And here's the twenty fifth chapter of "A Year Too Soon"! Enjoy!
* Review Response:
Dzerx, that's an interesting idea, but, unfortunately, i won't be going that route with this story.
Clavyus, hellfire45, Darth-Vulturnus, DarkRavie, Jostanos, elvander72, magitech, DeathLock, Dean Heat, Charles Ceaser, jamnaz79, lonewolf 83, mwinter1, Yaw613, mizzrazz72, Thracer, MargaritaS, Astroman1000, Yana5, Leoni Liponscovi, TheGreatBubbaJ, Val'Hor, Guest #2, richard333, thank you for your reviews, folks!
Lazruth, thank you. I honestly find it hard to believe that Dumbledore would hire someone to teach DADA with knowing what his new employee is capable of. Thus, Lockhart in this story had to be at least a little bit competent. That, and how would he be able to take out all those wizards and witches he stole achievements from it he was as incompetent as many stories like to portray him?
NabikiB, hm... Snape might refuse, though, on the grounds that he just doesn't have time to tutor all seven years of Slytherins: surely, Harry and co wouldn't be the only ones to complain about Lockhart being a terrible teacher.
Some Guy In An Ambulance, perhaps? But I will try to keep to the more canon-ish portrayal of goblins as 'in it for the money' guys. So, no super-helpful goblins or Harry being suddenly given special preferences just because.
The Shadows Mistress, when did you last see an incompetent goblin outside of bashing stories or stories where Harry is for whatever reason proclaimed a friend of the Goblin Nation or something, and they are in an opposition to it?
Guest #1, Hermione's lawsuit isn't central to story and is handled by Parkinsons, so it just isn't something Harry focuses on. Also, Harry and Hermione are in different years, so they don't have as many reasons to interact with each other.
torlan2003, not the rat itself. The goblins will provide him with some paperwork so that he can prove it to others that the horcrux had been destroyed, though.
phoenix-rob, he will.
* AN: As always, great thanks to my friend Skelekitty for his help in polishing this chapter.
Disclaimer: I DO NOT own "Harry Potter" franchise. No profit is being made. Same goes for any books, video games, anime or manga I may or may not use for ideas.
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A Year Too Soon
Chapter XXV: Summer's End
A couple of days after Harry sent his friends an owl, notifying them that his business with Gringotts was over and he would be free for the rest of the summer, a response from Daphne arrived. The Greengrass heiress let him know that her parents agreed to host a party for the gang on the grounds of their country seat in Wessex Downs during the next weekend.
Quickly penning his friends a note saying that he'd definitely be there, the green-eyed youth began preparing for the event: he realized that a small get-together would probably be unlike the Yule party the past Christmas, and that his formal dress robes may be rather out of place. Clearly, he required something more appropriate for a midsummer party with friends. Unfortunately, hiring the curse-breakers to get rid of the horcrux was uncomfortably expensive and left his trust vault nearly empty. And he still needed to set some gold aside to buy the things for the upcoming school year...
The next morning saw Harry receiving notes from his friends. Tracey, Flora and Hestia were all eager to attend the party and promised to be there. Blaise wanted to go as well but, regretfully, he was leaving on a trip to Italy with mother two days before the party. He also expressed hope that there would be another such party later, one that he'd be able to attend.
The next few days were but a blur for the young Potter. A quick shopping trip for clothes aside, he spent most of his time in the room he was renting at the 'Leaky Cauldron', putting the final touches on his summer homework or just reading one book or another. Then, finally, the awaited day of the party arrived…
"The Greengrass manor." Harry called as he threw a pinch of the floo powder into the fireplace sitting in the far corner of the pub. A moment later, the flames turned emerald-green, signifying that the floo Magic was now active. Taking a deep breath, he stepped into the fire. A few moments of rather uncomfortable travel through whatever weird dimension that connected the Magical fireplaces together, he arrived to his destination.
