And here's the forty fifth chapter of "A Year Too Soon"! Enjoy!
* Review Response:
mizzrazz72, griffin blackwood, The Shadows Mistress, orion0905, Clavyus, DarkRavie, Lord Mortensen, mwinter1, Urgazhi, TouchMe-San, Yaw6113, Uday Sra, Blue Luver5000, kyuubi7, DrakeGrimmhound, jamnaz79, Guest #1, TheGreatBubbaJ, Ep, Guest #2, Martin-di-Arcov, thank you for your reviews, folks!
Wulfkin17, Urgazhi, looking for all those extra little details that no one really needs happens with me sometimes.
magitech, well, civilian satellite imaging is probably a bit younger than that, and the story is currently in 1993. Internet isn't quite there to let people access those photos whenever they want, but I can definitely see your point there.
jivablab, I'm not a native speaker so... yeah, I might be writing more in American English since it's just something I'm more exposed to thanks to all of the multimedia around us. As for your second point. I'll have to disagree about wood rotting too quickly, though. In my country there are old houses - including those built by the peasantry - and churches that survived for over two centuries even without advanced preservation chemicals we have access to nowadays. That said, I really don't know what British people build their homes from and it might have been a good idea to research that before I started writing the chapter...
Luiz4200, there will be an attempt to resurrect Voldemort, but the current plans are that it is aborted before anything really happens.
Majerus, thank you for your help with polishing the chapter.
Pixel and Stephanie Forever, didn't really know about that. Though, now that I think about it, it does make sense to list runways as L - C - R.
Wyrtha, well, I can have the architect to change Harry's minds about the materials to be used for the new manor's construction.
* AN: 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 XLV: Fourth Year Begins
"Coming!" Aberforth Dumbledore, the owner and barman of the Hog's Head Inn called loudly and with barely-constrained annoyance in his voice as he went to answer an insistent knocking on the door. It was well past midnight, and even the most idle of his clients had left some time ago. So, understandably, the old wizard was far from happy with being disturbed at this hour. And he was even less happy when he saw who was disturbing him.
"Good night, Aberforth." His older brother greeted politely.
"You're not welcome here, Albus. Get lost." Aberforth hissed before trying to slam the door shut. The Hogwarts Headmaster was quicker though, and placed his foot into the doorway preventing the door from closing.
"I'm quite aware of that, brother." Albus said. "However, it's long past time that I bring us closure about that day. If you hate me after this... then so be it, I would deserve nothing less. But I must ask that you reserve judgment until we have our answers. And until I beg Ariana for forgiveness, for not being the brother she needed so long ago." And with that he opened his hand, revealing a small and rather unassuming gem to Aberforth. It took the younger of the Dumbledore brothers a few long moments to realize exactly what he was looking at.
"I-Is that?.." He asked, his voice suddenly shaking. Albus nodded.
"Yes, the Resurrection Stone. At least the Unspeakables assure me that it is the real deal. I haven't used it myself yet." There was a long pause, before Aberforth finally spoke.
"Fine. Get in." He told his older brother.
While most of the preparations for the new academic year were finished several days before it actually started, there always were some issues that cropped up at the last moment. This year, of course, was no exception and while Minerva McGonagall, being the Deputy Headmistress of Hogwarts, could deal with most such issues herself, there was a couple that required the intervention of the Headmaster to be resolved in a timely manner.
Thus, the Transfiguration Mistress found herself riding up the moving stairs towards the man's office early in the morning of September the first, a number of parchments held tightly in her hands. The lack of customary acknowledgment of her arrival when she approached the door case as a bit of a surprise. She knew from the gargoyle that the man was in his office, and never in her experience did Albus ever ignore someone's arrival. He would ask them to return later if he was busy with something important, but he would always say something.
Did the man fall asleep at his table?
A loud knock on the door brought no reaction from within the office, making Minerva even more assured that Albus had indeed fallen asleep at his table, probably while working on whatever secret project he had been working on ever since the Chamber of Secrets incident last year.
Regardless, there were issues that needed to be brought to the Headmaster's attention. And resolved by him as soon as possible, preferably before the Hogwarts Express arrives at Hogsmeade. So, Professor McGonagall knocked on the door once more. Not getting any response this time either, she made sure that the door was unlocked and cracked it open.
"I'm coming in, Albus." She announced. There was no protest coming from the man, so Minerva stepped inside his office. And it was then she saw Dumbledore passed on his table, quite inebriated and inebriated and with dried tears still on his face. Something extreme must have happened to him the previous night, and it made him drink himself into unconsciousness. There even were a knocked over drinking glass and a nearly-empty bottle of Ogden's finest next to him.
