Harry's eyes fluttered open as he got up from the bed cautiously, ensuring that he did not wake Cho up. Looking around the room groggily, Harry looked at the clock which said 5.30 am. The room was still pitch black as Harry got out of bed and after washing up a little, made his way down the stairs and into the kitchen to make breakfast. This was not the first time Harry had woken up first to make breakfast, due to Cho's Occlumency training with Harry, Cho often experienced splitting headaches at the end of the day and to allow her to rest, Harry often volunteered to make breakfast. Throughout the stay with Cho, Harry had learnt a fair bit more about cooking from her. While most of the skills he learnt were for Chinese cuisine, learning how to prepare Chinese dishes, Harry had largely improved at cooking. Heading to the kitchen, Harry was surprised to find out that the lights were switched on. To his surprise, Petunia was sitting at the dining table, clearly lost in her thoughts.
"Good morning," Harry greeted politely, snapping her out of her thoughts.
"Morning," she replied emotionlessly, "are you preparing breakfast?"
"Yes," Harry replied, "Cho is having a headache."
"I see," Petunia replied, "does she need any medication? We have some headache pills in the drawer."
"It's fine," Harry replied, slightly shocked by the proposal, "we have some potions for headaches, it should relieve her of the headache by the time she wakes up."
"That's good then," Petunia replied, still emotionless, "what are you making?"
"Some bacon, eggs and bread," Harry replied, "nothing too special for today."
"Can you make me some eggs?" Petunia asked, "Scrambled, omelette, sunny-side-up, whatever is convenient for you."
"Scrambled then," Harry replied, not seeing any issue with making one more serving and preferring not to burn any more bridges.
What followed was awkward silence, both Harry and Petunia did not speak to each other and the only sound that could be heard was the sizzling of the bacon. Harry occasionally glanced at Petunia who was now looking out of the house and into the night sky, seemingly lost in her thought, reminiscing something.
"How did you two get together," She suddenly asked, still looking into the night sky.
"How did Cho and I get together?" Harry replied, unsure about her request.
"Yes, how did it happen?"
"Well, we had a Yule Ball last year, I had to get a dance partner because I was competing in a competition and had to represent the school, I asked her out and things slowly progressed from there," Harry explained, still confused about her sudden interest in his love life.
"And you are happy with her I assume?" Petunia asked again.
"Obviously, why?" Harry replied, getting flustered by her sudden interest.
"No need for the hostility Harry," Petunia replied, "I have been watching you two for the past few weeks, I've seen how you both take care of each other, how you two support and protect each other, as distant as we are, you are still my sister's child."
"You say all this like you ever cared for me," Harry replied, with controlled anger, "for thirteen years of my life, you and Vernon treated me like I was worthless, I always wished that I would somehow have another relative who would be willing to take me away from this wretched house."
Petunia's attention finally diverted, no longer looking up into the night sky and instead into Harry's deep emerald eyes. Her expression however, surprised Harry a little, her face wasn't filled with anger or annoyance, instead, it looked more like guilt to him.
"And I regret it Harry," she said, "I was overwhelmed with hatred and jealousy for my sister and for so many years of my life, hated your kind and you."
"Don't expect me to forgive you just because you realise your mistake," Harry snapped back.
"Hence why I didn't ask for forgiveness," Petunia shot back, "who would forgive me and Vernon for what we did, I know I wouldn't if I was in your position, we mistreated you and that's the truth, it's too late to right our wrongs now."
Petunia's attention and gaze turned back to the night sky, looking at it with great emotion before continuing.
"I do not know why it took me so long to realise my mistake," she admitted, "I did not realise how much my anger and jealousy overtook and controlled me until Dudley made me realise."
"Dudley?" Harry asked confusedly, "What did he do?"
"He lashed out at us for the way we brought him up, how we made him think that bullying others were fine, I've never seen him so passionate and enraged about something before," Petunia admitted, "We were confused at first, Vernon and I, but the more I reflected about it, the more I understood my mistake."
"And Vernon?"
