Harry potter and the Time of Retirement
Everything related to Harry Potter belongs to JKR
Chapter 31 – Year 2
"So, disappointed that you don't have more vaults, Harry?" asked Mr. Weasley in a slightly sarcastic tone, while coming out of the cart. Apparently, he was still a bit angry.
"Not really, no. Sir." answered Harry, mentally shrugging. He would have added something on how money are not everything, but….
'Eh, better not' he thought, recalling the now completely empty Weasley vault. Ginny had always, always wanted to buy expensive stuff for their children and the first time he complained about it, it was also the last. 'He will have the very best, Harry. Unlike me. End of story' she had said, her voice slightly brittle. At the memory, Harry smiled a little; 'That damn piece of rock' he thought smugly, recalling how the next week he bought her a shiny, way too expensive enchanted necklace worth 3 months of his salary presented together with some sappy line on how she deserved it or something. That became her go-to jewel for special occasions, for decades to follow, and a wonderful memory for them both.
Walking through the vast Gringott hall Harry, while still distracted, could notice just a bit more agitation… more guards, for sure, and a bit too many people busy whispering between each other. Mr. Weasley did not seem to notice, though, so he remained silent and followed him to Diagon Alley, all the way back to Flourish and Boot's.
At the bookstore, there was an even greater crowd and ever more noises; surprisingly, though, when they stepped in they noticed most people were staring at something in the middle of the shop. That something turned out to be an agitated Mrs. Weasley, surrounded by her children, standing in front of the Malfoy family. When Mr. Weasley stepped in, Lucius Malfoy slightly turned his head to give him a look over, then added almost to no one "No, not even good for overtime", a dismissive smug smile on his face.
"Molly, are you ok?" asked Mr Weasley, obviously worried.
"Arthur…" she started, but then said nothing. Her face was quite red though, and the glares her children were giving to Mr. Malfoy spoke volumes.
"I'll leave you to your husband, Mrs Weasley. Take his arm with pride, don't mind me" said Mr. Malfoy, bowing his head a little and turning around, his wife and son following him.
"What did you say to her, Malfoy?" asked minaciously Mr. Weasley, taking one step onward.
"Only the truth, Weasley" he concluded, going away. Draco, passing beside Harry, did not stop either but commented in a low voice "Don't let them drag you down, Potter".
After this, their time at Flourish and Boot became a somber affair. Quickly paying for all their merchandise, Mr. Weasley led them to Fortesque where he ordered ice cream for everyone – only to ask his children to stay at one table, while he took a downcast Mrs. Weasley to another.
Sitting down, the twins and Ron started immediately to address horrible insults towards all of the Malfoys – with a venom that Harry could not recall from any of his memories.
"Ok, what did I miss?" he asked, but no one answered. The twins stopped only for a second before restarting their string of insults, Ron just seemed even more angry, while Ginny kept eating from the bowl in front of her, eyes downcast. Turning his stare around, Harry finally caught Percy's attention.
"Taunts. On our money, their absence i mean, and mom's enthusiasm for Lockhart."
"Like there is anything wrong with that!" said one of the twins, only to narrow his eyes when Percy did not react. "You agree, right?"
"Second hand trash, mom all but gushing over that autograph" started tensely Percy, only to be interrupted by the other twin. "Don't even start. Don't you dare."
Their older brother stopped for a second, but then he raised his head with anger in his eyes "We could do better. We deserve better! It's not Malfoy our problem" he said with passion, to the horrified looks of his siblings.
"What's wrong with you?" asked Ron, while the twins intentionally moved their chairs away from Percy. In her corner of the table Ginny seemed now on the verge of crying. Harry, feeling exceedingly unwelcome in this family quarrel, stood up with a curt "I'll take something to drink". The boys ignored him, busy with more insults aimed this time among themselves, so he simply left.
'Maybe fighting had been the best outcome' thought Harry, reminiscing of the memorable brawl between the two men in his past. Still, there was nothing to do about this. Calling for the shopkeeper, he asked for two glasses of water that he soon payed with his now overfilled pouch and went back to the table, leaving one glass in front of Ginny. When she looked at Harry he smiled encouragingly, but she just restarted staring at the table – while taking one small sip, at least. As for most of her brothers, they were now silently glaring venomously at Percy – and vice versa. Shrugging, Harry started eating his own ice cream ignoring everyone and looking at the passerbyes.