Seeing Albus like that was quite a surprise. While he never truly shied away from alcohol, he also knew his limits well and, despite knowing the man for decades, Minerva had seen him truly drunk only twice. The first one was after his battle against Grindelwald, his once close friend while the second happened when he grieved over the Potters' untimely deaths after he had left little Harry with the Dursleys. This time, however, was much different and Albus looked like a great weight had been lifted off his soul.
And Minerva was quietly happy for him. Still, whatever had happened yesterday night wasn't an excuse for him to be a sleeping drunk when he had a school to run. Thus, with a bit of reluctance, she sent a weak stinging hex at the man to wake him up. And, surprisingly, that was all that she needed to rouse him from his sleep.
"Ahm… Minerva?" Dumbledore asked still somewhat sleepily as he sat upright. He then looked around, quickly noticing that it wasn't nighttime anymore. "Good morning." He greeted her, hastily removing his firewhiskey and glass from the table.
"Good morning, Albus." The Transfiguration Mistress greeted him back.
"Something I can do for you?" He asked next.
"Yes." Minerva replied as she handed him the stack of parchments she had come in with. "These are the issues that needed to be brought to your attention. If possible, they should be dealt with today, before the students arrive." The old warlock quickly scanned the documents, noting that the issues outlined in them were, while nothing truly serious, something that indeed should be fixed as soon as possible.
"Alright, I'll get to these after breakfast." He finally said.
"Thank you." His Deputy replied. There was a bit of a pause, before she spoke again: "If you don't mind me asking..." She began somewhat awkwardly. "What happened yesterday, Albus? It's so rare to see you actually drunk. In all the years I've known you, this is - I think - only the third time." This was followed by another pause as Dumbledore contemplated answering the question.
"I… I talked to her last night." He said finally. "And she forgave me, both for that night and for not being there for her back then."
"Her?" Minerva asked, actually having no idea whom he was talking about.
"Ariana." Dumbledore clarified. It took the witch a few long seconds to remember that Ariana was the name of his late sister.
"Did you meet her ghost?" She asked then, suddenly making Albus remember that he hadn't told her about the Resurrection Stone he currently had in his possession.
"Something like that." He replied a little evasively. It seemed to satisfy Minerva's curiosity nonetheless.
"It certainly did you some good." The witch said after a moment of silence. "It's like many of the worries that have been plaguing you everyday are suddenly gone."
"I guess, you're right. I needed that closure." Albus acknowledged. softly After a pause, he continued, now all-business: "Alright, let me clean myself up and have some breakfast, and I'll take care of these." He said as he stood up and placed his hand on the stack of parchments on his table.
~/ *** \~
Harry's morning of September the first didn't start all that great. Somehow, he overslept. It wasn't too bad and he wasn't actually late for the Hogwarts Express by a long shot - the clock was showing ten to ten when he emerged from the public floo on platform 9¾ - but… Arriving to the large crowd already there, rather than being ahead of them was a novel and not exactly a pleasant experience for him.
At least he needn't worry about finding a seat for himself as Blaise had saved him one in a compartment he had claimed for their little clique. Having thanked the dark-skinned teen for his forethought, Harry put his trunk onto the luggage rack and settled down as he waited for the girls, who were currently saying goodbyes to their families on the platform, to return.
And, indeed, shortly after the train's conductor let out a whistle to inform everyone that the Hogwarts Express would be departing soon, the girls returned. Tracey was the first one, followed shortly by Daphne and Astoria. Flora and Hestia, meanwhile, entered the compartment only moments before the train started moving. Once the greetings were exchanged, the twins, who were now snuggling into Harry's sides, spoke up:
"We all were surprised to find out that you weren't there yet when we had arrived. Usually you're the first one to board the train. Did something happen?" The green-eyed Potter shook his head.
"Not really." He said. "Just overslept a little." There was a short pause before he added: "Would you terribly mind if I have my breakfast now? Didn't have time for that back at Leaky Cauldron." As no one objected, Harry got hold of sandwiches Tom the bartender had made for him. But before he could take even a single bite, Flora stole the whole thing from his hands.
"No-o-ope." She said teasingly as the green-eyed wizard made a half-hearted attempt to reclaim his breakfast from her. "Hestia and I are your girlfriends. It's our right to spoil you when we want." With that she split the sandwiches into the stacks and handed one over to her sister.
