Hogwarts
The anticipation for the first match had been building to a fever pitch all week. Game time was almost here as the students and staff made their way into the stadium. The seats to one side of the pitch filled with the blue and bronze of Ravenclaw while the seats opposite them filled with the Canary yellow and black of Hufflepuff. Everywhere else in the stadium, the house colors of Ravenclaw and Hufflepuff were mixed together as individual students and teachers cheered for their favorite team. The support for each team was fairly even, unlike the matches between Slytherin and Gryffindor where one fourth of the school was green and silver while everyone else showed scarlet and gold. Harry and most of his friends were for the badgers. As was the norm, Lee Jordan was on the mike.
"Welcome to the Quidditch Inter-House Competition. The teams have been practicing hard and I have never seen them more fit or on-form than they are this season. For the first match of the year, please welcome, in blue and bronze, Ravenclaw!"
A mighty cheer erupted from the throats of all the students sporting the team colors and most of the other students as well. Distinct, even with all the other cheering could be heard the cry of an eagle coming from the animated, life-sized eagle on Luna's hat.
Lee continued after the cheering began to die down, "And wearing yellow and black, please give it up for Hufflepuff!"
The crowd went wild as the Yellow and black clad players pumped their fists in the air.
When the cheering began to settle down again, Madame Hooch, with the ball crate sitting next to her, gave a blast on her whistle for quiet and began to address the players, "Alright folks. You know the rules, but I'm going to go over a few of them. A double blast on the whistle means that play is stopped. A single blast to resume play. Failure to heed the whistle will result in a suspension. There will be no direct physical contact between players. That is a foul and will result in a penalty shot. Arguing with the referee will get you ejected from the game as will" she glared at the Beaters, "using those bats on anything other than the Bludgers. Are there any questions?" She looked at each of the 14 players in turn. They returned her gaze with a faint shake of the head. "Very well then. Captains, shake hands".
The two captains stepped forward and grinned fiercely as they pumped each other's hands twice and let go
Madame Hooch roared out, "Mount your brooms!"
The crowd went wild as 14 broomsticks rose into the air and the players took up their positions. She released the Snitch as the Seekers watched it fly off and disappear around the Hufflepuff goal posts. A moment later, she released the Bludgers, then rising into the air on her own broom; she gave a blast on her whistle and threw the Quaffle into the air at center field.
Lee began his commentary, "Davies and Smith dive for the Quaffle. And it's Davies for Ravenclaw leading the charge. He dodges the Bludger. Good try, McManus. He's small, but he's fast. Davies takes his shot… Amazing! Caldwell comes up with the ball!
"Now it's Smith for Hufflepuff, charging right up the middle. Ouch! That's got to hurt! He fails to dodge a Bludger from Summers. Chambers comes up with the Quaffle. And its Chambers flanked by Corner and Bradley charging the Hufflepuff hoops. Bludger blocked by Corner. Pass to Bradley and O! Summerby didn't get a hold of that one. It's 10 zero for Ravenclaw!"
Madame Hooch gave a double blast on her whistle then summoned the Quaffle. She flew back out to center field. With a single blast, she threw the Quaffle in the air and play resumed.
Lee continued his commentary, "Smith is with the Quaffle flanked by McMillan and Whitby. McMillan misses the Bludger. Sloth-grip roll by Smith. Pass to Whitby. McManus gets a piece of that Bludger and Chang is going to have to dodge it. Here comes Cadwallader up the outside. The pass is good. He takes his shot and… Page makes the save! Passed back out to Chambers. It's Chambers for Ravenclaw charging up the side with Smith in hot pursuit. Bludger well hit by McManus. Chambers passes to Davies, but interception by Smith and Hufflepuff has the Quaffle. Wow! A reverse Immelman and Smith has the Ravenclaw goal all to himself! He takes his shot and beats Page! It's all tied up at ten all".
Madame Hooch gave a double blast on her whistle and a Bludger hit Smith in the back of the head.
Lee commentated again, "Ouch! Late Bludger. That came off the bat of Ravenclaw Beater, Summers. Penalty shot to Hufflepuff. Don't worry about Smith, folks. His head is a lot harder than any Bludger. He'll be taking the penalty shot for Hufflepuff. Smith has the Quaffle. He feints to the left, deeks to the right and… It's straight through the center hoop! 20 to ten for Hufflepuff!"
A moment after play resumed, Cho dived through the center of the scrum. Lee commented, "It looks like Cho has spotted the Snitch! Summerby is right behind her! They are pushing their Comet 260's to their limit! Chang is in the lead. CanSummerby catch her? And it's, it's… A Wronski Feint! Summerby narrowly avoids getting plowed!"
Cho nearly fell off her broom laughing as she went off to circle the Hufflepuff goal posts. Summerby merely shook his fist at her as he made a lap of the pitch, trying to spot the Snitch.
The game heated up from there. When Cho spotted the Snitch for real, McManus nearly knocked her off her broom with a well-aimed Bludger but Summerby lost sight of the Snitch in the shuffle. As the game pressed on, it became clear that the Bludger to the head that Smith took early on had affected him. He just wasn't as sharp as he ought to be. Ravenclaw out-scored their chasers nearly two to one. After nearly two hours, tempers were getting short and the Beaters were really having a field day.
Lee gave a great commentary, "It's Smith for Hufflepuff with the Quaffle. He dodges Bradly! Pass to Cadwallader. Corner really smacked that Bludger! Cadwallader passes… and it's an interception! Davies for Ravenclaw with the Quaffle charging up the middle with Smith and Whitby on his tail! There's McManus with the Bludger. Pass to Chambers and… He beats Caldwell! It's 100 to 70 for Ravenclaw!"
As the play resumed, Cho made a dive from high over centre-field to the Hufflepuff goal posts at top speed. Lee picked up the commentary, "It Looks like Chang has spotted the Snitch! She's heading for the Hufflepuff end in a hurry! Summerby is on his way. She's making a dive for the goal posts! Summerby is right behind her! Is this another Feint? No, she has seen the real thing. And Cho Chang for Ravenclaw comes up with the Snitch! It's all over! Final score 250 to 70 for Ravenclaw!"
There was a double blast from Madame Hooch's whistle and the charge lead by smith to the Ravenclaw goal came to an abrupt halt. The entire stadioum erupted in an ear-splitting cheer and Luna's hat gave forth with a screech as the animated eagle stretched out its wings.
The sea of blue and bronze left the stadium with Cho, Davies and Page carried on their shoulders. The whole team had performed well and they were heading off to the Great Hall to begin their celebrations. And celebrate they did, well into the night. Even the Hufflepuffs gave them warm congratulations on a game well played. It was, after all, Quidditch.
With the first match of the season over, Harry knew it would be mere hours before tensions would start building up for the most anticipated match between Gryffindor and Slytherin. It was only a week away. He knew how much his team wanted it and he couldn't imagine that the Slytherins wanted it any less. He had seen Hufflepuff and Ravenclaw play today. They were good, better than he had ever seen them play, but he knew that Gryffindor would have the edge over them. The only question mark in his mind was, "Just how good, with their entire team outfitted with Nimbus 2001s, will the Slytherin team be?" One thing for sure, in one week's time, Harry was going to find out.