"He is too proud and stubborn to admit his wrong," Petunia replied, "the one thing that Vernon cannot understand is that there are people born more special than him, he cannot comprehend that there are wizards out there who are superior to him, that fuels his hatred the most."
"So he is just a pathetic and jealous idiot then," Harry spat back.
"I will not try to defend him for his actions but think about it Harry," Petunia replied, "how does it feel to know that someone is better than you just because they were born with magic."
"It doesn't affect anything," Harry protested, "a person's worth isn't defined by their talents, there are plenty of ordinary muggles who are much better people than many wizards out there."
"Then you are either foolish or a better person than us," Petunia replied, "the point is, I admit that we have made mistakes in the past and I know that it is too late to try and mend the rift, however, I do not want to have you hate us for the rest of your life, I just hope that when I meet Lily again when I have gone, I would have the ability to look at her in her eyes knowing that I have at least apologised."
"Why would you even care about meeting my mum again," Harry shot back, "you just said that you hated and were jealous of her."
"I was filled with jealousy and hatred yes," she replied with strain in her voice, "but she was always my sister, the sister I lost because I was too foolish to realise that she truly loved me, too foolish to realise that it was my jealousy that took her away from me, you did not only lose your mother that night in Godric Hallow you know, I also lost my sister."
Silence filled the room again as Petunia's eyes turned slightly watery as she was overwhelmed with emotion. Harry however, was stunned by Petunia's statement instead, looking at Petunia in shock, Harry almost forgot that he was still making breakfast, almost burning the bacon.
"But truthfully," Petunia continued with gritted teeth, voice shaking under the emotion, "I lost Lily before that, I lost her the moment she left for Hogwarts, not because of her moving on from regular human life and becoming a witch, no, it was because I removed her from my life, she tried and tried to stay close to me, to be a sister, but every time she tries, I push her away, I ignore her pleas, her letters, that's how I knew that your family was rich, she told me in one of her letters about James' wealth, about they future plans together and how everything had to be halted because of the war, she also talked about your mansion being destroyed, I read every single one of her letters but was too caught up in my jealousy to ever write one back, I still remember the last letter she sent to me, just two days before you arrived on my doorstep and I learnt about my sister's murder, I did not want to admit it back then but deep inside, I've always regretted not replying to the last one."
By now, Petunia was overwhelmed with emotion, knowing that she couldn't hold the tears back any longer, she left the dining room and went to the toilet. Harry on the other hand, was in a state of shock, his mind no longer operating, unable to comprehend what just happened in front of him. Operating out of muscle memory, Harry finished up his cooking and left Petunia's scrambled eggs on the dining table before cleaning up and bringing both his and Cho's breakfast back into their room.
What on earth just happened, Harry thought to himself.
"Honestly, I'm impressed that you dress that well by yourself," Cho said.
It was 31st July and his long-awaited birthday had finally arrived. Unlike the many birthdays before this, he was not going to spend this in Privet Drive. No, instead, he was spending it at the Burrows where many of his friends were invited to spend the day with him. Waking up at their usual time, Cho prepared breakfast for both of them before both changed into their outfits for the day. While Cho dressed up quickly and looked beautiful effortlessly, Harry took more time deciding what exactly he should wear and when he finally settled on his outfit. Harry came out to an impressed Cho.
"I'm not that incompetent at dressing up alright," Harry protested.
"You were," Cho replied, "I just never said anything about it."
"Well I learnt how to properly dress eventually," Harry said, "Sirius should be here soon, let's go down and wait for him."
Within the next five minutes, a knock could be heard on the door and without opening it, Harry could tell that it was Sirius, sensing his familiar magical presence. He however, was accompanied by another 2 wizards, both he recognised as Lupin and Tonks.
"You guys are a few minutes late," Harry commented as he opened the door.
"Misjudged the walking time," Sirius replied, "it's good to see you Harry, and happy birthday."
"Thanks," Harry said before embracing all three of them.
"Looking good Harry," Tonks said, clearly impressed by his clothing, "did you dress him up Cho?"
"Surprisingly no," she replied, "but I got these clothes for him."
"No surprises there," Tonks chuckled.
"Why does nobody believe that I can dress up myself?" Harry lamented to the crowd.
