Disclaimer: Tried to read it, made my eyes bleed so I ended up making a couple dozen changes. Don't just make a wish-
Take a Wish
Harry endured the ride from the station in stoic silence. Sirius was dead, and Lily Potter's boy was completely screwed if the prophecy had any substance.
Hell, he was screwed even if the Prophecy had as much substance as the rest of the fraud's blathering since Voldemort was dumb enough to be taken in by it, which explained why the Most Dangerous Dark Lord (MDDL) in recent history was gunning for him. Harry had been lucky a number of times, unfortunately Voldemort only had to be lucky once.
"Bugger this!" Harry barked. "Let me out here."
"What?" Vernon growled.
"Would you rather dump me by the side of the road and forget about me or take me
home and spend the summer with me?" Harry asked.
The car screeched to a halt. "Get out."
"Knew you'd see it my way," Harry said cheerfully. He unloaded his trunk and owl. "Hope we never see each other again."
"Feeling is mutual," Vernon grunted.
"Then you might want to take your time getting home," Harry suggested. "More time before they notice I'm missing means less chance of us being mutually disappointed."
Vernon's response was to peel away from the curb and nearly clip a pedestrian in his hurry to get away.
"You know, Hedwig someday, I'm going to piss on his grave."
"Preck."
"You too, huh?"
Harry raised his wand and was rewarded by the appearance of a double decker bus.
"Welcome to the day bus," the conductor said loudly. "Discrete transport for the budget minded wizard."
"One to Diagon." Harry held out a handful of change. "This enough?"
"It is, lad," the conductor agreed. "We'll be there in a jiff."
A jiff, it turned out, was four and a half minutes. Two jiffs later, and Harry was in front of a teller.
"What do you want?" the goblin growled.
"Planning a trip abroad so I need a way to access my account for whatever the local currency is," Harry replied.
"Key," the goblin barked.
"Here you are."
The goblin rummaged through a small chest on his desk for several minutes before pulling out a small pouch. "This pouch will draw coins directly from your account and if you tap it three times with your wand then it will change into a muggle wallet which will allow you to draw the appropriate muggle currency. Will that be all?"
"I'll also need all of my transactions to be kept private." Harry hardened his features. "I do not want anyone finding out about any of my purchases."
"Of course not!" The goblin seemed mildly offended. "We pride ourselves on our confidentiality unless we're slipped a hefty bribe."
"How hefty?"
"Really hefty, and we'll cut you in for fifty percent."
"Seventy five," Harry said automatically.
"Sixty five, and we'll give them false information if you're willing to drop to sixty."
"Deal," Harry agreed.
"That all you needed?"
"I believe so," Harry agreed.
"Then get out, you're blocking the line."
Resisting the urge to smirk, Harry turned and slowly made his way towards the exit, hopeful that his plan to have an enjoyable summer would result in his first enjoyable summer ever.
From Gringotts, Harry made his way to the `Ye Olde Travel Shoppe' which was a small specialty shop for wizards and witches intending to spend time abroad. It also had what appeared to be a line of bizarre sex toys proudly displayed in the window. Harry thought it best not to enquire about them.
He heard a faint ringing sound as he opened the door and he looked around for the shop keeper.
"What can I do for you?" An old man approached. "Want a little something to spice up your love life? I've got just the thing for a boy your age, recommended personally by Hogwart's own Severus Snape." The man reached under the counter. "Got a picture of him using it down here somewhere."
"NO!" Harry took a deep breath. "That won't be . . . I'm planning to do a bit of traveling."
"Ah." The old man smiled with understanding. "Just graduated from one of the magic schools and now you want to go on a grand tour?"
"Something like that," Harry agreed.
"Then I have just the thing for you," the old man replied enthusiastically. "We call it the Devastator. Your girlfriend won't miss you a bit if you leave this baby behind to keep her company." The man pulled out a large cylindrical object the size of Harry's forearm. "Let me show you all the settings . . ."
"Actually," Harry interrupted. "I was hoping for some travel gear."
"Travel gear?" the man asked dumbly.
"Yes," Harry agreed.
"That a euphemism for one of the odd sex acts you kids like these days?"
"No, it means I want to travel around and . . . maybe it'd be best if I just went somewhere else."