Dorset
The trials were supposed to start the next day and Remus had started to write the article to be sent to Potions Today on Harry's behalf. The article was about the potion, the substituted ingredient and the changes that Harry had made detailing how it worked differently from Wolfsbane Potion. The only thing that they needed was a name to commercialize the product. He knew that the potion would be a game changer more important than the Sleak-eazy potion. Harry had expressed his wishes to sell this as a not for profit product but it would still bring in healthy returns. Harry had a good heart but he did not see the bigger picture so it was Remus's job. If it had been before the anti-werewolf laws were scrapped, he would have seconded Harry's decision to sell it at cost but things had changed since then. He knew that those in Voldemort's employ were given a paycheck for their services to him. Although it was not a lot, it was more than enough to pay for this potion. If Voldemort had anything to say about it, he would rather that they take no potion at all. Mindless monsters spreading terror and lycanthropy everywhere they went fit in with his plans just fine.
As for those werewolves who were staying neutral or actively working on the side of light, they were able to get good paying jobs now. Harry and Remus employed as many of them as they could. Many wizarding families were also beginning to employ them. Under the influence of the new potion and with the anti-werewolf legislation repealed, they turned out to be tireless workers and generally happy to have gainful employment. They were also very difficult to harm with anything other than silver, they could see well in the dark and many of them were beginning to replace trolls in security work. All things considered, there were very few werewolves left in Wizarding Britain who were not employed on one side or the other. It took a bit of convincing, but Remus managed to talk Harry into selling the potion at a modest profit, using the argument that he could plow all the profits back into researching a cure for lycanthropy. Besides, this stuff could be sold at one -seventh of the price of the old stuff and still clear a profit without causing any hardship.
Thanks to Griphook's efforts, Harry's ventures were earning buckets full of galleons every month, but due to long neglect, it was all going back out again for repairs and upgrades. It would be about another year before many of his properties began to show profits again.
There was also the matter of his businesses which were still under stasis. The Weber estates were mostly in Germany and there was no regent managing them. Of course, property under stasis earned nothing at all. He would have to visit Germany to determine what needed to be done and hire agents to manage things there. Griphook assured him that the Weber funds were well invested and growing, but the property would need more of a personal touch.
In fact, Griphook had told him that they would be receiving a letter from the German Ministry of Magic soon. As a lord of one of their Houses, Harry was obligated to show his presence there even if it was just for a few days and he had no intention to settle there.
There was also an issue which he expected would arise after the new potion was available for distribution. The potion was regulated by the Ministry and ICW guidelines. It was not just sold to anybody but only registered lycanthropes. This meant that every werewolf who wanted to obtain the potion legally had to come forward and register and that subsequently, the ministry could track them. It was quite understandable that with the very recently repealed anti-werewolf legislation, many werewolves were reluctant to be registered, tracked and possibly branded. This was the very reason that many werewolves were not registered in the first place. There was sure to be a huge political uproar in the Wizengamot over it. He would need Harold Peverell to deal with it because as a werewolf he had a definite vested interest. He was not against the registry per se but was opposed to the idea of branding them so that the ministry could keep a handle on their lives. It was this aspect which would need to be discussed and a decision would have to be made about it.
Hogwarts
The eagles were very exuberant that day having won the first match of the season and by such a wide margin. It had put them in the first place for the House Cup since they rarely lost any points during the year. Gryffindor was a close second, tailing them by only 50 points. Hufflepuff was not too far behind because even their loss had netted them 70 points toward the house championship. The Slytherins were in last place this year because Professor Hughes was very liberal with deducting points from students who failed to show appropriate respect in her class.
Harry had also lost some points this year but not as many as he did in previous years. He had hardly lost 50 points but had earned a lot. Gryffindor would have been in the lead but the twins who indulged in pranks as a matter of course, were still getting caught far too often and had points deducted off them. Sirius had asked Harry if he was ever caught pranking someone and when Harry said he was too clever for that, Sirius chortled that if there was no proof left, nobody would believe his claims. He and James still made the teachers shudder with fright because their pranks were phenomenal and they had been implicitly named in the act. Boxes full of detention slips in Filch's office with their deeds were a testament to their brilliance. The way Sirius had talked about his reputation as a prankster, he almost made Harry feel ashamed because he did not even have one detention for pranking this year so far and he had pulled some of the most spectacular pranks. Hell, he did not even know if there was a record about his and Ron's arrival at the school in the flying car at the start of second year. This could not stand. Sirius would never let him live in peace for a moment if there was no one to sing of his brilliance as a prankster.
He decided to enlist help from some of his classmates for what he had thought namely Susan and Neville because Hannah, Ron and Hermione were prefects and Hermione was a stickler for rules. Ronald would by default be included in the group. That left Neville and Susan. However that sort of prank would need more time. He could start small. It was really simple to get caught though. Just a flash of wand and a priori incantatem would be enough to get him a detention. He also knew the first victims- poor Vincent Crabbe and Gregory Goyle and the perfect person to catch him- Professor Cassandra Lester. The Wizarding Ethics professor, from what he heard, was a very soft spoken person but adhered to rules and most of the Weasley Twin's detentions were given by her.
That was a thing for later because right now, Susan was sitting with him at the Gryffindor table and he was talking to her telling her that losing one match did not mean that they were out of the running for the title though he knew Hufflepuff had very faint hopes to win against Gryffindor. Mandy Brocklehurst slipped in beside him and it was a first. As far as he knew, none of the eagles had ventured to the Lion's table yet.
She was addressing the twins, "You two, cough up".
They pressed a handful of Galleons into her open palm which she pocketed and Harry asked her, "Did you bet on the match?"
She grinned, "Oh yes, it was a good bet. I put in 5 Galleons and got twenty five, not to mention, I won 70 in the last betting pool".
Harry asked her curiously, "How many betting pools are actually running in the school?"
She said grinning, "Right now, there are none however the last one ended the day you patched up with Bones here. Next is the Gryffindor-Slytherin match where these two are offering 10 to 1 for a Slytherin win over Gryffindor, not that there are many takers for that one. Another bet is that you will catch the snitch this time too. They are offering 20 to 1 that Malfoy will catch the snitch and almost nothing if you catch the Snitch. Since I started at Hogwarts, I have participated in at least 20 pools out of which, 15 were about you".
The twins had been frantically making hand gestures to Mandy to stop talking but it looked like the Ravenclaw had not noticed. When she finished telling, they quickly left the table.
Harry's mouth was open in surprise, "Betting pool? On me? Who participates in them?"
"Oh, all of us do. Even the teachers bet heavily in your favour. The first task of the tournament was the biggest one yet where I was getting 20 to 1 that you would survive the task. House of Slytherin had bet heavily against you and lost a bunch of money. Rumour has it that Malfoy had paid for those bets".
While others were snickering and teetering on the edge of laughter, Harry was almost livid. "Did anyone among my friends bet on any of those betting pools?"
"Oh yes. Granger had bet on the second task that you will make the highest score and won the most out of that. She didn't tell you?"
Harry looked towards Hermione who had hidden her face behind a book. Harry wondered at all sorts of secrets coming to him now that he had more friends. "What was the last pool about?"
"Oh it was that you would mend your differences with Bones by lunch that day".
"And who won?"
"Professor McGonagall won 200G, Professor Sprout won 100G and the greasy haired Dungeon Bat made 50G out of it, if you can believe it".
Harry was absolutely mortified. So many things happened behind his back and he thought he was the master of the cloak and dagger stuff all these years. So many things he did not know about- the Harry Potter Fan Club, betting pools and what not.
He smiled at Mandy, "Thank you, Mandy. You have been most helpful to me".
