Harry Potter and the Heart of Regenesis

Chapter Twenty-two

Feasts and Farewells

The last week of term seemed to pass very quickly. Once the exams were over it was something of a Hogwarts tradition that lessons became more relaxed so Harry spent the last week letting each class choose what they wanted to do - within reason, of course. Several classes had asked to practice things like disarming spells; others had asked in advance if Harry could get hold of creatures they wanted practice dealing with - such as Redcaps, Fire-crabs and Hinkypunks. Charlie and his team were able get hold of these from the Forbidden Forest for him and one other class, having heard Harry tell them once about the tremendous fun lesson he'd had in a lesson with Professor Lupin and a Boggart, asked for a repeat of that session. There had been a lot of laughter in that 3^rd Year class, Harry recalled, and he could still remember it fondly despite having come face to face with what he had thought was a Dementor during it.

The class who were now treated to the repeat performance enjoyed a very chaotic hour or so with cries of 'Riddikulus!' all over the place, lots of laughter and the secret fears of a whole new bunch of 3^rd Years exposed for all their classmates to see. (These fears had included a green, long-tongued goblin, three pink-eyed white rabbits, a talking ventriloquist's dummy, a tortoise and - 'nice to see some things never changed' Harry thought - Professor Snape!) Just in case any pupil's secret fear was anything as dangerous as a Dementor Harry had taken out the extra insurance of asking Dumbledore to 'sit in' on the lesson (This action, in a private joke between the two, had become short for 'sit invisible'). However, Harry was unsure whether or not the headmaster had been there or not as there had been no need for Harry to call on his services - no pupil saw the Boggart as anything more dangerous than a Dugbog and 'Riddikulus!' was ample defence in each case, especially when accompanied by all the uproarious laughter!

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At the final feast in the Great Hall the headmaster announced that Ravenclaw had won the House Cup with four hundred and ninety five points; Gryffindor had been in second place some seventy points behind. Slytherin (largely due to the presence of their 'sloggers') had won the Quidditch Cup.

Harry looked around the Great Hall. He had never seen it decorated in Ravenclaw blue before. He had been on the 'winning team' so often it was unusual for him - and he felt sort of like a loser today. Then, he reminded himself, he was supposed to be impartial these days. What rot, he thought again - even Dumbledore can't be 'impartial' - Harry had always had the (quite correct, as it happened) impression that the old wizard still favoured Gryffindor and secretly loathed Slytherin!

Before they embarked on the eat-a-thon, which was to follow, Dumbledore stood to make his end of term speech.

"This has been a most interesting year for all of us at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry, culminating in that wonderful, wonderful event last weekend when we were able to show our American cousins just how to play Quidditch!" He paused for the laughter, cheering and clapping - of which there had been a lot in the last week.

"We have now reached the point where we can safely say, after seven years of painstaking work on the grounds and the very fabric of the castle itself, that Hogwarts is completely rebuilt." There was a cheer from all the students. Harry could certainly not remember the castle looking so good. He loved all the new gardens, the one in memory of Hagrid (even with all its dangerous flora it was beautiful to look at) and Hannah's wonderful rose garden too (that had nothing more dangerous than rose thorns). He had walked around the rose garden with Dai at the weekend looking at all the different shades of red, yellow and white roses and deciding that the peach hued ones were prettiest by far. Harry had always loved the fragrance of roses - the smell gave him a lovely warm and peaceful feeling inside. He was too young to know it but his mother had worn a rose-based perfume when he was a baby and the mild euphoria he experienced on smelling roses was a subconscious reaction because of this.

"We have a castle, grounds and a school of which we can be, justifiably, extremely proud. And I am proud of you, our pupils and the staff who teach you all from day to day. We have welcomed Professor Potter..." (That still felt very strange to Harry) "...this year and he is proving a most popular and successful teacher of Defence Against the Dark Arts." There were cheers and claps from all tables, although, typically, these were more subdued on the Slytherin table.

"Talking of the Dark Arts, however, I have to bring you all a word of caution today. Rumours are once again reaching my ears of increased activity in the world of dark magic. Don't worry," he smiled, raising his hand at a few worried gasps. "Another Voldemort is not about to suddenly try to take over the world - but we all need to be aware."

If Harry or Dumbledore had been able to see Tabitha Tait's face at this moment they may have been a little more worried.

"It is wise, in my opinion, for a young witch or wizard to always be prepared - especially outside school - to stand up for what they believe is right. In the Christian Bible St. Paul tells young Timothy - 'let no man despise your youth' - good advice then as it is now. Some of you," and he pointedly looked over to his right as he said this, "may be approached by people who will try to encourage you to turn away from all that you know is right and true. These people were around when I was young and, sadly, they will still be around to prey upon your own great-grandchildren. The Wizarding World, and Hogwarts Castle, as I reminded you earlier, has now almost fully recovered from the damage inflicted upon it over some thirty years by Voldemort - note I will never refer to him as 'Lord' Voldemort as, no doubt, he would have wished; he was no more a Lord than I'm a cabbage," he laughed - the vast majority of the pupils joining in, albeit considerably more timidly!

"But I am reminded that, when the First World War ended in 1918 they called it 'the war to end all wars'. Millions of men had been killed and all peoples of the world, without exception, could clearly see the futility of such an atrocious waste of lives and resources. Yet, sadly, within another twenty-one years another, even greater war had begun. A new generation of people wanted to experience it for themselves, you see? And it started all over again.

"If you throw away a rotten potato from a sack of good ones it doesn't mean automatically that the rest of the potatoes will stay good. Sadly, often within a day or so, another potato will go bad and then that badness will begin to spread. Unless it, too, is rooted out and thrown away the whole sack will eventually be affected. So I say to you all - beware the bad potatoes! Speak up, like Timothy, for what you know is right and good. Let no man despise your youth.

"Now...enough about bad potatoes! I know you all want me to shut up so you, and I, can plough into some very good, mashed ones! Before we do that, however, I have one more rather sad announcement to make. Madam Pince has been the Hogwarts School librarian for something like half a century and, in that time, she has looked after what I believe is the best wizarding library anywhere on this planet. No book is ever out of its proper place..." he smiled and then added, "No pupil would ever dare leave a book out of its proper place!"

Darla Flint turned bright red. She had not been able to look at Madam Pince in the face since being told off by her. Bally noticed her discomfort and grinned at her, winking.

