Harry appeared at his destination silently. He took a moment to look at the house he was about to enter.
He had sold his house to Ron and Hermione a year after they had all finished their academic careers at Hogwarts.
Truthfully, he wanted to gift the place to the young couple as a wedding present, but neither of them would hear of such a thing. 'That's far too generous, Harry!' Hermione had said decisively, Ron agreeing with her silently but with equal decidedness.
Her words had nearly caused a temper tantrum, but Harry had long managed to master his new body's emotions. It was a close thing, though.
He had very reluctantly agreed to sell the place to them, thinking that he could at least give it away at a discounted price. Unfortunately, Hermione was far too crafty to fall for that trick and had the property valued at a fair price which she paid for in full.
Harry shook his head in fond remembrance at the antics of his friends. He still didn't know how Hermione found the money to buy a house for herself fresh out of school. Then again, her parents were very successful dentists.
His last two years at Hogwarts had been quite peaceful to say the least.
Ron, like the rest of the Weasleys and Hermione had been quite shocked initially to know that their friend was now inhabiting the body of his clone. They somehow managed to get over it by the time school started.
News of his circumstances had reached far and wide by the time he had to board the Hogwarts Express for his sixth year.
As far as everyone who wasn't in the know was concerned, he had become de-aged in the final battle with Lord Voldemort himself while the Death Eaters tried to take Hogsmeade and Hogwarts by force. Because of this, many of his schoolmates treated him with a healthy dollop of respect.
There were some exceptions, mainly a few older students who thought he could be pushed around because he looked like a four-year-old. Those were easily taken care of when Harry showed how proficient he was with and without a wand, as he had started developing rudimentary skills in wandless magic.
Harry had also found that his size made him a much faster and more agile Seeker. He used this to his advantage as Gryffindor's Quidditch Captain along with his magical senses and his newfound proficiency in wandless magic to easily get the Snitch in every match. Had anyone known of his abilities, they may have called it cheating, but Harry had been very careful to keep those abilities a secret known only to himself. He would have felt guilty about it, but then again, there wasn't anything in the rulebook prohibiting the use of such abilities, and he really wasn't bothered in playing fair. As Ron told him once upon a time in their sixth year after finding out that Harry had tricked him into playing well, "All's fair in love, war and Quidditch"
And honestly, after Hermione's reaction to him using the notes written by the previous owner of an old potions textbook, he was not going to be sharing such secrets. He loved his friend dearly, and she was a really nice person, but sometimes she could be a real stick-in-the-mud. After all, it wasn't his fault that the new Potions teacher had all but bullied him into taking the N.E.W.T. classes. It was true that Horace Slughorn was a much better teacher than Snape, but Harry had long lost any love for the subject. So if he ended up getting an old textbook from some old student who called himself the Half-Blood Prince, he wasn't going to be complaining, especially when it benefitted him in Potions so greatly.
Well, Dumbledore knew about his abilities, but the old headmaster hadn't told anyone to Harry's knowledge.
His onetime rival, Draco Malfoy, had largely stopped trying to antagonise him and his friends. Harry had a suspicion that the blond had spoken to his father who had been honest about how close the family had been to feeling Voldemort's wrath over the diary.
A normal person would have been grateful for the warning and having the source of his impending doom neutralised. But Malfoy wasn't one of those. Instead, the boy had taken to largely ignoring Harry and his friends.
Although, it was more likely the blond didn't want more attention on him, considering that his father had been caught and sent back to Azkaban with an increased sentence. It would be a long time indeed before Lucius Malfoy saw the light of day as a free man.
News of Snape's death had become known a day after Voldemort's downfall. While Dumbledore was sure to tell the Wizengamot about Snape still being a spy for the light, that story didn't really gain much traction with The Court of Public Opinion. A legion of embittered students who were now in many various fields nursing a grudge against the prickly man ensured that he was eventually forgotten over time. There had been quite a bit of resistance in Dumbledore's attempts in honouring the man.
Not that Harry blamed Dumbledore. It was the right thing to do, even if Harry counted himself as among the first in line of those objecting.
Snape's replacement was also his predecessor. Horace Slughorn had won many a student over with his geniality and not being biased towards Slytherin. The house in question was quick to adapt, ceasing many of their antics.
All of that culminated to a relatively quiet two years for Harry. The only highlight of it being the drama that came with Ron and Hermione finally realising that they liked each other.
The reminder of (as Harry termed it) The Saga of Lavender and Ron bought a fond smile of remembrance. That bit of drama had lasted for the entirety of his sixth year, ending explosively in the literal sense of the word with Ron breaking up with Lavender using Fred and George's Weasleys' Wildfire Whiz-bangs.
Lavender had responded with a nice large packet of Dungbombs. Thankfully the only collateral damage had been Ron's bed.
Hell really hath no fury and all that.
Harry took a few moments to pay his respects at Dobby and Kreacher's graves. The last time he had been here was after his seventh year had ended.
He had kept up with his arrangement with Dumbledore. Classes were a breeze thanks to that. He had finished with top marks in his N.E.W.T.s. As promised, the headmaster had promptly resigned from his positions as Chief Warlock and Supreme Mugwump a day before the start of Harry's sixth year. His passion, after all (as he told Harry when giving him the news) was teaching.