His face burning with embarrassment, Harry nevertheless allowed the twins to feed him. All the while doing his best to ignore Astoria's giggles and not-so-discrete thumbs up from Blaise.
"Say, Harry." The Greengrass heiress decided to break the uneasy silence that had settled within the compartment. "Last time we got together, you said that you've hit a snag with your project to rebuild the Potter manor. Were you able to make some progress since then?" She asked.
"Actually, yes." The green-eyed teen replied. "Last week I finally managed to find an architect and he was willing to design the house. If everything goes well, we should have the design finalized by Christmas, maybe even earlier."
"Does that mean we will be able to visit you at the Potter manor next summer?" Hestia asked as she offered Harry a bite of his sandwich.
"Probably not." He replied. "I don't think actual construction can start until spring, and building a manor likely takes more than a couple of months even with Magic. Then I'll need to furnish the place and have the warding redone. The summer after the next one is a more likely estimate for when it will be finished." He said before taking a bite of the sandwich.
"That… sounds reasonable." Hestia said after a moment of silence. "Still." She continued. "Two whole years before the new Potter manor is finished. That'd feel like forever."
"Well, probably a bit less than that - I really hope I can have it all finished by the time I sit my OWLs - but, yeah, building a house can take quite a bit of time, especially when I'm at Hogwarts nine months a year." Harry said.
"You're still inviting us for housewarming, aren't you, Harry?" Daphne asked then.
"Of course." The Potter heir confirmed. The compartment then fell into silence for a little bit, before Tracey asked the question many have been wondering about ever since they got the list of the textbooks for this year.
"Who do you think will be our DADA Professor this year?"
"No idea." Blaise replied. "But, at least, we will be studying from a proper textbook now. Professor Lockhart might have started teaching us something actually useful towards the end of the year, but his books are about as useful for teaching Defense as he himself was at first." Tracey placed her hands over her heart, pretending to be wounded by his words but didn't fight him on this point.
"I agree." Harry said. "Even if it turns out that our new DADA Professor can't teach, we should still be able to learn quite a bit from the textbooks."
"C'mon, Harry." Flora breathed out. "Do you really think that our new Professor will be bad?"
"I don't know." The green-eyed teen replied with a shrug. After a brief moment of silence he continued: "I really hope that I'm wrong and they can teach Defense well, but… Out of four DADA Professors we've had over the past three years, only Professor Armstrong was good."
"Well… I can't really argue with that." Flora conceded.
"And speaking of our new teachers." Tracey continued. "Do you really think Hagrid will be a good one? That Care for Magical Creatures book he had us buy is just ...monstrous." She said with a small shudder.
"I think he can be." Harry replied. "Hagrid really knows a lot about various Magical creatures and the creatures actually like him so he will have little problem with showcasing them. That said, I don't think our textbook is about harmless creatures. Still, if Hagrid doesn't go overboard with what he brings to class, I think he might be a good teacher." Then, glancing at his girlfriends, he added: "Didn't we learn quite a bit from him while he was learning the ropes from Professor Kettleburn."
"We did." Flora agreed.
"That's nice to hear." Tracey said. "I was worried about that after seeing the textbook." Harry nodded.
"The Monster Book of Monsters… I wonder, who is insane enough to enchant such a book." He said. "It's not like those books suddenly start behaving like wild beasts just because of what is printed on the cover, right? Someone has to actually apply the Charms." Everyone in the compartment - even Astoria, who had only seen the book from a distance - appeared to be in agreement with him. None of them had an answer for the question though.
Several hours later, Hogwarts Express finally arrived at Hogsmeade. Astoria reluctantly joined other first year students for a boat trip across the Black lake while Harry and the rest of the clique took horseless carriages to the castle.
The ride didn't take too long and soon enough they walked into Hogwarts' Great Hall. And as they did it, they immediately noticed a new face at the teacher's table. It was a scarred man with dark-gray grizzled hair, a missing chunk of nose, and a Magical prosthesis in place of his left eye. The said prosthesis appeared to be moving around independently of his real eye and was constantly scanning the hall.
"Is that… 'Mad Eye' Moody?" Blaise asked. "Do you think he is our new DADA Professor?"
"Seems so." Harry said as they made their way to the Slytherin table. He too had recognized the man without a problem - one needed to live their entire life under a proverbial rock to not recognize someone as distinct as Alastor Moody.
"Isn't that great? We're finally having a good teacher this year." Tracey said.
