And here's the sixty fourth chapter of "A Year Too Soon"! Enjoy!

* Review Response:
Wentley, Fuck Names, mwinter1, griffin blackwood, RedOuroboros, erbkaiser, DarkRavie, Brockster550, Yaw613, Yaw6113, BMS, Agnes Fonta, Nice Egan, draconin, thank you for your reviews, folks!
Luiz4200, more like bewitched and stuffed him to the gills with love potions or something like that, but yes.
magitech, considering the canon, it does indeed look like Hogwarts Professors (or, at least, McGonagall) don't ask students whether they want a Prefect's position - or that of a Quidditch team captain, for that matter - before sending them the badge. I also don't recall anyone ever turning it down, which is another interesting thing to note. Can a student actually do that? Or can a student only be stripped off it for doing something really bad?
Jose19, eh?...
Urgazhi, their meeting, whenever it actually happens, will not be when Harry is visiting the Carrow manor. That said, Flora and Hestia will likely be there when Sirius finally meets Harry. And, yeah, it probably won't be pretty.

* AN: This chapter has not been beta-read.

* Big Author's Note: At the beginning of April 2023, my once beta and long-time friend Skelekitty has passed away after suffering from serious health issues for some time. May his Next Great Adventure be full of happiness and in good health. And may he not be forgotten here. Rest in peace, my friend.

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.

"speaking"
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A Year Too Soon
Chapter LXIV: Visiting the Manors

It was eventually decided that Harry would visit the Carrow manor next Saturday, giving him several days to settle in for the summer and enjoy the first days of his summer holidays in the Diagon Alley. Right now he was having a late lunch at the 'Leaky Cauldron'. And with his thoughts being elsewhere he didn't notice a certain blonde Lord approach his table.

"Heir Potter? Fancy meeting you here." The man said, startling him a little.

"Ah, Lord Malfoy, good afternoon." Harry greeted him, absentmindedly noting a rather large parcel in the older wizard's hands - the results of his shopping in Diagon, or perhaps Knockturn, Alley. "Is there something I can help you with?"

"Actually, yes, I would like to have a quick chat with you, Heir Potter, if you don't mind." Harry thought about it for a moment, before nodding. Lucius then took a seat across the table from him. "When Draco returned from Hogwarts, he ranted about you aggressively interfering with his plans and businesses and generally being a thorn in his side. However, knowing that things don't seem to be so simple with you and my own son's tendency to act brashly and without thinking ahead, as well as to blame others for his own mistakes and failures, I would like to hear your side of the story, Heir Potter."

"I see…" Harry said with a sigh. After a pause, he continued: "There indeed has been a number of altercation between myself and Heir Malfoy this past academic year, centered around his desire to usurp the leadership over Slytherin from myself. This includes several Magical fights. In all cases, your son was the first one to draw his wand, and also the one to lose every time. Though I will admit to perhaps going a little too far with the force of my 'response' the last time. In my defense, Draco came seeking confrontation at a very inconvenient time. And it also was far from the first time he tried to use that same tactic." It was now Lord Malfoy's turn to let out a sigh.

"This is about what I thought had actually happened." He said while silently wondering why Draco was like that. Why, despite having Malfoy and Black blood flowing through his veins, he was such a Merlin-damned Gryffindor at times? "I guess, I'll have to give him a few more lessons on when a proper Slytherin should and shouldn't pick a fight with others."

Harry wasn't sure what to say in response to that, so he simply nodded and remained silent.

"And speaking of Slytherin politics." The blond wizard continued. "I had the pleasure to speak with young Heir Flint two nights ago, and we touched upon some of the innovations you've introduced."

"Oh?" Harry asked oh-so-eloquently.

"We may disagree on many points, Heir Potter, but we both agree that true Slytherins should not speak lowly slurs in public. Slytherins are the cream of the crop of the Magical world, and as such should be held to the higher standards, both in their achievements and their presentation of themselves." Lord Malfoy said. "To think that Hogwarts' standards have fallen so much… I guess, I should thank you for trying to uphold the noble image of Slytherin in these trying times."

"I… Thank you, Sir." Harry said carefully.

"Nonsense. Regardless of your true intentions, you did a good thing for Slytherin, and that should be commended." Lord Malfoy said. He then fell into thoughtful silence for several long seconds, before continuing: "I really wish that would be enough during the coming year to ensure Hogwarts leaves the best of impressions, but between impulsive brashness of Gryffindors and snobbism of Ravenclaws, I somehow doubt it would actually happen."

