Harry woke to a loud yowl in the morning. He slowly crept downstairs and around to the laundry room. Somehow, Severus Snape had gotten stuck in 'Celestina's nonporous' plastic wrap, while also being covered in paint and feathers. He was spinning around uncontrollably - it seemed some of the latent magic around the washing spin cycle had moved through the air and attacked the intruder viciously. But he was still inside the wrap.
Maybe a holdover from his parent's defenses? His mom was rather crafty with charms. Harry didn't even think about what his parents may have left behind before he wished them away. He was starting to miss them a little.
Closing his eyes, Harry tried to use his accidental magic. 'I hope he is thrown out, I hope he is thrown out, I hope he is thrown out. And let the door hit him on the way out.' Harry tried to keep his thoughts and magic to just get the man out of his house.
It seemed that his magic was listening to him. So even though the door didn't hit the man on the way out, he was thrown from the house. Harry carefully trekked around the mess left behind and closed and locked the door again.
There was now a string of curses coming loudly from the front of the house. Harry left the laundry room by the back door and went to the living room to peer out the front window to see the front door. He saw a man who looked more like a rat sliding all over the concrete leading up to the front door.
The rat man was cursing up a storm with every slip on the ice. It was a good thing Harry took down that charm. However the man was committed, Harry crept to the front hall to get a quick peek at the front door. Thank Merlin his toaster hook-up was still working.
Returning to the living room, Harry settled in to watch the show. While it probably happened in real time, it felt like slow motion watching the man's hand reach for the handle. He had fully gripped it before realizing how hot it was.
There was a scream of pain, and the rat man fell back from the door. He was clutching his wrist below his hand in pain. Then the man scrambled back on his butt to a patch of snow and shoved his burned hand into it.
Harry winced. That wasn't a great solution for healing burns. His mum always had him run his hand under warm water. Harry bet that the snow likely would lead to a nasty scar. But that was what the attempted thief deserved.
James and Elphias were on hour eight of the ten-hour magic carpet ride. James tried to insist on shifts so he could actually get some sleep. But Elphais had looked at him in confusion.
"But how will we know where to go if someone isn't navigating?" He had asked.
James had clenched his fists in annoyance. But Elphias was younger than him, and they were both in this terrible situation together.
"We had said that we loved each other!" Elphias wailed.
James fought not to snap at the lovesick man. "And then what happened." He deadpanned. James learned it was better to engage instead of letting the man go on endless tangents to dissect the same moment again and again.
"We were at the top of the ski lifts, and I got down on one knee. I asked her to marry me, and she said no!" Elphias let out.
Apparently, Elphias and Elaine were a love story for the ages. Yeah, right. James wasn't so sure. But, he had spent hours with the man, and he just had to make it two more hours. Then, he'd be home with his son and could wrap his arms around his boy.
'Just think happy thoughts, just think happy thoughts, just think happy thoughts,' James repeated to himself.
"Elphias, I think it's your turn to drive." James decided to pass off the steering. It hadn't quite been an hour, but he was liable to crash if he continued to drive. They'd been switching off every hour or so. "My eyes are getting a little heavy."
With the time change, they had lost almost a whole day. It was nearly morning the next day in Godric's Hollow.