A solid half hour later, an even too cheery Mrs. Weasley told everyone that they were free to go, and they could meet in two hours at the Leaking Cauldron. The twins left without saying a word, while Percy actually glared at his parents before leaving with a simple "Later, then". Ginny was ordered to stay with Mr. and Mrs. Weasley, which left Harry together with Ron. Neither of them was interested in talking about what happened so they simply toured around Diagon Alley, chatting between them and the various year mates they met on the way.
A stop at Quality Quidditch Supplies was unavoidable, and while Ron was busy admiring a child-sized uniform of the Chudley Cannons Harry was tempted to buy a broom, now that – being second year – he could finally fly on his own whenever he wanted without hassles. In fact, only a checkup with the clerk about buying it by owl convinced him to let it go, for now, as it did not seem the right day to flaunt his wealth. They left the shop when almost a full hour had passed, and – after bypassing what could have been an interesting junk shop because Ron saw Percy reading inside it - they had as a final stop Gambol and Japes where they met Fred and George busy buying magical pranks and jokes. From what they could guess from their whispered plans, it was obvious that they had a new target for their plans. They didn't stop there either, and started window shopping for the remaining time.
Eventually the whole family reunited at the Leaky Cauldron and, one short Floo trip later, they were back at the Burrow. Everyone split to take care of their business, with Harry casually offering Ginny to bring all her new supplies inside her room. Way calmer than before, she accepted and once her not-so-new stuff was on her bed Harry sat down there, starting the little girl into a chat with a couple of aimed questions at her new wand, her school robe and more. While Ginny talked on, Harry – always casually – started examining all her new books, from cover to cover.
"Harry, are you even listening?" asked Ginny at one point, only for Harry to show a big smile and say "Everyone finds Olivander creepy, Ginny. Ask your brothers". Inside, though, he was growing restless:
'Where is it?' was all he could focus about until he, with Ginny being finished with her tale and him not having any more books to check or reason to stay, had to leave – not before giving a series of flattering, and mostly sincere, compliments to the little girl for finally being enrolled at Hogwarts.
Stepping out of the room Harry passed his hand between his hair, feeling as old and stressed as possible. 'Fail' was what he thought, fully aware that things were, again, different – and again not in a positive way. 'He abandoned his plans? Gave it to someone else?' he continued mentally, thinking of what exactly could have changed. For what Harry could recall Malfoy giving Riddle's diary to Ginny was not an attempt to terrorize the school but a political move aimed at destroying the pro-muggle, pro-magical creatures side of the ministry. Sure, there could be other possible targets than the Weasley, but…
'Damn' thought Harry. It would have been so comfortable, so easy to simply pick up the diary and send it by owl to Dumbledore, together with an explanation about Horcruxes and a list of them. That would have solved lots of problems. 'I could still do it, but…' thought Harry 'but." he concluded sadly. Without an ironclad proof the passive headmaster might not even believe him, and even if he got another horcrux somewhere, the diary would still be around.
'Later' gave up finally Harry, stressed 'This can wait'.
Walking back to Ron's room, Harry laid down on the spare bed, giving a quick glance to Ron that was doing the same on his own, a quidditch magazine in his hands. Next to him, atop the small bedside table, he could see a rat, Ron's rat, sleeping peacefully in its cage. Smiling at the sight, and relaxing, Harry closed his eyes. 'It was still worth it coming here' he thought, recalling the last weeks and his decision to finally accept the invitation of the Weasley.
'I wonder if I will receive one ever again, though' he considered with inner sarcasm, recalling how easily he could get under Mr. Weasley's skin. Still, missing diary non withstanding, things did go reasonably well. Too bad recovering the diary was his main reason to come here.
'Uncle Vernon' thought suddenly Harry, as staying away from him was a boon in itself. Feeling himself falling asleep, Harry finally recalled how almost friendly Dudley had been of late. Almost like he had been later in life, once he became older and was away from his parents' influence. That was good, too, was his last semi-coherent thought before losing consciousness.
The rest of the evening went on normally, and so did the rest of the holiday. Harry's last days at the Weasley's were not that different from those before their visit to Diagon Alley, except for their growing preparations for Hogwarts and the rising number of "accidents" that seemed to happen to Percy whenever he walked out of his room. His face now marred by a constant scowl, one evening he seemed to get offended at his mother's guilt-ridden suggestion that "your brothers are only playful, you know" and started spending even more time all by himself.
