously, eh?

Let me describe the morning after i took you out. I woke up with the worst hangover I ever had, my house elf busy cleaning while muttering on how he would kill us both, and my mother's portrait screaming at the top of her lungs on how the Potters were enemy of the family and you somehow managed to turn her servant against her. I had better mornings, in case I am not clear enough.

Normally, I would laugh this all off. I did worse to both strangers and friends, and I was older than you too at the time. But the key, Harry… when i noticed it was missing, i didn't laugh one bit. You told me you don't like pranks and I fear you were honest, that this was not a prank. You just wanted your key from the first second we met, and damn the consequences. Did you try to help with Kreacher, my elf, to make it up or something? You get points for trying, but no more.

I still had fun in Diagon Alley, and I am not going to betray your dad and you over something like this. Never. But after thinking things through, I agree with Dumbledore now: you are too smart for your own good, Harry, and you should probably not have full access to your vault. Give the key to your headmaster, or I will have no choice but to warn him. You can tell him I lost it and you picked it up, I don't mind, but give it back.

Let's go out again sometimes, but no more tricks. Your worried godfather,

Sirius Black.

Harry placed the letter on the table, mixed feelings running through him.

'Well, I didn't alienate him completely. That's good' he thought, uncomfortable with his own feelings of guilt. 'I guess I should say I am sorry first time we met.'

Looking outside of the windows, Harry instantly moved on. 'Should I ward myself against owls? Everyone can find me here….'

'No, no. I won't hide, this is my house and my life. I owe no explanations to anyone. So long as I don't draw the attention of muggles, I can do whatever I want.'

Taking out his wand, Harry started to prepare for his time out.

His outing, and all the following days, were relatively quiet. Harry made a point to transfigure his body into a much older version of himself every time he went out of the house – the few times he went out, and most of those were just to tour the countryside around the town. Godric's hollow was clearly not the most prosperous place: there were no industries, only farmers and some related activities.

At the pub, the bartender – some lady easily in her fifties – asked him a couple questions and was quite surprised to hear he moved into the village. After an initial attempt she didn't press more when Harry proved elusive on the details of where exactly he had moved into, or what was he planning to do there anyway. "I am not sure yet. At least I am not desperate for work" was his answer to that last question, as she shrugged and focused back on her cleaning.

Harry's comment attracted the attention of another customer though, one of the usual jacks of all trades that made their living and their alcohol performing odd jobs and small barters. He was quite happy to introduce himself to Harry – "Harryson. Harry is my son, he will visit on the weekends" – and offer his and his friends' services for very reasonable prices or even just loads of resaleable materials.

The latter made Harry interested: for a wizard it was trivial to duplicate endlessly stuff like stone, wood or sacks of flour. Maybe he could hire those guys to fix the worse parts of his house, former nursery included. Maybe.

As for the house itself, being repaired had immediately drawn the attention of the magical side of the population. No one had stopped Harry to talk yet; by looks alone they could not recognize him after all, and it was only the house's wards continued existance that had probably saved him from some awkward questions on what he was even doing inside the famous Potter house.

Still, Harry could see the eyes of his wizarding neighbours warily following him whenever he went. With some amusement he noticed how one of these neighbours was Hannah Abbott herself, that kept staring at him as if he was some kind of dangerous vagrant. Harry had the temptation to explain the situation, but quickly suppressed it – what would be the point? Chances are she would learn about it at some point, and he was not planning on hosting gatherings for children.

'I should have expected this' thought Harry, recalling how Godric's Hollow was famous for being home to a large number of wizarding families, Abbotts included. 'Dumbledores, too' thought Harry suddenly, relieved only at the idea that both Dumbledore brothers no longer lived there anyway, even if they probably kept ownership of their own old family house.

Shrugging, Harry went on with his last chores for the day, already thinking of how Hogwarts would restart its classes tomorrow. He only hoped there would be no useless, dramatic confrontation with the headmaster – his own plans involved one last trip by train, saying goodbye to his classmates and maybe Ginny, recovering his stuff and fleeing as soon as possible. Maybe sending an owl to explain how he was taking a sabbatical with a plan to study on his own and be back to take his O.w.l. exams, eventually.

'I should probably leave my Gringott key here, hidden somewhere' thought Harry with a sad smile, before turning off his lamp.

The morning after, with only his clothes and school robe on him (and a small backpack) Harry apparated straight at the train station, next to line 9 ¾. He had considered going through Diagon Alley first and the metro system later, just for the pleasure of the tour, but remembering how it was probably rush hour in the muggle world quickly convinced him to postpone the idea.

Next to the tracks many more adults than usual greeted him this time around: participating at Malfoy's Christmas dinner had apparently grow his status considerably or, at least, made him more recognizable. Answering politely to everyone addressing him, Harry spent some minutes around the train just watching families arriving and splitting before seeing a forming group of his house mates gathering next to one of the wagons.

"Hello everyone" said Harry, once close enough, receiving happy greetings in return from the kids and some of their parents who were otherwise busy gossiping with each others. In truth, the only two of them still missing were Justin and Sally-Anne and Harry assumed they were saying goodbyes to their parents outside of the magical barrier in King's Cross station.

