Harry Potter and the Time of Shadows

- Chapter Three-

The Birthday Party

Harry awoke on his birthday, more excited than he'd been in a long time. He decided to leave Dobby asleep on the desk, rather than waking him up early in the morning. He jumped down the stairs, two at a time, and entered the kitchen like every other day.

He decided to tell Uncle Vernon that an escort was coming to pick him up that day. The Dursleys had not had a good experience the last time they had met a wizard. When Ron had come with his dad and brothers to pick up Harry, they had accidentally blasted away half of the Dursleys living room, and grown Dudley's tongue to over four feet long.

"Um, Uncle Vernon."

Uncle Vernon grunted, not looking up from his fry-up.

"It's my birthday today and, er, --"

"Oh no," Uncle Vernon got up, and looked Harry in the eye. "You cannot have a party, you are not inviting those freaks into our house again, not after last time."

"I wasn't asking for a party." Harry tried to pull himself together again after his uncle had interrupted. "I'm going to pick up my school supplies, so I'll be out for the day. Someone's going to come by quickly and pick me up."

"Well," Uncle Vernon thought for a second. "Alright, I'm willing to have one on my doorstep if it'll get you out of the house for a day."

"Great," Harry said, smiling. "He'll be here at ten."

He looked at the digital clock above the cooker, it was just past eight. Suddenly, a loud squeak could be heard from upstairs. Horrified, he heard a light figure barrelling down the stairs, screaming, "He is gone! He is gone! Harry Potter is gone!"

Harry spun round to face the kitchen door, careful not to look at his uncle's face. He heard Dobby open the door to every downstairs room, finally reaching the kitchen. Aunt Petunia screamed upon seeing his short, brown form, and Dudley stood up and whispered to himself "Urgh!".

Dobby seemed completely unaware of the Dursleys' reaction to him, but ran up to Harry and screamed, "Harry Potter, you is not sleeping when Dobby is waking up. Harry Potter is always rising after Dobby. Dobby is thinking you is being kidnapped, sir."

"Sorry, I woke up early," Harry whispered hoping the Dursleys didn't hear, and wouldn't realise that Dobby had been staying there without their permission.

Uncle Vernon stood up and made a grab for Dobby, seizing him by the ear.

"You've had this -- thing -- in the house, sleeping in here!"

Dobby swung from his ear, turning around to look at Uncle Vernon. His eyes fell upon his moustache.

"You is got dirt on your face, sir. Let Dobby clean it!"

Dobby disappeared out of Uncle Vernon's grip with a crack, then reappeared by the sink. Enthusiastically, he pulled a cloth out from his shorts pocket, ran it under the hot tap, and jumped on Uncle Vernon, attempting to scrub off his moustache. Uncle Vernon was yelling while trying to pull Dobby off, but he was holding tight onto Uncle Vernon's shirt with his free hand.

Once he had finally pulled Dobby free, he hurled the elf across the room, where he landed in a crumpled heap. As Uncle Vernon lunged at him again, Dobby disappeared and appeared on the kitchen table, Uncle Vernon made another dive for Dobby, but once again, he disappeared, and Uncle Vernon knocked over the table, spilling everyone's breakfast.

Aunt Petunia let out an anguished shriek, and Dobby appeared on her head. As she let out a fresh howl, Uncle Vernon dived again. After bowling his wife over, he rounded on Harry.

"Get that thing out of here. And as for that guy picking you up --"

He paused, Harry waited, expecting him to forbid him from going.

"-- he better be here on time!"

Harry nodded, hardly believing his uncle was being so lenient. He herded Dobby upstairs, which was quite hard as he had his heart set on cleaning up the fresh mess in the kitchen.

"Dobby is sorry sir. Dobby was worried." He looked as though he expected Harry to beat him.

"That's OK Dobby," Harry sighed.

After what seemed like an eternity, ten o'clock arrived. The escort was very punctual, ringing the doorbell, as opposed to arriving by Floo powder as the Weasleys had.

Harry ran to get the door, leaving Dobby upstairs, he opened the door, and let out a gasp of surprise.

It was Remus Lupin.

"Hello Harry," he smiled, and stepped into the house.

He was dressed in a brown suit, with a tasteful blue striped tie. He looked nothing like what Uncle Vernon would call a 'freak'. He also looked nothing like the professor in worn, tattered robes that Harry was used to, and respected, nonetheless.

Lupin walked towards the living room door, to where the Dursleys had just emerged, cowering back, as though worried what he would do.