"Welcome to the Greengrass manor, Heir Potter." Lord Greengrass greeted him. "Ms. Davis and my daughters are waiting for you in the summer pavilion." He said, gesturing towards a large glazed door leading into the garden. "If you need something, feel free to call Tippy, our house elf."
"Thank you for having us over, Lord Greengrass." Harry said as he shook the man's hand. "You have a lovely home." Indeed, the house was bright and airy, an effect further amplified by the bright and sunny weather outside. It was quite unlike the solid and heavy manor owned by the House McMillan.
"Thank you. This manor has been the pride of my family for many generations." The Master of the house replied. "It was a pleasure finally meeting you, Heir Potter. I've heard many great many things about you, both from my eldest and from my associates, whose children attend Hogwarts. But as much as I would find a proper conversation with you enjoyable, Heir Potter, we'll have to do it another time: you shouldn't keep ladies waiting." Nodding, Harry thanked Lord Greengrass for hosting the party and headed out into the manor's garden.
The garden was huge and neat, with immaculate flower beds of blooming roses, pions, phloxes and other flowers. Located in its very center there was the summer pavilion - a dome of gleaming glass supported by eight pearly-while pillars. And true to Lord Greengrass's word, Harry could see Daphne, Astoria and Tracey sitting inside the said pavilion, talking animatedly among themselves… Well, they did until 'Tori spotted him. The little witch said something to her sister and her friend and then bolted out of her seat.
"Hello, Harry!" She sang out happily as she ran up to him. "Welcome to our home! Do you like it?"
"Good afternoon, 'Tori." The green-eyed wizard greeted her back. "You have a wonderful home."
"Thank you." Daphne said as she joined them. "This place is the pride of our family, but I'm sure father already told you that." Harry gave her a chuckle.
"Hello." It was now Tracey's turn to greet him.
"Good afternoon, ladies." He greeted her and Daphne back. "How's your summer been so far?" He asked then as the girls began leading him to the pavilion.
"Pretty nice and relaxing." The Greengrass heiress said. "And what about you, Harry? You've told us that you had some very important business with Gringotts that you needed to finish before you can have fun this summer." The Potter heir nodded.
"I did. Thankfully everything worked out well and now I can relax for the rest of the summer." He said as the four of them took seats around the table in the pavilion. "May I?" He then asked, nodding at the carafes with drinks.
"Of course." Daphne answered his question. She then jumped back to the previous topic: "But you absolutely have to tell us at least something about that hush-hush business you had with the goblins." Harry nodded as he poured himself some ice tea.
"Sure, but I don't want to repeat this story twice, so why don't we wait for Flora and Hestia to arrive?" He said. The delay slightly disappointed the impatient girls, but they were willing to wait for a bit. They didn't have to wait for long though as the twins arrived only a couple of minutes later.
After hellos were exchanged - and that included the Carrow sisters kissing Harry on his cheek - Daphne raised her question again:
"So, now that we're all finally here, perhaps you'll finally tell us about your secret deals with the goblins of Gringotts, Harry?" The green-eyed teen nodded.
"Well..." He began a bit awkwardly. "You do remember that the Dark Lord tried to kill me when I was just a baby, right? Well, recently I've been told by a certain wise man that such Dark Magics often leave dangerous residue behind." Pausing for a moment to take a sip of ice tea, the Potter heir continued: "During the winter holidays I hired a Curse-Breaker to take a look at my scar. Turns out, there indeed was a potentially-dangerous residue of Dark Magic in there."
"Oh." The Greengrass heiress breathed out.
"Is this why you were so distraught on the way back to Hogwarts?" Flora asked, recalling the troubled look Harry had had on the train at that time. He nodded.
"Yeah." There was a brief pause, after which he continued: "Anyway, while that Dark Magic appeared to be dormant, it was recommended that I get rid of it. Unfortunately, the necessary ritual required some lengthy preparations, so I had to schedule it for this summer. And, well… Two weeks ago I went to Gringotts and had that h-... piece of Dark Magic removed from my forehead."