Nothing special happened for a while – the parents kept talking while the kids, too, were catching up with stories of their holidays and whatever presents they received for Christmas. After a while Justin and Sally arrived and, once the time of departure was close, a flurry of hugs and goodbyes between the young Hufflepuffs and their parents started. Soon, they were all sitting down on their couches, inside a random and now very crowded compartment, with the Hogwarts Express already moving through the countryside.

For a while the kids continued talking about their holidays and presents but after a couple hours the topic was more than exhausted, and they started getting bored and silent. Only the food trolley woke them up a little, but only partially: they all had their fills of sweets in the previous days, and chances were they had plenty of leftovers in their chest or bags. In fact, some of them refused to buy anything and opened their baggages to take out their own foods and drinks.

"By the way, Harry" asked Wayne, while chomping down on a sandwich. "Is that backpack all you have with you? How come?"

"I left Hogwarts only for an handful of nights this time. There was no need to drag around plenty of stuff."

"Oh, right. You were grounded" said Zacharias, smirking.

"Were you?" asked Susan. "My aunt told me you have been seen at Malfoy's end of the year party."

"Was she attending? I don't think I saw her" countered Harry.

"No, not this year. We were invited and we went in the past too, but we were busy this time around" said Susan.

"I see. And yes, I went there, and to Diagon Alley too" said Harry.

"Not grounded at all, then" said Justin, smiling towards Zach's direction.

"Indeed" said Zach, frowning. "Mighty nice of the headmaster to let you go out and have fun alone."

"I wasn't, to be honest. At Malfoy's party I got introduced to my godfather, he took me out of Hogwarts."

"Oh, your godfather. I heard some stories about him, Harry. Are you ok?" asked Ernie, while everyone else seemed puzzled by his words.

"Is he some kind of weirdo?" asked Megan.

"Shush, Megan" said Hannah, a worried expression on her face.

"I too heard stuff about him, to be honest" added Susan.

"What's the story, Harry?" asked Justin, from his corner.

"In short, he was in Azkaban for the last ten years, give or take. For a false accusation, let me add" said Harry.

"If you say so" said Zach, only for Harry to turn towards him, frowning. "I do say so. He was innocent, on that there is no doubt. Susan?"

"Well, it's not like my aunt told me the details" she commented, unsure. "The best I got is that his story was a mess, and she was quite glad she wasn't involved in it at all."

"If he got sent to Azkaban without cause, someone must be in big troubles now" said Zach.

"Especially with who he was. My parents said that his family was quite important once. Rich, and related to a lot of other people" added Ernie, only to continue with some embarassement. "Well, half of those are in Azkaban too right now."

"Ehm, Harry" said Sally-Anne, that got close to him in the meantime. "What is Azkaban?"

"The prison for wizards, Sally. By muggle standards, a very cruel one."

"Who cares" half whispered Zach, rolling his eyes.

"What do they do to prisoners over there?" said Sally, after a second of hesitation.

"Yeah, now I am curious too" added Justin.

"To start, it is a horrible place to be no matter what. A rocky fortress in the middle of the sea. Cold, dark, dirty" said Harry, shrugging. "But that is not the issue."

"Dementors are there, all the time" revealed Ernie, to the horror of some of them.

"Why would they do that?" asked Hannah, horrified.

"I always thought it is exciting. Like an haunted house" said Megan, smiling.

"Dementors? Like the one you got from Lockhart?" added Justin, amused. "Those can't be that bad if he brought one in school."

"What we all got was a Boggart, a creature that mimics what scares us the most" said Harry, shaking his head.

"Yeah, whatever. So, what do they do?" asked Justin.

"Of course you wouldn't know" commented Zach, evenly. "You should learn, I think. Just in case you get sent there."

Justin glared at him, but didn't say anything. After a second, Ernie continued.

"Even from a distance they make you feel completely miserable, all the time. Nightmares, when you sleep. And if they can get their hands on you, they suck your soul out."

"Yeah, right" commented Justin, only to get a synchronized glare from Ernie and Susan.

"He was not joking, Justin" said Wayne, shaking his head.

"Not one bit. They kiss you and poof, no more soul. It's how aurors get rid of the worse criminals" added Susan.

Justin looked around the compartment, smiling, but no one else was. Eventually his face get serious.

"Wait, you mean it?"

"It seems horrible" whispered Sally, looking down.

"One speech on how wizards are bad coming in three, two, one…" said Zach, looking towards Justin with a taunting smirk.

"Oh, the hell with you" said Justin, irritated. "Are you seriously telling me you torture your criminals the whole day long, every day? And you are smug about it?"

Sally, still sitting down next to Harry, shook her head but said nothing.

"It's not exactly torture" said Ernie, unsure "and it is how it has always been done". Wayne and Susan too seemed a little embarrassed.

"It's barbaric! What kind of crimes anyway? If I punch you now, do I get sent there?" asked Justin to Zach, who still had his smirk on his face.

