Part 13
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Hogwarts
August 21st, 1994.
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- After breakfast, Hagrid asked if he could still take up on James' invitation for tea from last night. James delightfully inclined. While he prepared the tea with the new teapot he got for Hagrid, James pulled out a small envelope from his pocket.
"Response from Harry Potter."
He smiled as the giant almost dropped the miscellaneous junks he was clearing from his small table. Hagrid placed the pile on his bed and carefully took the letter. James turned around to give him some privacy as he started the tea.
'Let's see, Hagrid likes Oolong and White Peony...' James eyed through the tea leaves. The half-giant was definitely a fan of the Far East. He chose the tea and started to brew, all the while secretly glancing at the cage, which was again, covered with a rag. No hissing, probably asleep..
He watched as the rich copper color spread in the teapot. He felt tranquiled every time he brewed tea. One of the small pleasures he could afford in his time. He took a quick glance at Hagrid who had his big back turned, quietly reading the letter as if it was a special secret. James had read Hagrid's letter and written a response last night, rigorously writing in the form of a fourteen year-old as best as he could. He poured the finished tea in the big mug for Hagrid and himself. Then, quietly set it on the small table for his friend and took a sip from his own. He silently waited as Hagrid slowly folded the letter.
"I..," Hagrid turned around, "I want to th'ank you, James. For.. this"
Hagrid held up the letter, voice almost cracking.
"And for H'arry. He r'eally trusts you."
"You're quite welcome. Your tea is ready, by the way."
James nodded as Hagrid carefully placed the letter in his pocket. The half-giant took his seat and drank.
"James! W'hat is th'is tea?"
Hagrid looked at his mug then at James.
"It's called Formosa, an Oolong tea."
"Oolo'ng?"
James showed him the little box which it came in. Hagrid read the small letters.
"It's from Chi'na, eh?" he took another sip, "I never tried one from th'ere before, but it's the best tea I ever had!"
"I'm glad you like it."
James smiled and drank. He didn't mention this particular brand costs £7.00 for 100 grams. Money really wasn't an issue since Shacklebolt arranged him to freely access Harry Potter's vault, and he brought some British pounds from his time by putting them in his pocket. And, he was living in Hogwarts getting paid to teach.
"Oh, I didn't g'et to see you use this."
Hagrid held the teapot up as he poured for some more. James spent the rest of the morning explaining the art of brewing.
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Diagon Alley
August 24th, 2005.
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After seeing Ollivander, it was obvious he didn't want to talk about Harry Potter to some strange boy.. who eerily resembled him in his youth. Ollivander gave Harry a suspicious look and that was enough to make Harry leave. The man practically knew everyone working at Hogwarts and Harry was afraid he might call someone. He quickly walked away from the wand shop and gave out a deep sigh.
'Snape is coming back tomorrow.. and I still have nothing.'
This was only his second time visiting Diagon Alley after receiving a hefty amount of floo powder from Dobby. When Harry asked where he got it from, the elf shrank away, stuttering. Harry thought wise not to ask him any further... Besides, he could visit anywhere, anytime and that alone made him feel exhilarated. He visited Diagon Alley immediately and went straight to the Daily Prophet office, which was the main reason he thought Diagon Alley was the best place to gather old information. His heart sank when he found the building abandoned. He then thought about Tom, the inn-keeper, but ran out of The Leaky Cauldron when he spotted Hagrid there.
He decided to try the next day, but lo and behold, Draco decided to come out of the cave and take Harry to Hogsmeade. He probably thought Harry was bored being trapped in the extensive school all day. As much as Harry appreciated the kind gesture, he wanted to be left alone so he could floo out before Snape returned.
So, here he was on his second visit to Diagon Alley, with no leads, feeling very gloomy and alone. He was very reluctant, but decided there were no other place to go other than The Leaky Cauldron. Very carefully, he peaked in to check none of his acquaintances were hanging about. When he detected none, he slowly sat at the bar.
"Hello, then. What can I get you, young lad?"
Harry was happy to hear the familiar voice of the inn-keeper. The bald man put his copy of The Sun on the counter, leisurely turning to Harry. Tom hasn't changed much, Harry figured. But then, he didn't know how old the man was to begin with. He almost laughed when he saw the man bewildered at the sight in front of him.