"But Irma has decided to retire this summer and I must say I am, personally, very sorry to see her leave." Dumbledore's eyes twinkled just enough to make Harry wonder just how personal... 'No!' he said to himself. 'Surely not?' *

"In her place, the governors and I have decided to take the unusual step of appointing one of our own current students. Those of you who regularly use the library, and I sincerely hope that is everyone!" he said, in that special way of his that made it sound like a warning, "will no doubt realise that our 7^th Year Slytherin prefect, Grendel Chambers, has been ably assisting Madam Pince in the library for the last term. From September, I am happy to tell you, Grendel will be our new librarian and will also be studying Advanced History of Magic with our own Professor Binns with a view to, one day, following his father into a career in wizarding politics. Most of you will know, of course, that Grendel's father is Asa Chambers, the deputy Minister of Magic.

"All students - yes, even his brothers and, I believe, a sister by then, too - will, from September, address Grendel as Master Chambers. Not Professor - not yet anyway," he nodded, raising his eyebrows.

"I hope he will have a very fruitful and enjoyable time in his new post."

As Grendel stood to acknowledge the warm applause, which greeted the announcement of his appointment, he smiled politely - while inwardly grinning wholeheartedly at the prospect of unmonitored and complete access to the Restricted Section. 'And they think I'll be being educated by that fool Binns! Ha!'

Dumbledore finished by presenting Irma Pince with a bouquet and the brand new edition of 'Hogwarts: a History' - updated to include her retirement and an accompanying 'Reflection on her contribution to school life' personally written by Albus Dumbledore. She clearly blushed as the headmaster kissed her on the cheek.

'Surely not?' thought Harry again.

Then the headmaster clapped his hands and, instantly, the empty platters were filled with as much wonderful food as you could possibly imagine:

Steaks, chicken fillets and pork chops, Yorkshire puddings, roast, mashed and chipped potatoes - all kinds of vegetable from asparagus to zucchini, cheeses, biscuits, eggs, sausages, fish - it was there aplenty. When everyone had eaten far too much already the platters emptied and the desserts took their place: cheesecakes, Pavlovas, lemon-meringue pies, fresh cream cakes, strawberries and lots of other fresh fruit, ice creams, rhubarb, gooseberry, apple and cherry crumbles, spotted dick, treacle sponge and jugs and jugs of steaming, thick custard. There really was no place on Earth to eat like Hogwarts.

There was pumpkin juice to wash it all down - and some extra drinks that Harry had noticed since his return to Hogwarts that had definitely not been there in his day! Apparently Dumbledore's penchant for Muggle sweets - as epitomised by Sherbet Lemons, of course - had been expanded to include soft drinks. You could now get pitchers of Coca-Cola and a few other fizzy drinks if you preferred. The staff table had bottles of red and white wine, there was both still and fizzy water and tea and coffee after all the eating was over. Harry had sat between Maggie and Professor Sinistra (whose first name, he discovered, was Septimus). He had never got to know the Astronomy Professor particularly well and was genuinely surprised to find him quite funny and charming. Sinistra spent most of the meal regaling them with anecdotes and exam howlers he had collected over the years, which was a particular hobby of his:

"...the rings around Saturn are there because there is a family of hippogriffs flying round and round it very fast trying to escape from a space dragon..."

"Gravity is caused by two bodies being attracted to each other. That makes it a bit like sex."

"The difference between astronomy and astrology is that astronomy does your head in!"

"Stars are like my great-grandma's teeth as they come out at night."

"The moon is not really made of cheese because you couldn't get that much milk up in space."

"The odd one out is Pluto because all the others are planets and he's a dog."

"Alpha Centauri is a mans head and the uvver alph is a bull."

Harry was sure he'd made some of them up but others could only have come from real papers, they were that bad! He wondered if he'd have his own collection in a few years' time.

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Harry offered to escort pupils back to Hogsmeade Station with a few other teachers and on Saturday morning he packed his own things before going down to the Entrance Hall at 10 o'clock to take his group to the Hogwarts Express. As usual, a few pupils were not taking the express - there was not much point in pupils from Scotland going all the way down to Kings Cross, for instance, and some goodbyes were being said (and kissed) as he arrived.

Then there was a five-minute period when everyone going on the Express levitated their trunks - this was always filled with mixed emotions, as the pupils knew it was the last time they could use their wands until September - and the walk to the station began. It was still slightly damp underfoot from a little overnight rain but the sun was trying to poke its way through some thick, white cloud. It was warm and Harry thought that if the sun did manage to fight its way out it would probably get very hot later.

Harry walked with the 1^st Year Gryffindors (plus Darla, of course). He really liked this group - there was a lot to remind him of his own group of friends at school, especially as the girls added the 'Ginny and Hermione touch' to the ensemble. Ieuan and Geraint would be joining the Duelling Club in September, he realised. They would be replacing Jade and Jude Crozier who had discovered very quickly that duelling was 'not their thing', had lost all of their duels and, consequently become the first 'relegated' members. They had, subsequently, written an essay of their experiences in the Duelling Club, however, which had been so good they had been awarded ten House Points each - typical Ravenclaws!

Chris walked hand in hand with Verity and Bally had his arm around Darla (and vice versa). They were more wistful than the rest having to part with their 'first loves' in a few hours' time. Just before they got onto a horseless carriage Chris beckoned Harry aside.

"What did you used to do in the summer holidays Professor Potter?" the small boy asked him, a concerned look on his face.

"Well...now there's a question," Harry replied. "I was brought up by Muggles - the worst sort," he laughed. "My Aunt Petunia was not like my mother - she missed out on the magic, you see?" Chris nodded, his eyebrows furrowed.

"I think, secretly, she was very jealous of my mum getting the magic and her not getting it - she showed it by hating magic and anything to do with it - including hating my mum, her own sister! Anyway," he continued, "when Voldemort killed my parents Dumbledore took me to live with them - out of his way!" Harry lifted his hands either side of his head and made a monster face, making Chris giggle. "There were all sorts of protective charms on the house and the surrounding area so no-one could just Apparate in and 'get me'. I didn't know anything about it at all! I didn't have a clue I was magic - nothing!"

"Wow!" said Chris. "So you just had normal summer holidays with a normal Muggle family!"