"Because Harry," Sirius said, "even as someone who was in prisoner clothing for twelve years, you did dress pretty badly back then."
"Outrageous," Harry replied, "alright screw all this, let's just get going, how are we getting there?"
"Through a portkey," Sirius replied before pulling out a book from his cloak, "Amelia had this specially made for us to travel to and forth, grab it all of you, including you Lupa, we should be leaving in, five, four, three, two, one!"
More or less used to the uncomfortable feeling now, Harry found himself landing at a green patch of grass. Surprisingly, The Burrow wasn't in sight.
"Are we not meant to go straight to The Burrow?" Harry asked Sirius.
"Nope," he replied, "The Burrow has been heavily fortified with defensive enchantments to protect it from attacks, it's getting more frequent nowadays and more and more are on Wizarding targets, Dumbledore wanted all the Order's safehouses to be protected."
"You guys have safehouses now?"
"We always did Harry," Lupin replied, "Grimmauld Place and The Burrow were always safehouses, just that there wasn't a need to heavily protect it from outside forces, times change though."
"Enough of all this dry talk," Sirius interrupted, "it's your birthday and it's a day for celebration, we can save all this Order talk for the meeting next week."
Being in the Order now, Harry was allowed to join the various Order meetings and be kept updated on the news. However, having to stay at Privet Drive meant that he did not have the luxury to stay up to date with the news. In addition, Dumbledore was staying quiet about the Order operations at the moment, insisting every member become apt at Occlumency before sharing the information due to how important the Order has become with the Ministry's support. Thankfully, with much training for Harry, Cho herself has become apt at Occlumency, while nowhere as advanced as Harry yet, her defences were strong enough to defend against most dark wizards. With all the Order members being ready, Dumbledore had organised a huge meeting the next week where he would brief everyone about the progress of the war. This usefully, also coincided with the end of Harry's stay at Privet Drive, allowing him to move into his Godfather's house for the rest of the holidays while Cho returned to her parent's house.
"Let's get walking then," Harry said, "by the way, who's invited to this party?"
"It's a secret Zhu," Cho replied swiftly. Despite it being his party, Harry had zero control over anything that was happening, including who was invited.
"What's the point of keeping the secret for so long?" Harry asked, "We are literally ten minutes from the house."
"To watch you suffer for another ten more minutes wondering who is there," Cho chuckled.
"You know I can literally Orb there and see who's there and come back before you even realise that I've done it?"
"If you do that you are sleeping on the floor tonight," Cho replied smugly.
"This is just bullying," Harry lamented.
"That's what happens when you fall in love Harry," Sirius chuckled, "James went through the same exact thing with Lily."
"That's girl power Sirius," Tonks said, "not that you would know."
"Now now now," Sirius protested, "I was really popular among the ladies back in my day."
"Until you got sent to rot in Azkaban," Tonks teased, earning herself a Stinging Hex from Sirius.
"I was framed," Sirius scowled, "but whatever, I will be back in my old ways in no time."
"I would have been worried about you bringing girls back to your house when Harry is there," Lupin added, "but thankfully, you can't even do that anymore."
"Unfortunately, I don't even have control of my house even though it's mine," Sirius scowled.
"Well, no one wants to go to a house and be screamed at by your mother in the first place," Tonks said.
This bickering continued throughout the entire hike and while Harry and Cho watched on amused, the argument led to Stinging Hexes flying between Tonks and Sirius until Lupin finally stopped them. By then however, they were already at The Burrow where there was a huge outdoor tent outside of the house, something Harry assumed was for the party. Additionally, Harry could sense powerful magic protecting the venue, a mix of many protection and repelling charms. Surprisingly however, Harry could feel that it was not only casted by one wizard, Harry could feel the traces of magic casted by Dumbledore, with the magic containing his familiar magic presence while others containing different magical presences.
"Who casted the defensive enchantments other than Dumbledore?" Harry asked Sirius as they made their way to the house.
"Quite a few of us," Sirius replied, "Bill did the most after Dumbledore, had a ton of experience with these spells since he was a Curse Breaker, Molly and Arthur also chipped in some of their own."
