With that last parting comment Shadi left. The moment he vanished Powel double checked that he had gone, while grumbling about stupid ghosts that were stuck in the past and didn’t know when to leave well enough alone, before switching out with Harry who glanced around the room, saw the look Ron was giving him and held up his hands in a classic ‘don’t shoot’ pose. “Not my fault.”
When Ron just continued to stare Harry lowered his hands and moved over to his friend, knocking on his head like you would a door. “Hello? Anyone home?”
“Gerroff Harry.” Ron protested, backing up with a slightly irritated look. “Why was that guy in our room? And why did his face change?”
Harry shrugged. “You have more idea than I do. I wasn’t really awake for most of it. Try asking my tenant when he wakes up next.” He didn’t really fancy telling Ron that Powel wasn’t the only one who had been inside his head and that the spirit who lived inside his Bracer had just played a Shadow Game against Voldemort. Harry was just lucky in that Ron had never met Voldemort face to face so his friend hadn’t recognised the man’s voice.
Ron didn’t look happy with Harry’s answer, “Ginny remembered what You-Know-Who did while he was... you know, possessing her.”
“Ginny was in the body at the same time as him.” Harry reminded his friend, “I was in the Bracer while Powel was in my body.”
“You make that sound far too normal.” Ron grouched at him before shrugging, “I have the potions. And the suntan lotion for tomorrow.”
Harry more than happily swigged the potion, relaxing slightly as it started to take effect, easing the pain and the stiffness of his sunburnt neck and face. He carefully put the stopped back in and tucked it away in one of the drawers that he’d filled with his new clothes, just in case he needed it the next day.
The next day he learnt what Bill Weasley considered possibly the most important charm he’d learnt since coming to Egypt, a spell that could dampen the effects of the sun on a person’s skin. It hadn’t prevented Bill from tanning heavily while he’d been here, but it had prevented him from obtaining the same level of burning that his siblings had gained.
With the charm cast, Harry spent a rather enjoyable few weeks with Hermione and the Weasleys learning about the Ancient Egyptians and their ways and cultures. That the focus was mainly on the tombs was a little morbid, but considering Bill’s line of work it wasn’t completely unexpected.
Their Hogwarts letters came for them on Harry’s birthday, the day before they were due to fly back to England, and all of the students gave them at least a cursory look over before packing them away to take back with them. Hermione spent most of the day wondering what a ‘Monster Book of Monsters’ was until they came back the hotel much later in the day to find that Harry’s birthday presents had been stopped at the desk, and that the hotel staff would be grateful if they could subdue the one that kept trying to snap at people’s fingers.
Figuring that one had to have come from Hagrid, Harry collected his small number of presents and took them to the atrium where the Weasleys and Hermione were waiting with gifts of their own for him, along with a rather odd looking cake, which turned out to be a honey cake that Molly had managed to find in a local Muggle store.
Harry was right in his assumption that the biting present had come from Hagrid.
“I guess Hagrid likes the Care of Magical Creatures Professor.” Hermione commented when Harry examined his copy of the Monster Book of Monsters, carefully avoiding losing his fingers to the book monster and ending up having to have the twins sit on it to prevent it from escaping.
“Yeah, and the new teacher must be mental to issue books like this.” Ron complained as Harry tied it shut with a piece of rope that Molly conjured, looking ill amused as she did so.
“What did Luna send, Harry?” Fred or George asked, already thinking of ways that they could use the sheer destructive potential of the book and wondering if they were going to get on surprisingly well with the obviously new Professor considering that he apparently had a sense of humour, where as Kettleburn really really hadn’t.
Harry opened the present slowly, wondering what Luna had sent him considering that he hadn’t expected anything from his friend. By the time he was finished opening it he had a few booster packs and a structure deck.
Harry grinned as he read the back of the box, which was full of Winged Beasts and he put it to one side to look through properly later. Luna’s present wasn’t the only surprise. Ron had brought him a pocket-sneakoscope, which was supposed to go off if there was someone untrustworthy nearby. Considering how often people wanted to kill him, Harry considered the gift a rather useful one. Hermione’s was no less practical, but would probably get a considerable amount more use as she had given him a top of the line broomstick servicing kit that would help him keep his Nimbus 2000 in top shape.