His batch had the novelty of having what looked like a five-year-old as Head Boy. The school photograph was taken with him on Ron's shoulders.
Initially, Harry lacked in direction after finishing school. That was soon remedied when one morning he woke up holding an inscribed stone signifying an invitation to join the Uagadou School of Magic after one very interesting dream.
He suspected that Dumbledore had something to do with that invitation, although the old wizard had declined all knowledge of that.
Harry spent five years there. In addition to wandless magic, he took up the subject of self-transfiguration. His background at Hogwarts under the tutelage of Albus Dumbledore and Minerva McGonagall having given him an interest in the subject.
By the time he left the African school, he had acquired the title of Sorcerer, signifying his mastery of Wandless Magic and Transfiguration.
After that, he had spent another five luxurious years touring the world, taking full advantage of his inheritance. He dabbled a bit in duelling, using his mastery of both wanded and wandless magic to great advantage. Few had managed to combine the two disciplines, making Harry rather unique in that field. Although, he suspected that none had a wand so compatible and in tune with them as his elder wand was. Dumbledore's old wand worked far better with him than his old holly and phoenix wand.
It was quite amusing seeing the faces of his opponents as they were bested by what looked like a prepubescent child.
Taking a deep breath, Harry headed towards his old house. While he had kept in touch with his friends and their families, even visiting them on many an occasion, he had started to feel rather homesick. So he had elected to return to Britain as soon as he got the title of Grand Sorcerer after being recognised as a master of Defence against the Dark Arts.
He had just settled into Grimmauld Place two days back. The townhouse that once belonged to the Black Family had long since been renovated and updated till it no longer looked as grim and old as it used to. It was now time to meet his friends and family.
'HARRY!'
Harry smiled genuinely as a gaggle of redheads rushed out to greet him. The whole family had gathered here to welcome him back, along with Theodore Lupin, Remus and Tonks' son. The poor boy had lost his mother a few years back to a petty criminal, but he was never wanting for affection. Harry may not have looked as old as his peers (and he certainly looked like the boy's older brother as the boy was growing up) but he had taken his role as the boy's godfather seriously.
'Hey, guys,' he said with a smile.
'You finally look your age, Potter,' Ron said with a smile, punching his old friend in the shoulder.
'It took me awhile,' Harry said, returning the gesture by clapping Ron's back heartily. The long lifespans of wizards ensured that his friends looked as young as he did at the moment despite them being physically twenty-nine and him being seventeen.
'I'm taller than you, though,' he said with a big grin, deliberately standing next to his friend. This was a surprising development. Harry wagered that his old body was a bit stunted in growth thanks to his long dead and unlamented relatives.
Ron rolled his eyes and dragged his friend inside.
The day was spent in merriment. Harry took great pleasure in showing everyone the necklace Lavender had once bought Ron in their sixth year to the amusement of all the adults present once the kids had been put to bed. Ron retaliated with a photograph of a very grumpy Harry as the ring bearer next to a blushing Gabrielle Delacour at Bill Weasley's wedding.
'I forgot about that,' Harry groused looking remarkably like his four-year-old self.
'Bill did it because you looked cute,' Ron said with a wide grin. 'He told me recently … I agree! Remember how much Gabrielle kept wanting to be next to you throughout the wedding? Oh how she mothered you!'
Harry groaned, putting his head in his hands. 'I need a drink,' he said. With a waggle of his fingers, the firewhisky came soaring into his hands.
'So, how's the business?' he asked Fred and George, in an attempt to change the conversation.
'Pretty good!' Fred said. 'We have opened a store in Berlin recently and gained a contract with the ministry for our defensive line.'
'Ron's taking care of the Hogsmeade store,' George said. 'I don't think that was a good decision, to be honest.'
'Yeah, the sprogs haven't bought a single damn product from there thanks to him!' Fred said, pointing up towards the rooms to indicate their children.
'As if they would do anything with Neville and Ginny here teaching at Hogwarts!' Ron shot back waving a hand at the Longbottoms.
'What about you Harry?' Hermione Granger, the next in line to be the head of the Department of Magical Law Enforcement said. 'What are you going to do now that you're back.'
'Well,' Harry said stretching his legs out. 'My various business investments are doing quite well, so I don't really need a job. I did visit Dumbledore yesterday, you know. Old man's certainly enjoying his retirement. Anyway, I think once I physically turn twenty I'll apply for a position teaching Wandless magic. It certainly is useful!'
'Why so long?' Angelina, the woman crazy enough to marry Fred Weasley asked.
'I don't want to look as old as the final year students,' Harry said with a shrug. 'Besides, I'd like to spend a few more years just living the hedonistic life of the idle rich. Go out on parties, meet a few girls … Maybe I'll take up Professional Quidditch now that I can endure the Professional level Bludgers. Can you hook me up with a few of your old friends, Ginny?' he asked Neville's wife sweetly, giving her his best soulful look.
'Sure, Harry,' Ginny said, her face pinking up slightly.
Hermione rolled her eyes, but Harry wasn't too bothered. He may not have set goals, but it didn't matter for him.
He had a lot of time on his hands, after all!
And finally, the epilogue of this short story. I hope you enjoyed it!