"Why do you need so many people?" Cho asked, "Isn't having Dumbledore enough?"
"Having multiple enchantments from different wizards gives added protection," Lupin replied, "think of it as layers that become intertwined with each other, Dumbledore was also afraid that in the event that he was to be killed on his missions, the safehouses would become penetrable as his enchantments will go with him."
"Well, if Dumbledore dies, we are screwed regardless," Harry commented.
At that moment, Harry was greeted by fireworks as a large of people cheered for him as he entered the tent.
"Happy birthday!" they shouted together much to Harry's surprise. Looking at the room, Harry was astounded by the number of people in front of him, it included his friend group in school, Ron, Hermione, Luna, Daphne, Blaise, Tracey and Neville, most of his quidditch team, Katie, Angelina, Alicia, Fred, George and Ginny, Cho's family, and a few adults, including Bill, Fleur, Mr and Mrs Weasley, Kingsley, Percy, Audrery, Hagrid and McGonagall.
"How on earth did you get so many people here," Harry whispered to Cho.
"I just used the mirror and got my dad to organise everything else with Mrs Weasley," Cho replied, "go and greet them dumbass."
Going up to everyone and greeting them, it took Harry quite a while due to the number of people. When all of that was finally done, Harry finally took a sit at one of the tables, still astonished by the size of the party.
"You look stunned," Cho commented, taking the seat next to him.
"Obviously, what on earth am I meant to do?" Harry replied, "This is my first time properly celebrating my birthday and there are somehow this many people."
"Relax Zhu, everything is planned out nicely," Cho replied, "just go with the flow."
"Go with the flow," Harry coughed, "what does that even mean?"
"You will see," Cho replied, "but now, I want to get some refreshments, butterbeer?"
After giving a nod, Cho immediately vanished into the crowd, giving others the perfect opportunity to come in and talk to Harry. The first of which of course, was his friend group.
"You know," Daphne said, "I haven't commented on what you are wearing today, looking good Harry, you might have some fashion sense after all."
"Thanks," Harry replied awkwardly, "and before you say anything Hermione, Cho did not dress me up today."
"I wasn't going to say that," Hermione protested, "I was just going to comment that Cho bought the clothes not you."
"That part is obvious," Tracey added, "I haven't seen a boy in our year actually dress well without some help."
"You guys talk as if we boys are hopeless," Ron added before earning stares from the girls.
"Yes Ronald," Hermione sighed, "you boys do."
"Don't make me comment on your Yule Ball dress Ron," Daphne added, making Ron flush red.
"It wasn't a choice," he protested, "I didn't choose what to wear."
"Whatever you say," Tracey replied, laughing uncontrollably now.
"But you do have to give some credit to their outfits today though," Daphne continued, looking at all the guys, "everyone dressed up rather well, we know that Harry dressed up himself, and Neville did as well after I spent a whole day teaching him (Neville flushed red), what about you Blaise."
"I have a fashion sense thank you very much," Blaise replied, glaring at Daphne.
"He is not wrong though," Tracey added, "he actually dresses decently outside of school, just that in school he only wears Slytherin stuff for some dumb reason."
"They look good," Blaise protested.
"Yes but basic," Tracey replied, "furthermore you look way better in other clothes."
"I have no one to impress."
"Then dress for me you idiot," Tracey replied, "I like it when you look good."
"Are they together now?" Harry whispered to Daphne.
"I have no idea," she replied, staring at the pair, "they are very… confusing."
"Situationship?"
"Something like that," Daphne sighed, "just let them have their fun, they are weird."
"What about you Ron?" Tracey suddenly asked.
"I dressed him up," Hermione replied.
"Obviously," Daphne said, leading to more laughter and a redder Ron.
"Anyways, how have you been Harry," Daphne asked, "how's living with Cho."
"Pretty good," Harry replied, "we just spend most of the day studying and reading."
"Ew boring," Tracey replied, earning glares from Hermione and Daphne, "what! It is boring, go out or something."
"Well, we can't exactly do that so we just stay in our room and chill or go for walks around the neighbourhood if we want some air."