The last day at the Burrow was spent with a huge feast of food, and some fireworks provided by Fred and George. Ron and Harry enjoyed one last game of Quidditch, and with that the holiday was over. The morning after started as a chaos of kids getting ready with last minute preparations, Harry excluded who simply looked at them with slight disappointment, Hedwig's cage and his own trunk ready since the evening before, until Mr. Weasley, seeing him idle, coopted him to load items inside his enchanted car.
Eventually the whole family was sitting comfortably inside the absurdly huge car. Harry couldn't avoid to roll his eyes at Mrs. Weasley's comment on how it seemed way bigger than what it looked like from outside, given how obvious it should have been that it was just magic. 'Love do make you blind' he thought, wondering if she was really unaware or that was just a way to tease her husband. Still, not desiring to stir any trouble, he remained silent. He couldn't stop a smile from appearing when he heard Mr. Weasley begging his wife to use the magical features he had installed, to no avail of course.
The trip itself was uneventful, except at the very start when the car had to be stopped several times as all the children, in rotation, all remembered something they forgot at home. Harry looked suspiciously at Ginny when she came back from her rush to recover what she had hinted was her "personal notebook" but be it the possessed diary or not, it was now stored safely in her bag and therefore out of his hands.
Finally, they arrived at King's Cross and stepped inside. Muggles, noises, and a lot of recommendations from Mrs. Weasley to her children – mostly for the twins, followed by what became an awkward hug to a silent Percy, and finally lot of hugs and sweet words towards Ginny, who looked herself torn between excitement and sorrow. After one last huge kiss to each of her parent's cheeks she too finally stepped inside, shortly before the train, with a loud whistle, started moving.
It was only once he was inside a compartment, wondering how to answer to Ron's question if he would remain with him and Ginny – the twins having already left to find their friends – or if he would go see the other 'puffs, that Harry remembered his old trip in Mr. Weasley's flying car.
'….that would have been fun' thought Harry, shrugging. If things were different because of his actions, there was not much he could do.
"Yes, well, I'll leave you two alone" said Harry standing up, sidestepping Crabbe and Goyle and getting out of the compartment, his good will in remaining with Ron easily overcome by the usual exchange of insults that followed Malfoy's visit to them. The two bickering boys barely noticed him going out, too focused on each other, which suited him perfectly: with a nod, he hinted at Ginny to follow, which she did without hesitation.
"Is that common?" she asked, perplexed.
"I fear so, yes. Your brother and that other boy, Draco Malfoy, started fighting from literally the first night at Hogwarts" said Harry, himself exasperated.
"I see. What should we do now?" asked Ginny.
"I won't leave you alone, Ginny, but you should meet your year mates. Making new friends is one of the best thing of starting at Hogwarts. Beside, you told me you already know someone, right?" said Harry.
"I do! Luna! I should introduce you to her, Harry, she is my best friend. Do you want to stay with us?" said Ginny, enthusiast.
"Not today, Ginny. This is your experience, you know?" said Harry, smiling and thinking of his past. "Let's find her together, but done that i am leaving to meet my house mates."
Said that, they started walking up and down the train, looking around for people they, mostly he, knew and greeting them over the glass doors whenever they met one. Gryffindors, Ravenclaws and Slytherins passed by – and he was satisfied to notice how he attracted neither hostility nor particular awe; it was surprising though that no Hufflepuffs of his year were in sight. He had even saw Hermione busy talking with some of her female housemates, and shortly after that he finally saw a small, weirdly dressed little girl with a recognizable copy of The Quibbler in hands. Ginny let a small sound of joy go at her sight, but then turned to Harry and - after a moment of hesitation - gave him a big bear hug, only to blush as red as possible and flee inside the compartment. Head shaking, but a smile on it, Harry moved on. Finally, near the very end of the train, he saw a compartment full of yellow-brown robed kids of the right age, all listening to a girl in their middle. Without bothering to knock, he went inside.
"Hello, everyone" said Harry.
The girl in the middle, Susan, replied loudly for the group "Hi, Harry!" while he heard a couple more murmured 'Hi' and saw some nods from the others. Sitting down next to Justin, Harry asked:
"So, what's new? Did I miss something?"
"Yes, yes! Scary news, Harry!" said Susan, excited.
"Not so scary, actually. Just worrisome" added Ernie.
"A homicide isn't scary?" asked Susan, almost offended.
"It did happen months ago, you know" said Zacharias, smirking.
"Still!"
"Who knows who did it" said Hannah, excited.