"Wait! Sorry, kid, just don't get much call for travel gear. Almost had to close the shop till I got the idea to start my other product line," the shopkeeper said quickly. "Got plenty of travel gear here, in fact, I think I've got just what you need."
"Oh?"
"Yep, my patented ultimate backpackers' kit has everything the young wanderer could ask for, a large multi compartment leather, frame pack, charmed to be light as a feather which you'll need since it'll also hold more than a thousand times more than it looks like it should."
"Really?" Harry began to take an interest. "What else?"
"It comes with a portable stove, cookware, a tent, sleeping bag and much more," the shop keep was really getting into it. "Everything you need to travel anywhere from the tropics to the top of Mt Everest, this pack has it all."
"Wow." Harry was mildly impressed. "What else would you recommend for someone who was planning to drift around?"
"The pack contains all of the essentials but there are several items that I can recommend to make life more pleasant in addition to the pack." The old man looked at Harry's ragged appearance. "Such as my complete line of . . ."
"No," Harry interrupted. "Just no."
"How about some new clothing, something to help you with other languages, aguide book, my . . ."
"How bout you just give me everything you'd recommend and a portkey out ofhere?" Harry suggested.
"No problems kid. Might want to put these things on before you go." The shop keep put several items on the table. "These glasses will adjust to any prescription, and in addition to many other things, allow you to read any language. This silver hoop goes in either ear and converts any language you hear into English, this ring goes on whichever hand you use to write with and allows you to write any language, and finally this small bar of silver goes through your tongue and magically contorts your mouth to allow you to speak any language, in time and with enough use they will eventually teach you the languages that you use. This book." The man indicated a book entitled `Everything you will Ever Need to Know while Traveling around the World'. "Is full of useful information and . . . I would recommend that you read the warnings in the front about underage magic before you do anything else, and this set of clothing will magically alter its self to whatever is needed for whatever climate you are in, it has charms to be self-cleaning and self-repairing and it can change colors and styles with a thought."
"There's one more thing I'd like to get..." Harry paused, trying to think of the best way to phrase it.
"I think I know just what you want," the man agreed with a lewd wink.
"Not that!" Harry said quickly. "I was wondering if you had an item that would allow me to . . . blend in better?"
"Want to immerse yourself in the culture huh?" The storeowner nodded his head. "Got just the thing, this bracelet creates a powerful SEP field around you and it will help you remained unnoticed unless you commit an aggressive or incredibly strange act."
"Thanks." Harry gave a relived smile. "About that portkey?"
"Here you go lad." The man handed Harry a small stone.
"Thanks. Uh . . . you don't happen to have quill and some parchment I could use, do you? Mine is in the trunk I just loaded into the pack."
"Here you go, kid." The man handed the items over.
Harry crossed out the obsene letterhead before writing a short note and attaching the parchment to Hedwig's leg.
"Stay with Hermione this summer, girl," Harry ordered.
"Preck?" Puppydog eyes from an owl was one of the stranger things Harry had experienced since he'd entered the wizarding world.
"It's just, I'm not sure I'll be able to get a lot of bacon this summer and Hermione told me her dad likes to eat it every morning so . . ."
Hedwig had heard enough. She hopped off Harry's shoulder and soared through the shopkeeper's window and off to the land of morning bacon.
"Sorry about that," Harry said. "How much do I owe you?"
"Don't worry about it Harry." The man smiled at Harry's shocked look. "Consider it a belated thanks for looking out for us and an apology for believing dreck printed in the Prophet. Portkey is untraceable and it will take you to Holland right about . . ." Harry disappeared. "Now. Hope you have fun in the red light district." And he hoped the girls enjoyed the full selection of stock he'd included in Harry's travel kit.
IIIIIIIIII
Pandemonium would best word to describe the scene outside number 4 Privet Drive when the Dursleys arrived without Harry, followed closely by chaos and despair. Not one of the many Order guards thought to do anything but blame the other guards for quite some time, a consequence of the competent members having a mysterious other responsibility called a job. And so it was several minutes before Albus Dumbledore arrived with a retinue of people that could count higher than ten without removing their shoes and higher than twenty without removing their trousers.
