Interview with Harry Potter!
Today's guest is known by many names, including Boy-Who-Lived, Defeater of Voldemort, Lord Potter, or simply Harry. Newspapers in the country have been trying to secure an interview with him for years but without success. However, on Friday evening, he met with Barnabas Cuffe and agreed to answer the questions that the whole country had been asking.
"I am grateful for agreeing to speak with me, Lord Potter," said Mr. Cuffe.
"The pleasure is mine, Mr. Cuffe," replied Lord Potter.
"For years, many journalists have tried to speak with you, but we could only get a few quotes from you. What caused the change?" asked Mr. Cuffe.
"When I was a child, Headmaster Dumbledore rightfully declined all invitations, knowing that I was not ready for them. When I matured enough to speak with any journalist by myself, the war had already begun, and that was my main priority. Now that the war is over, and we have started to heal our wounds, I agreed to meet with you and answer a few questions," explained Lord Potter.
"Thank you for agreeing to speak with me. The first topic I would like to discuss with you is your childhood. Who raised you after that fateful Halloween, and why did you not appear in public before your 11th birthday?" asked Mr. Cuffe.
"I was raised by my mother's sister, who is a muggle. Because of that, I was not aware of the magical world before my 11th birthday," replied Lord Potter.
"Wait, you did not know that you are a wizard?" asked Mr. Cuffe, surprised.
"That's correct. Headmaster Dumbledore was afraid that telling a few-year-old kid that he was a hero in society would have a very negative impact on me. He was worried that I could grow into a spoiled and arrogant person, so he decided to wait for a while before telling me the truth," explained Lord Potter.
"What was your reaction when you were told everything?" asked Mr. Cuffe.
"I was shocked at first, but I had no problems believing in magic, as I clearly remembered my bouts of accidental magic," replied Lord Potter.
"Can you tell us what were they?" asked Mr. Cuffe.
"A few of them were typical, such as changing my teacher's hair colour, shrinking a sweater I did not want to wear, or my hair growing back mere hours after I got a haircut. But there were a few more extreme cases, for example, once I accidentally apparated onto the school roof. Luckily, I had not harmed myself during the process," explained Lord Potter.
"I have never heard of such an incredible feat achieved by accidental magic. It shows clearly how much potential you always had. But talking about your magical power, I would like to ask you about your years at Hogwarts. How were you doing in class? What was the students' reaction when they saw you in the halls? How hard was it for you to befriend them?" asked Mr. Cuffe.
"I was always a good student, much better in practical parts than in theory. I never complained about my grades, especially considering that I could never focus entirely on them, as since my first year, Voldemort was actively trying to come back, and I was doing everything in my power to prevent that. As for the students, after a few weeks, they all got used to my presence in the castle and didn't bother me. A few of them initially tried to befriend me for their benefit, but I was able to sense that, and I became close with people who are still my friends today," replied Lord Potter.
"Yes, the legendary Hogwarts Golden Trio. I doubt that there is anyone in the country who has not heard about your best friends: Ronald Weasley and Hermione Granger. How are they doing nowadays?" asked Mr. Cuffe.
"Ron is staying at his family home, trying to get back to normalcy after the war. He lost an older brother in the Battle of Hogwarts, so his main focus is his family now. As for Hermione, she came back from Australia, and she sent her parents there to be safe. She is preparing herself for the NEWTS and is hoping to get a Mastery in the future," replied Lord Potter.
"We all wish them the best of luck for the future. Staying on the topic of your relationships, are you currently seeing someone? Many of our readers are curious if you are still on the market, as the last gossip on that topic suggested that you are dating your friend's sister, Ginny Weasley," asked Mr Cuffe.
"At this moment, I am single, though Ginny and I were dating in the past. We broke up shortly after the end of my sixth year, as I knew I would most likely not be going back for my last year there, and I had to put all my focus into the war. We promised each other that when the war ended, we would talk about our future together. Unfortunately, our plans and visions for the future were so different that we decided to stay friends," explained Lord Potter. He spoke with Ginny about that, and she was okay with him explaining publicly that they broke up.
