Chapter 33, everybody! In which Hogsmeade is explored….

So I understand that leaving tips is mostly an American thing, for some reason…tips are important y'all are just cheap. And I'm willing to bet that Harry is 100% the kind of guy who would leave a tip.

TroyWeb, thanks for the review! Glad you like them. :D

James Birdsong, thanks for the review! Glad you've been enjoying it thus far! :D

Harry Potter © JK Rowling

Harry was very glad that he had brought his tote that could carry more than it looked to the library, because he was going to need it in Honeydukes.

Part of him very desperately wanted to explore the rest of Hogsmeade, but he kept putting it off because firstly, he didn't bring a coat, and secondly, there was just way too much to see in this one store. One of the little sugar-spun landscapes had a fully working train with peppermint wheels and puffed out cotton candy that floated up to a dispenser, with little gingerbread men and women throwing marshmallows at each other. Another one had chocolate dragons flying around cake mountains with caramel lakes and waterfalls, which he also spent a few fascinated minutes watching.

And then there were the various products the store sold, which were as out there as he was starting to expect from magical folks. There were sugar-spun quills that wrote in scented ink and that you could suck on in-between writing, tanks full of various gummy animals that moved and interacted realistically (Harry had to stifle a laugh when one of the workers sighed and pulled a gummy lion off of a gummy giraffe). Baked cookies stacked up to the ceiling, Bertie Bott's Every Flavor Beans, pumpkin pasties, candy necklaces that changed colors in smooth ripples…he could easily spend all day in here and have it not be enough.

What was really a surprise was seeing Ron and Hermione together—he spent the seconds it took to walk up behind them wondering if they had put aside their differences for the sake of their friend or were just bickering, discovered that it was somewhere in the middle.

"No," Ron said flatly, looking at what Hermione picked up. "No acid pops—ate one of those once and burned a hole in my tongue. How about this?"

Hermione wrinkled her nose. "Cockroach clusters?"

"Definitely not," Harry declared.

Ron very nearly dropped the jar, and Hermione jumped clean back into a stand of Bouncing Berry Gushers ("They won't stop bouncing!" was the slogan), both of them startled to see him.

"Harry!" Ron squawked. "Blimey, what—how—"

"Fred and George helped me get past the Dementors," Harry said, grinning as he waved them both closer.

Ron and Hermione were making disapproving faces for very different reasons when he finished.

"Blimey, of all the—I'm their brother, you'd have thought they'd tell me about it!" Ron said.

"That's dangerous, though," Hermione said. "And if you're caught you could be in big trouble!"

"For what, though?" Harry asked. "I've got a signed permission slip." That was signed by Snips, but details.

"This is true," Ron agreed, pointing at Harry as he looked at Hermione. "The only thing that's been stopping him from going to Hogsmeade has been the Dementors at the gate. So what if he took the scenic route?"

"Because Filch or McGonagall take notes on which students went out!" Hermione said. "What if you got in trouble, or got hurt, or—or if Sirius Black grabbed you! No one would know you were out, so no one would know to go looking for you!"

"Fred and George know. We know."

"I mean a responsible adult."

"And I haven't heard of any sightings of Sirius Black in weeks," Harry pointed out. "My bet is he's on his way to Calcutta by now."

"Definitely somewhere where they're not hunting him," Ron agreed. "Come off it, Hermione, let Harry have a good time for once."

"And I'm willing to bet memories of this place will get me a good Patronus," Harry said, looking around. "Have you seen the little candy village?"

Hermione chewed on her lips, debating—sharing his lessons about the Patronus charm had of course gotten her interested, and dangling that tidbit was sure to get her on board.

Indeed, they left the candy shop with good-sized bundles in Harry's tote and bluebell flames surrounding them to stave off the cold.

"The only thing is I have to be back in that store by three," Harry said. "Then Fred and George help me back into the castle."

"So see, Hermione?" Ron asked. "Harry's gonna be totally supervised the whole time."

Hermione rolled her eyes, flanked Harry as they continued on the tour.

Hogsmeade very much felt like a nice town, with joke shops like Zonko's and more than a few bookstores and pubs and the like. They went up the main road all the way to the overlook that showed the Shrieking Shack ("Supposed to be the most haunted place in England"), then back down to the Three Broomsticks for lunch.

Harry enjoyed the packed atmosphere that felt lively and happy despite the wanted posters everywhere, enjoyed chatting with people who recognized him and said hi, ordered based on the recommendations he received—

Had a double-take when people he recognized came in.

"Hey," he said to Ron and Hermione. "Hagrid just came in! With Professor McGonagall."

"Maybe they wanted to eat out?" Hermione guessed.

"Blimey!" Ron gasped. "That guy—I know him! That's—"

"Cornelius Fudge," Harry said, recognizing the green bowler hat. "I wonder what they're talking about."