"The Dursleys say that he had them drop him off in London, Professor," one of the Order members reported to the Headmaster. "Says that he didn't want to stay with them and decided to just leave."
"I found something in their car that was handled by Harry." Remus Lupin ran up brandishing a small paper pamphlet. "Its got his scent all over it."
"Thank you, Remus." The Headmaster accepted the small pamphlet. "I believe it's time I went and had a chat with Harry's friends about his whereabouts."
The Headmaster appeared before a small upper-class suburban home and rang the doorbell once; twice, three times, aha aha aha!
"Hello?" A good looking woman answered the door, she gave the old wizard a once over. "I'm afraid we're not interested in joining your religion." She slammed the door shut and Dumbledore heard her engage the dead bolt.
"Fetch, Minerva," he whispered to one of his lackeys.
"Yes, Headmaster," the lackey agreed.
The Deputy Headmistress arrived a few minutes later and was able to clear up the misunderstanding with a minimum of fuss.
"Greetings. I am the Headmaster at Hermione's school and I was wondering if I could speak with her," he said in what he thought was a firm and powerful voice.
The woman shot McGonagall a look of naked skepticism.
"He really is," Minerva whispered to Hermione's mother.
"I suppose it couldn't hurt," the woman agreed. "So long as Minerva is there to act as chaperone of course."
"Of course," Albus echoed.
"Professor Dumbledore," a bushy headed young woman called from atop a stair case. "I'm glad that you got my letter, but I didn't expect to see you this soon."
"You invited him?" Her mother sighed, she was going to have to have a serious talk with the girl later.
"I'm afraid that I didn't get any letter Ms. Granger," Dumbledore replied. "What was the problem?"
"I got a strange note from Harry that I thought you should know about," the intelligent young witch said in a tone conveying deep concern for her friend. "And I was hoping that you would check to see if he was doing okay."
"I'm afraid that I can not provide you with the assurances that I wish I could," Dumbledore said, taking a deep breath. "Harry had his uncle drop him off somewhere in London, and he has been missing for several hours."
"You don't think he got captured do you?" Hermione squeaked.
"Rest assured that I've had no information that would lead me to that conclusion." The Headmaster reached into his robes and pulled out the worn pamphlet that had been found by Remus Lupin. "I'm afraid the only clue we have is this brochure that we found in his relatives' car."
"May I see that Professor?" Hermione took the pamphlet gently. "This looks like a standard handout from one of the charity organizations that were in the Muggle Portion of King's Cross."
"Why do you think that Harry kept it?"
"Well, this particular charity tries to help sick children and . . ." The pretty young witch paled. "Harry must think he's going to die."
"What do you mean by that Ms. Granger?" the Headmaster demanded. "What leads you to that conclusion?"
"This belongs to the `Make A Wish Foundation' they do things to bring happiness to terminally ill children." Hermione brandished the pamphlet. "Harry must have learned something that makes him think that he doesn't have much time left to live."
"I see." The Headmaster's shoulders dropped. "So you believe that's why he chose not to return to live with his family?"
"He must want to make the most of the time he has left," Hermione said, holding back tears. "Not to spend it with people he hates."
"Hates? Surely you're overstating things."
"I said what I mean," Hermione barked. "Why did you put him with those people anyway?"
"I did what I thought was best at the time." He sighed. "Thank you, you've been most helpful." The Headmaster gave Hermione a sad smile and disappeared with a faint pop.
After Dumbledore's disappearance, Hermione ran up to her room and reread the short note that had been sent along with Hedwig, clutching it to her chest she let the tears fall and hoped for the safe return of her best friend.
Hermione,
Please look over Hedwig this summer.
Harry
P.S.
Don't ever go shopping for travel supplies in Diagon Alley.
IIIIIIIIII
Harry's hand immediately went to his wand after the tug of the portkey disappeared. It hadn't ended well the last time he had a surprise portkey activation so it's understandable why he was a bit jumpy.
"Welcome to Amsterdam kid," a man in a strange uniform greeted him with a smile.
"Hello." Harry put his wand in his pocket and took a couple deep breaths.
"Papers?" The man held out his hand expectantly.
"Um, just a moment," Harry stammered, trying to stall for time as he tried to figure out what to do. "I know I have them here somewhere."