"I see..." Hestia said. "You should've told us about this." She added after a few moments.
"Removing that Dark Magic residue was something that even the goblin Curse-Breakers found challenging. I didn't want to trouble you with something you've couldn't have done anything about." Harry defended himself. This only earned him a punch to his shoulder.
"Perhaps, you're right and there was nothing we could've done to really help you." Flora said. "But, still, you should've told us about it regardless."
"Anyway." Daphne cut in. Today was supposed to be a day of fun and relaxation, and she'd do her best to keep it that way. "It's great that you have that thing muddling your life, but wasn't hiring goblin Curse-Breakers twice really expensive?" She asked.
"Nah, I'm fine." Harry replied, suddenly realizing that with everything that had been happening in his life, he had completely forgotten to warn the Ministry - or, at least, the Madam Director of the DMLE - that the Dark Lord wasn't quite as dead as he was believed to be. And, how was he supposed to approach the subject with them anyway?
"Great." The Greengrass heiress said. "Let's celebrate this then. Tippy, please bring us the treats." Her call was answered a few seconds later, as a house elf carrying a large tray with freshly-baked cakes and other sweets, as well as a teapot and three carafes of colorful drinks. Having placed everything on the table, the elf quickly popped away. "Dig in." Daphne invited as she helped herself with some cake.
"What shall we do next?" Daphne asked once everyone had finished their meal. "We can play cards or skittles or, perhaps,…" She began listing their options, but quickly got interrupted by her sister.
"Let's go to the stream!" Astoria proposed enthusiastically.
"Or we can get down to the stream and do something fun there." The Greengrass heiress finished.
"You have a stream nearby?" Harry asked.
"Yeah, it's just down the hill over there." 'Tori said as she pointed southwards. Alas, it was hidden from the view by a wall of flowers and decorative shrubs. "It's a really beautiful creek and we often go there to play!" The green-eyed wizard gave her a smile.
"Sounds like a nice place to go." He said.
"Hear that, sis? Harry wants to go to the steam too," Astoria said. "C'mon, let's go!"
"Alright, alright." Her sister said with small sigh. "Anyone here against it?" It didn't look like either Tracey or the Carrow twins had any problems with this plan. "Let's go then." The younger of the Greengrass girls let out a victorious 'Whee!' and skipped out of the pavilion, calling the rest of the group to follow her.
The six children crossed the Greengrass Manor's garden and entered the more wild part of the estate - a beautiful green hill, overgrown with short grass and blooming wildflowers. At the bottom of this sloping hill there indeed was a merry stream of crystal-clear water, its sandy shores peppered with reeds and sedge here and there.
"Wow! This place is beautiful." Was all that Harry could say.
"Told you!" Astoria replied triumphantly. She then kicked off her shoes and took off her socks before running off into the creek, letting out a small surprised yeep as cool water touched her skin.
"What are we going to do next?" Daphne asked then, looking around. "A ball game perhaps?"
"Sounds good." Tracey supplied.
"Let's do it." Harry agreed with a shrug.
"Alright then." The Greengrass heiress said. Then she called the house elf: "Tippy!" The creature appeared with a pop a moment later. "Please bring us that large blue ball from the game room." The elf nodded and popped away. It returned a few seconds later with a blue-and-white striped ball roughly twice the size of a human head and handed it over to its mistress, before disappearing again. "So, how are we going to do it? Everyone for himself or a team versus a team?" Daphne asked then.
"Let's do a team game." Tracey suggested. And when no one voiced a disagreement, Daphne continued:
"I'll be on the first team. Who wants to lead the second one?" She asked.
"Me, me!" Astoria shouted excitedly while jumping on a rock lying on the edge of the stream.