"Hello, Mr Dursley," he said, in a very businesslike voice. He extended his hand, which Uncle Vernon shook, very slowly.

"Hello," he said, obviously trying to sound impressive, but sounded scared to his soul. Harry amused himself at the thought of how they would react if they knew he was a werewolf. Aunt Petunia was pale enough as it was.

"I'm just here to take Harry out for the day, then I'll bring him straight back again," Lupin said, now in a friendly voice, which seemed to comfort the Dursleys the tiniest amount.

"Alright," Uncle Vernon replied, taking a small step forwards.

"Oh!" Lupin cried, as though he had forgotten something important. He drew out his wand, and the Dursleys recoiled as close to the door as they could get. Lupin smiled, and spoke as though to a three-year old:

"Don't worry, I won't hurt you. I simply wanted to -- well -- let me show you." The Dursleys moved along the wall, to the corner furthest from Harry and Lupin.

Lupin pointed his wand upward, but the tip was far below his chin, and cried "Orchideous" and a beautiful bouquet of flowers emerged from the tip. Lupin pulled the stems out of the wand, and handed them to Aunt Petunia. She looked grateful, but also like she expected the flowers to explode.

"Right," Lupin put his wand back into his pocket and clapped his hands together. "We'll be off. I'll have Harry back before seven."

Uncle Vernon nodded, and Harry opened the door, letting Lupin out first, muttered a quick goodbye to his relatives, then went out the door himself.

Both laughing, Harry and Lupin walked along the driveway, and stopped at a red car parked in front of the house. It wasn't a terribly flash car, but it was in good condition.

"You know how to drive?" Harry asked, remembering Mr Weasley driving his old Ford Anglia, but never thinking about how many wizards could drive before.

"Yes, well I live in the Muggle world," Lupin replied, unlocking the doors and getting in. "Given my, condition, it's hard to find work in the magical community."

"What do you do?" Harry was curious about what his former professor did, working for Muggles.

"I'm a bartender," Lupin answered, starting the engine. "I get nights of the full moon off. I told my boss I visit my sick mother a few days a month. If I ever do any accidental magic, most people are too drunk to notice."

A while later they reached London, and walked for a short distance to the Leaky Cauldron, where the entrance to Diagon Alley was hidden.

They had barely got through the door when they heard several voices say: "Harry!"

He looked over, and the Weasley family was at one table, while Hermione and her parents were at the next, Ron and Hermione were the farthest apart, Harry noticed.

They all got up to speak to Harry, and Harry spoke to them all. Lupin, who had been staying in the background, stepped forward and asked, "Does anyone want any drinks?"

Hermione and the Weasley children all looked shocked to see him, and Hermione cried, "Professor!"

Lupin raised his hand and said, "No, no, I'm not your professor anymore, Hermione. Just call me Lupin."

After the drinks were ordered, they all sat down to chat. They talked about many things, but not the thing Harry wanted to know the most: what steps the Ministry was taking to fight Voldemort. Harry tried to start on the subject casually:

"So, Mr Weasley, what have you been up to at work?"

Mr Weasley's ears had started to go red. "Er, well, we've all been very busy, and, um, of course, Fudge has been on our case all the time."

Harry could see Mr Weasley didn't really want to discuss Voldemort, and as much as Harry wanted to respect that, he had to know what was happening. So he tried to be more direct:

"I mean, what are you doing to stop Voldemort?"

All the Weasleys flinched upon hearing the name, but Harry continued to look at Mr Weasley, determined to know the answer.

"Well Harry, Fudge is still unwilling to believe that He has returned, so we must operate in secrecy, and, well we have alerted everyone that we think we can trust, of course there were a number of Death Eaters inside the Ministry last time. I believe you are meeting with Professor Dumbledore when you get back to Hogwarts, I'm sure he'll be able to tell you more."

Harry nodded, accepting that this was all the information he was going to get at the present time, but he asked another question that could possibly tell him more:

"So, what are Bill and Charlie up to?"

Mr Weasley had begun to speak again, but Mrs Weasley cut in:

"Bill actually quit his job with Gringotts in Egypt to come and work closer to home. He's bought a house in Hogsmeade too."

Harry was pleased by this; he liked Bill very much.

"What is he doing here?" he asked.

"He's working at the Ministry, Goblin Liaison Office, well he had a lot of contact with them, working for Gringotts, he even speaks Gobbledegook," Mr Weasley replied offhandedly.