"Oh, you two are staying in the same room?" Tracey asked.
"Yes, it's not the first time," Harry replied, gaining some stares from the group, "what?"
"Are you two getting up to anything..." Daphne said with her evil smile on again, "naughty?"
"You Slytherins are weirdos," Harry replied, frowning at them.
"Is that a yes?"
"Hell no."
"Pity," Tracey sighed, "I don't think I can hold back the temptation if I were you."
"You are just horny as fuck Tracey," Daphne replied, earning herself a smack from Tracey.
"In other news, I heard that you met my father at Slughorn's party," Daphne said, still rubbing her head after the hit from Tracey.
"Oh yes, I did," Harry replied.
"He said that he was rather impressed by you," Daphne added, "not bad Harry, impressing my father in one conversation."
"I did nothing really, he was already impressed by me protecting you during the school year."
"He was, he kept telling me afterwards that I had to find a partner who can protect me like you," Daphne added, making Neville blush even more.
"Your father mentioned you and Neville during the conversation," Harry said, raising his eyebrows, "said that you have been going to his house a lot, what have you been doing there Daphne hm…"
Harry watched as Neville and Daphne became red much to his amusement.
"You are good at getting revenge," Daphne admitted, "we have been doing nothing thank you very much, my father also mentioned that you spoke highly of Neville."
"I did, he said that you did not want him to meet Neville."
"True, we had dinner together with Neville a few days ago," Daphne said, "went rather well in my opinion, I thought that my father would be scarier."
"He was quite scary already," Neville protested, making the group laugh.
"I did tell him to go easy on Neville," Harry admitted, "your mother said she will make sure of it."
"Thank you for the help then," Daphne said, "because my mother did really tone him down a ton."
"I was still a stammering mess though," Neville admitted.
"Shut up it was cute," Daphne replied, making Neville's face even redder.
As the conversation continued, they were finally interrupted by his old teammates. By then, Cho had finally returned with the Butterbeer.
"Happy birthday Harrikins," Fred said as he approached Harry and Cho, "how have your relatives been."
"Pretty alright to be honest," Harry admitted, "Vernon is still a bitch but Petunia and Dudley are fine now."
"Ah, so no need for us to go in and intervene?" George said, "You know, accidentally drop some sweets or set off some fireworks."
"Hell no."
"Pity then," Fred sighed, "we have some products we want to test out."
"You two are hopeless," Katie sighed in exasperation before turning to Angelina and Alicia, "these two are your men?"
"Go and get one first before you talk about my boyfriend Katie," Angelina replied, "you are the only one here that is single."
"Not my fault that the boys in my years are either dim or dickheads," Katie scowled.
"They don't have to be the same year as you," Alicia replied, "look at Harry, he somehow bagged an older girl and not just any older girl."
"Why are you saying as though I'm punching really really really hard," Harry protested before earning stares from everyone again, "fine I am punching really hard."
"Good that you know," Cho replied, nudging him a little.
"Anyways," Harry continued, "how has the business been?"
"Oh excellent," George replied, the more business-minded one of the twins, "the sales keep rising, we are earning more profits than I estimated."
"That's good to hear," Harry replied, "has Diagon Alley been suffering from the war?"
"A little," George admitted, "security at Diagon Alley is mad crazy at the moment, Hitwizards are positioned all over the place and the atmosphere is really tense, people are also spending less time there and have less time for joke shops like us, thankfully, there is still a healthy amount of demand."
"People do need some fun in times like this," Harry commented, to which the group nodded in agreement.
"We are also expanding into creating more practical items," Fred added, "things like shield hats, gloves, cloaks etc, the Ministry placed a huge order for the shield hats, you will be surprised at the number of employees who can't cast a proper Shield Charm."
"Honestly, I'm not," Harry admitted, "if the lessons were anything to go by, many sixth and seventh-year students truthfully lack knowledge in Defensive spells, especially the students who joined at the end, some were truthfully dreadful."
"But not us," Angelina replied, "your teaching last year was truly impressive."
"You guys learn fast though," Harry said, "and since you guys were there because you wanted to learn, it was a lot easier to teach."