"Take your time." The man's demeanor became decidedly colder as he began to regard Harry with suspicion.
"One second." Harry reached into his new pack, trying to think of some way to keep his vacation from ending before it began. Within seconds, his fingers brushed up against a small leather booklet. Pulling it out, Harry looked at it dumbly, trying to figure out what it was.
"Thank you, sir." The man carefully took the small booklet out of Harry's hands and began examining it. "Oh, I'm sorry Mr. Black, I didn't realize that you were stalling out of embarrassment."
"Yes, well I . . ." Harry replied eloquently.
"No need to say a thing," the man said as he stamped several pages in the small book. "I understand what it's like to have an odd name and none need know anything but your last name."
"Thanks." Harry took his Passport back and resisted the urge to ask what in the hell the customs agent was talking about. "You wouldn't happen to know a good place to stay the night would you?"
"Tourist information outside and to the left, you can't miss it."
"Thanks again," Harry replied. "And have a good day."
"You as well, Mr. Black." The Customs Agent gave him one last grin before waving him through the gates.
The second that he was out of the Customs Agent's sight, Harry pulled out the small leather covered booklet that had been identified as his Passport an opened it to see what had drawn the man's attention. It took several seconds of examination before he found it under the name section.
Apparently he was named `Nothrri Hez Padamus Da Grim Nomed Black,' it was also apparent that the salesman back in Diagon Alley knew entirely too much, and had a rather `odd' sense of humor.
"Least he didn't name me after his bloody toys," Harry mumbled to himself, even if the name 'The Devastator™' did sound a bit cool.
Tourist information told him how to get into town and once in town, it only took Harry about five minutes to find the hotel and get himself a room. Walking over to his bed he prepared to take a short nap before going out to explore the world, then he remembered the salesman's advise to read the first page of the book. Pulling it out, he flipped to the warning and began to read.
A warning to parents with school aged children:
It is a little known fact that the tracking charms placed by the various
governments on the wands of underage children are only effective in their
country of origin. This means that if the tracking charm was cast in England
then your child could perform underage magic in any country besides England
without fear of being caught. This problem is further exasperated by the Ignotus
charm which can be used to remove tracking charms from a tracked wand. This
problem is not insurmountable and so long as your child does not learn and
perform the Dolus charm, then your child's wand can be checked regularly by any
number of detection spells to insure that they have not removed the tracking
charms. If however your child does perform the Dolus charm on their wand after
performing the Ignotus charm, then there is no known way that their wand can be
accurately checked for the absence of the Ministry mandated tracking charms
because of the fact that the Dolus charm will give out a false positive and
prevent the application of any new tracking charms.
For information purposes only, the proper wand movements and incantations for
both the Ignotus and Dolus charms are provided below. You may also note that at
the beginning of each country section a list of restricted and illegal spells is
provided along with a list of useful spells, also for information purposes only.
Harry blinked for a few moments as the knowledge sunk in and a smirk appeared on his face as he realized why the shopkeeper had insisted that he read the warning in the beginning of the book before he did anything else. Not a day into his summer holiday and things were already beginning to look up.
Placing his book back into his pack, Harry stretched out on his bed for a few hours of sleep. After all, even a socially deprived kid who was raised in a cupboard knows that it's best to explore Amsterdam at night.
In the Red-Light District, Harry found himself overwhelmed by the sights, the smells, the lights, and the people.
Peeking into one of the many windows, taught Harry more about human anatomy than had been taught by Ron's older brothers and his twenty minute stroll had taught him more about the world than he had learned from the rest of his years combined.
Face red and head spinning with new experiences; Harry beat a hasty retreat to the relative safety of hotel room, deciding that maybe it would be best to explore during the day, allowing himself the luxury of easing into the night life.
Awaking early the next morning, Harry dressed himself and walked down to the hotel's lobby.
"Good morning," he greeted a pair of Swedish backpackers.
"Hello," the two Swedish girls replied, grinning at the confused look on his face. "First time in Amsterdam?"
"Yes it is, everything is just so . . ."
"Yes it can be a bit overwhelming can't it?" Swedish girl number two agreed. "We've been here several times and we still find it a bit overwhelming at times."
"If you've been here several times, then what do you suggest I do?" Harry asked the buxom twosome.