"I would like to." Flora said after she and her sister exchanged a glance. Tracey, meanwhile, remained silent and so did Harry.
"Alright, Flora, you'll be picking the team two." Daphne said, causing 'Tori to give her a pout. Which only lasted for a few moments as Daphne then picked her for her team.
"I'll take Hestia." The pert Carrow sister said.
"Tracey." Daphne took her pick.
"That leaves me, I guess." Harry said as he stepped to join his best girl friends' 'team'.
"How are we going to play this?" Flora asked then.
"To fifteen points?" The Greengrass heiress replied with a shrug. They were just having fun, did it really matter? The others seemed to have no problems with that, and so they started the first game...
Daphne's team won the first game with a three points lead, but with how everyone got excited over the game, Flora definitely didn't want to accept her loss just yet. Thus, the second game was played, and this time around, it was her team that won. And to determine the true winners of their ball game, the six youths played the third round.
After a lot of competitive struggle - primarily between Harry and Astoria as they outlasted the others - Flora's team scored its second victory.
"Hooray! We did it, we did it!" The said team's captain cried out in happy excitement. She then gave Harry a big hug, completely forgetting that she was supposed to be angry at him for being a secretive jerk. The green-eyed youth wasn't expecting this and so he found himself tackled onto the ground with an excited girl on top of him… Two excited girls on top of him, as Hestia decided that she wanted to give him a hug him as well.
The three of them, now entangled together, were suddenly brought back to the reality by a loud popping sound. Looking up from the ground, they saw Tippy the house elf holding a tray with five glasses of fresh juice on it. Astoria was already drinking from the sixth.
"Thank you, Tippy." Daphne said as she picked a glass from the tray. She then turned her attention to the trio on the ground. "Feel free to have a drink if you're thirsty." She offered. Untangling themselves, Harry, Flora and Hestia sat up and took a glass of juice from the helpful elf. Once everyone was refreshed a little, Tippy popped away, carrying the now empty glasses as well as the ball with her. The Greengrass heiress then took a look at the skies. And, well, the sun had already began declining. "I think, it's the time for us to head back to the manor." She said, making Astoria give her a pout. That didn't have any effect on Daphne though, as she only shook her head at her little sister's antics. "Shall we go?"
"Alright." Hestia replied.
The gang of six then dusted off and straightened their clothes before setting off to the Greengrass manor.
~/ *** \~
Amelia Bones was quite surprised when, one morning, she found a letter from one Harry Potter waiting for her in her Director of the DMLE office. Curious, why the boy decided to write to her directly instead of addressing his missive to the Auror Offices, she drew her wand and cast an array of diagnostic spells to check the letter for hidden surprises. Once she was sure that there were none, she picked the letter up and read it.
The message was pretty short and straightforward. In it, Harry Potter claimed to have some very important information about Britain's latest Dark Lord and expressed his desire to give her this information in person. Normally, Amelia would have dismissed this letter as a hoax, but between what she knew about the boy - mostly through her niece - and Dumbledore's recent revelation that Voldemort wasn't quite dead for some arcane reason, she was willing to at least hear the Potter scion out.
Picking up a piece of parchment, the Director of the DMLE quickly penned a response to Mr. Potter's letter in which she invited him to the Auror Offices for a private interview in two days. Then, on a separate piece of parchment, she wrote a note telling the boy that if his letter was a prank, he will not like the consequences.
Rereading her message to make sure that everything was in order, Amelia stamped it with her seal, and gave it to a Ministry's owl, which immediately took off to deliver the letter… Shaking her head, Madam Bones returned to her table and let out an annoyed sigh: in time it took her to write a response to Mr. Potter's letter, her morning paperwork grew by a whole new stack of documents.
"What do y-..." A young Auror standing on guard at the doors leading to the DMLE offices began when he saw Harry exit the elevators. A minor had no business there, especially at such an early hour. He, however, was quickly forced to shut up when the boy presented him a letter saying that the had a meeting with Madam Director, authentic seal of the department's head included. "Please follow me." He said, before asking his partner to replace him. A short walk later, they were in front of Amelia Bones's office. "Madam Director, your guest is here." The Auror called after knocking on his boss's door.