Harry sighed. "Not...exactly, Chris," Harry shrugged. "I don't think you'd ever call the Dursleys normal! As soon as I got home from Hogwarts all my magic things: wand, books, robes - everything - were locked in the cupboard under the stairs which used to be my bedroom."

"You had to live in a cupboard?"

Harry smiled, raised his eyebrows and shrugged. "Yep!" he nodded. "I used to get Hogwarts letters delivered to 'The Cupboard Under the Stairs, 4 Privet Drive'. They still used to try and stop me getting them though. And nobody dared to ever use the 'M' word in the house." Harry realised he was starting to sound as if he were reading a scary bedtime story. Chris was lapping it up and would gladly have stood there all day but Harry was aware that the others were waiting for them.

"Anyway, Chris," he suddenly changed the subject. "Why did you want to know?"

"Oh...it - it wasn't about that sort of thing really, sir," Chris stammered, suddenly quite nervous. "I...I meant - how did you get through the summer without - without seeing your...g-girlfriends."

Now Harry chuckled. Chris was scared of being lovesick all summer, missing Verity. He put his arm around the boy and squeezed his shoulder.

"You'll be OK!" he smiled. "Do you know, I didn't even have a girlfriend until was a 5^th Year?" Chris obviously found that a bit hard to believe - his jaw dropped. Harry put a finger under his chin and pushed it back up. He nodded and smiled,

"It's true! In fact, it was only in the summer holiday before my 5^th Year that I ever looked like getting one! I fancied a girl in my 4^th Year but..." Harry's face suddenly dropped, remembering Cho Chang and the awful consequences for her in being mixed up with Harry at all. "But...she was with someone else. That's what happens when you go for 'older women'" he smiled, trying to make light of the hole in his heart that was Cho.

"Aren't you going to meet up with her at all until September, then?" he asked Chris.

"I can't. We're going to Tenerife and when I get back she's going on the Cannons' tour with her dad until we come back to school. It's awful." Chris actually looked as though he was about to cry.

"It'll go quicker than you think," Harry assured him, remembering all too well what he would be going through very soon; waiting every morning for an owl bearing a little scribbled 'love you' note or, better still, a proper letter or photograph.

But, as they rode in the horseless carriage to the station, having put the trunks and other luggage onto the back, Harry couldn't help reminiscing about that summer when he turned fifteen; how he had first received photographs of Hermione from Corfu (including one of her in a skimpy and sexy black bikini) then she had come to stay and they had gradually become boyfriend and girlfriend. Then he remembered how much he missed her when they were apart and then how much he missed Ginny while they were going out and she was still at school and he wasn't... 'Oh, God! Ginny,' he thought - 'I could do without going down that road again right now!'

He watched Chris and Verity holding each other's hands tightly in the front of the carriage and Bally and Darla behind them. Bally had his arm around her and she had her head nestled on her boyfriend's chest. They looked sweet, he thought but he was also glad that he hadn't started dating and 'falling in love' as young as them. What with Voldemort, basilisks and things to worry about he realised he'd hardly had time but he was still glad, nevertheless.

Harry chatted with the twins for a while about Quidditch (they were looking forward to watching the Harpies play) and duelling (they were looking forward even more to being able to join the club in the autumn). Then they had arrived at Hogsmeade Station and Harry helped them unload their trunks and he watched them board the gleaming, red train. They slammed the carriage door shut behind them and settled into a compartment together. Harry looked towards the front of the train and watched the brown coal-smoke puffing out of the funnel. The guard was walking briskly down the platform slamming the rest of the doors, whistling to himself as he did so, then he stood back, raised his flag and blew his highly polished Acme Thunderer and, with a loud hiss and some jets of steam, the engine began to creep forward inch by inch. That unique sound of hissing and clanking metal was joined by the train's own whistle and the Hogwarts Express pulled itself out of the station and began its journey south to London.

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It was rare but not unknown for Hogwarts staff to use the train (he had once shared a compartment with Professor Lupin, for instance) and Harry became quite excited at the thought that he might use the Express to return to Hogwarts after the summer; but then he wondered if he would be able to get through to Platform 9¾ at Kings Cross or not. 'Probably not,' he thought sadly, losing the excitement again.

He turned to walk back through the arched exit from the station, deciding to run back to the school. He had trainers on his feet and a sleeveless T-shirt (even professors did not have to wear robes all the time) and he bent his right knee to stretch his left calf muscle.

"Hmmm! Always was a nice bum," he heard from behind him. He straightened immediately and turned around.

"Angelina!" he exclaimed, smiling. "Don't let George hear you talking like that." They threw their arms around each other and hugged. She kissed him on the cheek, her lips making a loud, squeaky smack as she released. "Lovely to see you," he said, beaming with joy at seeing his old Quidditch team-mate. You're looking good," he added eyeing her up and down. She was wearing a very brief, yellow mini-skirt, showing almost all of her long, shapely legs and on top had a skimpy, loose-fitting red vest. She was very clearly not wearing a bra under it and Harry's eyes probably lingered a little longer than they should have done.

"If those eyes pop out any further they'll bust your glasses! Put 'em away!" came another voice. It was George. "Anyway, they're mine," he smiled lecherously, leaning forward so his eyes were inches from his wife's chest. "You go find a mirror and stare at your own tits!" he laughed to Harry putting out his hand at first to shake but then turning the gesture into another hug.

"Come on, Harry, we're just going to have a coffee. You busy?"

"No, not at all!" he replied honestly and the three of them walked together towards Hog's End, the big old house where George and Angelina lived with their twins and Percy and Katie. "Will Rufus and Rowena be in?" he asked, keen to see his other niece and nephew. It had already been nice to get to know Savvy and Stu but he hadn't seen George's twins since his wedding.

"Probably," George answered. "In the garden I expect - we've had a swimming pool installed - fancy a dip?"

"That'd be great!" he replied. The sun had managed to throw off its cloudy blanket and now, at nearly mid-day one would never have guessed that the day had started dully.

It would be very hard indeed to describe the multitude of emotions that coursed through Harry Potter's mind as he walked up the path leading to the big, heavy front door of Hog's End. The rambling, old house had meant so much to him earlier in his life - or lives - no wonder it was confusing. He had lived there with his mother and Severus Snape in what had privately named his 'time of good intentions' - that started between his 5^th and 6^th Years at Hogwarts when he was tempted by Voldemort to try to 'save his mother's life'. Although he had only lived in the 'alternate universe' for a few months it had given him an extra sixteen years' worth of memories; memories which included having a sister, Jamie and little twin brothers. Then, what had been his bedroom in that universe had been Ginny's in this during their courtship - and that had led to him wandering into the wrong room on one occasion...