"Yes, of course. So you better watch what you do" answered Zach, amused.

"You don't go there for a punch, Justin. Most crimes get you a fine. Only the trash of society is sent to Azkaban" said Harry, drily.

"The trash of society? Like muggleborns, I assume?" countered Justin, furious. Zach laughed out loud at this, while everyone else flinched.

"Don't even suggest something like that, Justin. It's offensive" complained Ernie.

"And at the moment, it's mostly purebloods that are there anyway. From you-know-who's times" added Megan.

"Your godfather was there, by mistake, and you are ok with it?" asked Justin to Harry.

"Justin, it's complicated" said Harry, grimacing. "To send an innocent there is unacceptable, with how easily we can force the truth out. But most people in, I mean it when I say they are trash."

"Repeat murderers, Unforgivables users, literal madmen" said Wayne. "Better in Azkaban than among us."

"And if you are innocent, it just happened!" countered Justin, venomously.

"Unforgivables?" whispered Sally, next to Harry. He said nothing, and apparently no one else heard her.

"They are not innocent" said Zach, meanwhile. "Potter's godfather was the single exception."

"Hopefully" added Susan, in a low voice.

"I won't start complaining again" said Justin, a truly disgusted expression on his face. "but you wizards are messed up. Magic is the only great thing around here, and we are born with it."

"If you don't like us, leave and good" started Zach, lightly – only for Wayne to punch his shoulder, and not too gently.

"Shut up, Zach, you are going too far. Justin, cut it out too" he said.

"It looks bad" said Harry. "But truly horrible people stay there, Justin. If you want to pity them, give a thought to their victims first."

"Nothing justify being tortured your whole life, though" said Sally, still looking at the ground.

"I am more for a clean dementor kiss myself" added Harry, shrugging. "But only some of the prisoners will remain there forever. A good share will be released, eventually."

"Whatever" said Justin, looking outside of the window. "I don't want to talk about it."

"Really? Because it seems to me" started Zach in a sarcastic tone, only to stop when Wayne turned towards him again, angry. Shrugging, he rose his hands in mock surrender and turned silent. In fact, the whole carriage did, now.

"If anyone has something happier to share, this is the moment" said Megan, eventually.

The kids just looked at each other, silently. Then, Hannah spoke up.

"I might have something, actually. But i am not sure it is happy" she concluded, blushing a little.

"Can't be worse than Azkaban" said Wayne.

"Harry, it's about you. Well, your house. Someone is living inside it now!" said Hannah.

"You have a house, Harry?" asked Ernie.

"Yes, in Godric's Hollow. Nothing special, certainly not a castle."

"And someone moved in?" asked Susan.

"This guy, yes. No one knows him and he hasn't introduced himself to anyone, well, except some muggles. My parents are quite worried" added Hannah.

"Wow, you have a squatter, Harry" said Wayne.

"Is the house even yours anymore? I mean… after all that happened" asked Susan.

"It is most certainly mine" said Harry with a clear tone. "It belonged to my family for generations, we are not giving it up."

"Well, your squatter doesn't seem to agree" quipped Megan, smiling.

"He looks a little like you, Harry. Maybe he is some distant relative?" asked Hannah.

Harry paused a second, unsure – but he had long since decided this was not going to be a secret.

"It's me, Hannah. With some transfiguration to make me look older. The wards would not accept anyone but me, I am the owner."

A set of weird stares followed this declaration, unsurprisingly: their last class with professor McGonagall was about turning a hedgehog into a pincushion.

"You can transfigure yourself in an adult" said Wayne, drily.

"Prove it" added Zach, immediately.

"I don't have to, I don't want to" countered Harry.

"Now, I am not saying you are lying, Harry" started Ernie, unsure.

"He is just thinking it" added Megan, with a giggle.

"I don't have to convince anything but the house wards" said Harry, shrugging. "And those accepted me. End of story."

"What about your uncle and aunt?" asked Sally.

"Oh, right. Those two" said Susan.

"They said they won't miss me. The feeling is reciprocal, even if I wish otherwise."

"So, are we really neighbours Harry?" asked Hannah, frowning.

"Yes, I hope you don't mind" said Harry.

"I don't, that's the point! You should have told me, I would have visited" complained Hannah.

"Sorry, sorry" said Harry, smiling. "Consider yourself already invited…. next summer."

"Of course" said Wayne, shaking his head.

"I am glad to know you don't stay with your uncles anymore" said Sally. "But I hope you won't feel alone there."

"Want a hug, Potter?" asked Ernie, smiling.

"Poor little Harry" added Zach, sniggering.

"I'll visit, Harry. My parents, too" said Hannah.

"Actually, we all go to Hannah's sometimes. I guess we could come and say hi, too" said Susan.

"My door is always open for you" said Harry, lightly smiling. "Not literally, I keep it locked of course."

After that, normal chatting went on for a while – even Justin got over his bad mood eventually. Mostly. Some hours later, everyone quite tired from the trip, they arrived at Hogsmeade station.