"What in the-... What trickery is this?" Tom rubbed his eyes, "but you look exactly like the young Harry Potter!"
Tom nearly had an heart attack as Harry looked around, worried he was getting too much attention.
"Uh,.. hi," Harry tried to smile, "I'm, uhh, Harry Potter's cousin, ..Dudley. And yeah, everyone says I look like him."
Harry hoped Tom didn't know much about the Dursleys.
"Oh? The muggle relative Mr. Potter lived with?" Tom tilted his head as Harry gulped, "you're much younger than I expected, lad. I thought you're the same age as Mr. Potter."
Without knowing what to say, Harry just nodded. The bald man opened a bottle of butterbeer.
"Well, then. Drink up. This one's on me," Tom set the bottle on the counter, "Mr. Potter didn't mention anything about a wizard relative. You did come from the back, didn't you?"
Harry nodded as he gulped down his drink. He realized he was quite thirsty. Tom smiled at this.
"Mr. Potter came here often as a child, you know. He used one of my rooms during vacation. He, just like you, enjoyed his butterbeer very much."
Tom said proudly, as he placed the newspaper in a small box full of old copies. Harry watched nonchalantly until an idea popped in his head.
"Do you read the Daily Prophet?"
"No, not really," Harry sighed at this, "but I get them delivered since some wizard folks like to read them in their rooms."
Tom kneeled to pull handful of Daily Prophet copies. Harry noticed the images were stilled like muggle newspapers.
"Oh, that's in case a muggle sees them. Can't have that happen, can we?"
Tom read Harry's mind and winked. He walked away to attend the newcomer.
Harry eyed through the dates as he saw most of them were from last year(2004). He groaned as he found no mention of Sirius or anyone he knew. Nothing different from the stuff he looked at from Hogwarts' library. He asked Tom if he had any older issues.
"Let's see," Tom kneeled to get another box, "these are the oldest ones I got down here. I have some more in the attic."
"Thank you."
Harry eagerly took the box and started digging. A big picture of Hogwarts caught his eyes.
"Hogwarts: Finally Opens Its Gates After Reconstruction"
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Harry read on as he found out Hogwarts was badly destroyed during the war with Voldemort. That explains the newly constructed DADA room...
"Oh, Merlin.."
Harry moaned as he pulled more copies out, which were not in order at all. He stopped as he saw his own name.
"Harry Potter, The Boy-Who-Lived, Missing?-!"
--The Hero who defeated the Dark Lord has simply vanished without a trace--
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Harry blinked. He had disappeared? Why?
He read but nothing useful were written. Apparently, two months after he defeated Voldemort, Harry Potter had gone missing. Harry gasped as he saw the future Harry Potter on the Wizard Card.
'Gawd Blimey! I'm on the card!' He almost tumbled off his chair. He took a closer look at himself.
'So, that's what I look like.. Not... bad.' He smirked. He looked at the date: February 22nd, 2001. So that would mean, Voldemort was defeated in December of 2000...
He placed the paper aside, in the hopes of Tom allowing him to keep it. He pulled dozens of copies out to reach the ones on the bottom. He looked through the dates, but couldn't find any December of 2000. He abruptly stopped when he saw the familiar name.
"Draco Malfoy: The Only Son Of Lucius Malfoy Sides With The Dark Lord."
--Malfoy joins the Death Eaters: Following his father's footsteps?--
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Harry's jaw dropped. 'Draco became a Death Eater?' He quickly glanced at the date which read; September 5th, 1999. They'd both be 19 years old.. Harry shook his dreaded thoughts away. Draco is with the Light, ..the Order. He was probably a spy, just like Snape. He placed the paper face down as he continued his search. But he soon realized all three months, from October through December 2000, were non-existent.
"Some research you're doing, lad?"
Tom broke his line of thought. Harry looked embarrassed as he noticed the mess he was making.
"Yes, sorry. But I can't find the ones I need."
"Are you regarding to the Dark Months, boy?" Harry squinted his eyes, "the final war with You-Know-Who?"
"Yes!"