"Harry what do you say about betting in the next pool? Would I gain from it?"
"Oh yeah. In fact, I would ask you to make bets on the fact that Malfoy would catch the snitch this year and encourage others to do that. I intend to make the twins bankrupt this year".
Mandy left happily while his friends were looking at him like he had grown two-heads. "What? Did I grow two heads or do I have horns on my head?"
"Blimey, mate. Would you really lose the snitch to the ferret?" Ron asked.
"Not in a million years, Ron but those who would bet against me do not need to know that".
Harry decided at that moment that he would terrorize the school with pranks in the days to come. Things were getting too monotonous anyway.
Harry noticed that his first two victims were getting up from the table and he stood up asking Susan to stay. She raised her eye brows at him but he gestured her to remain seated and pleaded with his eyes. Reluctantly, she stayed in her place.
He made a rather noisy exit out of the Great Hall and stood outside of the great hall at such an angle that he knew Cassandra Lester would be able to see him directly. As Crabbe and Goyle exited, he charmed their clothes to levitate and in the next moment, Crabbe and Goyle were hovering in the air, yelling and flailing their limbs. This got the attention of everyone in the Great Hall and he was sure that Cassandra Lester noticed him stowing his wand on the wand holster on his wrist after he had hit those two with the arresto momentum charm as they started to come down.
Cassandra Lester was the first one to come running out of the Great Hall followed by other teachers and students. Harry made a show of trying to walk towards the great stair case but she stopped him, "Mr. Peverell, stop there".
"Yes Professor, is something the matter?"
"Mr. Peverell, may I have your wand please?"
With a show of great reluctance, Harry handed his wand to her which she gave to Vikram, "Professor, if you would be so kind as to check the last spells cast by Mr. Peverell?"
Harry gave a cursory glance to the crowd around him and found that most of his friends were looking at him in confusion perhaps wondering how he could get caught in a prank. So far, he had done some very brilliant pranks and none of them were pinned on him. Professor McGonagall was looking disappointed with her mouth stretched in a line so thin that it looked like she had no lips at all.
Vikram, who was trying to suppress a smile, had cast the priori incantatem and turned to Cassandra, "The last two spells cast by this wand are the arresto momentum and wingardium leviosa".
Professor Lester addressed him, "That will be 10 points from Gryffindor, Mr. Peverell and detention tomorrow with Professor Sprout at 6:00".
After 15 minutes, he was sitting in the space behind the mirror on the fourth floor. Without saying anything, most of the members of what he would call the inner circle of his order had followed him. Everyone wanted to know the answer to the question of how he could get caught. Hermione decided to address the elephant in the room. "Harry, how could you get caught? You have performed pranks bigger than those and nobody could pin them on you".
He asked her incredulously, "Hermione, tell me that you don't really think that she caught me unaware".
"What do you mean, mate?" Ron asked.
Susan answered, "It is simple. He wanted to be caught, Ron. He could have pranked them anywhere, anytime but only did it where she could see him with his wand out and put him in detention. What I do not understand is why he would want to get caught?"
Hermione shrieked, "Harold James Peverell, tell me you did not do that intentionally!"
"I solemnly swear Hermione that I did that intentionally. I wanted to be put into detention for pranks".
Hannah asked dumb-founded, "But why?"
"Sirius is always going on about how he and my father have boxes full of detention slips for pranks. I want to break their record, of course".
Hermione sighed, "Harry, you do know that if I catch you in rule-breaking then I will have to put you in detention, right?"
"I would not expect anything less of you Hermione however I would love to see you try".
The prefects present there shuddered. It was something that they had not thought about and certainly would be changing the course of things and bring a lot of action to their otherwise boring night patrols. May be it would bring some excitement to things.
Later that night, Harry was sitting in the Gryffindor Common Room with his friends while it bustled with activity around them. Some were playing gobstones, some were playing exploding snap, Ron was sitting with Hermione at chess, the twins were testing their products out of her sight and Neville was bent at the fireplace talking to Frank and Alice. Harry was busy finishing the homework which had been given to the students the week he was absent from school. He had a lot piled up and was diligently working to get through it all. A little part of him scoffed at why the teachers had to be so tough and give so much homework before he banished the thought from his mind.
After he had finished the Potions essay about the proper use of nettles in potions, he stood to stretch his legs and to get his weary joints in action when he happened to look out of the window of the common room and whooped at the top of his voice. He knew which friend Luna had talked about. Hermione who was startled asked him, "Harry, what happened?"
Harry grinned, "Hagrid is back and I am going to see him".
Hermione tersely said, "Harry, this is after curfew hours. You cannot go down right now. I also want to meet Hagrid but we cannot break rules".
Ron grumbled, "Come on Hermione, it's Hagrid".
Hermione glared at him and he slipped down in his chair, withering under her glare. She turned to Harry and found he was gone. She gave a questioning look to Neville who shrugged his shoulders, "He went to the dormitories".
Harry really had gone to the dormitories but he had jumped down from one of the windows and flew down to the ground. The grounds were empty and there was no one out there so he knew he would not be seen.
A few minutes later, he was knocking on the door of Hagrid's hut.
The giant bellowed over Fang's howling and barking, "Don't break down the door. I am coming".
He opened the door and Harry had trouble recognizing his friend. Hagrid was still as tall as he used to be but he was sporting two black eyes and his hair and beard were matted with blood. His untamed hair looked even wilder than usual and there were wood-chips tangled in his bloody beard. He was moving with some difficulty. If Harry was any judge, his healing training told him that Hagrid had some busted ribs.
When Harry took it all in, he asked, "Hagrid what happened? What attacked you?" he asked with concern.
Hagrid levelled his cross-bow at him, "Who are you?"
Harry said, "Hagrid, it is me. Harry".
Hagrid said menacingly, "No, yer not Harry. I know him personally".
"Hagrid, four months have passed since you last saw me. It is me Harry, really".
"If yer Harry tell me something that only he would know".
Harry smirked, "let's recount then. You were the one to take me from the ruins of the cottage in Godric's Hollow. You put me at the doorstep of the muggles. You were the one who rescued me from the rock in the sea. You gave Dudley a pig's tail. You tied Vernon's rifle in knots. You told me, 'yer a wizard, Harry.'. You gifted me my owl. Your wand is concealed in your umbrella. You took me to Gringotts for my first time. You gave Fluffy to Dumbledore to help guard the Philosopher's Stone. Will that do?"
Hagrid pulled him into a bone-crushing hug making him yelp "Oww! my bones!"
"Blimey, you have grown up Harry. Last time I saw you, you looked peaky and small and you were in a magical coma. Dumbledore had given me work to do so I could not stay around to watch you".
"What happened to you, Hagrid?" he asked.
He waved his enormous hands, 'Nothing. Had a little accident is all".
"You must see Madam Pomfrey, Hagrid. She can mend you in a trice".
"No Harry, it is no bother. I will be fine".
After Harry gave up knowing the half-giant would not cede to his demands, Hagrid called him inside where Fang the boarhound put his massive head in his lap and started to drool while Harry scratched him behind his ears. Harry was concerned for his friend who had fresh blood starting to trickle down and asked, "Hagrid, did the giants do this to you?"
Hagrid who was putting a kettle on the fire, dropped it, "What was that? Who said I was on a mission to the Giants?"
Harry grinned, "I know about it Hagrid. The giants did not agree to come with you, did they?"