"Understandable. Now, I would like to ask you more about the war. What were you doing during the year you were wanted by the Death Eaters?"
"We spent that year moving around the country to avoid being caught by them. And we were actively working on a plan to defeat Voldemort for good."
"How did it look like?"
"We were living in a magical tent, changing our location every few days. It was not easy, as we could not get more supplies from the shops, or contact anyone. We could only count on ourselves."
"What about the battle? Why had you decided to fight that day?"
"Our priority was to destroy his failsafes in case of his defeat. We wanted to make sure that when we would destroy him, it would be permanent, and he could not come back again. We were making good progress on that until that fateful date when he found out what we were doing. Our mission required us to come to Hogwarts, and he knew that we would be there. And we knew he would come there with his army. We understood that it was our last chance to destroy him, so we decided to fight. And the rest is history."
"Yes, that battle had undoubtedly made its mark on history. What have you been doing since the battle has ended?"
"I was working on getting my life back to normalcy. Reuniting with friends and getting my affairs in order. Besides that, I took my lordships and was working on sorting that out, as for the last two decades there has been no one to take care of that."
"And let's not forget about your work for Auror Corps. Your input in their work was huge."
"I will always remember those days fondly. In the past, I was thinking about being an Auror, but after the war, I decided I could help in other ways than working as an Auror."
"How are you planning to help then? All we know at the moment is that you work with Cyrus Greengrass and that your plans are big."
"I have purposefully kept quiet about my plans, as they are big and needed a lot of work before we could even announce them."
"Are you going to do that now?" Cuffe asked, waiting anxiously.
"I am."
"Then I am all ears."
"I will start with a short lesson in history. I am sure that everyone in the country knows the story of how Hogwarts was created, and how the founders were working together, creating the first school of magic in Britain. But almost no one knows what happened after Slytherin left."
"What happened then?"
"You see when the founders created the school, they decided that to make any decisions, at least three of them or their heirs needed to approve for any changes to happen. This system was working until Rowena's unfortunate demise and the fight between Slytherin and the rest of them. Because Rowena's only daughter passed away before her, they all had to be unanimous to manage the school. As you can imagine, Slytherin and Gryffindor were always having differences, leaving the school in limbo, as no decision could be made by them. That had elevated the position of headmaster of Hogwarts significantly, as he was de facto ruling the school. This state of things had been going on for centuries, with the heirs of Slytherin and Gryffindor unable to agree on anything. After more time had passed, everyone had started to forget who the true owners of Hogwarts were."
"Had the situation changed?"
"Yes, it did. During the Battle of Hogwarts, the last heir of the main line of Slytherin had died, ending the line. As only two lines of founders were active, they could start working together to reclaim the school."
"Had it happened already?"
"It did. You see, the Gryffindor family had merged with the Peverells in the 15th century, who then merged with the Potters two hundred years later, making me the heir of the Gryffindor line."
"You are the heir of Godric Gryffindor?"
"Yes, I am."
"Incredible. How much meaning does this title have?"
"Not much, as the Gryffindor family existed before Wizengamot. So, the only thing I inherited was half of the school."
"Can you tell who is the heir of Helga Hufflepuff?"
"It is Susan Bones, Lady of Most Ancient and Noble House of Bones."
"And you two now own Hogwarts?"
"We do. In the last few weeks, we, together with teachers, parents, and student representatives, have been working on changes in the school. But I will leave it to Susan to announce what we have been working on."
Certainly, here is the revised text:
"When can we expect that?"
"In a few days. Most of the work is complete, but there are a few details that still need to be discussed."
"Has Hogwarts been the only project you have been working on?"
