Chapter 24
As it turned out, Harry wouldn't have been strictly unavailable on the second, but it was good to have the extra breathing space, and to figure out what he could and couldn't say. Sirius Black, for example, was not to be mentioned, lest Harry mess up Rodelinda Fawley's complex schemes to get Sirius freed. Other matters could now be spoken of freely, as neither the Ministry nor anyone else had the ability to change that which was sealed by family magic. The Ministry paperwork to register Harry as Head of House Potter and Regent of House Gaunt was underway, as was that pertaining to the twins' new status as Heiresses of one house and Wards of another, rather than just pre-Hogwarts-age muggleborns. Pushing through the Muggle side of things would take months, as it involved specific sub-sections of the British Civil Service and judiciary that were familiar with the existence of magic, and those sub-sections generally had far more work to do than they had people to do it. But on the wizarding side of things, the paperwork just needed stamping and filing, and Ted was able to hand it to an official he knew personally, so unless someone with the relevant clearance went rootling in the filing cabinets for 'Potter' and 'Gaunt', it shouldn't come up. It was a matter of public record; but that didn't mean everyone knew. Harry, who was growing to dislike his celebrity status more and more, was quite keen to avoid the attention.
Harry's other business in and around Diagon Alley that day involved picking out shrunken furniture from the Potter vault for the tent; accessing the Gaunt family vault, empty bar a few bits of paperwork; going to Flourish and Blott's for a variety of books about household charms, good parenting practices, and first aid; and, as Regent Gaunt, sending a certain announcement to the Daily Prophet, to be placed among the birth, death, engagement and marriage announcements as Family business whose public declaration was mandated. To wit, Regent Gaunt announced that he had made the ritual declaration declaring Tom Marvolo Riddle, former unacknowledged scion of House Gaunt, not only to be disinherited and disavowed, but also designated a Wolfshead, somebody who should be hunted down and destroyed, on the grounds that he was a kinslayer, murderer, terrorist, and practitioner of forbidden Black Arts. Finally, he took the Floo to Godric's Hollow with a large take-away tub of Florean Fortescue's ice-cream, and had a nice evening with his family. Dobby had never actually had ice-cream before.
At half-past eleven the next day, Harry flooed to the Three Broomsticks, a large paper bag of sweet and savoury pastries from the Godric's Hollow bakery tucked under his arm. There was also a bone for Fang. Once more, he presented himself at the Hogwarts gate; with nobody present who wasn't a current student or alumnus (or who might be perceived as a member of a hostile military force), the gate swung open for him. Hagrid had responded enthusiastically to Harry's owl, and was just as delighted to see him in person; Fang was exuberant. Tea was poured, and the bag of pastries was opened ("Yeh shouldn' 'ave!"). Harry was able to thank Hagrid in person for the birthday present he had sent.
"It was a really kind thought," he did his best to enthuse. "Um. So unusual, too! I've never seen a biting book before."
"Yeah, it's special, that one," said Hagrid, proudly. "Great book fer workin' with creatures. Got loads of int'restin' information inside - anatomy, diet, habitat, all that stuff. Pictures that 'ave layers as well as movin'. But the thing with the cover's a treat. Yeh have to be patient, see, if yer goin' ter work with animals. Yeh have to be gentle, an' know how to soothe them when they get upset, like. So yeh can practice on yer book, bein' kind, an' if yeh can get it ter open an' lie still fer ye, then yer more prepared ter look after the real animals, like." Harry had not been kind to his book. He had tied it shut with a belt, and then hidden it away, and never given it another thought. Perhaps, when he got back, he would put it in Hedwig's old cage that she never used.
"Do they need to eat?" he asked.
"Nah, no need fer that. They aren't really alive, yeh know. Jus' enchanted. But yer a good boy, Harry. Yeh got a good heart. Yeh'll do fine." Harry smiled, feeling guilty. He wasn't quite the "good boy" Hagrid thought he was. And while he had disavowed Tom Riddle as Regent Gaunt, meaning House Gaunt disclaimed responsibility for Tom Riddle's actions, Harry still felt an urge to do something for Hagrid, to help set right the wrongs he had suffered.
"What happened to your education, after you got expelled?" asked Harry. "Dumbledore knew you were innocent. But did he help you to learn anything else after that? Was he the one who gave you your umbrella?"
"How did you know about that?" asked Hagrid. "Yeah, he gave me me umbrella. But don't talk about it to anyone else, yeh hear me? S'not exactly legal. Perfesser Flitwick knows about it. Taught me a few bits and bobs. Charms, yeh know. Dead useful. An' Perfesser McGonagall, she don't know about the umbrella - strict, she is - but when she found out I'd no education past third year, she started givin' me Muggle textbooks. Workin' with me on me writin' an' that. Maths fer budgetin'. Wanted me ter learn Latin. Said I lived in a school and there was no call for me not to be educated. An' she taught me 'ow ter shine me own shoes without magic, an' a few other things Muggles do to make up for not known' 'ousehold charms. 'Er dad was a Muggle, yeh know, so she grew up knowin' that stuff."
"I'm glad someone helped," said Harry. "It must have been rough."
"Aye, it was," said Hagrid, "but it's a long time ago now. I do all right. An' this year - but I shouldn't be telling yeh that. Yeh'll find out soon enough, once term starts. I'll just say, me old dad would have been proud."
"I'm sure he would," said Harry, making a mental note to find out if Hagrid's secret plans for the year involved him getting his wand back, and to try to arrange it if not. Perhaps through the Basilisk Foundation? Hagrid had been a victim, on the previous occasion, hadn't he. Him and Myrtle, and the ones who were petrified. (He should find out their names.) And then he'd suffered again this time, being sent to Azkaban. Yes, he was definitely due something from the Basilisk Foundation. Once it actually acquired some money.
"Did you manage to get new roosters?" he asked, and was taken to a crate in the corner of the hut. Hagrid lifted the sacking covering it, to reveal dozens of small balls of fluff nestled in wood shavings, with a lamp giving off heat. They cheeped indignantly at the drop in temperature.
"Couldn' get budget for adult birds, yeh know, and the 'ens didn' cope well with me bein' away. Not used ter foraging for their food, an' the elves dropped stuff off for them, did their best, yeh know, but it wasn' the same, 'specially not when somethin' damaged the run. Still got some left, but arf what we should 'ave. 'Ogwarts gets through a lot of eggs in term-time, yeh know. But I 'ad me contacts, and I managed ter trade a few things fer fertile eggs, and I 'atched them out meself. The 'ens wouldn't touch 'em, so I'm rearin' em by 'and. We'll prob'ly get a few eggs off 'em before the winter, and then they'll be all ready to go in the spring. And some of 'em'll be roosters, sure enough, so we'll get some 'ens broody, come the summer, an' we'll be back ter normal." He threw a couple of massive handfuls of grain into the box, and covered it back up tenderly. "Course, they aren' real int'restin', chickens, but they're good birds. Yeh look after 'em, and they look after yer."
"Does the school often have budget troubles?" asked Harry, remembering the first-year brooms. Something else to look into. Hagrid hemmed and hawed, and went back to talking about chickens. Harry had not really been aware that there were different breeds of chicken, in the same way that there were different breeds of dog; certainly he had not known that Muggle farming methods had changed so much over the twentieth century that wizards increasingly chose to eat food from wizard- and squib-raised livestock, and there were now specific wizard breeds of most domestic animals, that had 'more goodness in 'em.' It was as well Hagrid was also aware of Harry's appointment, or he might have been late.