Too confusing by far.

George's decorating taste, however, meant that as soon as he was through the front door Harry felt much more at ease. At no time he had ever been in the house before had it looked like this! Vivid oranges, vibrant yellows and swirling pinks made the walls look like a 1960s psychedelic LP cover. With Angelina a vision in brown, red and yellow in front of him Harry felt more in need of sunglasses indoors than out!

A little red-headed boy zoomed in from the direction of the back garden. Wearing swimming trunks and a long, black cape he was making a noise like an aeroplane. He stopped abruptly when he saw they had a guest and stood looking up into Harry's face. His face was red from his running around and his ears glowed at the tips like Ron's did. Freckles danced around his features and, when he opened his mouth the toothless grin reinforced the impression he was, apparently, trying to give that he was a mad vampire.

"Who's that?" he said in the way only an eight year old can, with absolutely no intention of offending.

"This is your Uncle Harry," Angelina replied, putting her hand on Rufus's head gently in a vain attempt to get him to keep still enough to be focussed on.

"Uncle Harry-Warry," he giggled. "Are you coming for a swim Warry-Barry?"

Harry smiled and nodded, raising his eyebrows in a friendly sort of 'hello' way.

As soon as he did Rufus took his uncle's hand and dragged him towards the back door. Harry looked around for help but George just laughed and said,

"You go, Harry. I'll bring the drinks out. Sure you want a coffee or would you prefer pumpkin juice?"

Harry agreed that ice-cold juice would be a better idea and disappeared through the back door through the kitchen (which was painted purple and green).

In the pool Rowena was merrily swimming back and forth but stopped when Rufus jumped in (almost on top of her) and splashed her.

"Say hello to Uncle Harry-Shmarry, Weeny-Beeny!"

She was obviously proud of being a bit more grown up.

"Stop being a baby Rufus Weasley. Hello Uncle Harry," she said with an instant change of demeanour that would have done a seasoned Hogwarts professor proud. Harry could see very clearly how Rufus took after his father and was, undoubtedly, a Weasley - Rowena was more of her mother's daughter although her skin was much paler. But there was still something very Weasley about her facial expressions - she had the same little nose as Ginny - and the way she told her brother off she might have been a mini-Molly, Harry thought! Also, despite her skin-tone she still had a slight orangey tint to her brown hair, especially when the light caught it, as it did now.

George arrived with a tray of drinks and Rowena clambered out of the water and took a glass, wrapping a towel around herself as she did. Angelina brought Harry a towel and a spare pair of George's trunks ('lime green - yuk!' he thought - nearly all Harry's clothes were still black). He thanked her and put his glass down on the wooden bench while he changed, then he picked it up, refilled it and took it with him into the pool.

They were a new invention he had only just encountered but Harry already loved these 'new generation' magical swimming pools! They were just as deep as the swimmer needed. As Harry wanted to stand up and drink, with the water just covering his shoulders (about 5 feet of water he guessed) that was exactly how deep it became. Rowena stood next to him, the water coming up to her shoulders too, although she was probably a good eighteen inches shorter than her uncle. It was the pool itself that was magic, of course; Harry didn't need to do anything himself to make this happen. The other good thing about magical pools was, therefore, that it was impossible to drown in them - no Muggle parents would ever dream of going out and leaving two eight-year-olds playing in a non-magical pool as George and Angelina had done earlier!

Harry swam for about an hour, enjoying the coolness of the water and the contrast it made with the hot sun and chatting with his niece who, he thought, showed every sign of growing up to be a proper Hermione! She was clever and very mature for her age. She couldn't wait to get to Hogwarts, she told him, so she could be treated like a witch and not as a little girl! Harry found that he liked Rowena a lot and promised himself, and her, that he would not spend all his free time up at the castle from September but would visit Hog's End more regularly.

When he got back inside the house George and Angelina were seated around the large dining table with Percy and Katie (who had just Apparated home from the Ministry for the weekend) and Charlie. Percy had a clipboard and was obviously 'in charge' of the meeting, which was all about the final preparations for Arthur's party. Harry couldn't help being reminded of a younger Percy with his shiny Head Boy badge resplendent on his robes bossing everyone about with his fake 'spiffing, what-what' accent. He had mellowed well with age but that little bit of the old Percy still rose to the surface when he let it!

Percy stopped his meeting, however, and shook Harry's hand warmly. Katie gave him another very big hug (more memories!) and looked especially happy to see him. Charlie and Harry had still not had 'that chat' though and Katie and Angelina, in particular, noted his slightly chilly greeting. Harry said thank you for the drinks and the swim, shouted another goodbye into the garden through the open French windows (whereupon Rufus waved with another vampire grin and Rowena ran across for a goodbye kiss and hug) and he left them to their meeting with a final,

"See you tomorrow! Really looking forward to the party!"

He decided to walk back to the castle, now, having already done an hour's exercise swimming and feeling thoroughly refreshed and happy.

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* Albus Dumbledore and Irma Pince had, in fact, dated once - but long before either had been employed by Hogwarts. They had met in St Mungo's when he was recovering from several badly broken bones after a particularly reckless mountaineering weekend in Snowdonia. Irma was a ward clerk in the hospital and frequently had to pass by the older wizard's bed carrying parchments and files from the Nurse's Station to the Ward Office. Shy, almost grunted comments like 'hello' and 'how are you, today' had slowly developed into longer conversations and, upon his being discharged a few weeks later he gave her flowers and invited her to join him at a dance. The dance had been enjoyable enough but the budding romance never developed further than that first date.

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Chapter Twenty-two

Arthur's Party

Just as rabbits pop their heads out of rabbit-holes so Saturday saw Weasleys popping out of nowhere into Hogsmeade Village. By late-afternoon redheads of all shapes and sizes abounded in the high street as seven red-haired children, 2 red-haired parents (well, what was left of Arthur's was still red!) as well as a small horde of (mainly) red-haired grandchildren paraded to the Village Hall for Arthur Weasley's 70^th Birthday Party. (Rowena and Stu were the exceptions, of course, being orangey-brown and black-haired respectively)

The entrance to the Village Hall was festooned with banners, balloons and ribbons when they arrived and an endless loop of firework effects, whizzes, bangs, whirrs and whistles played from the 'Weasley's Wizard Wheezes' sales counter Angelina had set up for guests to buy WWW products to take home. Rowena was helping her give out party hats (which all looked the same at first but magically transformed into the most ridiculous headgear as soon as the wearer put them on.)