"I dunno, but it looks like they're going upstairs. Pity we can't listen in."

Something occurred to Harry. "Oh yes we can."

Harry had taken to keeping his Invisibility Cloak in his tote to avoid Murray chewing on it, and the three of them were able to slip in under it (after paying their bill and leaving a tip). Gingerly minced up the steps after Madame Rosmerta, slipped in behind her—

"Now when are you getting rid of those blasted Dementors?" she demanded of Fudge. "They've been impacting business for months, now!"

It took a bit for Fudge to calm her down, saying he had been getting angry letters for that same amount of time, that they couldn't reel them back in until Sirius Black was caught because he was after Harry for some reason—

And then they went over the reason.

Harry was in a state of shock afterwards.

"Come on, Harry—you said eating chocolate works after Dementors and I know it makes me feel better," Ron said, poking him with a candy bar.

"We get it—that was awful," Hermione said, the feud between them forgotten. "But—Harry you have to trust that he can't get to you."

Harry didn't think this was fear—more like just creeping rage. He didn't know.

"How could he—how could anyone betray their friends like that?" he demanded. "It's just—"

"Some people," Ron said.

Snips had been sitting on Harry's shoulder, pensive—

Suddenly bit Harry hard on the ear.

"OW! HEY!" he barked, flinching away—

Snips lit down to the table, started bouncing up and down, yipping and aarking before flying in a circle around them, then around the room—

And then out the door.

"Oh no," Harry gasped, earlier issue forgotten—the three of them tore out after Snips, who flew first one way, then the other—

Descended upon Fred and George as they exited Zonko's.

"Oh dear, what did we do?" Fred asked, ducking as Snips divebombed them.

"And why didn't we enjoy it more when we were doing it?" George wondered.

Snips landed on Harry's head as they came over, bouncing up and down and generally being irate—

"Oh dear, something went wrong," George observed. "You all right, Harry?"

"I—" Harry started—cut off when Snips tugged hard on some of his hair. "I think Snips thinks I should be heading back."

"Party pooper," Fred muttered to Snips. "There were another couple of hours he could have spent out here—"

Snips screeched, started bouncing up and down again, feeling for all the world like he was having a total fit on Harry's head.

"I don't think this is up for debate," Harry said.

"No, doesn't look it."

"We'll meet you in the Great Hall," Hermione told him. "Come on, Ron, we have to go back up the main way otherwise the teachers will look for us."

"Right," Ron said, starting to follow—paused to glare at Fred and George. "You couldn't have told me about that passage why?"

"Because you're our brother," Fred and George said.

Ron considered it. "Fair enough."

"Why does that work?" Harry asked as Ron ran after Hermione.

"Percy's also our brother," Fred explained.

"And Bill and Charlie were pretty much goodie-two-shoes too," George said.

"Sadly, the numbers are against us. But let's get you back, before the little veggie pusher has another fit."

The moment they were back through, Snips flew away, to Harry's surprise.

"What is he doing?" he asked.

"This isn't normal behavior?" George asked.

"No."

Him flying back down with Hedwig, who circled around them before angling away, Snips following, didn't clear anything up.

"At least they're heading for the Great Hall," Fred observed as they ran after them.

Ron and Hermione were puzzled by this behavior as well, followed them as they ran in—

More puzzlement when Hedwig landed next to Luna, working on some of her homework over a late lunch.

"Hello, Hedwig," Luna said politely as they reached her. "Your plumage is very lovely today."

Hedwig fluffed up at that, looking inordinately proud of herself—Luna noted the rest of them.

"Uh, hi," Harry said. "I…have no idea what's going on."

"Understandable," Luna said. "I've heard that's a condition that clears up as you get older, although I've heard many adults admit that that's not the case."

"We're older and we understand less," Fred said.

"It's much better to just embrace it," George agreed.

Snips, meanwhile, seemed locked in a very heated debate with Fitzherbert and Mauve, Hedwig listening in. The quill and the soap-snake looked at each other, looked at Hedwig, back at each other—

"Minutes five through twenty-seven, if you please," Mauve said finally. "Maybe summarize, recall the importance of protecting your resources."

Snips barked something else, and by then Fitzherbert had stolen several sheets of Luna's paper.

"Oh dear," Luna noised.

Harry had a sinking feeling what Snips had told Fitzherbert. "Wait, no—"

Wait, what did Mauve mean, minutes?

Any other questions were halted by Fitzherbert's first line:

Sirius Black is innocent.

Everyone crowded around at that, reading as Fitzherbert hastily scribbled out that Sirius Black had switched being secret keepers with Peter Pettigrew, that the latter had ratted the Potters out, that Sirius Black had gone after him for revenge—

And then more wham lines.

Peter Pettigrew is alive.

Peter Pettigrew is somewhere in the castle.