"Please send him in, Mr. Wilkins." The witch replied.
"Good morning, Madam Director." Harry greeted Madam Bones as he stepped into the office.
"Good morning, Mr. Potter." Amelia greeted him back. "Please have a seat." She said, gesturing to a comfortable chair across the table from her. Once Harry was seated, she continued: "In your letter, you claimed that you have important information that you wanted to give to me in person. Something about the Dark Lord Voldemort."
"Yes." Harry said with a nod. "But before I tell you anything, I would request your word that you will not disclose me as your source without my express permission."
"Very well." Amelia said after a few long seconds of silence. "What did you want to inform me about, Mr. Potter?" She asked then.
"I've recently come across a very disturbing evidence pointing towards him not being as dead as we all believed. And since this information can cause us much grief if it falls into wrong hands, I felt that informing you in person was the best course of action."
"Alright. What proof do you have to back your claim up?" Amelia asked.
"This." The young wizard said as he handed her a parchment with Gringotts's seal. Quickly reading through the document, Madam Bones saw that it was a report from a team of Curse-Breakers about removing a piece of Dark Magic identified as a horcrux from the boy's cursed scar, and then destroying it with a Goblin-forged dagger infused with basilisk venom. The Curse-Breaker then noted that all evidence pointed towards this horcrux belonging to the Dark Lord Voldemort. Furthermore, if the goblin was to be believed, this horcrux was actually an accidental one - something that shouldn't normally happen - and the most likely explanation to why it did was that the man had already made multiple other horcruxes previously.
"Interesting." Amelia said. She was very knowledgeable when it came to Defense Against the Dark Arts and Dark Arts theory, but it wasn't until just a couple of weeks ago that she heard the term 'horcrux' for the first time. Unspeakable Croaker proposed that a horcrux - a soul jar - was how Voldemort managed to remain in this world after his 'death' almost eleven years ago. "I can see why you wanted to give this information to me in person, Mr. Potter. And why you wish not to reveal yourself as the source of this information." She said.
"Thank you for your understanding, Madam Bones." Harry replied.
"That said,.." The witch continued. "I'm not sure I will be able to forward the information you've brought to me without revealing you as its source." Seeing somewhat confused look on the boy's face, she elaborated: "Professor Dumbledore has alerted us to the fact that Voldemort isn't quite dead some time ago, thought he had no knowledge of the means Voldemort had used to remain in this world."
"Well..." The young Potter said as he handed another piece of parchment to the DMLE Director. "I've kind of expected that you might need share the information about the horcruxes with people I might not wish to be aware that the information is coming from me, so I went to Gringotts yesterday and asked for an edited version of the Curse-Breakers' report - one that preserves my anonymity. The goblin were even kind enough to ask for just a single galleon for this document."
"Yes, this should work." Amelia said after making sure that the two documents differed only in details regarding where the horcrux was found and who purchased its removal. She then gave the original document back to Harry. "With the information we might be a step closer to ending the Dark Lord menace once and for all." Here, she made a small pause, before adding: "I believe, you deserve a reward for bringing this to my - and the Ministry for Magic's - attention… Anonymously, of course."
For a few moments, Harry wasn't sure he should accept the money, if only because it took him so long to bring the information to the authorities. However, between the state of his trust vault and his fear that Madam Bones might question him about his refusal, he changed his mind.
"That would be very generous of you." He said finally.
~/ *** \~
A couple of days before his birthday, Harry received a letter from Hogwarts. Just like the previous year, the envelope contained his tickets for the Hogwarts express as well as the list of the textbooks and other stuff he'll need for the upcoming year. And, for some reason, there was a whole set Gilderoy Lockhart's books on that list. Presumably, the new Defense Against the Dark Arts Professor was to be blamed for it.
