Nied is Not Enough

Chapter Three

Morning came all too quickly. He methodically dressed; making sure each garment was clean and straight. He pulled on his black boots, slid his arms into the sleeves of the black jacket, continually trying to get the picture of Malfoy out of his head. After packing up the rest of his belongings, shrinking them and placing them in the inside pockets of his jacket, he made his way into the hall and down the stairs for breakfast.

"Dobby sees that Harry Potter is ready to go?" His small friend grinned as he approached the table. "There is some toast for Harry." A large plate was pushed in front of Harry and a great big cup of black coffee sat steaming next to it.

Harry nudged the toast around, not really eating any of it. He stared at his cup of steaming coffee, watching its surface ripple when people walked by the table. "Is it time to go, yet, Dobby?" Harry asked blankly.

"In about twenty minutes," Dobby replied. The little elf cocked his head to one side and looked at his friend. "Is Harry okay this morning?"

"Fine, Dobby. I'm just a bit nervous about this whole thing," Harry wasn't exactly lying, but didn't feel necessary to let Dobby know exactly what was going on. He let a small and weak smile pass his lips and the two sat, finishing their breakfast in silence.

Tab paid, belongings packed, breakfast finished, the two left the Leaky Cauldron and headed for King's Cross Station.

"Harry is not concealing himself today?" asked Dobby as they walked into the fresh daylight outside the Leaky Cauldron.

"No, Dobby. I think I'll just be me for once. Besides, the kids on the train will have to get used to me if I am going to teach them all year. Maybe they will refrain from calling me things like scarhead. I don't know." Harry felt a slight smile creep up the corners of his mouth as he thought of Malfoy calling him that so long ago. Malfoy. Draco Bloody Malfoy. Bloody breathtaking Draco. Draco. Harry shook his smile off and continued walking with Dobby in silence.

They walked at Harry's usual pace, which meant Dobby had to almost jog to keep up. One really nice thing about being a house elf was the fact that no one could see him if he didn't want them to. Harry still had his invisibility cloak, but Dobby could just snap his little fingers and be nothing more than a short passing breeze. Harry enjoyed being outside during the day. He never let his guards down, but the sun was so overwhelmingly nice, he slowed a bit so Dobby could enjoy it as well.

About thirty minutes later, they found themselves walking across the bridge at the station. Harry remembered the first time he stood on this bridge with Hagrid. That day was one of the most exciting days of his life. He had left the Dursleys' for a world that was so amazing, so full of life, so much more than he ever had at his aunt and uncle's house. Harry stopped in the middle of the bridge and took out his Hogwarts Express ticket. Platform Nine and Three-Quarters..

As the memories washed over him, he pushed them away with frustration. "You know, Dobby, sometimes I wish that I never went to Hogwarts. I could have certainly lived without having seen what I've seen. Having done what I've done. Gods! Life would have been so much easier if I could have just lived under the staircase until I was sixteen, then gone on and done my own little nothing in some little nowhere."

Harry had been staring over the handrail of the bridge, talking to his invisible friend when a little girl of about nine walked by. She stared at him with her eyebrows knit together. "Mummy," she whispered, "that warbled man in black is talking to a little wrinkly man with a leisure suit."

"Shhh, Morgan." Her mother placed her hands on the girl's shoulders and steered her away from Harry.

Harry's back straightened as he heard the little girl. What does she mean by warbled? He thought to himself. He slowly turned towards the little girl, breathing deeply and looking at the child almost horror stricken. "Dobby, can she see you?" Harry said quietly. The little girl kept staring as she and her mother walked by.

Dobby looked at her and smiled. He waved his little hand and she waved back. "It looks like she can." Dobby kept waving. Harry immediately put his hands on the house elf, keeping his arms still because Dobby had begun flailing and dancing around like a madman. The little girl had turned her head to watch as she and her mother kept walking. She was giggling and covering her mouth.