Hagrid said gruffly, "I do not know how but nothing escapes you and those two. You can find out about anything that is happening but I am not telling anymore".
"Come on Hagrid, tell me about your summer and I will tell you about mine", he pleaded.
Before Hagrid could reply or Harry could say anything, a soft knock was heard on the door and Harry pulled out the Invisibility Cloak from under his robes and covered himself with it. Hagrid opened the door and standing on the threshold was Albus Dumbledore with an amused looking Vikram Rana.
Hagrid welcome them, "Professor, please come in". He asked Vikram, 'Who are you?"
Albus replied, "Hagrid, meet Vikram Rana. He is the new defense professor. Professor Rana, this is Rubeus Hagrid, our Care of Magical Creatures Professor".
Vikram warmly shook hands with him, "It is a pleasure to meet one so blessed by Mother Magic".
Harry was hiding under the cloak not even daring to breathe hoping that he would not be found when Dumbledore said to no one in particular, "Harry, come out from under the cloak please".
Harry knew he could not fool Dumbledore anyway. When he emerged, Dumbledore looked at him with a scrutinizing gaze for some time while his eyes twinkled before he turned to Vikram, "He is yours professor. Take him back and make sure he is punished for being out after curfew".
Hagrid looked on morosely while Harry left with Vikram. He decided to meet the half- giant the next day to assure him that he was okay.
Vikram took him into the castle while they talked, "Really Harry? You have turned so careless all of a sudden. Miss Granger did not want you to come down today and you did anyway. And you chose to exit through the window in the dormitory? What exactly were you planning to do?"
"Professor, who told Professor Dumbledore?"
"I was on patrol of the school around the 5th floor when Miss Granger came running almost hysterical saying that you had been abducted. I calmed her down and would have sent her back but then Dumbledore came out of nowhere, perhaps alerted by one of the portraits".
"So, are you going to give me detention?"
"I did not want to but now that Albus knows of your misdemeanor, I have to. That will be 10 points from Gryffindor and you will serve detention with Professor Sprout on 1st November at 6:00. Now off you go and do not let me catch you out of bounds again".
When Harry returned to the common room, it was in an uproar.
Hermione was shouting at Ron, "Why won't you come with me to put him in detention?" Everyone else around was watching them with interest.
Harry had heard the last part of what he supposed was a very long rant. "Because he has already been found and put in detention, Hermione", he said and every one noticed him.
Hermione turned on him, "Harold James Peverell, how did you leave the tower?"
"I flew", he said simply.
"You what?", she spluttered.
Harry pulled out his shrunken broom from under his robes, "I flew down, Hermione. I am the best flier at the school for a reason".
Everyone around chuckled. As she turned to glare at the other students, Harry climbed the stairs to the dormitories. He quickly erected a ward, preventing her from entering his dorm, knowing that he would not have a peaceful night of sleep nor would any of his dorm mates if she was allowed inside.
Hermione tried in vain to enter for sometime before she realized that it was futile and left for her own dorms.
Neville asked him, "Mate, how did you get caught?"
"She ran into teachers just outside of the common room. Professor Dumbledore sent her back and found me at Hagrid's, hiding under the cloak".
The next day
The first thing that Harry's friends noticed the next morning at breakfast was that Hagrid was back and most of them hailed him. Hagrid responded with enthusiasm but Harry also caught a few looks which said that they were not over-joyed to see the gamekeeper return. Harry supposed it was because many of them had started to like Grubbly-Plank's lessons. However Harry could not care less. His friend was back and that was what he cared about.
The first dark spot this morning had been Angelina who was angry at him for obvious reasons. As she saw him, she almost shrieked, "Harry why do you have to get so many detentions with just a week to go until the match? Are you trying to miss all the practices?"
Harry gave her a grin, "Angelina, I did not intend to do that but it feels like I have some bad luck these days. Why don't you book the pitch in the early mornings because I believe that the serpents would also try to book the pitch at our practice time and clash with us over it? In fact, Oliver used to host practices in the early mornings. That way, we can all be present. Including the reserves, there are 11 of us and we can do without a few morning runs. Flying is also exercise and helps build endurance".
Angelina reluctantly agreed, "Ok, I agree but if you are absent at morning practices then I will hex you into tomorrow".
Classes were easy. There was nothing that could faze him anymore and with Susan talking to him there was nothing more that could disturb him. He decided to give his attention to his newest fixation- pranking others. He had been seriously thinking about the next big prank. True that Voldemort was out there, a war was brewing but they still had some time before the war would come to Hogwarts. Their preparations for the war were in full swing. There was little more they could do anyway. Until then, Harry could prank the hell out of everyone if he so chose.
When he arrived for lunch, he realized that perhaps Hagrid was back to work again. The Halloween decorations were in full swing which was the next day and giant pumpkins were being brought in the Great Hall to be hollowed and enchanted to hover near the ceiling with candles burning in them. It was during lunch when he thought about what he would do for the first thing. This afternoon he was sitting only with Susan at the lunch table because his friends were otherwise occupied. He had been thinking hard and grinned wickedly when a plan had formed in his mind. Susan, who was sitting beside him with their hands touching asked him, "What are you thinking?"
"Nothing much, Sue. I was only thinking about my next trick".
"And what will it be?" she asked him.
Harry debated whether to tell her or not. It was not that it was anything special or top-secret. He decided to take a leap of faith, "Sue, what I am going to tell you is secret and no one, I mean not even a single soul can know about it. Do you know what day it is tomorrow?"
She nonchalantly replied, "Samhain" but then clamped her mouth as she realized how casually she had said it and turned to him, "Sorry Harry, I should have realized what this day means to you".
He said to her kindly, "It's okay Sue. In the last four years, that was the first time that someone has actually realized that this is the day when I lost my parents. Others generally indulge themselves in the feasts but do not think about it. I had never known about this day before I came to Hogwarts. I have been thinking about what you said the other day and realized I should have gone to Godric's Hollow before this year but nobody told me. This year, I am going there".
"Harry, I don't know if anyone has told you this. Until 1981, the school used to hold a Halloween ball but that year it was abruptly cut short by Dumbledore even before the feast had started. Since then the ball has not been held even once. Auntie told me that once or twice some of the Governors tried to raise the issue but he told them that he could not celebrate the death of two of his favorite students. He attends the feast which is the only thing he allowed to happen. I think that they should have told you sooner about it and that you should go there but not alone, I am coming with you".
"No Sue, you cannot come with me. I will be skipping school and would be gone without letting anyone know. When they find me, they will give me detention for it. I do not want you to share the same fate".
She fiercely said, "No, I will not allow you to do that. Either I am coming or you are not going either. I will go to Dumbledore and write a letter to Neville's mother that you are going to act foolishly again".
Harry sighed. He realized she was not about to let go unless he permitted her to come along. "Okay, you can come along but I am not going to take any heat from Auntie when she punishes you for the stunt we are about to pull on everyone".
She grinned, "Don't worry Harry. I may not be a Gryffindor but I am brave enough to face the consequences for my actions. Now what is the plan?"
Harry started telling her and she started smirking.
That evening Harry arrived for his detention with Professor Sprout. She beamed at him, "Welcome Mr. Peverell. You will be collecting bubotuber pus for me".
Harry winced. He knew how nasty bubotuber pus was but also how useful it was for a lot of potions. Putting on his dragon hide gloves, he started dutifully working on extracting pus from the bubotubers when Neville joined him in the detention mid-way, "Hi Harry".