"Definitely not. Although we have a lot of ideas on how to improve the school, we have a lot of people there to help us, so it did not take up much of my time."
"What have you been working on then?"
"As I am sure you know, our country is facing multiple problems right now, and I have come up with a few solutions to address them."
"What problems are you trying to solve?"
"Unemployment, homelessness, and the situation at St Mungo's."
"Does St Mungo's have problems?"
"Yes, it does. You see, because of the war, there are over a hundred orphans that no one knew what to do with. They all ended up in the hospital, which they cannot be discharged from, as they do not have a guardian to do that for them. So they are all staying there in the child ward, and St Mungo's needs to pay for their upkeep from their budget."
"Does the Ministry know about this?"
"They do. And the only thing they offered was to pay 20% of the cost, which does not solve anything. So, after long and careful consideration, with the cooperation of Healer Sara Davis and Director Eva Lee, we have a plan on how to deal with that problem."
"What is the plan?"
"I decided to open the Lily Potter Foundation, which will be responsible for those kids. The foundation will open an orphanage under its name, becoming the guardians of the kids."
"Will the foundation be solely responsible for maintaining the orphanage?"
"Yes, the foundation will cover 100% of the costs, and we will not ask the Ministry for help."
"And who will lead the project?"
"Madam Andromeda Tonks. She was working as a healer before the war and agreed to become the director of the foundation."
"How advanced is the work on the orphanage?"
"The building is ready and equipped. On Monday, we will start working on hiring staff and legally taking guardianship of the kids."
"Is there a way to support the project?"
"Yes, there will be several ways to do that. Anyone willing to help can visit the main office in Diagon Alley, and there they will get more details."
"I do not doubt that many people will offer their help."
"I hope so."
"Now, for the other problems, do you have any solutions for them?"
"I do. As you know, all homeless people are living in Hogwarts right now. Unfortunately, it is not a viable solution in the long term, as in a few months, the school will reopen again, so their presence there would cause problems. So, starting Monday morning, anyone in need of their place can visit the office of the foundation, as we have prepared several of my empty properties to host those in need of help. They will be able to stay there, free of charge, until they get back on their feet. Fair warning though, anyone coming for help will be checked out if they need that help, as I do not want to host freeloaders that want to take advantage of me."
"Very noble of you. Though it can be hard for them to get back on their feet, as there are not a lot of job offers."
"And here I can announce the last part of my plan. I decided to start a heavy investment plan, as most of the companies had closed during the war. We need to get our economy back to life, and I want to do this by pumping a lot of money into new enterprises. I have several ideas for new businesses that I will open myself. Besides that, I am very open to becoming a partner of new companies. If anyone comes to me with a good offer, on Monday morning, the offices of my newly created company, "Golden Bolt Enterprises," will open. Anyone who is looking for a job or wants to become my partner can come there, and my team will either assist them with job hunting or assess their business plans."
"Where can this office be found?"
"In Diagon Alley, not far from the Leaky Cauldron."
"So, on Monday morning, those in need of a job or a place can come there and ask for help?"
"Precisely. I am not giving any guarantees, or that we will manage to help instantly, but we will do our best to help."
"What had pushed you to make all of that?"
"My main goal is simple. I want my children to live in a safe, prospering country, far from conflicts and discrimination. For that vision to be possible, Wizarding Britain needs to stand up from its knees, and these projects can help with that."
"I have no doubt it would help Lord Potter."
"I hope so. Although I know it will take a long time to make good changes in the country, I am optimistic that working together, we can make that happen."
"I think so as well. As we are coming to the end, is there anything that you want to pass on to our readers?"
"Do not give up. No matter how bad the situation looks, there is always hope for a better tomorrow."
"Lord Potter, thank you for sacrificing your precious time so our readers could get to know you better. On behalf of our editorial team and our readers, we wish you luck with your projects, and I hope we will have many more opportunities to talk."
"It was my pleasure, Mr. Cuffe."