"I hope you're right." The young Potter said, breaking the silence that settled over their clique.
"What do you mean, Harry?" The young witch asked. "Before he retired, Professor Moody was the best Auror in Great Britain. And he had trained like a whole generation of Aurors during his time at the DMLE. Surely, there is a lot he can teach us."
"But can he actually teach us what he knows?" Harry asked back. And without waiting for Tracey to answer, he continued: "Like you said, he trained Aurors - people who already got their NEWTs in Defense and know how to use their wands. We aren't quite there, though. And those who just entered Hogwarts, like 'Tori, might have not even cast their first spell yet. Can he teach people like this just as well?" Tracey let out a sigh.
"I guess I can see your point." She said after being quiet for a few long seconds. "But I still hope Professor Moody will be an awesome teacher who will teach us a lot about defense."
"So do I." Harry seconded while the others nodded in agreement.
The clique remained silent for a couple of minutes, until the doors of the Great Hall swung open as Professor McGonagall led a large group of young wizards and witches inside.
"Oh, there's Astoria." Daphne said, nodding towards her little sister in the crowd of firsties. "I hope she'll be sorted into Slytherin."
"Of course she will." Tracey cheered her friend up.
After the obligatory song, the Sorting Ceremony began. Yet, Harry wasn't paying it much attention, only clapping politely with the rest of Slytherins whenever someone was sorted into the House. At least, when it wasn't Astoria's turn. The young Greengrass spent a couple of minutes under the Hat, until it finally gave in and had her join the ranks of Slytherins.
The rest of the Sorting Ceremony wasn't of much interest to the young Potter, so he spent it quietly talking to his friends about one thing or another. Once the last of the new students was sorted and Professor McGonagall took the Sorting Hat and the stool away, the Headmaster rose from his throne-like chair and called for everyone's attention:
"Welcome." He said. "Welcome to another year at Hogwarts! Before we begin our feast tonight, there are a few things that I need to bring to your attention."
He then told that several new items were added to the list of objects forbidden inside the castle and that the full list could be viewed in Mr. Filch's office. This was followed by a reminder that the Forbidden Forest was, in fact, out-of-bounds to students. Next came the introductions of the new Professors:
"Now then, I am pleased to welcome two new teachers to our ranks this year. First, Professor Moody who has kindly consented to fill the post of Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher. He will also be working on improving the castle's security, so feel free to report anything you find concerning to him." The retired Auror received a round of loud applause, coming mostly from Gryffindor and Hufflepuff tables. Once those applause died down, Dumbledore continued: "I'm also delighted to announce that in addition to his gamekeeping duties Rubeus Hagrid will now be teaching Care for Magical Creatures in place of Professor Kettleburn who has retired at the end of the last year to enjoy more time with his remaining limbs." The applause given to Hagrid wasn't as enthusiastic, but the man didn't appear to care and just kept smiling at the students.
With all of the important announcements out of the way, all that was left for the Headmaster to do was announce the beginning of the Welcoming Feast.
~/ *** \~
Peter Pettigrew was greatly relieved when his arrival at the Crouch manor inside Senior's briefcase didn't trigger any wards. It meant that all the hardships he had fallen under to get there - of which the mad, nausea-inducing ride through the floo network inside the aforementioned briefcase was only the latest one - weren't for naught.
Indeed, his infiltration attempt, while ultimately successful, didn't always go as smoothly as Peter would've liked. First, he had to travel all the way to London as a rat, which took him over two weeks and had him dodging various predators eager to eat him more than once. Next came infiltration of the Ministry for Magic... He got noticed while trying to cross the main lobby and had to run like hell to avoid being hit by numerous Hexes and Curses people used to try to get rid of the 'pest'. He wasn't entirely successful and a few stray spells had hit him. The damage wasn't permanent or even really hampering, but it was still a terrible experience.
So, to avoid being cursed again, Peter spent the rest of the day hiding behind a large flower pot. Once night fell, he continued on his way to the Department of Magical Games and Sports. The said department was located all the way down on the seventh level, which meant a long and arduous journey down the endless flights of stairs. And guards patrolling the Ministry, however rare they might be, only made it more difficult for Peter.
Eventually, though, he managed to reach the Department of Magical Games and Sports and locate Crouch's office with it. Alas, the said office was locked and had a security ward that would trigger if he tried to force his way in. And while the said ward wasn't as powerful or as complex as the ones protecting the Crouch manor, the rat animagus knew he couldn't break it without alerting night-shift Aurors to his presence.