He eyed him, "What are you doing here, Neville?"
"Serving a detention with you, what else do you think I am doing?"
"That has to be some kind of record. Neville Longbottom in detention! You are the Head Master's apprentice, mate and not to mention you are dating a prefect. Who would put you in detention?"
Neville grinned, "Dumbledore has made it clear to me that I should not expect special favors from him".
"What did you do by the way?"
Neville gave him a wicked smile, "Oh, I actually cursed Cornfoot with the bat-bogey hex".
"What did you do that for?"
"Because he was putting the moves on Hannah. I figured I should let him know why the Longbottom name is feared".
Harry snorted, "Who put you into detention?"
"Hannah", Neville said simply.
Harry was immediately suspicious of the other boy, "Hannah put you to detention? Your own girl friend? Or did you purposefully get landed in detention, mate?"
The way Neville avoided answering him, Harry understood something was fishy. He could have tried to read the other boy's mind and find out what it was but he had an aversion to using mind magic without any reason. He had already done it once on Smith and had not enjoyed doing so that was essential to protect many of the students who were part of his little group. It could have been very bad if Smith had turned out to have sympathies towards the death eaters. As it turned out, the boy was just brainwashed to continue a long-standing family feud in which he had no real part. As for Neville, Harry had no doubts as to his loyalties but Harry decided to give him some grief for keeping secrets at sword practice later.
The Room of Requirement
Harry had moved sword practice to the Room of Requirement because he did not want Neville's secret to be known to everyone. This would have destroyed the purpose for which the room had been put under the Fidelius Charm.
He directed Hermione to parry with Ron and Susan alternatively while he engaged Neville directly. During the practice, he pummeled Neville to his heart's content.
Their duel had started ordinarily with both circling each other when suddenly Harry had lunged to the other boy and Neville had tried to duck to avoid the blow. Harry however had anticipated this and swung his sword in an arc bringing it downwards and gave a hard blow to Neville making him yelp in pain. As Neville swung his sword, Harry somersaulted over him and landed on the other side. As soon as his feet touched the ground, he started striking at Neville with all the power behind his blows. Neville fended him off for sometime before one extra-powerful blow broke his sword in two. Harry stood back for the few seconds it took Neville to cast Repairo and place an unbreakable charm on his wooden sword before they continued. For the next 30 seconds, Harry showed Neville how useless a sword is when you can't move fast enough to block anything with it. Harry hit him at least another ten times before he stood back again.
Harry grinned, "You are still too slow, mate". Harry had been hard on Neville because he had broken the code of brotherhood. Before the sword practice, Susan had let him know that it was Neville who had put Hermione on his trail when he went off to visit Hagrid. You don't snitch on your brother and live unharmed.
After he finished pummeling Neville, he turned to Ron, "Mate, would you like to give it a try?"
Ron immediately shook his head, "I am not mental, mate".
Hermione however took him up on his offer, "Why don't we practice for some time, Harry?"
Harry looked to Susan who subtly nodded her head. He gave one of his best smiles to Hermione, "You're on, Hermione".
That practice was different. Harry did not swing his sword even once. Hermione swung her sword every way she could think but he was always able to dodge her blows. She kept trying for 20 minutes. Finally, Harry gave a hard tap on her sword hand with his sword making her sword clatter to the floor and put his sword to her throat, "Yield Hermione".
Badger's Hole
It was sometime around mid-night when Susan came out of the Badger's Hole to meet Harry who was standing outside. She was dressed in jeans and a form fitting t-shirt with dragon hide boots to go with her dress and a travelling cloak. Harry likewise was in a blue shirt, jeans and Dragon Hide boots with a woolen cloak (which Harsh had transfigured for him once). As she came out, he pulled out a second invisibility cloak (one he had borrowed from Vikram) and put it on both of them. They softly treaded to the front doors of the castle to find them locked. Harry knew the double doors were imbued with enchantments which obeyed the Head Master and since he had ordered them to close for the night they would not open until the next morning. It was disappointing but he had ways around it. Slowly they trudged up to the top of the Astronomy tower and Harry pulled on his familiar connection. Blackstorm came flying up in a few minutes. After the formalities were done, Susan started fussing over the beast and Harry could have sworn that he was enjoying the attention. Meanwhile Harry was left with putting the tack on. They were not going too far on the Hippogriff in such a chilly night but still had a substantial distance to cover.
After he was done putting the tack on, he helped Susan mount and then mounted after her. It was then he noticed that she was shivering from cold and inwardly cursed himself for this oversight. He dug into the pocket of his cloak and pulled out some leaves.
He handed two of them to her, "Eat these, Sue".
"Harry, I am not a grass grazing creature. Why would you offer me leaves?"
"Trust me for this, Sue. I assure you that you will not regret it".
Susan put the leaves in her mouth and in a few seconds, she had stopped shivering and he asked her, "Shall we go now?"
"What were those leaves?"
"Later Sue, but we need to move if we are to get away from the Castle", he told her. "Giddy up", he commanded Black Storm who took to the skies at once. In a few minutes they were soaring through the skies.
Somewhere in Scotland
The hippogriff landed after about an hour outside a desolate cottage situated somewhere in Scotland where there was not a soul in sight for miles. They had landed in what appeared to be the courtyard and after taking off the tack, Harry led the Hippogriff to the stable and left him there after ensuring that he had sufficient food and would be warm in the harsh weather.
He led Susan inside the cottage and she could not help asking, "Harry, where are we?"
Harry smiled, "Could you not wait for refreshments before asking questions, Sue? This cottage came with the Rosier inheritance and was a hunting lodge in the past. Since no one expects us to be here, we are safe here. Now about those leaves, they are from a plant which grows in the Himalayas. They can keep you warm in the harshest cold. I brought samples of the plant from India and they are being grown in one of the Potter estates. I chose not to share it with everyone so I would appreciate if you would not tell anyone about it".
In response, Susan yawned widely and Harry chuckled, "Looks like you are tired. Do not worry I have a bedroom ready for you upstairs".
He called "Dobby" and the elf arrived with a faint pop giving a bow. "What Dobby bes doing for master?"
"Dobby, please show Susan to her room and see to it that the warming charms are working properly ".
Dobby bowed to Susan, "You be follow Dobby, Mistress".
Susan blushed a little but followed Dobby upstairs. It was only when Harry was in bed that he realized Dobby had not called her Miss as he used to but Mistress. The implications of the term made him blush too.
Diagon Alley
Harry woke in a few hours and went to wake up Susan. He hesitated for a moment debating whether he should go in or not. He however realized that he had no other option than to go and wake her if they were to go anywhere on time.
Susan was sleeping peacefully and looked so innocent in that moment that Harry almost gave up the idea of waking her up but they had a busy day ahead.
He gently nudged her shoulder, "Sue, get up. It is getting late".
She sleepily grunted, "Go away Hannah. I do not want to get up right now".
Harry chuckled and more firmly nudged her shoulder, "Sue, get up. It's me, Harry and you are not in the Badger's hole".
Susan woke up instantly but it took her a few moments to get her bearings.
Harry left saying, "Come down soon. Dobby has cooked a mouth watering breakfast".
When she came down 10 minutes later, Dobby served them a heavy breakfast. When they were done, Harry announced that they were taking a trip to Diagon Alley.
She arched an eye-brow, "I thought we were going to Godric's Hollow".