Megan – sitting in front of her – added "Or how! Inside the school? Plus he taught…" only to be interrupted by Zacharias:
"He wasn't exactly good at it"
"True enough" said Wayne.
Harry, meanwhile, was following this exchange with a confused expression on his face. "Ok, sure…" he said, but no one paid him attention, busy naming people or ways someone or something might have killed the mysterious victim. Finally, he turned to the only other silent student inside, Sally-Anne.
"Again, did I miss something?"
"Susan's aunt said that… well, you remember professor Quirrell, right?"
"Yes" said Harry, in a cold tone. Easy to understand what was to follow.
"Well, Susan's aunt - head auror, remember? Susan overheard her talking about how Quirrell wasn't injured last year, he was killed. Killed!" she concluded, almost with a whisper.
"I see. How? Why?" asked Harry.
"Oh, she didn't say it. The aunt, I mean. Just that they are still trying to find out who did it, but that they don't think he wants to hurt students too."
"She would say that anyway, I think" Added Justin on Harry's side, who must have overheard them talking.
"Yes, maybe. But he didn't attack a student, right? And he had his own target" added Sally-Anne.
"Yes, that Dumbledore thing" said Justin, nodding.
"Dumbledore what?" asked Harry, puzzled again.
"Oh. Yeah, Susan heard also that it was all fault of Dumbledore" said Justin, quoting with his fingers in the air "and that it has already been removed, whatever her aunt was talking about.
"I still think it's all connected to that third floor's deal from last year" said Wayne, him too now listening to their conversation.
"Maybe. Or maybe not. If only Susan asked his aunt…." said irritated Justin.
"She didn't want to" added Sally-Anne in a small voice.
"Yes, good kids shouldn't snoop on the adults" said Harry, distracted. The kids around him gave him a clear you-are-stupid look, with Wayne shaking his head and Justin adding "I can only hope you are joking, Harry".
"It's hard to tell though" added Wayne.
"Sure, sure. So, that is the big news you are all so upset about?" asked Harry.
"You have a better one?" asked Wayne, uncaring.
"Not really, no. Still, if Quirrell is dead, there should be a new teacher this year, right?" said Harry. This drew the attention of everyone, even those that were still talking between themselves.
"Right" said Ernie. "Wonder who will be."
"A witch, I am sure" said Zacharias, another smirk on his face "You know, all those dumb Lockhart's books"
"They are not dumb!" added forcefully Susan, Hannah nodding next to her.
"He is the best wizard ever!" said Justin.
"Really" said Zacharias, flatly. Justin didn't flinch, though.
"He did kill a lot of dark creatures, that's impressive" said Megan.
"And he is handsome" added Susan blushing a little.
"The cutest clown ever" said Wayne from his corner, receiving in exchange a glare from all the girls and Justin. He smiled at that, while Ernie and Zacharias – that probably had no idea what a clown even was – displayed only a confused expression.
"Why do you like him so much, anyway?" asked Harry to Justin.
"Haven't you read his books, Harry? They are damn cool! I am midway the vampires one, and I am already read Wanderings with werewolves."
"Didn't you love werewolves or something?" asked drily Zacharias.
"They are dangerous, right? Even Harry said so. And Lockhart killed lots of them, alone!" countered Justin, clearly over excited, while some of the boys shook their heads but added nothing. The girls, eventually, went back to chatting between themselves while Zacharias sent some mean comment to Justin who was more than happy to reciprocate. Wayne started looking outside of the window, uninterested, while Ernie - now busy opening his trunk to recover something – said to Harry:
"I already had one of his books, it's ok. But as textbooks, it's crazy, let me tell you".
"I agree on that, Ernie" said Harry with a small smile. "I certainly do".
Outside, the evening was about to end. Hogwarts was close, now.
AUTHOR'S NOTE: so, i am back. I was busy writing a technical book based on my job, it is done, getting it published is hard if not impossibile but i still am happy i completed it; anyway, now i can go back to this story. I never planned to abandon it, it was just... lower in my list of priorities. Just like last time i went on hiatus, i prepared several chapters before publishing a new one, as to make sure readers wouldn't have to, maybe, re-read my whole story and remember what happened in previous chapter only for a small update. There are 2 more chapters ready beside this one, and a third is in the making. So, if you are still following me... enjoy. Also, i retroactively changed Harry's original age from 86 to 116. Many commented on how he was actually young, by wizards standards, and they were right. I don't like to mess with old details, but that was inconsequential.