"Well, how's Charlie?"

Mrs Weasley replied in a slightly worried voice,

"Um, he quit his job too," she replied shortly.

"To do what?"

Mrs Weasley looked around the room quickly, then said,

"He won't tell us. He always just changes the subject."

"Yes, and I really don't like the sound of it," Mr Weasley added.

"He could have at least told his brother," Percy said.

After a long silence, Lupin said, "So, Hermione, still top of the year?"

Hermione blushed, and everyone laughed, and before long, they were talking normally again.

After more casual conversation, the Weasleys, Grangers, Harry and Lupin went into the courtyard behind the pub, where Mr Weasley drew out his wand and tapped the special brick, and the wall melted away, revealing the entrance to Diagon Alley.

First stop for them was Gringotts bank, were the Grangers stayed on the first floor to change their Muggle money into Galleons, Sickles, and Knuts. Everyone else went deep into the underground tunnels, to take money out of their vaults.

The Weasleys vault was desperately empty, but they managed to withdraw enough money to pay for their children for another school year.

Harry felt the usual surge of guilt when they reached his vault, which was packed with huge piles of gold, silver, and bronze coins.

Lupin said he needed to withdraw some money out of his vault, and when they reached it, Harry saw that it was only slightly more full than the Weasleys' vault. Remembering that Lupin was paid in Muggle money, but he didn't have any other family members to pay for, Harry got back into his cart to take him back up to ground level.

First stop was Flourish and Blotts, the bookstore, where they picked up all the text books needed for the new school year. Harry didn't see anyone he knew from Hogwarts, and remembered that most people did their shopping later in the holiday.

Next they went to Madam Malkin's robe store. Harry's robes were now several inches too small for him, as were most of the Weasleys'. Harry stood on a stool while Madam Malkin took his measurements. On the stool next to him, Ginny Weasley was staring at Harry, and blushed profusely when Harry looked at her while Madam Malkin was taking her bust measurement. It seemed her crush on Harry had not yet disappeared.

A set of shiny black robes on a high rack caught his eye, and Harry bought a set, feeling that he deserved to treat himself. He noticed Fred and George were whispering to each other in a distant corner of the shop, looking at fancy robes.

After getting ice cream at Florean Fortescue's Ice Cream Parlour, all the children went to stare in the window of Quality Quidditch Supplies.

Two magnificent brooms were on show in the window, each looked very different from the other. One bore the card: "Nimbus Pro".

Ron walked up to the glass and whispered to Harry: "Borisvic Flynn, the founder of the Nimbus Racing Broom Company, died a few months ago while working on that broom. That's going to be the last model broom Nimbus is going to make."

"Oh," was all Harry could say, who had never heard of Borisvic Flynn, but knew that the Nimbuses were quality brooms, having once owned a Nimbus Two-Thousand.

"It's not as fast as the Firebolt, but corners just as well, and it's more affordable." Ron looked longingly at the Nimbus Pro, and sighed.

The second broom, which before had so many people crowding in front of it that no one could see the name, Harry now saw had a card in front of it with the name "Firebolt Evolution".

"Wow," was all Harry could respond to this broom, and the others saw what he was admiring, and came to see.

Lupin, who was just as impressed as any of the children, said:

"I've heard of this broom, it's almost twice as expensive as the original Firebolt. It can reach two hundred miles an hour, and responds to grip like no broom has before. It also has a burglar alarm built in."

There was a simultaneous "Wow" from all the children, when Harry noticed that Fred and George had gone. He looked around for them, they were nowhere to be seen.

Just then, he heard the bell over the door to Quality Quidditch Supplies ring, and the Weasley twins stepped out, identical looks of satisfaction on their faces, identical long packages over their shoulders. Mr Weasley, who had also been admiring the brooms, grabbed the package out of Fred's hand, and tore the paper off of the top of the handle, revealing the broom's name.

"Nimbus Pros! You bought Nimbus Pros! We don't have the money for Cleansweep Sixes! How much were these brooms?"

"Two-hundred Galleons," George replied.

"Each," Fred added.

"Where did you get four-hundred Galleons?" Mr Weasley's face had gone as red as Uncle Vernon's would get when he was angry.

"We got an anonymous donation for Weasley Wizard Wheezes," Fred answered after a short silence.

"And he made us promise not to say who he was," George agreed.

Mr Weasley looked no less angry.

"Who would give you over four-hundred Galleons for that stupid joke shop of yours?"

