The Art of Peace

Chapter 3:

Secrets Not Long Buried

When the train pulled into Marseille that evening, Harry and Sifu disembarked, carrying their belongings on their backs. They had decided the first thing to do was find a cheap place to stay, so Sifu led them to an old neighborhood he had once known. The houses were getting run down and some of the street lamps had gone out, but there were no gangs or violence of that sort, so it was just a poorer neighborhood, not a violent one. There was a small apartment building on the corner that Sifu approached, knocking on the main door. Two or three minutes later it was answered by an older woman bending over her cane. The two of them held a quick conversation in French, of which Harry only understood enough to know that they were old friends and that she called him Jean. Then she turned to him.

"And who might you be?" she asked in a thick accent.

"Harry," he said with a smile.

"Well, Harry, if you are a friend of Jean, you are a friend of Madame Dupont as well. Come in!"

They entered the house behind her and she showed them to an apartment on the third floor. It was run down, but it still had a toilet, bath, and kitchen, so Harry decided it was good enough for him. After a few more minutes' conversation with Sifu, M. Dupont left them to their business.

"Well, what do you think?" asked Sifu.

"It's not too bad. Needs a little work, but that's all."

"Yeah, it's a nice little place, and M. Dupont doesn't mind what we do as long as we are quiet and pay the rent on time. Speaking of money, we should probably go get jobs tomorrow. The docks are a good place to start."

With that settled, they both spread out on the floor and slept - beds were another thing they were going to need, that was for sure. In the morning Harry awoke to the smell of eggs and ham on the rickety gas stove in the kitchen and the darkness outside. Yawning, he walked into the other room, ready to help out, only to find the breakfast made already.

"I decided you needed your sleep," Sifu replied to the silent query. "You've had a rough couple days, and it is only five in the morning after all. We need to be down at the docks at around six to get a job, so I decided to cook us a good meal to start."

"Thanks. Thanks a lot." Harry was surprised. It wasn't often that people were nice to him for no reason at all. Even with Ron and Hermione he had always felt the need to supply something in return for their kindness, but here with Sifu, if you could do something you did, there was no obligation at all. It was refreshing, to say the least.

"Harry!"

"Hmmm...?"

"I said that we should probably get you learning some better French. Unless you plan on leaving real soon, it would be a good thing to know."

"Yeah, that's a great idea; and no, I don't plan on leaving just yet," replied Harry with a smile.

"That's good to hear. Now eat some of that food. You're much too skinny as it is." A now familiar smile covered Sifu's jovial face as he said this, reminding Harry of Mrs. Weasley trying to make him and Ron gain some weight on their thin frames.

As the two of them ate, Sifu started telling Harry words that he needed to know: the basics, such as 'hello', 'goodbye', 'where's the bathroom', etc. His mind was soon overflowing with the words and he was having trouble remembering them all by the time breakfast was finished.

"Don't worry if you can't remember them all. It will be pushed through your head fast enough when we start working," Sifu told him.

And with that they both put on clothes for a day of working. When they reached the port, Sifu directed them to the manager's office and walked inside. Harry followed him curiously. He had never gotten a real job before, what with working for the Dursleys all the time and then going to Hogwarts. It took him aback, then, when all the man wanted to know was their names and address before telling them where the foreman to report too was and what their hours were.

"Wasn't that a little too easy?" he asked.

"No, not at all. They have a lot of turnaround out here. You'll understand once we start working," he said with what almost looked like a sadistic smile, although that didn't fit what Harry knew about Sifu's personality so far. "The work is hard but it will be good for you to put on some muscle doing a real job."

Harry soon found out that if anything, Sifu's words had been an understatement. The work was not just hard, it was brutal with a capital 'B'. For five hours they worked steady, pushing huge boxes onto cranes and loading and unloading them off the ships. There were about ten other men in the work team, but some of the boxes weighed several tons, making Harry feel muscles he never knew existed. When they broke for a half hour lunch, Harry feebly ate the sandwich that Sifu nearly crammed down his throat before taking a quick nap. The nap was over much too soon, however, and Harry had to put in another five hours of the grueling labor before finally quitting at 5:00 that afternoon. As they left, the foreman gave them their day's wages and asked if they would be there the next. Assuring him they would, the two left the port for supper. Sifu was laughing as they walked away, causing Harry to ask what was going on.

"Oh, it's just that I never expected you to make it through the day. That is a grown man's job and hard even then, and not only did you make it, you kept up for most of it. I'm impressed with you."

"Thank you. I've had a little practice with manual labor before." Harry's elated mood at the compliment fell as he remembered why he was there. The Dursley's had made him work and made him unwelcome in their home, but they still did not deserve to die like they did. Voldemort and all those like him would pay one day.

Sensing the mood change, Sifu looked at Harry with concern. "Are you all right?"

"Yes, just thinking, that's all."

"If you say so." Sifu did not look convinced, but if Harry did not want to tell him then he was not going to pry. "Look there's a nice little restaurant. It has some great clams. Let's go there and celebrate your first day in Marseille."