"I'm sorry, but what will happen at Hogwarts then?" The young Potter asked. "I've heard people saying they wished they were students so that they could be there for it, but no one is saying exactly what that something would be."

"As they should." Lucius replied. "It is supposed to be a surprise for you, students, after all." He was silent for a moment, before adding: "Well, I guess I can tell you this much: the Quidditch World Cup isn't the only major event taking place on British soil this year and Hogwarts will be playing host to that other event during the upcoming academic year."

"I see…" Harry said slowly. So Hogwarts will be hosting some big event, one that would take place over several months apparently. And likely involved other Wizarding schools too - why else Hogwarts would be hosting it instead of, say, some Ministry-owned property. He still had very little idea what this all was about, but at least now he had an idea where to look for further clues on what the near future apparently had in store for him and his friends.

"Please don't go around spreading this information, Heir Potter." Lucius Malfoy continued. "You're not supposed to know anything about this yet, so…" The green-eyed teen nodded.

"Of course." He said. After being thoughtfully-silent for a few seconds, he added: "And if you're afraid that some students will cause problems because they don't know the proper etiquette for that kind of event, why not give them a mandatory crash course? Somehow I doubt that whatever this mysterious event is, it will start right on September the first."

"That is actually a good idea, Heir Potter." Lucius said. "And I'm actually not sure why it wasn't proposed during the last Board of Governors meeting." He paused for a moment, before continuing: "Unfortunately, the next meeting isn't until August. So while I may be able to gain support from other members of the Board for this idea, we may still need to fight against Dumbledore in order to make it actually happen."

"You think the Headmaster will be against it?" Harry asked.

"One can never be too sure. Dumbledore is a man who has his own ideas about everything and he does not like it very much when others tell him how he should run his school." Lord Malfoy replied.

"I see…" The green-eyed teen breathed out.

"Still." Lucius continued. "This etiquette course is a good idea and I don't foresee much opposition, even from our illustrious Headmaster. After all, this is something that can only benefit Hogwarts and help it maintain its good reputation." Harry's only response was a nod. There was a brief pause, before the blonde wizard continued, mostly talking to himself now: "Yes, I should definitely start working on making sure this idea has support of the entire Board." And this was one of those cases where even the people normally opposed to him would have little to no ground to deny his suggestion. Which was a victory as far as his pride was concerned. Stealing a glance at his pocket watch - elegant as anything a Malfoy would own - Lucius spoke up again: "It was a pleasure talking to you, Heir Potter. Please forgive me for taking this much of your time and do enjoy your meal." He said with a small bow as he stood up from the table.

"That it was." Harry agreed. Indeed, this conversation was much more pleasant and civil than any of his interactions with Draco. "I wish you a nice day, Lord Malfoy." He said, returning the bow.

And with that Lucius Malfoy left, flooing away to wherever his next order of business needed him to be. Letting out a small sigh, Harry returned to his lunch.

~/ *** \~

Finally it was the day of Harry's visit to the Carrow manor and, shortly before lunch, he used the Leaky Cauldron's floo to travel there. His arrival was rather graceless, but thankfully without falling over in an embarrassing and undignified manner. Thus, he only needed to get bits of soot off his robes with a simple Charm to make himself presentable.

"Good day, Heir Potter. Welcome to the Old Moor, the ancestral lands of the Noble House of Carrow." An elderly wizard - the twins' grand-uncle if Harry remembered it right - greeted him. There was a short pause, before he added: "I don't believe we've been formally introduced, Heir Potter. I'm Edmund Percival Carrow."

"Nice to meet you, Sir." Harry replied with a small polite bow, before taking a brief look around.

They were in a rather small room with bare stone walls. It was also pretty dark there with the fireplace and four Magical torches on the walls being the only sources of light within this chamber. That wasn't a big problem though, as it looked like the sole purpose of this room was housing the fireplace through which the manor was connected to the floo network.

"The ladies are seated in the dining hall." Edmund said. "Let's not keep them waiting."

"Of course." The green-eyed teen said as he followed the other wizard out of the chamber. Which, as it turned out, was located in some sort of the basement: the two of them had to ascend a short flight of stairs before they reached the manor's ground floor.

And, well, even with the bright and sunny summer day outside, the place still somehow managed to feel dark, heavy and a little oppressive. Old, worn-out wallpapers and wooden decor pieces weren't exactly helping it either. Harry did his best to ignore that feeling and kept silently following Edmund down the corridor as the elderly wizard led him to the manor's dinner hall.

It wasn't actually a long walk, it really wasn't, but thanks to the manor's heavy atmosphere Harry felt like they've been going for a few minutes before they finally arrived at their destination.