"You are annoyingly modest," Katie scowled, "anyways, are you going to resume your role this year?"
"Nah, it takes up too much time."
"Honestly, why on earth are you so busy?" Angelina asked, "Last year I could have sworn you had no free time whatsoever."
"It's a secret," Harry replied, earning intrigued looks from the group, "it's important, I can't tell you guys."
"Why do I feel that it's related to you being in a coma for three days?" Alicia asked.
"It's… complicated," Harry replied, glancing at Cho who looked slightly annoyed at the mention of his hospitalisation again, "but ya, I will be busy next year so nope."
"They better get a good DADA teacher then," Katie sighed.
"I have faith in McGonagall to bring in good teachers next year," Harry replied, "she knows how important it is."
"The question is more about who is willing to take up the job," Cho sighed, "we had too many DADA teachers over the years man."
"Way too many," Katie agreed.
"I have faith in McGonagall," Harry said confidently, "matter-of-fact, I want to ask her about it later."
"Good luck with that," Angelina replied, "I have no idea how you actually formed a close bond with her."
"Talent," Harry said smugly, earning a kick from Angelina, "ow! That was unnecessary, wait hold on, how have you two been?"
"Great," Angelina replied, "Tutshill have been amazing, I'm still in the reserves but I reckon that I will be starting very soon."
"Amazing," Harry replied, "save me tickets would you?"
"Anything for my captain," Angelina smiled.
"What about you then Alicia, how is healer training going?"
"It's bloody tiring," Alicia scowled, "and it's only going to get worse with the war upon us."
"Tough," Harry agreed, "but at least you are doing something for the war I guess."
"Yeah, I just hope that this can end as quickly as possible."
"Agreed."
The party continued with Harry speaking with everyone that attended, last but not least however, was McGongall who seemed to be keeping her distance from the party, typical McGonagall things.
"A little lonely there Minnie," Harry commented as he took a seat beside her.
"Nonsense," she scoffed, "I am perfectly fine being alone, I have to admit, the alcohol is rather enjoyable."
"Since when did you drink alcohol?"
"I always did," she replied calmly, "you just do not see it."
"You learn something new everything I guess," Harry shrugged, "how have you been."
"Busy," she admitted, "finding replacements for the multitude of jobs and handling admin stuff takes quite a while."
"Rather stressful no?" Harry asked, "ensuring that the school can run efficiently in times like this."
"Very much so," McGonagall admitted, "at least the Ministry on our side this year, Albus must have had a rough time last year."
"Very much so," Harry agreed, "is the preparation for the Inter-school Qudditich tournament going well?"
"Surprisingly so," McGonagall answered, "though reassuring the other schools that Britain is still safe to travel to at these times is rough, the only thing that is helping us is that Albus is still in the school."
"You can't really blame them can you," Harry sighed, "the last inter-school tournament was infiltrated by Voldemort under Dumbledore's own nose."
"Indeed," McGonagall sighed, taking a huge sip of alcohol.
"What about the hunt for Professors?" Harry asked, "Does no one want to take the DADA job again?"
"Surprisingly no," McGonagall replied, "DADA isn't the tough one this year, it's History of Magic."
"History?" Harry asked surprisingly, "You got rid of Professor Binns?"
"I did," McGonagall replied, "if the top four students in the school and three of the most studious tell me that the professor isn't good then I must listen to them."
"Leaving me out of the studious category is insulting," Harry scowled jokingly, "I've been working hard over the holiday thank you very much."
"You work hard for subjects that you believe are important to you," McGonagall corrected, "the other three work hard for all regardless of their importance."
"True I guess," Harry replied, "so, who's taking the DADA job?"
"Sirius," McGonagall replied, stunning Harry.
"W - What? Huh? Sirius?"
"You seem very against your Godfather getting the job," McGonagall raised her eyebrow.
"I'm not against it, I'm more surprised than anything," Harry replied, "surprised that you chose him, if Dumbledore did it I wouldn't be surprised, but you?"
"You say as if I have something against Sirius," McGonagall retorted, "but yes, I did choose him and I do very much believe that he is perfect for it."