"Why don't you go down to one of the coffee shops and get some brownies," Swedish girl number one suggested with a wink.
"Thanks," Harry said. "I could do with something sweet right now."
Waving goodbye to his two new friends, Harry walked across the street to one of Amsterdam's infamous coffee shops.
"Good morning," the Barista greeted him. "What can I get for you today?"
"Some girls recommended that I try some of your brownies."
"Alright." The man nodded cheerfully. "Anything to drink?"
"Could I get a cup of tea with milk?" At the man's nod, Harry continued, "Add the tea to the milk and don't stir."
"Just take a seat and I'll have it right out."
Nodding in understanding, Harry found himself a seat in one of the corner tables. After a short amount of time, the barista came out with a tray containing a large mug of tea and a plate full of brownies.
"Enjoy." The man gave Harry a knowing wink before returning to his place behind the counter.
Taking his first tentative bite of the baked goods, Harry was surprised at how good it tasted, chocolaty with a hint of something that he couldn't identify.
He felt a strange sort of calm fall over his body as he ate and sipped his tea; for the first time that he could remember he felt relaxed, he felt like a normal person, he felt like none of his problems mattered anymore.
After several hours and several cups of tea, Harry rose to his feet and walked out of the coffee shop intent on finding some lunch at the restaurant on the other side of the avenue. Moments after Harry found his table the peace of the day was shattered by the sounds of a four incoming Apparations.
Figuring that the Order had found him and that his vacation had come to an end, Harry looked out the large picture window and was shocked to see the street filled not with Order members, but with figures in black robes and white masks.
"We know you're here Potter!" one of the masked figures called out. "Come out and none of these muggles have to get hurt."
A couple of the others were amusing themselves by torturing one of the 'presumably' innocent bystanders.
Harry took a deep breath. This was it, another battle against impossible odds, another chance to . . . his eyes widened in shock. Suspended above the bunched up Death Eaters was a rather large piano, supported only by a thick hemp rope. A quick severing charm took care of the rope and gravity was kind enough to take care of the rest.
And after summoning their wands and hitting them each with a couple insurance stunners, he cautiously approached the crushed figures.
Walking around the puddle and up to the apparent leader of the detachment who'd been 'lucky' enough to have been far enough away from the rest of the group to survive, Harry removed the man's shattered mask and spent a few minutes examining the man's crushed face. The steady rise and fall of the bastard's chest let Harry know that he had at least one survivor.
"Enervate," Harry incanted. "What exactly was your purpose here?"
"I'm not saying a thing," the Death Eater growled defiantly, the effects of the previous stunner dulling the pain to the point that the man had yet to feel his injuries. "I know my rights and you can't force me to do a thing."
"That's not strictly true," Harry replied. "You see, I am not an employee of any magical government."
"So?"
"So look around and consider this; until a representative of the Dutch Ministry arrives, I get to play with you all I want. Now talk!" Harry ordered.
"Y-you can't do this," the Death Eater sobbed. "You're one of the good guys."
"No," Harry disagreed. "I'm just a guy on vacation. Now do you want to survive to be turned over to law enforcement or not?"
"We were here to capture Harry Potter."
"How did you find him?" Harry asked.
"One of the Dark Lord's followers at Hogwarts placed a tracking charm on the boy in an attempt to find out where he lives over the summer. I guess that muggle loving Headmaster of his didn't bother to check his golden boy."
"Stupefy." Harry looked down at the Death Eater in disgust, it appeared that Tom had been recruiting; it also appeared that he hadn't managed to get any competent new followers. It further appeared that someone had better get there soon to hit the man with a couple clotting charms before he bled out.
"Staatstovenaars stay where you are." Several wizards in official looking robes approached with wands drawn. "Slowly place your wand on the ground and then put your hands up."
"I would rather not put my wand on the ground," Harry was careful not to make any sudden movements, "one of these morons might be playing dead and I would rather not give him my wand." Not to mention the fact that it was a bitch to get blood stains out of wood.
"Slowly hold your wand by the tip and hold it above your head," an intimidating looking witch commanded. "Then walk towards me."
"Alright," Harry agreed. "I don't suppose that you'd believe me if I were to tell you that I didn't have anything to do with this?"
"I'd find that very hard to believe," the witch agreed.