"We are Sue but neither of us brought a change of clothes and I do not want you to meet my parents the first time without looking your best. Bbeing your betrothed, it is my duty to ensure that your wardrobe is not lacking".
She smiled coyly, "Keep being so considerate and I might keep you".
Harry just rolled his eyes.
Harry released Black Storm telling him to go back to Hogwarts. After sending him on his way, they worked their glamor charms to disguise themselves, then flooed to the Leaky Cauldron. They arrived early in the morning, before most of the shops in the alley opened and walked towards the bank. Susan asked him in surprise, "Why are we going to Gringotts?"
"Because Susan I still have to ask Griphook if I can lift the stasis charms off the manor at least. Samhain is the day to honour your ancestors and I would rather that we do this in the Potter Manor. I remember that you mentioned that you wanted to see my home, so I thought I should bring you along".
Harry entered the bank and went to the same teller who had offended him last time and flashed his ring before him, "Hello there Ironjaw, I see you still have your head upon your shoulders".
The goblin jumped down from his seat and bowed to them, "For which I have to thank you, Lord Peverell. Follow me".
Susan poked him in the ribs and asked him, 'what was that all about?' with gestures.
Harry told her in an undertone, "I sent a letter to Lord Ragnok telling him that he should not be executing someone for following orders".
Susan smiled inwardly at his thoughtfulness.
Ironjaw left them in Griphook's office. The Goblin asked him, "How can Gringotts serve you today, Lord Peverell?"
"I have come to talk about the Potter manor", Harry replied.
"Of course, as you have been told, you are considered to be of age in the eyes of magic therefore the stipulation of you being of age to lift the stasis charm is fulfilled. To get to the manor, you only need to twist your Lord Ring in the right direction and it will act as a portkey. To lift the stasis charms, you will have to offer blood to the Potter Crest at the gate so that it can identify that you are who you claim to be. The manor, as per my information, is in fine shape and you have 4 elves who work as caretakers. Can I help you any other way?"
"No Griphook. That will be all".
They left the bank to go to Twilfit and Tattings. It was one of the expensive shops and mostly those in the elite class came there to buy clothes. The proprietor one Mr. Brown welcomed them in, "Welcome to Twilfit and Tattings. How may I serve you?"
Susan immediately started to list off things that she wanted to buy and Harry decided to let her be at it. He was no good at shopping anyway and Rachael had taught him that if he loved his limbs, he should never interrupt a lady in her shopping.
However, Susan did not leave him alone to his own devices and for an hour, he was attacked by shears, pins, and needles and had tried at least a dozen robes. After Susan was done with her spree, they had a small trunk packed with 3 robes for him, 2 for her, a pair of dragon hide boots and a pair of sandals for her. He shrunk the purchases and made the payments. When they came out, he caught hold of her by her waist and with a twist of his ring, they were gone.
Somewhere in Great Britain
They had appeared in what appeared to be a sparsely populated area with hills at the back of the manor and there was nothing visible beyond the two large gates with the Potter Crest on them. Harry knew what to expect. When a property was under stasis, it would look just like Potter Manor looked like right now. There was the gate visible but there was nothing beyond it except ruins. Susan nudged him and he drew a short knife from his hand and sliced his palm deftly to allow some blood to fall on the crest. A minute later, the gates swung open without a sound and a manor was visible beyond the gates. It looked like a palace or maybe a small version of one. As they crossed the threshold, Harry could feel the wards around the property humming.
As he stepped inside the gates, six elves appeared before them. One who was apparently the leader, joyfully squealed, "Master Harry is home!" The other elves joined him in merriment and Harry addressed the chief, "What are your names and what do you do at the manor?"
The chief said, "My name is Sunny. I am the caretaker, master. Master James gave me the duty to maintain the manor". Then he adopted a grim visage, "I know they are dead or they would have returned sooner".
The second elf which was a female, said, "I am Kitty, master. I am the chief elf for the lady of the house and look after the household".
The third stepped up, "I am Happy, Master. I look after the animals being bred at the manor".
The fourth which was also a female said, "I am Twinky, master. I am the chef. If you want anything to eat or have any preference in food, let me know".
Harry was visibly impressed. These elves felt different from other elves in that they did not speak the way others did and they had specific assignments".
Harry asked them, "What about the chief elf for Lord of the house?"
The elves fell silent until Kitty spoke up, "His name was Tilvar, master. He wasted away in sorrow of Master James".
Harry was overwhelmed with emotions which the elf had shown for his father. However he had work to do. "So, do any of you want to take the position or do I have to find someone?"
Sunny spoke up, "Master, this is your prerogative and if you have an elf already, you can give him those responsibilities".
Harry nodded and called, "Dobby.". Dobby arrived with a pop. "What can Dobby be doing for you, master?"
"Dobby, I have been told the position of the chief elf is vacant and I want you to take it".
Susan who had been quiet all this while spoke, "Harry, he is your personal elf meaning he is already your chief elf. Now would you introduce me to them?"
"Right, I will make the introductions.". He gestured to the elves, "This is Susan Bones my betrothed. Sue, these are my elves- Sunny, Kitty, Happy and Twinky. You have already met Dobby".
Kitty hugged Susan squealing, "Kitty has a mistress again".
Harry did not know what to do in that situation so he turned to Dobby, "Dobby, your next work is to find what work there is to be done in the manor, what are the duties of the chief elf and to ensure that the household is never lacking in anything".
As Dobby disappeared with a pop, Harry turned to Sunny, "Would you like to give me a tour of the manor?"
The manor was four stories. The first floor had a reception room where there was a floo so big that anybody over 6" could easily pass through. The reception room was done in the same red stone while the floor was marble. Beyond the entrance room was a sitting room which could easily sit 40. There were a couple of sofas and chairs spread throughout the room that gave the aura of comfort, no doubt the sofas and chairs were laid with charms to make them feel comfortable.
After the sitting room was a big hall. Harry asked Sunny, "Sunny what is this room?"
"This is the ball room, Master. There were a many balls held in this manor in the years past".
Harry surveyed the room carefully. It was big enough to accommodate 300 and the decorations were pleasant. The ceiling was decorated with murals, there were portraits on the walls, and he spotted some paintings. Susan was looking at the ball room in awe and whispered to him, "The Ball Room at Bones Manor does not even begin to compare with this".
Harry smiled, "I am glad that you like this".
Before they could go any further, a phoenix patronus came soaring to him and spoke in the voice of Dumbledore, "Where are you, Harry? Return to Hogwarts, we are worried about you".
Susan raised her eye-brows at him and he shrugged, "Wild hippogriffs cannot drag me away today. He should have done this for me sooner. Let them worry".
Harry had talked with Sirius in the morning on the mirrors and told him that he had snuck out and was planning to visit his parents today and Susan was with him. What he had not told was his location. Remembering some of the threats he had received from the adults last time, he asked him to make sure that he had sent a letter to Andromeda.
Sunny continued the tour. There were a couple of rooms on the ground floor which were mostly for guests. After the guestrooms was the kitchen which was big and Twinky was working hard on producing some excellent food for him and Susan. The dining room was next which had a table that could easily sit about 50 at once but Sunny told him that this was used when there was a gathering and there was a smaller dining room for the family which could sit 20. There was a small broom cupboard full of some old brooms (Harry decided to explore them later) and there was a basement which had a dueling room, a potions laboratory and a wine cellar stocked with old wine bottles. Harry immediately knew that Sirius should not be allowed in there or he would never leave. As it was, the former Azkaban inmate drowned his nightmares too often in firewhisky. After the wine cellar, there was a cellar which contained the ward stones. The ward stones were huge boulders and he resolved to recharge the wards before he left for Hogwarts.