Harry brightened at this. It had been quite a while since he had been able to spend money on himself without worrying about being seen. Together the two of them made their way into the little bistro and ordered their meals. The food was delicious, and the warm weather soothing, letting Harry's tired muscles unwind from the day's work. They ate in silence, watching people come and go through the windows. Harry was sure he had seen a couple wizards and witches walking as well. Robes had the tendency to stick out, even in a crowd as varied as this ever-changing one was. This meant that there was some sort of wizarding establishment nearby, Harry just needed to find out where the anti-Muggle wards were. However, that could wait until the weekend. For now he would just work at the docks and try to blend in. Once they were finished, the two paid their waiter and left, taking a scenic stroll through a park before returning to the apartment. When they entered the house, a shock was waiting there for them. A snowy white owl was sitting on the kitchen table, a head cocked to one side as they entered the room. Without hesitation, Hedwig flew to Harry and landed on his shoulder, waiting for him to remove the letter. It read:

Harry,

This is Ginny. Don't worry, I'm the only one who knows what really happened. Hedwig wasn't sad when we got the news or before when it was supposed to have happened, so I know you are still alive. You don't have to answer this if you don't want to, I won't tell.

Ginny

Harry just sat there looking at the letter while Sifu spluttered in astonishment.

"What is that!? Is that an owl? What is it doing here? Why is it sitting on you and what is it carrying?"

There was no way around it now, Harry had to come clean. He slowly turned around to face Sifu.

"You might want to sit down." When he was seated, Harry continued. "I'm what you would call a wizard, Sifu. I use magic and a magic wand."

"You're just kidding me right?"

"Believe me, I wish I was, but it is true."

"Show me something then."

The demand for a reason not to believe was so present in the question that Harry just wanted to shrivel and die. Not even two days and here he was already being set apart from the rest, an outcast. He wearily pulled out his wand.

"This is my wand. I can't use it though, because if I do there are people who would know. It's like tracing a bullet back to a particular gun."

"So what if you don't use it?"

"That is called wandless magic, but it is very hard and requires a lot of focus."

"Try it then, you never know what will happen. It may just work."

Harry nodded his head. He couldn't very well refute that argument and he had done this type before after all. He slowly raised his hand and concentrated.

"Accio Book!" he cried.

The book immediately flew into his hand, leaving both Harry and Sifu astonished. Bit by bit, though, Sifu's look became less astonished and more calculating.

"What else can you do?"

"Well, magic can be used for everything. With my wand I can make things change shape, heal people, keep people away, even kill people. There is almost no limit to what you can do when you are trained."

"Why are you running then? If you can do anything why not just make your problems disappear?"

It had to come out in the open now. If it didn't Harry would lose his only friend; he had yet to learn how to rearrange people's memories. He quietly told his story, from his defeat of Voldemort as a baby, being raised by the Dursleys, entering Hogwarts, to Voldemort's return and all the evil he had done since.

"So I left so no more of the people I liked would get hurt. I'm sick of watching people die."

Silence greeted the end of his remarks. Sifu just sat there thinking, leaving Harry feeling all the burdens of his fifteen years press down on his shoulders. Finally, he looked up.

"Well, seeing as how I can't do much about it, and I can't blame you for being something you chose to be, what do you say we just pretend I've know all along and keep on going?"

"You mean you don't mind? You don't think I am unnatural or something?" Harry's mind was spinning in circles.

"Of course I don't think you are unnatural. I've been around and I've seen a lot of strange things, maybe not quite to the level of this magic, but pretty close, I'd say. Besides, having a kid like you around might come in useful someday, you never know."

Harry was relieved. He had been in fear that now he would be a pariah, an outcast, for something he could not control, but here was Sifu not only accepting it, but welcoming it as well!

"Ummm... Do you care if I write a letter then? I kind of have to answer this one."

"You mean that owl thing is tame?"

"Hedwig? Yeah, she's tame. She carries letters, kind of like a magic post office."

"Amazing! Sure, go ahead. I'll just be in the other room. I had this newspaper I wanted to read anyways."

And with that Sifu walked into their sitting room with his paper, leaving Harry to think in peace. It took him a while, but he finally determined what he was going to tell her. Better Ginny knew than Ron or Hermione, either of them would have come right after him. He had grown to trust Ginny after the episode with Riddle's diary though, and had grown to think of her as a friend, but one who understood the value of his privacy and didn't get into it too much. That and she finally seemed to be over that crush, which had made things a lot easier in general. So with this in mind, he wrote.

Ginny,

Thank you so much for not telling anyone. I know it has to be rough on everyone thinking I am dead, but believe me it is better this way. Please don't send a reply right away, I can't draw attention to myself, and you shouldn't either. Thank you. Make sure Hermione and Ron get together for me ok? Ron is a stiff and he needs some prodding, and they both need someone right now. Have a good summer!

Harry

Sending Hedwig off, he settled into his chair with a relieved sigh. Now as long as Ginny kept his secret he was safe. That and as long as he could keep his scar hidden. Thinking about this, he made a list of things he would need to do. Writing up his list for shopping the next day, he left it on the table and went to bed. It was astonishing how easily a dreamless sleep came after putting in a good day's work!