"We can't say," George said, for the first time Harry had seen, they actually looked scared of their father.

"You expect me to believe that? What did you two do for that money?"

Harry, feeling that the truth would probably save them, stepped forwards.

"I gave them the money, Mr Weasley."

Ron looked just as shocked as his dad did after hearing that. Mr Weasley's face gradually turned back to its normal colour, and he said in a much calmer voice, "That's very kind of you Harry, but we don't need that money."

"It's OK," Harry defended. "It was my Triwizard winnings. And I just couldn't spend it myself, too many bad memories, so I gave it to Fred and George, I thought that I needed a few laughs more than money at this time."

Mr Weasley turned to his sons.

"He's right, we do need a few laughs more than money nowadays. If you want to open this joke shop instead of joining the Ministry, that's fine with me. Just put all of your effort into it."

George then did something which surprised Harry very much, he actually hugged his dad, and Fred did too, and they both said together, "Thanks Dad."

After they pulled apart, Fred suddenly said:

"Oh, that reminds me." He pulled a brown package out of his pocket, and handed it to Ron. "Your new dress robes, those other ones you had were just embarrassing."

Ron opened that package, the robes were made of a smooth fabric, silver and grey, Harry privately thought that they were better than his dress robes. Ron held them up to him to see if they fit, then he folded them up and put them in his pocket. "Thanks guys," was all he said.

They all walked away from the shop, back to Hermione and her parents, Mrs Weasley and Percy, who were not very keen on flying. Harry thought briefly of asking how Percy was doing, but thought better of it, remembering the last time he had asked that, and got a boring lecture on cauldron bottoms.

Percy insisted he needed to visit the Magical Menagerie because his owl, Hermes, had a cough; he went back to the Leaky Cauldron where he had trusted the owl with the owner, Tom, and came back quickly, with an uncharacteristically mischievous smile. He whispered something to his dad, who looked at Harry and smiled.

After they came out of the Magical Menagerie, with some cough mixture for Hermes, they went to the Apothecary to restock their potion ingredients, and then back to the Leaky Cauldron, Harry felt that the day was over much too fast.

"So, how are we getting back Dad," asked Ron, who was starting to get a mischievous smile himself.

"We'll Floo back; we'll use the fireplace in the parlour, come on everyone." The Weasleys went into the parlour, after a nod from Tom, and to Harry's surprise, so did the Grangers. Could they Floo to their house?

"Come on Harry," Lupin called, who looked like he was fighting to keep a straight face. Harry followed, wondering if they had all gone insane, when he heard a small explosion, confetti falling from the air, and about twenty voices yell, "Surprise!"

Harry grinned from ear to ear, looking around the room. There were the Weasleys, now including Bill, the Grangers, Lupin, Neville Longbottom, Parvati Patil, Lavender Brown, Colin Creevey, Viktor Krum, and Fleur and Gabrielle Delacour. The fireplace had just gone green, and the flames rose very high. One after the other, two more people appeared out of the fire, Seamus Finnigan then Dean Thomas appeared. Dean looked very shaken up, he had obviously never travelled by Floo powder before, but he grinned and said, "Sorry we're late," which got a big laugh.

He looked to the Weasleys were, and Bill said, "You think we'd let you spend your birthday with those Muggles?"

Grinning more broadly, Harry went over to talk to Neville, Seamus and Dean. Tom appeared, smiling a toothless smile, and carrying drinks. Music started to play, and Harry felt so touched that his friends were giving him his first birthday party.

After he'd danced with all three Gryffindor girls, he danced with Fleur, who told him that she had got a job at the magazine Witch Weekly.

"I am in charge of fashion articles, and it iz a great way to learn more Eenglish."

His dance with Ginny was quite funny. Ginny, who hardly moved, was grinning as broadly as Harry had been. Over her shoulder he saw Ron dancing with Hermione, who were quite far apart, dancing out of rhythm.

It was a lot more fun than dancing at the Yule Ball, which had been far too formal for Harry's taste.

When he was shown his huge cake with candles that sent off sparks, he was reminded of that picture of his parents, and had to wipe a tear from his eye. Everyone sung "Happy Birthday" and Harry blew out the candles, and cut the cake for everyone. Colin took many pictures of everyone, and then it was time to open his presents.

The present at the top of the pile was from Hagrid, along with a card saying, "Wish I could be there, urgent business for Dumbledore." It was a small opaque jar, which when he put his hand in, had an endless supply of Muggle sweets. He heard Hermione's parents "tut" this present, they were dentists.