The second floor was where the bed-rooms were. There were at least 8 bed-rooms on that floor which Harry counted not including the Master Bedroom and the Lord's study which was locked and opened after he offered a few drops of blood. The Lord's study was a big room and there was an Oak table in the middle of the room with a Potter Crest engraved on it. There was a big chair behind the table that looked very comfortable. Portraits of is ancestors adorned the walls and had curtains drawn over them. He decided to unveil them some other day.
At the end of the corridor on the second floor were massive double doors. Harry opened the door and was overwhelmed. He and Susan gasped in surprise with the library in front of them. It looked bigger than the Black library and was two stories high with a small staircase at the side leading up.
On the third floor were more guestrooms and a few rooms which had been made for the elves. On the side were little rooms meant for the elves complete with bed and quilts. The top floor had nothing but an owlery where Harry could see a parliament of owls with every owl imaginable being present.
As they came down, Harry called Twinky, "Twinky, Susan here is my betrothed so it is clear that she will be your mistress in a few years therefore you are to serve her and do as she commands whenever she is here".
Twinky gave a radiant smile, "Yes Master. I will take care of Mistress's needs".
30 minutes later, after Harry and Susan were ready, he summoned the elves, "As you all know, today is Samhain and the Potters have celebrated the festival with all the customs. I was not brought up in this and therefore I want you all to assist me in the celebrations. Susan and I are going to Godric's hollow. In the meantime I want you to make preparations for tonight".
After a light lunch, Harry decided to recharge the ward stones and to put the manor under Fidelius Charm. It was imperative so that no one could find them. After he had recharged the ward stones, he cast the Fidelius and asked Dobby to become the secret keeper. The charm required the secret to be entrusted to a living being and it could be a house-elf as well. Nobody would expect an elf to be the secret-keeper.
Afterwards, he commanded Dobby, "Dobby, I want you to take us to Godric's Hollow to the graveyard there. I have to pay respects to my parents".
Susan asked him, "I remember you telling me that you can apparate yet you are asking Dobby. Why?"
"Sue, I can only apparate to a place which I have seen before or if I know where I have to go. If I do not know my destination, I may end up going nowhere at all or being splinched".
Dobby took their hands and disappeared.
Hogwarts
When Ron woke up this morning, he was surprised to find Harry still sleeping. The curtains around his four poster bed were drawn shut and there was not a sound coming from him.
Shrugging, he went to the bathroom to freshen up. When he came out 10 minutes later, Harry was still sleeping. He wanted to wake up Neville too but could not because he knew that Harry and Neville slept with wards around their beds and despite his knowledge in Runes, he was not yet accomplished enough to try to break wards.
He found Seamus and Dean were also gone though that was understandable because the Irish boy used to conduct practices with his group on those catapults which Ron was yet to see. Neville woke up when dawn was just breaking and asked Ron, "What has got you worried, Ron?"
"Neville, Harry is still sleeping?"
"Huh! How could this happen? Usually he starts peppering us with stingers if we are late getting up".
They both decided that the matter merited mentioning to their friends.
When they got down to the Common Room, Hermione asked them, "Where is Harry? And why are you both late coming down today?"
"Hermione, Harry is still sleeping. We will have to make do without him".
"Ron, he does not sleep this late. Did you try to wake him up?"
Neville answered, "Hermione, we do not wish to end up dangling from the ceiling or looking like a clown or to be petrified in our places".
"What do you mean, Neville?"
"Harry erects wards around his bed so none of us can actually approach him. There are all sorts of wards around his bed and none of us can counter them".
Hermione climbed up to the dormitories, easily crossed to Harry's bed and turned to glare at the boys who had followed her up. "Honestly boys, can't you come up with better excuses?"
They did not respond to her retort because they knew it would result in a full length tirade. Meanwhile, she yanked open the curtains on one side of the four poster bed and was gaping in wonder. The bed was empty with no sign of Harold Peverell.
They left the dormitories to go find the Head Master. It was early in the morning but it was urgent. They met Hannah on the second floor on the way to Dumbledore's office. As soon as she saw them, she wailed, "Neville, Susan is missing".
Hermione who by now had started to understand what was happening said, "Looks like Harry and Susan have snuck out of the school".
Hannah said incredulously, "Susan would not do that".
Neville snorted, "Han, she is with Harry and I do not know if you have noticed but since they mended their differences, she is sticking to him like his shadow, never letting him out of her eye-sight".
Ron grumbled, "We are digressing. Let's go see Dumbledore and have a talk with Harry when he returns. He doesn't even include his friends in his adventures anymore".
Head Master's office
Dumbledore had just come into his office and was sitting in his chair. He had a hard night remembering everyone who had died in the last war. Halloween always opened his wounds and made him relive every heart breaking moment from the last war. Almost everyone who had died in the last war had studied under his tutelage at the school and to see the young die while the old lingered hurt him.
He heard the staircase ascending and a few moments later, Harry's friends tumbled into his room. Before he could ask anything Hermione started, "Professor, Harry and Susan are gone. We checked Harry's bed and it looked like it was not slept in. No one knows where is and we are very worried. Do you know where he is?"
Dumbledore calmly said, "Miss Granger, please take deep breaths before you start telling me what has happened". He turned to Neville, "Mr. Longbottom, can you tell me what has happened?"
Neville calmly told everything that had happened and when he was done, Dumbledore looked worried however he controlled his emotions in a second. "I will try to find out what I can however you would do well not to mention this to anyone else. I will inform the Order and the Ministry and ask them to find him but there is little chance of success, if he himself does not want to be found. You all go through your routines as usual and do not answer any questions about Harry. Since there are no classes today, we can think of a suitable excuse".
After Dumbledore told them to go through their routines as usual, Neville and Hannah were dispatched to inform the students that there would be no sessions that day.
As the students had left, Dumbledore called up Vikram to know if the mystic knew where Harry was but Vikram told him that he had been out of the castle last night on the errand to meet some of his tribe to check Godric's gauntlet in the Archives of Alexandria. When he returned, Harry was not in the school. His mystics were trying to locate the boy.
After Vikram left, Dumbledore sent patroni to Severus and Minerva and flooed to Black Town House.
Black Town House
Dumbledore had called a meeting of a few members of the Order to inform them but Sirius calmly told him that Harry had contacted him to let him know he was okay and Susan was with him. He told Dumbledore that Harry had told him that he would return to the school by morning the next day.
Amelia who was present in the meeting grumbled, "He is a bad influence on Susie. I swear I had told her to respect the rules and she has broken them with impunity since they have started to know each other".
Frank snorted, "Amelia, he is James's kid and Sirius's godson. I remember these two had the most detentions for rule-breaking and pranking. Besides as I recall, Edgar was not a saint either or Ellie for that matter. The number of detentions they got was some kind of record for a Hufflepuff. What else can you expect?"
Alice added, "It is likely that they both snuck out together, you know. It may not entirely be Harry's fault. But I swear that when he returns to the school tomorrow, he and my wand are going to have a long talk".
Alastor grumbled, "Good luck with that. That lad dodges bone breakers like he is dancing in front of them, stingers won't even touch him".
Alice grumbled, "I won't exactly use stingers on him, will I?"