With not much time left before the first workers would arrive, it looked like Peter's only option would be to hide somewhere and wait for an opportunity to sneak into Crouch's office during the work hours. But as he made his way under the secretary's table, he noticed a number of keys hidden there. And to his luck, one of those keys was from Crouch's office.
So, dropping his animagus transformation, he borrowed the key and used it to unlock the door. When it looked like the wards weren't triggered, he quickly slipped inside and re-locked the door.
Transforming back into a rat, Peter went to hide behind a wastepaper bin while thanking his lucky stars that the office was such a mess. Indeed, it looked like Crouch Sr. was really busy with some major project right now. His table was all but overflowing with pachmentwork and a lot of crumpled pieces of parchment filled the wastepaper bin or lay on the floor around it. And then there was like a hundred of various diagrams and notes stuck to the office's walls and the door. Though Pettigrew was curious about the notes, he unfortunately didn't have time to study them.
As daylight began pouring out of an enchanted window, Crouch Sr. entered his office and, much to Peter's relief, immediately dove into work, apparently not suspecting that someone might have broken into his office at night. For the next few hours the man worked hard on arranging for the Quidditch World Cup finals that will be held next summer on British soil.
Then lunchtime came and Crouch Sr. left for the cafeteria. Seeing this as his chance, Peter abandoned his hiding spot and sneaked inside the man's briefcase. And with how disorderly it was inside, the rat animagus had an easy time hiding in there.
This step of his infiltration plan complete, Pettigrew simply waited for the old bastard to finally go back home, carrying him along the way.
And so here he was, in the Crouch manor at last.
He couldn't escape from the briefcase just yet, though, as Crouch Sr. hadn't let go of it yet and was carrying it somewhere upstairs instead. And when Senior finally set the briefcase down, much to Peter's horror, the man opened it and began looking for something inside.
The rat animagus was then saved by an house elf announcing that the dinner would be served in a few minutes, which made Crouch Sr. to stop his search and walk away while grumbling something unintelligible under his breath.
Peter waited for a couple of minutes before finally acting. Quickly digging himself from underneath a pile of random parchments, he climbed out of the briefcase and looked around. Apparently, he currently was in the man's study. Which suited him just fine as the room had many places he could hide in. The gap between a wall and the largest bookcase looked particularly appealing in that regard.
His decision made, the rat animagus darted for his new hideaway. He'd spend the night here and go looking for Junior next morning while the old bastard is away.
The next morning, once Crouch Sr. departed from the manor, Peter left his hiding spot behind the bookcase and started looking for Junior. He soon found him in one of the rooms on the ground floor, staring blankly out of the window. Quickly dropping his animagus transformation, Peter drew his attention. With some effort, Barty overpowered the Imperius curse that was forcing him to look endlessly at the countryside and turned around. It took him a few long seconds to recognize the man standing in front of him.
"Pettigrew?!" He shouted in surprise. "Is that you? You're alive?"
"Yes." Peter replied simply while gesturing for the man to keep his voice down: even if his father was away right now, the house elf wasn't. And they didn't want the creature reporting anything about this to the Crouch family's patriarch.
"But everyone thought you were dead, killed by that blood-traitor Black." Junior continued a bit quieter.
"That was a clever deception on my part." Pettigrew replied proudly. "Not only did it see Black rotting in Azkaban for the rest of his miserable life, but it also allowed me to spy on blood-traitors for years with no one suspecting anything."
"And what did you learn?" The other man asked. "You did learn something, right? That's why you're here." The rat animagus nodded.
"Indeed." He said. "I learned the most wonderful news." Pausing for a few moments to build up suspense, he continued: "The Dark Lord is still alive… Well, not truly dead at any rate. He's still around."
"And if he is still around." Junior picked up. "We can bring him back to his former glory. Give him another chance to cleanse the world of Muggle filth… Imagine, the rewards the Dark Lord will give us if we can resurrect him. He will make us his most trusted lieutenants. Money, witches, power - it all will be ours if we can do that." Barty said with his face split by a greedy grin.
"Indeed." Peter agreed, mirroring his grin. After a few moments he dropped it, though: "But we definitely need some really serious Magic to do that. Do you know any?"
"We will find something." Crouch Jr. replied confidently. "But before that." He continued after a brief pause. "We need to deal with my dear father. He needs to pay for all these years he kept me a prisoner in this house." Pettigrew nodded.
"Of course."
That's all, folks!
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