His next present was from 'Hermione and Viktor'. He heard Ron "tut" that present. It was a box of practice Snitches. Krum told them he had been made Seeker for the Montrose Magpies, which, judging by everyone's reaction, was a very good team.

Fleur and Gabrielle had given him a box of French sweets called Éternel Caramel, which were toffees that lasted for hours.

Ron's present was a book called Beating the Bludgers. It was about complicated Quidditch manoeuvres. "For when you become captain," he said. Harry hadn't thought about that, he was in fifth year, and Wood was gone. Wood was gone. He stopped that train of thought.

Colin had apparently given a gag gift. It was a photo of Harry in his second year, wearing his Quidditch robes, lying on the ground covered in mud, with no bones in one of his arms. In the picture, he was flailing his other arm, very angry at his shortage of limbs. Harry felt it was long enough ago to be able to laugh at it, and joined in with everyone else, who were laughing their heads off.

Bill and Percy apologised for not getting a gift, but Mr and Mrs Weasley gave him some beautiful toffee fudge with strawberry ice cream inside.

Dean and Seamus also apologised for not bringing a gift, so Harry opened Neville's gift. It was a book on powerful curses, which Harry appreciated, and actually thought was his most useful gift, but did not say.

Parvati and Lavender had not brought gifts, but in a joke, both gave him a kiss as a present. Harry didn't mind.

Lupin had given Harry a new watch; his old one had been ruined the previous year in the lake.

Fred and George gave Harry a selection of their newest joke products for Weasley Wizard Wheezes, which outstripped some of Zonko's ideas, Harry thought. There was a Rainbow Ribbon, a fruit roll-up which made the eater's face change colours repeatedly, the infamous Canary Creams and Ton-Tongue Toffees, Flame Fries, chips which made someone breathe fire (the fire was not hot, so it was not dangerous), their trademark fake wands, and many more.

Harry felt that, next to the day he found out he was a wizard, which was also his birthday, it was the best day of his life. After the guests had left, just the Weasleys and Grangers stayed for a chat before they left.

"So Hermione," Harry started, "I take it you were made a prefect."

"Yeah," she replied sheepishly, taking a silver P badge out of her pocket. "You should have been made one too, but there can only be one in each house every year."

"My mum and dad were both prefects," said Harry.

"Well maybe it used to be two."

It may have been Harry's imagination, but it looked as though Mr and Mrs Weasley traded a sideways look between them. Lupin got up to get another drink from the bar.

"So," Ron butted in. "at least you'll probably be made Quidditch captain."

"Yeah," Fred agreed, "I don't want it."

"Nor do I," said George, "and I'm pretty sure none of the girls want it. We all vote who we want, but McGonagall gets the final say."

And after more talk, mostly of Quidditch, the Weasleys Flooed out of the fireplace, and the Grangers went to the Underground station. Harry and Lupin walked back to the car.

Lupin dropped off Harry at Privet Drive, the Dursleys obviously making a forced effort to be nice.

Once Harry was back in his room, he saw Dobby was still there. As much as he had wanted to bring him to Diagon Alley, at the time he didn't dare go upstairs and leave the Dursleys alone with Lupin.

"Did Harry Potter have fun?" he asked. "Was he surprised by his friends coming? Dobby wishes he could have come, but Dobby understands he was to be punished for coming downstairs."

"Punished? No you weren't being punished Dobby, I just couldn't bring you with me, I wanted to," Harry said, patting Dobby on the head.

"Can Dobby give Harry Potter his present now?" he asked, holding a sock-shaped package in his hand.

"Sure Dobby," Harry said, unwrapping it. The two socks were actually the same, red with a gold Gryffindor lion on each. Harry was surprised by how much he liked them.

"Dobby now knows that socks are supposed to be the same. He is seeing them put in pairs in your sock drawer, Harry Potter. But Dobby does not like his socks to be the same, he likes to be different."

Harry laughed, and put on his new socks. He took some fruit sweets out of his jar from Hagrid, and shared them with Dobby. He also enjoyed letting out one of his Snitches and seeing who could catch it first, him or Dobby. Dobby would win most of the time, he could appear anywhere in the room, but when it was high up and away from any shelves, Harry could jump much higher.

After Dobby had fallen asleep, Harry went over his book from Neville. He would need to know all the curses he could if he ever had to fight Voldemort again.