Between the cake, the meal that they had in one of the top restaurants in the wizard owned shopping plaza, and the fact that the Weasley parents seemed determined that Harry pay for and do nothing all evening, it was the most fun that Harry had had in a long time.
The next day, however, at the airport the stress was back a hundredfold as once again Harry and Hermioe had to herd the Weasleys through the airport. It didn’t help matters that Harry was loaded down with as many trinkets as he was books, a fact that both amused and frustrated his friends, and that Hermione or Ron were not much better. If it hadn’t been for the magically expanded bags that both Harry and Hermione were carrying the family would have had to either confound the woman who weighed their bags or paid the extra fees that would have come with the excess weight they would have been carrying.
With just one day left before term started Harry realised too late that there had been something else in the envelope with the shopping list. That thing being the permission form for Hogsmead that would allow him to join the third years and above at the magical village near to Hogwarts. It was supposed to be signed by your guardian, but Vernon couldn’t sign it, Petunia wouldn’t and somehow he doubted that getting the spirit of the Bracer to sign it would count.
There was a mad rush to buy everything they needed before school started the following day and the majority of shops were closed long before they got back to the Leaky Cauldron, where Lupin was waiting for Harry in order to return ‘Padfoot’ to him.
“Lupin?” Arthur asked, shocked as he realised who Harry had gone to talk to, “It’s been a long time. What’re you doing here?”
“Returning Harry’s dog.” Lupin explained himself, smiling at the Weasley patriarch, having known the man years ago, back before the Order had dissolved after Voldemort’s death, “When I ran into my friend’s son I couldn’t help but do him a favour. How have you been?”
Harry glowered at Padfoot, who had obviously returned before they had, and became amused when the dog cowered slightly before licking his hand and whimpering. Lupin grinned slightly at the sight as the younger Weasleys spent time petting the dog, who just rolled over and took it. He had given Sirius an earful when the man had returned from Egypt the day before Harry, telling him off for taking such a big risk when it was obvious that Wormtail wouldn’t have been foolish enough to return to the Weasley household.
During the conversation between the two men, Harry overheard something interesting. He hoped he was right, since Lupin had been a friend of his father’s but it looked like it might be the first year that he might actually like his Defence Against the Dark Arts teacher.
“I worked out an answer to Harry’s little problem too.” Lupin looked at Harry and Harry looked back, confused as to what Lupin meant by that, “He’ll be able to have both Padfoot and Hedwig with him.”
Harry blinked at him for a moment and then remembered the rule he’d been so worried about, the one that allowed students to take one pet to school only.
Hermione spoke before he could. “But I thought the students were allowed one pet and it had to be an owl, a cat or a toad. There’s nothing in the rules about dogs.”
Lupin chuckled, amused the way Hermione almost quoted the school rules words for word. “I know. But there’s also nothing in the rules about a student looking after a teacher’s pet for them. If I take Padfoot with me, he can go to stay with Harry in the Gryffindor tower every so often.”
Harry grinned, liking the plan as Ron chuckled and Hermione let out a sound that was a combination of amusement and annoyance at yet someone else who was willing to bend the rules into funny shapes. In fact Lupin was worse, since he was a teacher. He was supposed to be setting a good example.
“Thanks, Professor Lupin.” Harry grinned at the teacher to be.
Lupin just shrugged it off, though Harry thought he caught a brief glimpse of a smile on his face, and turned back to his conversation with Mr Weasley, promising to keep in touch before mentioning that he’d probably see them on the train and flooed away.
Harry found himself sharing a heavily edited tale of how he’d run into the teacher in Diagon Alley with the Weasleys as they had dinner, and found himself retelling the tale when Ron and Hermione piled into his room and demanded the truth from him. And they didn’t just mean about his meeting with Lupin.
In the end they were up till almost six in the morning, so it was an exhausted trio that piled onto the train and found an carriage that was empty except for Luna, who grinned at them but helped them put their trunks out of the way and found somewhere for Hedwig’s cage to rest and then pounced on them for information about their trip to Egypt.
Harry fell asleep midway through the conversation and didn’t wake until the train stopped with a jolt. Worried by the sudden cold and the slightly frightened look on his friends’ faces, he looked around and tried to work out where they were.
“Hogwarts already?” He asked as he got to his feet, stretching as he did so.
No comments:
Post a Comment