Angelina already had her hat on - it was a big, floppy chef's hat but luminous pink in colour with yellow dandelions sprouting from the top. Rowena's was a 1950's schoolboy cap but no matter how many times she tried to straighten it so the peak went forward it turned itself again 'Norman Wisdom-style' to the side.

Nita and Sam (wearing a London policeman's helmet and a bridal veil respectively) were chatting enthusiastically with Bill, Juliet and Natalie (old lady's mauve floppy hat, punched through bowler and pointy clown hat). Nita looked as if her twins could arrive at any moment, her long, emerald green dress looking fit to burst. The quintet waved cheerily to Harry as he escaped from Molly's clutches and he wandered over to them, drink in hand, where they stood by the steps that led to the stage. (Harry's own hat, by the way, was remarkably similar to the one habitually worn by Neville Longbottom's grandmother - complete with stuffed vulture on top. Harry had only seen it twice before; once worn by the old lady herself at St Mungo's and the other worn by Neville's 'Boggart' version of Snape!)

"Ooh! Hedwig's not looking well!" Bill laughed, pointing at the vulture.

"Ha ha," he responded dryly. "And mauve suits you too, Bill!" he added thrusting out his hand. Bill was now over forty but looked little different from how he did when Harry first met him. The dragon-skin boots were gone (at last) but he still dressed in ripped jeans and T-shirt and the ponytail was still long and bright red (he wasn't balding - it seemed that Percy was the unlucky one there, although Harry thought he could spot a few tell-take signs of 'thinning' on George's head, too). He had a new ear adornment in these days too - it looked like it was a solid gold version of a dragon's tooth although it could equally have been a vampire fang. Bill saw him looking and put his hand up to the earring.

"Beautiful, isn't it? Fortieth birthday present from my dear brother George. My dear - rich - brother George," he grinned, pointing at George who was up on the stage trying to position a drum kit. "Do you know, Harry, when he sends gifts he still puts 'from Fred and George' as the greeting. I think, even after all this time he still misses his twin a lot.

"I don't just mean in the way the rest of us do - I mean, we all miss him - but it's different with a twin, isn't it? Especially when they were as close - and as identical - as those two were!"

Harry admired the ring close up. Bill explained it was a cast of an incisor from a rare Alaskan Albatross Dragon, one of the largest species in the world - and, until a few years ago, thought to be extinct - but a small number of the dragons had been discovered, confined now to a small part of Alaska near the Bering Strait. Charlie had brought the original tooth back as a souvenir after working in Alaska some years before and Bill had always admired it. George had then had the idea of making a piece of jewellery in its image for Bill and the earring had been cast from 24 carat Welsh gold (usually reserved for the wedding bands of the Royal Family).

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In a small anteroom to the side of the main hall Maggie sat in a chair with a glass of water. She had been feeling out-of-sorts all day and, had it not been such an important day for her father (she still referred to Mr Dougherty, who had adopted her after her abduction as a child as her 'dad') she might have stayed at the castle. Severus was very reluctant to take the twins to the party on his own, however, and she had agreed to attend after all. Now, though, she was beginning to regret this.

Since she had worked in Divination 'all week, every week' she had found her own personal visions and prophecies had ceased somewhat. She still saw auras around everyone but this meant little to her as she had seen these since a very small child when it was common for her to come down to breakfast in the morning and say,

"Morning mum. Oooh, you're red today!" or something similar.

It was because of her special gift that she had always been able to remember bits of her 'real' life after the abduction (when the abductors had tried to modify her memory. Her sister Annie (Nita) had no such trouble with recollection of her earliest days, having not been memory charmed at all - her problems had been of an entirely different nature; she had been indoctrinated to believe her real parents had not wanted her at all and, upon finding the truth many years later had had that guilt to live with as well as a whole, loving family she had never, really, known.

But she had woken that morning with a sweat on her brow and a severe headache. A walk in the fresh air and early morning sunshine had cleared her head considerably but all that had done was clarify the vision that had led to the pain and damp hair.

Dragons! She had seen dragons and a skull; an awful, leering skull with deep black holes in the eye sockets. And death shone from its eyes. The dragons were flying all around the castle and up and down Hogsmeade village's Main Street leaving death and destruction in its wake. She had seen faces in her vision - faces of people she knew and of strangers - and these faces had stared, devoid of life and some had crumbled away, bit by bit, in front of her face.

Various creatures had appeared and tried to thwart the dragons but their effect was unclear. A pair of mysterious, magical birds flew overhead but this part of the vision, although Maggie thought it had had a positive effect, was still tinged with an awful sadness she could not explain.

Maggie was aware enough to realise that the vision - in all probability - meant something terrible could be about to happen but she was then faced with another problem: should she say something and risk spoiling Arthur's day or keep the burden to herself and risk even more? She had decided to carry the burden herself but, by lunchtime, her headache was so intense that she had gone to see the headmaster.

She let herself in with the password ('liquorice comfits') and rose up the spiral staircase before knocking on Dumbledore's door.

"Come in," the old man invited so she turned the large brass knob and entered. "Is something troubling you, Maggie?"

"Headmaster," she started.

"Please!" he stopped her kindly. "Albus will do quite sufficiently," he smiled warmly, taking her hand across the highly polished wooden desk.

"Albus," she smiled back, although it was an effort both to smile and to call this wonderful man she so respected by his Christian name. "I do have a burden. I have had a vision overnight which is troubling me greatly..."

Maggie explained the vision to the old wizard, informing him with great trepidation about the dragons and the alarming spectre of death she had experienced in it.

When she had finished he sat for some time with his hand on his chin, his fingers wrapping strands of his long, wispy white beard around his gnarled fingers. Finally he stood and walked over to the picture montage on his wall that had all been taken on the day of the great celebrations following the defeat of Voldemort. He looked at the face of Harry Potter and managed a thin smile, then at the list of names of pupils and staff who had not survived to that great day. He ran his fingers over the facsimile of the parchment - the expression on his face changing from name to name as though he remembered each one individually, in his heart, as he did. Then, finally, he turned slowly once more and faced Maggie.