"Dobby! Stop!" Harry said through gritted teeth. The little elf quit dancing but continued smiling at the girl almost at the end of the bridge. She gave the smallest wave with her hand and turned away.

Harry began walking toward the end of the bridge absolutely intrigued that this child could see Dobby through the invisibility charm. Harry and Dobby followed them through a crowd of people towards the wall between platforms 9 and 10. Harry stopped behind platform 8 to watch. The child's mother looked incredibly nervous as she read the train ticket she was holding.

The child's mother was looking at the numbered signs on the platform, back and forth at the Nine and the Ten. Utter confusion lit her face. Harry watched as the child pulled at her mother's coat sleeve. The child was pointing directly at the wall between the platforms. Her mother bent down to listen as the child continued pointing at the wall. The mother stood and said, "No." The child let her head fall to her chest and her mother wrapped her arms around the little girl.

Harry stepped out from behind the wall at Platform Eight. He began walking towards the pair. Dobby was close at his heels. "Keep behind me, Dobby. I don't want you to startle them," Harry muttered.

"Mummy," the child whispered, "the warbley man is coming to talk to us." The mother stood and stepped in front of the girl. Mistrust and slight fear filled her features.

"Excuse me, ma'am. But, erm, did you need help getting on this platform?" Harry held out his own ticket to the mother. She looked at his sharp features and his darkly clad frame. He allowed his dark glasses to lighten. His intense green eyes softened a bit and he let his face relax into a warm smile.

"My name is Harry Potter," he directed at the child who had been peeking around her mother. "I am a teacher at your new school." He looked at the mother. "Was she pointing at the wall over there?" he asked.

"Erm, uh, yes she was but I told her nothing was there but the wall," the mother barely managed to get out.

Harry looked again at the child who had come around her mother and was holding her hand. "Mummy says I can't see. She said my eyes don't work, but they do. I can see you, you're all warbley." Her small shoulders shrugged with a giggle.

Harry looked more closely at the child's eyes. They were almost a translucent blue. The pupils were mere pinpoints of black. "She's legally blind," the mother said, wrapping the child with her arm and bringing her close to her body. "She can see shadows, the uh, difference between dark and light. You teach at this Hogwarts place?"

Harry looked at the child and at the mother again. "Well, it's my first year as a teacher, but I went to school there as a kid. I teach Defense Against the Dark Arts." Noticing that the woman looked greatly confused, he continued, "It's a class designed to, erm, well; the students learn how to defend themselves from dark magic." The mother glanced around at the people walking by on either side of them. "They won't hear us, ma'am. Most Muggles don't realize when magic is in their presence. They don't even want to hear. It makes it better for us in the wizarding world, anyway."

The woman continued looking around at the passers by. "What's a Muggle?"

Harry smiled again, "Non-magic folk. Do you want some help with your trolley? I did this for seven years. Your daughter..."

"Morgan Imani Jessica Wolfe," the child said, bobbing her head with each word.

"...was right about the wall. It's a magic wall. Morgan, is it? Can you see my friend here?" Harry asked the child.

Dobby stepped out from behind Harry. His little cowboy hat teetered on his head.

"Mmm-Hmmm." She shook her head up and down. Dobby grinned from ear to ear.

"This is Dobby. He's a house elf. Why don't you take his hand and go with him through the magic wall. That's how we get to the platform."

The little girl felt her mother tighten her grip. "Mummy, he's so cute, though."

The child's mother looked at Harry. Dobby came to stand between them and Harry muttered a quick shielding spell so no one on the platform would notice them. Dobby snapped his fingers and appeared. The mother jumped and gave a short squawk. Dobby stood there grinning at her and he removed his hat. "Ma'am is not to be worrying about Dobby. Dobby is a good house elf."

Harry motioned to the child and Dobby to go ahead through the wall. He held out his own hand for the woman who shakingly took it. Together, they walked through the wall, Harry pushing the trolley with one hand. The wall sealed itself behind them and the woman stood shaking against it.