"Alright, but I only had a little to do with this?"
"I'm not going to buy that either," she replied with a grin.
"I suppose saying that they some how managed to crush themselves is right out, huh?" Harry sighed, there went his vacation.
"Just give me your wand," the witch laughed. "And bear in mind that my partners will turn you into a puddle to match theirs™ if you try anything."
"I'll be good," Harry agreed.
The witch relaxed quite a bit after he had taken Harry's wand. "Now sir, if I could take your statement?"
"Sure." Harry nodded and then added hopefully, "I don't suppose that you could take my statement while I got something to eat?"
"You've still got an appetite after what happened?" she asked incredulously.
"So long as you aren't with them," the man motioned towards the death eaters, "then I don't care if you give your statement standing on your head Mr.?"
"Black, I'm not." Harry gave his most charming smile. "May I lower my arms, they're starting to cramp."
"You may," the woman said. "I am Staatstovenaar Annie Van Der Mijer. Could you tell me what happened here?".
"Well, I was just sitting down for lunch when they appeared." Harry motioned towards the fallen Death Munchers. "They made a couple threats and used a couple unforgivables, so I took care of them."
"Did you have any assistance?" Staatstovenaar Van Der Mijer asked quickly.
"No, not unless you count gravity," Harry joked.
"There were four of them, how did you manage to get all of them yourself?" Her voice was tinged with a bit of awe.
"What we have here is the absolute worst that Voldemort has in his service. I managed to win because I had surprise, luck, and physics on my side," Harry explained.
"I see," the woman said slowly. "Do you have anything else to add?"
"The leader said something about using a tracking charm to hunt someone." Harry grimaced. "And being the suspicious sort that I am, I was wondering if you would be willing to check me for such a charm and if necessary remove it?"
"Of course." The woman performed several complex wand movements. "You were correct, you did have such a spell but I do not believe that it was placed by a Death Eater."
"Why not?"
"It was rather amateurishly done; I'd say that whoever placed it couldn't be out of school."
"Thank you," Harry said. "Probably just a prank then, but one can never be too careful."
"I agree, find a seat, and if the other witnesses corroborate your story then your wand will be returned and you will be free to go," she said.
"Even with three dead?"
"Death Eaters and self defense," she replied.
"Thank you," Harry said politely. "May I ask you one question?"
"You may."
"Are these attacks common in The Netherlands?"
"No," she said quickly, the woman paused to think. "I believe that this is only the second in the last twenty years, normally they confine their activities to the UK."
"Thank you, with luck, it will be another twenty years before you have to deal with another."
"I'd rather we never have to deal with another," the woman replied. "If you will just wait here for a moment, I'd just like converse with my colleagues for a moment before we continue."
"Sure thing." Harry took a seat on the curb.
The woman favored Harry with one last smile then she walked out of earshot to another group of Staatstovenaars. "Well?"
"The witnesses all agree that a group of men in black robes appeared and began yelling something about something in English." The man checked his notes. "The man Black came out of the cafe and attacked, he then walked up to the fallen Death Eaters and hit them with a red light, and then we arrived. All told it sounds like the fight was over in ten seconds or less."
"Alright," the woman agreed. "What else?"
One of the other Staatstovenaar pulled out his note book. "Each of the suspects suffered massive blunt force trauma, looks like they were down before they even had time to fight back." He glanced at Harry. "Whoever this guy is, he doesn't like to play around."
Staatstovenaar Van Der Mijer took out her own notebook. "We have a male of unknown nationality and age that by his own account defeated four Death Eaters before they had a chance to cast a single spell at him, though in his professional option was that they were new recruits. He speaks perfect Dutch with a Haarlem accent, and, the woman paused, "and he has an unknown magical effect that makes it difficult for me to give a description. Any ideas on who we're dealing with here?'
"Whoever he is, he's good." One of the men bit his lower lip. "I know most of the Staatstovenaars in The Netherlands, so maybe an experienced Staatstovenaar from another country?"
"I disagree," one of the others said, shaking his head. "I can count on one hand the people who are good enough to do something like this, and most of them are missing so many body parts that they couldn't be him even under heavy disguise."
"And the ones that aren't?" Van Der Mijer asked quietly.