"For some time now," he confided in her, "I have been aware - or should I say..." he hesitated as though he truly did not wish to say what he was about to say, "...or should I say - afraid - that another terrible sequence of events may be about to begin blighting the Wizarding World once more. When will these confounded fools give us some peace?"

Maggie recognised the utter despair in the headmaster's voice - to be truthful she found it quite shocking - and asked once more what his advice to her should be.

He explained that he was unable to interpret the vision but promised that he would take advice from others before the party. He also said that he would warn any staff that would be attending and any Ministry officials as well. Maggie said that she was reluctant to 'spoil' the party but Dumbledore reminded her that to ignore her 'warning' would be sheer folly and could result in even wider devastation. He promised her that he would be aware and would spend the night in or near the village to be 'on hand' should anything untoward occur and assured her that she no longer needed to carry the burden alone.

But now, at the party itself, she was worrying again and had had to leave for a while to gather herself enough to return to the celebration. She was finding it very hard...

*****************

Harry chatted with Juliet and Natalie who he hadn't seen at all since his own wedding. He discovered that Juliet still worked for Sweetbriar Publishing; her book on the story of the war with Voldemort was now in its Third Edition and had sold over 100,000 copies. Juliet was in her final year at a Muggle university (St Andrew's) and was soon to become engaged to a young and well-known professional tennis player. They were joking about which of her fathers was going to have the privilege of 'giving her away' at the wedding when a loud cheer erupted and everyone turned to see that Arthur had made his grand entrance. Wearing a smile that was almost as wide as the cowboy Stetson on his head Arthur Weasley acknowledged the cheering and clapping like a boxer who'd just won a world title before holding up his hands in a gesture to quieten the guests. As he stepped further forward to show his intention to speak to the assembled crowd Harry noticed Maggie re-entering the room, the glass of water still in her hand and looking very drawn. Severus also noticed and quietly made his way across the room and put his arm around her, whispering something into her ear. Harry saw Maggie nod impatiently at her husband but then his attention reverted back to Arthur who was just getting into his stride.

He thanked everyone for attending and for all the cards Molly was keeping safe ("She won't let me open them until next Thursday," he said). He had opened some presents, he explained, and announced that he was 'overwhelmed' with the generosity and sense of fun of his family and friends.

He pointed at, and then walked over towards a trestle table at the side of the hall that was covered with a white tablecloth - but the tablecloth was barely visible under the pile of presents Arthur now stood beside.

"As you know I am a man of great taste and refinement." (General laughter and good-natured rebuttal.) "As many of you know I have long been an admirer of all things Muggle. It is nice to see so many items here I have previously only heard of or read of but which I know have the privilege of owning!" He held up a 1930s candlestick telephone, thanking Percy and Katie for it and blushing profusely when he admitted that he would place it on his desk at the Ministry instead of the item that had been there for the last few months, the true purpose of which he had only this week discovered. The riotous laughter that accompanied this admission obviously meant that most, if not all, of those present had either heard the story or had read Dennis Creevey's 'spokesman' bit in the Daily Prophet.

"I am sure my wife will let me know exactly when I can wear this," he smiled, holding up a T-shirt with the words 'Outa my way! I'm a dangerous son-of-a-witch!' emblazoned across the front.

He proceeded through a most impressive array of presents that he seemed genuinely delighted to have received and which included a walking stick with the handle in the shape of a swan, a Muggle pocket watch, a Sony Walkman with headphones and a collection of jazz CDs, some framed photographs (stills) of Muggles doing typically Muggle things that no wizard would ever do (such as road-sweeping, shaving with a face full of foam - Harry thought of Vernon Dursley when he saw this) and, from Harry himself, a whole family of bright yellow rubber ducks with orange beaks, a Muggle stamp album full of used stamps from all over the world and a collection of used electrical plugs. It was these that Arthur mooned over for the longest, delving in to the old Heinz Baked Beans cardboard box in which they sat and pulling out 2-pin and 3-pin plugs made of plastic and rubber, flat-pinned and round-pinned, 3 way adaptors and old bits of flex.

Harry had asked Maggie to drive him to the nearest Muggle village one afternoon after school so he could buy some presents for Arthur. The ducks had come from a large department store but the album and box of plugs came from a dusty old junk shop and had cost Harry the princely sum of 50 pence each! Arthur was looking at the collection as though they were worth a thousand Galleons!

"When I was a young wizard, about seven or eight years old, I went to stay with my great-uncle Edgar Weasley during one of my summer holidays. My parents had gone away for a fortnight in a wizard hotel near Torquay they had won in a competition in the Daily Prophet so I couldn't go with them. I was packed off to old Uncle Edgar in Midsomer-by-Winter, a small village in Somerset where he lived a life that was a strange mixture of wizard and Muggle. He had been at the Ministry of Magic for many years but in semi-retirement he used to Apparate into London on a consultancy basis two days a week and for the rest of the time worked his own little cottage industry making cheese and scrumpy cider.

"From my time with him I gained a love of cheese for which, most of you know, I have retained a passion." He picked up a whole, round Blue Stilton that was a gift from Eustace and Glenda Bean and showed it off, smiling no doubt with the anticipation of eating it later! "I also had a wonderful time exploring his workshop and examining the tools he used. The cheese presses were amazing instruments: every morning we would go up to each of them one-by-one and turn the handles on top. As the pressure was increased this way the liquid was gradually squeezed out and the curds became cheese.

"I did not get a love for scrumpy cider, however! That is a rather strong alcoholic drink made with apples. Uncle Edgar gave me a small glass of it one hot afternoon and I have to tell you I'd never tasted anything so horrible! I couldn't believe people used to pay him to buy the stuff! It looked like wee and I can't imagine that tasting any worse - not that I have any intention of finding out, of course!" he laughed.

"But what I got most of all from my uncle's workshop was a lifelong devotion to tinkering with gadgets and gizmos, bits and pieces like Harry's plugs here - and the more Muggle they are the merrier.

"Thank you all for your gifts, I'm truly delighted with them all. Thanks for coming today. I realise for most of you you're only here for Molly's chocolate cake (he pointed to the biggest birthday cake anyone there had ever seen on another trestle table) but, please, have a good time and a dance if you so wish. The band is about to play," and he waved his arm in the direction of the stage where a 6 piece jazz group had assembled. Everyone clapped and cheered again and, as they stopped, the band launched into 'In the Mood' and a few couples began to dance.