"Here we are. Platform Nine and Three-Quarters." Harry couldn't help from grinning. The scarlet steam engine sparkled under the sunlight. White steam poured from its stack. The whistle blew and Harry took in a lung-filling breath. "Ma'am, are you alright?"

The woman stood staring at the wall and at the train and back to Harry. "I'm sorry. I had no idea this world even existed. Morgan is a special girl. She's always seen things that I couldn't." The woman looked at her child, swinging hands with the house elf. Her white-blond hair floated around her shoulders as her arms went back and forth.

"How old is she?" Harry asked, noticing the child looked much younger than the other obvious first years.

"She's ten next week. I've never been away from her on her birthday. I've never been away from her for more than a few days at a time." With that, the woman began weeping.

Harry looked around, not really knowing what to do. He placed his hand on her back, letting a warm blue magic slide from his palm. She looked at him with wet eyes. "She'll be fine, Mrs. Wolfe," he said as he gave her comfort magic. "Hogwarts is the safest place for a child of her abilities."

"Ms. Wolfe," the woman muttered. "What abilities do you mean, Mr. Potter?" She asked as she wiped her hand across her cheek.

"It seems, Ms. Wolfe, that your daughter is a rare form of witch. She is what we would call an Illusionary. She sees magic. Illusionaries are very rare these days. In the past, they have held some of the most esteemed positions in their cultures. They can tell immediately the difference between dark and light magic, they see things that no one else can see." Harry remembered studying them during his auror training. "The shadow and light you said she can see, that's magic. She can see Dobby clearly because he is completely from the magical world. Where Morgan will be going, Ms. Wolfe, she will be able to see almost perfectly clearly. She will be in the best hands available. I assure you. We need to get going, though. The train leaves in five minutes."

"Morgan!" the woman called. The child turned towards the sound of her mother's voice. Dobby, still holding her hand, led her to her mother. The woman wrapped her arms around the child who was absolutely glowing with excitement.

"Mummy! I can see almost everything! The colors, Mummy! It's beautiful!" The girl jumped up and down in her mother's arms.

Harry waved his wand over the woman's head and from it came a silvery powder. Before the child's eyes, her mother changed from a shadow to color and shape. The girl's face lit up even more as she looked at her mother's perfectly clear face for the first time in her life. Sparkling bits of the silvery powder floated down around the woman's figure and fell at her feet. The child put her hands to her mother's face. She was breathing as though she had run a marathon.

"You're beautiful Mummy. So beautiful." The child ran her fingers around her mother's face and her eyes. "Do I look like you?"

"Just like your father," the woman whispered to her daughter. Her eyes welled with tears as she looked into the face of her child. The girl's eye color had deepened to a rich blue and her pupils were almost a normal size. She took the child into her arms and squeezed. "You need to go, my darling. You will be safe there. The train is waiting." She hugged her daughter again, squeezed the child's cheeks in one hand and stood up straight. "I'll see you during the holidays!" she shouted as the girl turned, grabbed Dobby's hand and skipped toward the train.

Harry had been guiltily watching the intimate moment between mother and child. He felt such a powerful surge of emotion at the sight of this child looking into her mother's face; he had to steady himself against the now empty trolley. The woman looked at him, such gratefulness he had never seen in someone's face.

"Thank you, Mr. Potter. Please keep her safe." She threw her arms around his neck with such force that they almost tumbled backwards. Harry nearly choked as this woman hugged him. It was always his choice to allow someone to touch him and he had no choice in this matter. His body stiffened and he patted her on the head.

"She'll be fine," he strangled the words out. "I need to go, Ms. Wolfe."

"Yes, yes, of course." She looked at him sideways as she stepped back, a bit embarrassed by her uncontrollable outburst of emotion.

Harry nodded his head to the woman and turned quickly toward the train. He stepped in just as the train was beginning to move. He held on to the handrail and watched the station slowly roll past. Ms. Wolfe stood with the other parents waving wildly to their children. She smiled gratefully and waved at Harry then noticed her daughter reaching through an open window. "Bye, Mummy! Bye!" Ms. Wolfe blew her daughter a kiss as the last bit of shimmery silver powder fell from her skin. The train rolled away and Harry stepped fully into the car.