The dining hall was a large room with an equally large, rectangular table - twenty people could easily be seated around it, and with just three witches of the House Carrow there, it looked almost comically oversized - in the middle. Hanging from the ceiling above it, was an ornate bronze chandelier with a dozen Magical everlasting candles. Two much smaller chandeliers were hanging above either end of the table. The rest of the dining hall was mostly empty with a few extra chairs and a couple of ornate wooden cabinets sitting against the walls. Above them, there was a handful of Magical portraits depicting, Harry presumed, the previous Lords and Ladies of House Carrow.

"Good afternoon, Heir Potter." Regent Carrow, who was seated at the head of the table greeted him. "It is our great pleasure to receive you as a guest of our ancestral home." She said. Pausing for a moment, she continued while gesturing towards a chair across the table from Flora and Hestia: "Please have a seat."

"Thank you, and it's my pleasure to be here today." Harry replied with a polite bow, before sitting down on the chair he was offered. A few moments later, Edmund took a seat further up the table, next to the House's Regent.

Not a minute later, Harry felt a pair of feet touch and gently rub against his leg. Looking up, he saw Flora giving him a brief, mischievous smile before schooling her features back into a neutral expression so that the adult wouldn't get an idea of what was happening just out of their sight.

Meanwhile, the elder Carrows engaged him in a small talk as they waited for the elves to finish preparing lunch. They were mostly interested in his Hogwarts experiences thus far, and were reminiscing about their own times there.

Sirius Black let out a canine equivalent of a sigh. He had spent the entire morning observing the Burrow from a safe distance and, as far as he could see, Harry wasn't there. He had seen all of the Weasleys sans Bill and Charlie - from what he had heard, those two had left the country to stay out of their mother's at times overbearing care - step out of the house at one point or another to do some chores in the garden or just to play outdoors for a little bit, but no signs of his godson being there. And there was no way Molly would let him sleep in that much, even if he is a guest.

Alright, Harry wasn't here, Sirius thought. Did that mean he was staying with the Longbottoms or the Bones? Checking those manors would be very troublesome, thanks to their old and impressively-powerful wards. And his poor eyesight in animagus form didn't make it any easier…

Still, Sirius was confident that Dumbledore would entrust raising Harry only to the most trustworthy of the Light families. Yes, definitely. And so, he needn't worry about his godson being surrounded by those evil slimy Slytherin snakes during the summer!

Harry let out a content sigh as he rested against the trunk of a centuries-old oak in the far corner of the garden surrounding the Carrow manor, Flora and Hestia nestling comfortably against him, as the three of them enjoyed a warm summer afternoon.

After lunch had concluded, the twins gave him a brief tour of the manor and the grounds it stood on. And, well, Harry's original impression of the place didn't change much throughout this tour: it was aging and slowly falling into decrepitude, but still full of its original cold and somewhat oppressive beauty. It wasn't very welcoming of guests though, and he couldn't imagine growing up in a place like this, especially with …people like Amycus and Alecto No-Name around.

Yet, despite all that, Harry had enjoyed his time there so far because he got to spend more time with his lovely girlfriends.

"So, Harry…" Hestia spoke up, raising her head to look at him. "How did you like our home?"

"It's an interesting place." He replied a bit evasively.

"Will you visit us here again, then?" She asked next.

"Of course." Was his response. Why would he not want to spend more time together with them?

"Good boy." Flora said. Then she rolled on top of him and pulled him into a deep kiss, much to her sister's indignation as Hestia wanted to do that herself.

"Hey!"

~/ *** \~

A few days later, Harry decided that he should do an unannounced visit to the Potter estate in order to see how the construction of the new manor was progressing. And so he did just that, taking the portkey to his property shortly after having breakfast.

And as soon as the portkey deposited him at his destination, Harry saw that some progress had indeed been made: the stone walls of the ground floor were almost complete and most of the wooden support beams for the upper floors and the roof were in place as well. He also presumed that whatever works the basement level had required were already completed by this point. All in all, it looked like the manor's construction was progressing mostly on-schedule, though the young Potter would privately admit that despite all of the research he had done on the topic, he didn't know nearly enough to make a proper judgment on the actual state of things. Still, it looked like Messers Finewood were upholding their end of the deal…

And speaking of Messers Finewoods, despite this being a rather early hour, Harry could see them already hard at work, busy putting yet another of the roof supports in its place. The builders spotted him, but remained completely focused on their current task until the beam was secured in its proper place. Only then they finally came down to greet him:

"Good morning, Mr. Potter." Thomas said. "Did you come to inspect our progress?" He then asked, after Harry returned his greeting.