Andromeda, who was present, was scowling. "I told him not to pull something like that again and not a week has passed and he has done it again".
Remus snorted, "So, you want to do what? Duel him? Or chastise him? Or plead with him not to do this again?"
Dumbledore replied, "They will be put in detention, obviously. May be, a week's worth of detentions with Severus will etch the message in their minds".
Snape refused immediately, "Absolutely not. I can hardly handle the brat for a class a week and a full week with him will be a bit too much. I have other obligations too, you know". His lips curled upwards in a sneer, "However if we stop him from playing the first match..."
McGonagall who had come to this meeting spoke before he finished his words, "You want to keep him out of the match, Severus? I will not let that happen. Besides once the students know, there will be a riot on our hands".
"My dear Minerva, how do you think we can curtail his brashness then?"
Alice piped up, "Why don't we take away their Hogsmeade privileges?"
Everyone at the table laughed. When she scowled, Sirius said, "Alice, he knows 7 ways out of Hogwarts and he knows his way around the grounds. He also has the world's fastest broom and he flies on it like a bird in the air".
Alice stamped her feet in anger, "Would you all stop tearing holes in every one's logic? If there is no way we can keep him in the castle then what sort of punishment would be sufficient for him?"
At last, it was decided that Harry and Susan would not be allowed to go on any Hogsmeade weekends until the New Year and teachers will be in the village on the remaining weekends to ensure that he had not come despite being banned. Sirius and Remus were requested to aid in the effort because they knew about the ways out of Hogwarts. The Marauders were more than happy to oblige.
Godric's Hollow
Harry and Susan arrived in a deserted alley in the village. The graveyard was not very far from there. Under glamour charms, they walked up to the Graveyard which did not look eerie in the daylight. However it had a feeling to it which made them shudder despite nothing being there.
Susan started speaking, "This is a very old graveyard and wizards have been buried here for centuries. A lot of families had settled in the village and this was a wizarding village before the Statute of Secrecy came into existence and they all scattered. However they had started scattering even before the Statute of Secrecy".
Harry asked her, "How do we enter?"
"What do you mean, Harry?"
"Sue, the gate is locked and there are charms upon it".
"Oh, I forgot to tell you. You have to touch the tip of your wand to the gate and it will open but we will have to make haste".
"Why? What is the problem?"
"I don't know if you forgot, Harry but today is Samhain and many wizards have ancestors buried here. They will come to pay their respects. As a rule, a great many witches and wizards come to pay their respects to your parents too".
Harry contemplated her words in silence before he started speaking, "So, where are they buried?"
"I do not know Harry. I have never been here before".
"Then I guess we have to look in every row".
They started with the oldest of graves and Harry was amazed when he came upon a grave which looked very ancient with a black head stone. The name had mostly faded but from what remained, they could make out "IGNOTUS PEVERELL.".
"Blimey! I hadn't expected to find him buried here".
Susan had a look of surprise on her face, "Is he one of the three brothers from 'A Tale of Three Brothers'".
Harry meanwhile had bowed at the gravestone and was putting pink carnation flowers at the grave of the long dead Peverell ancestor. He had to find why the last lord of Peverells was buried here and not interred in the crypts in the Peverell Castle. After spending sometime by the graves, he and Susan resumed their search. Soon they came upon two graves with headstones of white marble. The names stopped them short- "KENDRA DUMBLEDORE" and "ARIANNA DUMBLEDORE".
He turned to Susan, "Are they Dumbledore's relatives? Did you know that they are buried here?"
"I think they may have been related to him and no, I did not know about them. I suppose not many people know about it. However, it is the head master's personal matter".
They kept looking for the Potters and came across many other graves with names like Abbotts, Stevens, Ainsworth and many more. Finally in the last row, there was a grave with a single gravestone which was marked:
IN LOVING MEMORY OF
JAMES POTTER LILY POTTER
Born- 27th March 1959 Born- 30th January 1959
DATE OF DEATH- 31st October 1981.
There was a message engraved at the base of the gravestone, "The last enemy that shall be defeated is death".
Harry stumbled as he walked towards the grave but Susan was there and she held him firm and gently nudged him to walk forward. He sat at the foot of the graves and started mumbling, "Hey Mom and Dad, I am here. I made it this far and I have brought Sue along. I know I should have come sooner but I could not. I just want to say that I sometimes crave your presence..."
He could not say more because unbidden tears had started to fall. Susan had obviously noticed this and gently cupped his face and wiped away those tears. "Harry, they are always there for you. They love you as much as you them and I am sure they want to see you happy. It is normal to cry but do not think that they are away. They are always with you in your heart".
It was quite some time before he controlled the tears and conjured a bouquet of Oriental Lilies, Gladioli, Red Tulip and Orchids and laid it on the graves. He left when Susan pointed out to him that it was after noon already and soon people will start coming in. He left promising his parents that he will visit them again when he had vanquished Voldemort for good. They also briefly discussed about visiting the cottage before Harry changed his mind and told her that the cottage could wait for another day. He had exhausted his energy for the day.
When they were exiting the graveyard, Harry was lost in grief and Susan was busy consoling him, so neither of them notice the 'finite' which dispelled their glamours. It was only when Susan noticed that Harry's hair had turned to Raven black again, she gasped, "Harry, your hair!"
Harry had his wand out in a second and they found the Marauders before them. Sirius was grinning, "It sure feels great to get the drop on you, son".
Susan asked him, "How did you find us? Have you told Auntie? Are you going to take us back?"
Harry had no intention to duel with the Marauder's just then and he knew without glamour, it was just a matter of time before people would start to notice him. They had to get away and do it fast. He embraced Susan in a hug from behind and was holding her tenderly while he had clasped his hands together with her in the embrace.
Sirius was saying, "Harry told me this morning that you would be here, so I had Kreacher watch this place. He alerted me when you came and here we are. I would have interrupted you both a while ago if you both were not looking so cute together when you were consoling him. We have not yet told Amelia. And sorry Susan, but we are to take you both back. Dumbledore's orders, you know".
Remus grinned and concurred, "As Padfoot said, you two are looking so cute holding each other but sorry, we have to break it up".
Harry grinned, "Not a chance, father and uncle". While he said this, he twisted his Lord Ring to the right and the portkey activated. When Harry hugged Susan, he had been getting his hands in position to be able to use the portkey in his Lord Ring.
Before the Marauders could understand what was happening, Susan and Harry disappeared. Remus grumbled, "Curse you, Padfoot. I told you that we should use stunners on them and not 'finite'".
Sirius responded dourly, "They were looking too cute together Moony. Besides, I do not really want to take him back to Dumbledore. He should have done this for him years ago. What's done is done. Let's go and pay our respects to James and Lily".
They both knew that the day was going to be hard on them with it being their first time since that Halloween night to visit the grave of their friends.
A/N- So, I received a lot of reviews for the last chapter. Some of them were very good and I loved them while some of them were full of critique. As always I love the reviews. Nothing gives me higher pleasure than to know that people are reading this fanfic.
Thank you everyone for the lovely reviews as always.
I also wanted to discuss a trifle matter with you all. I have noticed in other fics that they have modest size chapters hardly of 7K words maximum but I consciously try to keep it up to 10K words a chapter. While it helps me to write more and in detail, I wish to know if you people would prefer short chapters.
Another little request- Suggest a name for the new Wolfsbane Potion for I am bad at naming things.
This chapter has been reviewed by Hypergym.