And so it begins, Harry thought to himself as he walked through the cars looking for Dobby. He found the elf in the second car amidst a group of little girls. He was standing between the seats which faced each other and was opening and closing his hands. Harry stood in the doorway watching as Dobby opened his hands around a pile of daisies, then, after closing them, opening them again to a bunch of small purple flowers. The girls squealed as Dobby opened his hands to a frog. He quickly closed his hands as Harry cleared his throat.

"Ladies." He nodded his head. "I was wondering if I could borrow this creature for just a moment." The girls immediately stopped squealing as they looked upon this stern man. His jaw was clenched giving his chin a much stronger appearance. They watched in silence as Dobby dropped his hands to his sides and skulked into the hallway.

The door slid closed behind Dobby, blocking the conversation from the girls. "Dobby is sorry, Harry. Dobby was just trying to, erm..."

"It's fine, Dobby." Harry glanced into the car full of girls. They all snapped their heads forward as Harry looked at them. He had to bite his lip to keep from smiling. "I need for you to stay close to Morgan this year. She's a very special child and needs to be looked after. I'll be fine," he added as Dobby looked at him with question. "You'll still get paid."

Dobby looked hurt at the last statement. "Dobby doesn't want payment, Harry Potter. Dobby will take care of Morgan because Morgan is precious. And because, as a friend, Dobby wants to do this for Harry." He turned away and slid open the compartment door.

"Thank you," Harry said as the door shut in front of him. The girls regained their smiles as Dobby closed his hands and opened them to a small tree. Harry turned and walked further down the hall looking for a less crowded compartment.

As Harry entered the fourth car, he felt a strange familiarity come over him. He very slowly walked by each of the compartments eyeing each one's passengers suspiciously. In the last car, a burly redhead was stretched along the seats. His back was up against the window and his chin bobbed with sleep against his broad chest. Harry couldn't believe what he was seeing. Ronald Weasley asleep on the train to Hogwarts!

Harry stared with his mouth open for a moment then snapped it shut. A slight smile played on his lips. He slid the door open quietly and took a seat opposite his old friend. The large man snorted and tried to make himself more comfortable.

Harry sat for a moment, and then with a sudden outburst, said loudly, "Do you mind? All the other compartments were full."

The redhead sat with a start. "No, not at all," he grumbled as he rubbed his eyes. He kept himself from looking at the man who just woke him up. He sat more comfortably and stared out the window. The burly man had a difficult time ignoring the fact that the man across from him was staring at him and grinning. He just kept staring out the window until he couldn't take it anymore. "What are you staring at?"

Harry laughed out loud (something he didn't do very often). "I'm Harry, Harry Potter." Harry just sat there grinning.

Ron looked more closely at the man across from him. "Harry, you look like hell!" he said after a moment.

The smile faded from Harry's face and his eyes looked hurt. "Thanks Ron. Long time no see."

"Well, not like hell, but, sorry, Harry. You just look old is all. Come 'ere, mate." Ron stood and put his arms out. Harry stood, still a little hurt but smiling again. Ron hugged Harry with such force that Harry thought he was going to split.

"Ron," he squeezed out. "You're killing me." The strong man let go and patted Harry on the arms. They sat once more and just looked at each other. Just then, they heard a faint jingle and turned to the compartment door.

"Anything off the trolley dears?" the same old trolley pusher stood grinning in the doorway. The two men looked at each other and started laughing.

Ron reached into his pocket and pulled out a handful of gold coins. "We'll take the lot." The woman gave them a quizzical look and proceeded unloading the snacks from her trolley.

The two men sat filling their faces with chocolate frogs and Bertie Bott's Every Flavor Beans. Snippets of conversation came between chews.