Harry nodded, nervous and excited at the same time.
"Oh, you won't find them in any papers, lad. You can only find them in here," Tom pointed his head, "horrible times. Many wizards, witches, even muggles were killed. You are lucky if you know nothing of it."
Tom leaned closer, looking around to make sure no one was listening.
"You seen the Daily Prophet building there?" Harry nodded, "they had to abandon the place during the war because the reporters were attacked. I've heard they relocated at the Level Three Department in the Ministry."
"...How do you know so much if you don't read the papers?"
Harry asked, no louder than a whisper.
"A rumor travels much faster than any report, my dear boy," Tom smiled, "that is why you won't find anything during those months. But, if you want to know about the war so much, try the January of 2001. They'll mention it, more or less."
With that, Tom walked off. Harry took the advice and looked through for any January issues. He pulled out the earliest, which was the 7th. No pictures at all, and really, could you blame them?
"THE DARK DAYS ARE OVER! DARK LORD DEAD!"
--The Boy-Who-Lived has delivered his Prophesy!--
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'Prophesy?' Puzzled, Harry read on.
'I bet..' Harry rolled his eyes. He started to read the next issue as more incidents were disclosed.
"Exclusive interview with Mr. Ronald Weasley, an highly skilled Auror, revealed today that Mr. Draco Malfoy, who had joined the Death Eaters 2 years ago, had saved his wife, who was 5 months pregnant. In doing so, Mr. Malfoy has lost his vision of sight."
Harry gasped. Draco Malfoy had saved Hermione and her child's life..
'No wonder Hermione chose to be his assistant...' Harry wheezed. He was confused as to why Hermione would be just an assistant if she could be a great professor. Everything was making sense now.
Harry slowly began to put the papers back in the box, still in shock. The relationship between the Weasleys and Draco was much more complicated than he thought. He could feel the little tension between them when placed in the same room. The Weasleys probably felt guilty for Draco's loss of sight, especially to Ron who was not in best terms with him. And knowing Draco, he didn't want their pity... or anyone else's at that.
'I better get back...' Harry remembered Ron had said he was going to have dinner at Hogwarts tonight with Hermione. Even though he didn't find anything about Sirius, he thought this was the best he could do. For now…
He wondered if his friends were going to bring their kids along when his eyes suddenly caught a glimpse of a woman in cuffs.
'Bellatrix Lestrange!-?'
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Hogwarts: DADA room
August 24th, 1994.
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The last three days has been uneventful for Hadwin James, which was fine with the new DADA professor. He had tea with Hagrid every day after breakfast and lunch. Of course, he had to begin working sooner or later.
"Done with the third years… Finally!"
He stretched and moved his shoulders in a circular motion in effort to undo the knot on his muscles. He yawned unceremoniously as he stood up to make some tea, which happened to be his fifth cup of the day.
He was outlining the subjects he would teach for each year, which was, in James' opinion, the toughest part of his job. The rest was quite a breeze once the term started. He had, to his own surprise, a knack at teaching. He looked out the window as he started to boil the water. It was a very lovely day and he desperately wanted to go outside with a broom. He saw some birds flying by and smiled as he heard them chirp. Today was definitely one of those peaceful days.
But all that came to a halt when he heard a knock on the door.
"Good afternoon, Mr. James."
James couldn't hide his surprise as he opened the door to see none other than Remus Lupin and Snuffles standing there.
"I hope we're not interrupting anything?"
Remus asked. James came to and shook his head.
"No, not at all. In fact, I was just going to have some tea. Would you like to join me?"
James gave them a smile. Not too inviting, not too apathetic.
"We would love to, Mr. James."
Remus smiled as the two entered, Snuffles' eyes never leaving James.
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The Leaky Cauldron
August 24th, 2005.
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Harry read the heading, eyes showing nothing but disbelief. And then he reread it to make sure he read it correctly. He read it over and over in the hopes that it was an mistake.
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"Bellatrix Lestrange Captured: 5 Years Since His Death, Sirius Black Can Finally Rest"
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Oh, and Harry knows Bellatrix already in this fic(for all you anal-readers). And also, I think Ollivander is supposed to be missing.. but, heck. He's still around in this story.