Harry looked around. There were plenty of faces he knew but also many others he didn't - there must have been 150 present in total. Maggie and Severus were standing talking to Ron and Hermione, Charlie was now talking with a tall blond man Harry didn't know. He recognised Eustace Bean but had no idea at all, at that stage, that his wife was an 'acquaintance' of his Aunt Petunia. Molly couldn't resist the chance to put that right, though, later in the evening!

He walked across the dance floor, politely declining the offer of a dance from a rather attractive brunette with deep brown eyes (while thinking he may well take her up on the offer later) because he had caught a glimpse of Remus Lupin. Harry had always been attracted by eyes and noticed them before most other things in a woman. He pushed his way past another couple trying to jitterbug (actually, he thought they looked more like they had St Vitas' Dance) and was spotted by Remus just as he arrived. Remus was wearing a fairly shabby tweed jacket with leather patches on the elbows, rather like a country squire (the tweed, though, matched the Sherlock Holmes deerstalker hat he wore).

"Harry!" his old friend exclaimed. He pulled Harry into an embrace and both said at once how great it was to see each other. Then Harry was accused (for the second time in a couple of days) of having his eyes on sticks. "Ah. You haven't met Sheri, have you? Harry Potter, meet Miss Sherilyn Salt, the current love of my life."

Harry hadn't met her, but he'd heard about her, of course, from Hermione. He had certainly not expected her to look like she did tonight. She had on (if 'on' was the right word) a white dress that was open right down the front with two very small strips of material only preserving a small amount of modesty. It then split at the waist and her long leg could be seen right up to the hip. It was very, very clear that Remus's companion was wearing no underwear at all. Harry doubted his eyes would have been the first pair 'on sticks' that evening and predicted (absolutely correctly) that they wouldn't be the last. Even as he was being introduced to her he was aware of Severus Snape ogling her and a few minutes later he saw Charlie Weasley giving her more than a once-over! 'Molly would be pleased', Harry thought, smiling to himself.

Eventually, Harry found himself sitting at a table with Ron and Hermione Ron was telling Harry about the visit to the Grangers while Hermione sat very quietly watching something or someone very closely but from the corners of her eyes. Ron got up from the table and walked over to the same blond man his brother had been talking to earlier. Hermione muttered something to Harry about him being the Quidditch correspondent for the Daily Prophet while not breaking her observation.

Harry eventually followed her eye line and saw she was looking at Sherilyn Salt talking very intently with an older, important-looking woman while Remus chatted to a white-haired man who was probably the other woman's husband.

Hermione whispered to him again,

"That's Asa Chambers - Deputy Minister of Magic. You teach his children?" Actually, Harry had only taught Lennox, the 3^rd Year boy but he knew Ahab and Grendel from Quidditch and from their being prefects. Then she pointed surreptitiously at Sherilyn Salt.

"She..." Hermione hissed with a face that Harry had only otherwise seen reserved for Draco Malfoy, "is Mrs. Chamber's daughter. We've only just found out. I'm watching her every move. It's no good me trying to talk to Remus about her - he's just totally besotted - but there's something wrong with that whole family." Hermione shook her head, making her hair flow out and surround her face. Her cheeks were pink and Harry couldn't help thinking again how pretty she was. She looked almost exactly the same as she had ten years before, her skin just as fresh and smooth as when she was fifteen. The only difference he could see at all was that when she smiled there was now a second line at the corners of her mouth.

Harry tried to tell himself off. What was the matter with him lately? He'd quite fancied Ayshea, Dean's girlfriend at the Quidditch International, then Angelina yesterday. Now tonight he'd already felt himself almost faint at the breathtaking sight of Sherilyn Salt already and there he was now getting flustered about how gorgeous his best friend's wife was. 'Harry Potter, behave yourself,' he said inside his head but he also questioned if all this was telling him something. Was it time he tried to find himself a new girlfriend?

Hermione realised he was daydreaming and nudged Harry in the ribs.

"Ouch!" he smiled, rubbing his side. "What was that for?"

"I'm talking to you and you're sat there staring into space with a soppy smile on your face." She was quite serious, Harry noticed. "You need to hear this, Harry, it's important. It's to do with why Dumbledore asked you back!"

"Okay, okay!" he nodded trying to assure her his daydreaming was over and only managing to notice how lovely she looked when she was cross!

"Asa Chambers has never been accused of anything untoward in over forty years at the Ministry. He always seemed to be loyal in the fight against Voldemort and Eustace Bean vouches for him right down the line. She's the one that worries me, though," Hermione said, her head lowered to Harry's and raising her eyes in the direction of Gretchen.

"Mrs. Chambers?" Harry responded, quite perplexed? "What's she got to do with anything?"

"I've been investigating her for the last four weeks, Harry. What she does now, what she's done before...Do you know what I discovered?"

Of course, Harry had no idea. He shrugged.

"I already told you she's Sherilyn Salt's mother." Harry's face reflected the fact he hadn't been listening properly earlier. He was listening now!

"But there's more to it than that. I don't think Gretchen Salt was her name - there's no record of there ever having been a Gretchen Salt at Hogwarts at all, that's for sure! But there was a Gretchen Krum at Durmstrang! As far as I've discovered she was no relation to Viktor but it can't be ruled out! But there is no record of Gretchen Krum anywhere in the Wizarding World after she moved to London in the early 1970s. I think that's her real name! She's Gretchen Krum!

"I asked Remus if she'd ever talked about her mother and he said that, as far as she knew, her mother wasn't very magical. She can Apparate and not much more, he said. I now know that's not true. I've been to their island off Skye using your Invisibility Cloak and watched her. That's been so useful to me, by the way - thanks for letting me use it! I've been in her house. Do you know - all the Chambers children can Apparate, even the youngest daughter - and she's only eight! She has charms on the house - that even our most experienced aurors and Unspeakables can't break - which prevented me reaching some rooms in it and they also stop us from monitoring the under-age magic from London. When he found out we were watching his house Asa Chambers threw a real wobbler and made us stop! He seems to have the same impression of his wife as the daughter does - that Gretchen Chambers is virtually a squib.

"But if Gretchen Chambers really is Gretchen Krum then she was one of the best witches in her year at school. She even did extra qualifications in Potions and Dark Arts - and - you know as well as I do - at Durmstrang that really is Dark Arts, not Defence Against them!"