"I guess so," Harry said, thinking about the choice, "I mean he does have an immense amount of knowledge of DADA."
"And I do believe that he has the ability to teach in him," McGonagall continued, "in times like this where getting students to learn is of the utmost importance, I will happily close one eye to his antics if he engages the students to learn."
"That he will definitely do," Harry agreed, "what about Transfiguration then?"
"Remus."
"Lupin?" Harry said in shock, "Won't the board have something to say about that?"
"I spent quite a while convincing them," McGonagall replied, "but Amelia supported me for a ton for the choice, it would go hand in hand with her Werewolf policies."
"Her what?"
"She intends to change the perception of Werewolves in the wizarding community," McGonagall replied, "to make people more aware that they are still human and to end the discrimination, after all, the Wolfsbane Potion does negate their threat."
"It's a risky policy," Harry warned, "the public will not be very receptive to it."
"It's a risk she has to take," McGonagall replied, "especially since it can go a long way in the war, the main reason why Werewolves are siding with Greyback and the Death Eaters is because of the lack of opportunities and the discrimination."
"Valid point," Harry agreed, "she has to be cautious with this policy then, you will also get a ton of flack for this appointment."
"That's why I'm hoping that his previous teaching experience can help soothe the decision, he was an excellent teacher and many students would know about his talent, his support during the Battle at the Department of Mystery would also help."
"Good luck then, what of History then, still no luck at finding any replacement."
"Nope," McGonagall admitted, "turns out Binns dreadful teaching has led many students to hate the subject and hence there is no one suitable for the job, I have resorted to looking for Professors from overseas but the war is a deal breaker for many."
"So no candidates thusfar?"
"Well…" McGonagall hesitated, "There is one that could have been a perfect choice."
"Who?"
"Fleur."
"Fleur?"
"Yes," McGonagall replied, "Fleur has excelled at History in Beauxbatons and she is relatively fluent in English, by all means, she could have been the perfect option."
"Just that she is part Veela."
"Indeed," McGonagall sighed, "I can't have students staring at the teacher for her beauty and not absorb anything."
"Is there no way to stop the allure, like diminish it or something?"
"I have read up about it and asked Fleur, there isn't a known way to do it," McGonagall replied, "in past however, there are myths of magic being able to do exactly that, but that has been lost to time unfortunately."
At that moment, a lightbulb lit in Harry's mind. He might know something.
"Wait hold on," Harry said, "Veela allure, that is part of the witches' magic no?"
"Yes? What do you mean by that?"
"Give me a second," Harry said, closing his eyes and reaching out magically, sensing the aura of everyone in the room, slowly moving through the crowd, Harry eventually found what he was looking for. Fleur's aura, her aura however, was very different to everyone's, it contained something more, a piece of Ancient Magic in it, while it was very small, Harry could tell the difference, out of dozens of normal wizards, she stood out like a bright light.
"I think I have a solution," Harry said as he opened his eyes, smiling brightly, "if my theory is correct, Fleur Veela's magic is intertwined with her magical aura, if we can dampen and hide her magical aura, we can potentially stop the allure."
"How do you do that though?" McGonagall asked, eyes brightly lit.
"I read about aura-dampening magic in the Ancient Magic book Dumbledore provided to me, it is a spell and is meant to be temporary, but if we can find a way to contain it within an amulet or something, I reckon it could work, any ideas about how to do it?"
"It is possible," McGonagall said with controlled excitement, "using Runes, I will ask Bathsheda for help, you reckon you can enchant it?"
"Probably," Harry replied, "Ancient Magic is very different to normal magic, it's a force of nature and is flexible unlike our usual spells, I probably can figure out a way to twist it and make it work."
"Fabulous," McGonagall replied happily, "I will ask Bathsheda the moment I get back, thank you Harry."
The rest of the birthday party went by smoothly, with the cake-cutting taking place after lunch and presents being presented afterwards. Harry arguably had his biggest present haul of all time, with a large variety of presents from paintings to books to equipment for school and quidditch. His favourite however, will always be the ones from Cho. This time, Cho got Harry a chain with a small Stag symbol. What a birthday it was.