"Had their minds shattered by over exposure to the Cruciatus Curse," the Staatstovenaar finished sadly. "Whoever he is, wherever he came from, I can't say."
"I see," Van Der Mijer sighed. "I'll go talk to him and get more of a statement, maybe he'll let something slip."
"I wouldn't count on it," her partner said. "Men like him don't make mistakes."
"Then wish me luck," she said over her shoulder as she began walking towards the enigmatic Mr. Black.
"Well?" Harry asked.
"Your story checks out," she said. "If you want, we can go to a restaurant where you can get something to eat and I can get a more detailed statement."
"Fine," Harry agreed. "Is there anywhere around here that you would suggest we go?"
"Would you prefer wizard or non?"
"Either is fine," Harry replied. "So long as it tastes good and there's a lot of it."
"Then I would suggest we go over to the magical section of Kalverstraat, they've got a restaurant that claims they will serve anything the customer can think of."
"Sounds fine, is it far from here?"
"Just around the corner."
"Then let's go," Harry said, eager to finally get his lunch, he'd been feeling unusually hungry since he'd finished those brownies.
Harry followed the Dutch Law Enforcement Officer through a series of twists and turns until they came to a small cafe in the mouth of a street that branched off the main.
"Here we are," she said.
"Great." Harry looked at the cafe with approval. "Let's find a table."
"Please follow me," the waiter announced his presence. "Will you be requiring a menu?"
"No thank you." Harry waved the man off. "I'll be ready to order in a few minutes, to start with though could you bring me something to drink?"
"Right away, sir"
"I'm afraid that I don't know much about Dutch Food," Harry said. "What would you suggest I order?"
"I've always liked the Limburgs Zuurvlees," the woman responded after a moment of contemplation.
"Thank you, and feel free to order something for yourself."
"Thank you."
After a short wait, the waiter had taken their orders and the curious Staatstovenaar pulled out her notebook, eager to get her questions answered.
"So, Mr. Black, what made you think that those Death Eaters were new recruits?"
"Experience." Harry took a sip of his drink. "I've faced several members of the inner circle and each one of them would have been quicker to throw curses." Harry laughed."Voldemort has very few followers that are anything more then low grade thugs, even his inner circle attempts to substitute sadism for skill and the four I faced didn't even measure up to that low standard."
"I see." The woman attempted to hide her surprise. "Do you think that we'll see more of them?"
"I don't know," Harry replied. "My guess would be that they were not working on an official mission, so there is a good chance that Volde won't care what happened to them."
"Why do you think that?"
"It sounded as if they were hunting someone. An official hunting party would be commanded by a high ranking Death Muncher, for an important target it would be a member of the inner circle," Harry lectured. Stopping when the waiter returned with the food and waited until the man was out of earshot. "The leader of this group was a low level flunky; my guess was that they were on an operation of their own in hopes of eliminating the target on their own in some misguided attempt to curry favor with their master."
"I see." Definitely a professional, the woman thought to herself. "I noticed that you started out with lethal force and only used a stunner after the Death Eaters were down?"
"Yes I did," Harry agreed. "Another lesson I learned the hard way is that a stunner is rather easy to counter, but broken bones and crushed skulls keeps your opponent down."
"I'll keep that in mind. Just who are you Mr. Black?"
"I'm just a guy on a vacation to try to find something he's never had," Harry replied.
"And what's that?"
"Life."
AN: I've got two problems with the fic as it is now. The first is that it's missing the underling idea that Harry's given up. In the first version, I had a lot of 'sad smile' which was not good writing in my opinion. The second is that I'm not sure about the Piano scene, I like it but I don't think it's first chapter material. Also hated the oil scene so I'd have to figure out something else.
Announcements: Look in my profile and you'll find the link to anthology that has a short story by me. It's the first story in the book and you can get a lot of it for free if you've got some way of reading Kindle files.
Thanks go to dogbertcarrol for a lot of editing.
Typos by: sv_bunga, stratagemini, several by Jenifer Winterbine, Rick – DEL, Howard.
Missing line pointed out by: oathsblood
Thanks go to Finbar for providing me with a lot of suggestions and information on back packing around Europe. And Roos AKA Aria-Chan who gave me a lot of info on the Netherlands.