"Now - look at Sherilyn Salt. Carefully." Harry managed to grin. He was up for another eyeful of that! "And not like that - unless you want some more sore ribs," she smiled both sweetly and threateningly at the same time. Harry swallowed and looked at the blonde, now almost white-blonde haired woman on the other side of the hall (he was not to know it was dyed lighter than its natural mousey tint).

Harry looked for something to recognise but found nothing. Then, at that very moment, Sherilyn realised Harry and Hermione were both looking at her. She said something to her mother and both of them looked across. Sherilyn had a sneer on her face that made Harry turn cold. He gasped.

"Malfoy?"

Hermione nodded grimly.

"The first job we can trace to a Gretchen Salt was as a barmaid at a pub called 'The Tarnished Tankard'. Although it's, strictly speaking, a Muggle pub you can get to it through Knockturn Alley - so, I'm sure you can guess, it's been frequented a lot over the years by wizards - particularly dark ones - I'm sure Snape reamed out some Slytherins once after a Potions lesson when we were at school...he found out that they'd made an illicit trip to London one weekend and he mentioned it as one of the places they'd been spotted."

Harry still looked quite shocked and Hermione shook her head at him impatiently. "Don't look so shocked - as if you didn't know pupils escaped from Hogwarts once in a while - your dad, Sirius and the rest of the marauders used to sneak out to go to strip clubs, you know?"

Harry did know - Remus and Sirius had both told him about their unofficial jaunts but it wasn't the London escapades themselves that had shocked him. It was his turn to shake his head.

"No, Hermione - it's not that. It was that - that look! It - it was suddenly like I was staring at - at Draco Malfoy! Where'd she get that face from?"

"I don't expect you ever heard of a wizard called Perry Baddock, have you?"

"There's a Baddock inscribed on the Quidditch Cup somewhere - Slytherin I think - with all the other past winners...but from years ago..." The name obviously rang a bell somewhere in Harry's head. Hermione was surprised.

"Harry Potter - you anorak!" she laughed. "So - all that time I spent in the library reading 'Hogwarts: A History' you were up in the Trophy Room memorizing all the past winners of the Quidditch Cup?" He knew she was teasing but he had spent many hours up in the Trophy Room doing just that and felt slightly uncomfortable she'd discovered one of his guilty secrets!

"Anyway - I don't know if it is that Baddock but Perry Baddock - or 'Perry the Pelican' as he's also known - used to be a bit of a dodgy character. A bit like Mundungus Fletcher - always got a sack of curious artefacts slung over his back, knocked-off cauldrons - that sort of thing. According to Mad-Eye Moody - who I saw the other day in the Ministry canteen, by the way, he got his nickname as a result of a raid years and years ago when he tried to hide his whole stash of fenced jewellery in his cheeks. Apparently his wife tried to tell the aurors he had mumps but he looked more like a lumpy hamster and when he spat it all out there was so much they couldn't work out how he'd managed to stuff it all in there!

"He did a deal with the Ministry that they wouldn't punish him if he became a sort of double-agent and kept us informed of some of the more serious goings on in Knockturn, which was where he hangs out most of the time. Katie calls him her 'snout'.

"Anyway?" Harry encouraged her to 'get on with it'.

"Anyway!" she continued (as if he hadn't just said exactly the same word), "His favourite watering hole is 'The Tarnished Tankard' and I asked him last week what he remembered about this woman who used to be a barmaid there..."

"Gretchen Chambers?" Harry butted in.

"Yes, of course," she replied - a little indignant as a result of his interruption. "He remembered one night in particular when she disappeared up to the 'knocking shop' as he called it with a handsome young wizard who he later got to know rather well."

"Lucius Malfoy!"

"Yes," she confirmed in a long, drawn out voice, as if there were more to come. "He said that he was surprised because Malfoy had seemed to be treating her with utter disdain all night up until then - he thought she was a Muggle, you see? Most of them thought she was a Muggle, they'd certainly never seen her do any magic. Then he remembered Malfoy suddenly looking at her as if he desired her more than anything and...a few minutes later they went up the stairs together. When he came back down his usually immaculate robes looked somewhat dishevelled and...

"A few months later along came Sherilyn," Harry finished, guessing the punch line. Hermione nodded again. "Do you think she had him under Imperius?" Harry asked. Hermione shrugged.

"Quite possibly. Nice thought in a way isn't it?" she smiled. "Lucius Malfoy having the tables turned on him. We don't know anything for certain, of course, but...when I heard that and then saw her again let's just say it wasn't too hard to put two and two together.

"Wow," Harry pondered. "So that's Draco's big sister!" Harry was about to ask Hermione if Remus knew about this but, looking across, he saw that he and Sherilyn were wrapped around each other on the edge of the dance floor not exactly dancing to the slow number being bluesily proffered by the band but dancing more like two randy fourteen-year-olds at a school disco.

Harry grimaced. He thought Remus would be more astute than this but preferred to believe that either,

Harry tried to enjoy the rest of the party as much as he could. He enjoyed talking to Molly and Arthur (thankfully managing to keep off the subject of Ginny) but, regretfully, he never got to dance with the girl with brown eyes, or even find out her name! She had waltzed off with the tall blond man, which Charlie seemed to regret every bit as much as Harry!

*******************

Harry had a lot to ponder as he walked back to the castle after midnight on Sunday morning. Tomorrow he was going down to Stratford with Maggie and the twins (Severus was Apparating to the Firth of Clyde to get the boat ready for the family summer holiday). There seemed to be so much he wanted to do. He wished he could be more help to Hermione in

her efforts to find out exactly how sinister the Chambers family was and he found it hard to accept, once again, that he was no longer the powerful wizard he once was. This frustration was so much it hurt at times and he turned his walk into a sprint in an effort to work a few of these dissatisfactions out of his system.

Besides all that he also had felt very left out as the guests departed Hogsmeade Village Hall - mainly in pairs: Ron and Hermione with their arms around each other, George and Angelina, Remus and Sheri - even Molly and Arthur. And he was on his own. He didn't even have his teaching to occupy him now for the next couple of months. Rarely had Harry thought more like admitting that his life 'sucked'.

But, if life sucked as he threw himself onto his four-poster to sleep then, two hours or so later, it became far, far worse...

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