"Indeed." The young wizard confirmed.

"We got delayed by a few days due to bad weather in late April, but otherwise the construction of your manor is progressing according to the plan. We expect to have everything finished by late September, early October at the latest." The man reported. "We have already finished with the outer walls for the ground floor and the joists. And once we finish the framing we will start working on the second floor. After that, we will lay the floors and do the inner partitions."

"I see…" Harry said with a nod. "What about the pond and the gallery leading to it?" He asked then.

"We've already expanded the pond. You can come and see it for yourself." Thomas replied. The Potter heir thought about it for a moment, before deciding to maybe do that later. Meanwhile, the builder continued: "We plan to build the gallery last - it's not really a part of the house, so this shouldn't be an issue. Is that alright with you, Mr. Potter?"

"That's fine, I guess." Harry replied. "May I walk about the grounds and see what state it is in now?" He asked then.

"Of course, Mr. Potter." Mr. Finewood replied. "This is your estate." That wasn't exactly the answer Harry was looking for - what he actually wanted to know was whether it was safe for him to wander. But since the builder didn't mention anything, he presumed that there were no 'traps' awaiting him out there. And so he took off.

His first destination, of course, was the newly-expanded pond. Harry had envisioned it becoming his - and his future family's - little private beach, and he certainly wanted to see how it was coming along.

And, well, the pond had certainly been expanded and now was big enough to swim freely in. The Finewoods also made sure to put enough sand into it that stepping onto the bottom wouldn't leave one's feet stuck in muddy muck. At least, it looked that way. Harry wasn't about to actually test that today. Plus, while the builder duo did a good job expanding the pond, it still looked… freshly-dug, for the lack of a better word. Mother Nature would need another couple of months or so to make it look more like he had originally envisioned it - as his small private lake with a small private beach.

After visiting the pond, Harry went to check on the orchard. It definitely looked more lively now that it wasn't buried under the snow, but his original estimations of what it would take to return it to its former glory had definitely been very optimistic. While all of the trees managed to survive a decade without anyone caring for them, many had dead branches that needed to be cut, and one apple tree was getting so askew that it might just topple if a storm strong enough hit the area. That one would probably need to be cut down entirely.

Likewise, the rose bushes clearly showed the signs of a decade of neglect and it would take a lot of work to get them back into shape. A lot of work that Harry, unfortunately, couldn't put into them at the moment: with manor still under construction, he'd need to travel there day after day, which would be quite inconvenient for everyone. Especially the builders since he'll probably be getting into their way at least once every so often.

Damn it, Harry thought. He had known that getting the Potter estate back into shape would be a lot of work, but he still had underestimated it quite a bit. At least, rebuilding the house - which required by far the most effort - was being taken care of, even if it probably wouldn't be finished before he had to return to Hogwarts.

With that train of thoughts still playing in his mind, the young Potter wandered back to the spot the portkey had brought him to earlier this morning. And since the Finewoods were currently working on the ground, they noticed his state pretty quickly.

"Is everything to your liking, Mr. Potter?" Thomas asked, snapping Harry back to reality.

"Yeah." He said after a couple of seconds. "Everything looks good to me. Just thinking about everything else I'll need to do to make this place great again."

"Oh, I see…" The older wizard replied.

"And, well, I was also thinking about how we should handle the handover of the manor since you said you won't be able to finish before September the First." Harry continued. "I'm pretty confident that I can talk my Head of the House at Hogwarts and the Headmaster into letting me leave the school grounds for a day for this purpose, but we should have an alternative ready in case that somehow doesn't work." Apparently, the builders haven't given that much thought.

"Yes… That does sound like a problem." Thomas agreed. "Let's hope that you get that permission and we can do it normally. But if not… Hogwarts still does Hogsmeade visits in early October, right?" Harry nodded. "You should be able to take a portkey here from the village then."

"I guess." The Potter heir said thoughtfully.

"Let's hope your request will get approved so that you can come for the manor's handover without having to sneak past your teachers." Mr. Finewood said. "But if that fails… I guess we can make a plan when that request of yours is actually denied."

"That sounds reasonable." Harry agreed.

They then talked a little bit more about the progress on the manor's construction before Harry finally decided that he had taken enough of the Finewoods' time. So, he bid them farewell and returned to Diagon Alley via another portkey.

And since the day was still pretty young, he decided that there was no reason for him not to work some more on his summer homework. After a good lunch, of course.

That's all, folks!
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