That soured Harry's mood. Not only the books were quite expensive - and he was rather short on money after employing the services of Gringotts Curse-Breakers - but they also were adventure novels and not proper textbooks. Being asked to buy those for a class made him question the competency of the new DADA Professor before he even met them: surely, such an important class should be taught using books that were more useful information and less entertainment.
He shared his concerns with his friends, and got worrying responses from Daphne, Tracey and Blaise saying that they had the same seven books by Lockhart on their list, despite being in a different year. Did their new DADA Professor plan to teach the same things to all seven years? That was concerning... Still, it probably wouldn't be right to condemn the Professor without having even a single lesson with them.
His concerns about the DADA course in the upcoming academic year weren't the only reason Harry wrote to his friends that day, or course. He also asked them when they'll be visiting the Diagon Alley to buy the stuff for Hogwarts and proposed they shop together, just like they did the previous year.
Everyone was in favor of that, and the next Sunday was picked as the day for the 'event'. Soon, however, a new development that threatened to thwart their plans cropped up. Apparently, on that very Sunday one Gilderoy Lockhart will be holding a book signing in Flourish and Blotts. And with how wildly-popular the man was, one could be certain that the shop will be flooded with his fans... Of course, there were other book shops in the Diagon Alley, but those weren't anywhere as big and there were no guarantees that they'll have all of the books the group needed in stock.
Thankfully for Harry, he wasn't the only one who didn't want to deal with the crowds. In fact, out of their entire group, only Tracey wanted to go to the book signing. Flora and Hestia, meanwhile, were rather ambivalent about it all, but Blaise and Daphne were firmly in Harry's 'camp' of picking a better day for their shopping trip. Thus, after a small argument, they agreed to postpone their shopping for a week.
On Monday morning the 'Daily Prophet' greeted Harry with a large photo of Gilderoy Lockhart smiling at him from front page. The green-eyed wizard almost dismissed this article as something useless and moved on to the actual news hidden somewhere in the following pages when he noticed the word 'Hogwarts' in the text. Curious, he decided to find out what was going on.
And as he read through the article, he learned that Mr. Gilderoy Lockhart was taking up the position of the Defense Against the Dark Arts Professor at Hogwarts. That certainly explained why his books were on the list instead of proper textbooks... At least, the man was supposed to be an experienced adventurer that traveled around the world, dealing with dangerous creatures terrorizing locals. Alas, Harry had his doubts that Mr. Lockhart actually had any idea how to pass on his skills. Hopefully, his fears will turn out to be unfounded, but if it turned out that he was indeed a bad teacher…
Having finished the article, he flipped through the pages, wondering what else had happened in Magical Britain over the weekend. And after skimming through a few boring articles about the political stuff, he came across a little note about a fistfight that happened in the 'Flourish and Blotts'. Apparently, Arthur Weasley, the head Misuse of Muggle Artefacts Office got into a brawl with an unidentified wizard. The newspaper then proceeded to criticize the man heavily for his intolerable conduct without saying another word about the other man.
The 'Daily Prophet' sure loved dragging people's names through the mud at the slightest provocation, Harry noted. One of their reporters in particular was especially talented at destroying the good reputation of her targets, and he could only hope that he wouldn't ever do anything to draw the attention of Rita Skeeter…
Shaking his head, he flipped the page and continued skimming through the newspaper in search for more articles to arouse his curiosity. Unfortunately, the issue only had a few more small notes that managed to pick his interest. Setting the newspaper aside, he finished his morning tea and leaned back in his chair, trying to decide what he wanted to do today. Perhaps, some window-shopping with a stop at the Fortescue's for some of that delicious ice cream? Yeah, that sounded like a plan.
His mind made up, he paid Tom the bartender for the breakfast and headed into Diagon Alley.
That's all, folks!
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