"I'm the new DADA teacher Ron. What'choo doing here?" Harry asked with a mouth full of beans.

"Flying instructor. Madam Hooch retired and I quit the Cannons after the World Cup. Needed a break I guess. Besides, got tired of all the attention."

Harry smirked.

"Mum's pleased. She thinks I'm gonna get hurt playing that bloody game," Ron said as he looked out the window.

"How's, erm, what's-her-face?" Harry asked.

Ron looked blankly at him for a moment then his eyes showed some signs of recognition. "Oh- Sandra. She, erm, left like three years ago. Said I wasn't paying enough attention to her."

"Sorry, mate." Harry looked at the floor. "I didn't, um, your mum never mentioned it in her. . . ." Both men stopped at the sound of a woman's voice.

"Has anyone seen a tarantula?" It echoed down the hallway. The two men looked at each other then back to the door. "A boy has lost it."

"It can't be," Ron breathed out.

Harry stood and took a few steps toward the door of their compartment. He stuck his face out the door and saw a woman crawling on her hands and knees looking carefully at the floor. Harry recognized her immediately. She kept crawling until she stopped at a pair of black leather boots. "Still trying to help the world, Hermione?"

The women lifted her face up the black-clad body in front of her. Her dark, shiny hair was pulled back into a long loose braid which lay across her shoulder and onto her chest. Her eyes reached the face of the man and she sat back on her heels.

"Well, if it isn't Harry Potter." She smiled widely and stood in front of him. She wiped her hands on the sides of her robes and threw her arms around his neck.

I have got to put up some kind of defense spell, Harry thought to himself. These people are going to kill me with all of their 'touching' me. He patted her on the back and took a step backward.

"What are you doing here, Hermione?" he asked as he straightened his shirt.

She looked at him, with her head cocked to the side. "I'm the Arithmancy professor, Harry. I've been at teaching at Hogwarts for about five years now. The question is, what are you doing here?"

"DADA. Lupin left." He smiled as best he could, being upset with himself for not knowing what Hermione had been up to. "Come sit for a moment. All this wobbling back and forth is making me sick."

She followed him into the compartment and saw, much to her surprise, Ron Weasley sitting on the bench. His face was ridiculously contorted in fear and anticipation as she walked in and sat down. "Mr. Weasley," she said shortly.

"Ron's the new flying instructor. Isn't that great, Hermione?" Harry asked, trying to ease the tension.

"Charming," she said glancing over at him. "I really need to go. I'll see you in after a bit and we'll catch up." She smiled at Harry, scowled at Ron and left the compartment.

After a few minutes, Harry looked at Ron. "Hermione looks good, hey mate?"

Ron 'humphed' and looked at the darkening sky. She was the last person he wanted to see at this point.

Ron proceeded to tell Harry bits and pieces of the break-up story. He didn't want to divulge too much information. Just enough to let Harry know what happened. Harry knew they had been dating during their seventh year. After the war, Ron proposed to Hermione and she accepted. She continued her studies further and Ron decided to accept the position with the Cannons. After two years, she got fed up with his constant travel and blabbering on and on about Quidditch and gave him an ultimatum: either marry her or leave. So he made his choice. Something he obviously regretted doing now.

The train slowed into the station at Hogsmeade. The two men stepped into the fresh night air, glancing at their surroundings. "Doesn't look much different, does it?" Harry meant it rhetorically.

"Firs' years over this way!" They both turned to the opposite end of the train to see a face neither of them had seen in ages. Hagrid towered above the children, gathering them around his giant body. He spotted Ron and Harry over top of all the bustling children and gave them an over-excited wave. The two waved back grinning. They found their way through the crowd to the thestral-drawn carriage marked teachers and sat down inside. Both men looked around as they passed the other carriages and students clambering inside.

"Nice that we get our own, for once," Ron mumbled. In no time at all, they were pulling up to the gates of Hogwarts. The rest of the students wouldn't be there for at least twenty minutes. "Ah, such speedy service, too."