Harry Potter and the Journey Home
Harry had intended to talk to Susan very soon after leaving the hospital wing, but Hermione and the teachers combined made sure he had very little time for anything but revision and homework before exams. The exams came, however, and in spite of Hermione’s worries they all four found them manageable. Neville panicked in potions, never having worked alone before, and he was only distracted from his fear of failure by the arrival of a letter from Andi.
Harry went to pieces in Astronomy, and managed to label his star chart upside-down. Ron, despite producing a perfect hover charm to defeat the troll back at Halloween, managed to turn his feather yellow instead and had no idea how he’d done it. Professor Flitwick told him that the colour change charm was a fifth year spell and he’d not seen it done so well in class this year. However, as it wasn’t what Ron was being tested on Flitwick had to mark him down for it.
Hermione came out of every exam absolutely certain she was going to fail everything, which Ron said made him feel sick, so the boys took refuge in their non-academic pursuits. They played chess, visited the greenhouses, or threw bean bags for Harry to catch. Nagara very much enjoyed this game, and insisted Harry threw things for her to snap at. Ron, after much nagging by Percy and his mother, wrote her a letter telling her about the exams and how he felt he’d done. Hermione wrote a much longer missive to her parents, and Neville wrote to both Andi and his Gran.
Mrs Longbottom had been found guilty of nothing worse than ignorance of the actions of her brother towards Neville, but in legal parlance that had translated to ‘child negligence and endangerment’. She had been removed from the board of governors and was permitted to see Neville only in strictly supervised settings. Neville’s great aunt, Enid, was likewise cleared of the charge of abuse, but was too ill to take care of him. The letter Neville received from his uncle, maintaining that Enid’s illness was his fault due to the stress of this investigation and that it would be his fault if she died had sealed his fate as guilty of child abuse. He was removed from his position at the ministry and sentenced to eight months in Azkaban.
Neville’s care was, therefore, the next matter for Andi to sort out, and he was relieved to receive a letter from Mrs Abbot, Hannah’s mum, asking whether he would like for her family to take care of him. The incident which had given Draco Malfoy a black eye had, apparently, also led Hannah to write to her mum to ask her about taking Neville for the summer holidays. Hannah and, by extension, Susan, were therefore admitted into the group of friends and invited to join them for ice-cream on Neville or Harry’s birthday in the summer.
They were also, rather accidentally, introduced to Nagara. Susan, niece and ward of the Head of Magical Accidents and Catastrophes, was severe on Harry for experimenting, but, after spending twenty minutes watching Nagara around the other five, she admitted that the snake probably wasn’t dangerous, and resolved not to tell anyone.
Harry took this chance to talk to Susan about their parents. Susan had no recollection of her parent’s deaths, as the attack which killed them had been very soon after she was born, and she had been in the care of her “Auntie ‘Melia” ever since. Madam Bones, this aunt, had made no secret that she was not Susan’s mother, but had never made Susan feel like less than a daughter to her, and they had the kind of relationship Harry could only dream of. Nevertheless, Susan admitted that she had feel strange, now that they were surrounded by other children, to talk about Auntie instead of Mummy. It was a relief, she said, to know that Neville and Harry were also raised by relatives, instead of parents.
Harry wrote to Dave and Tom on the day their results were posted, to ask whether his room were still available, and to promise them payment in advance for the whole summer if he could have it again. They sent back a letter with Suku to say that they would be happy to have Harry lodge with them again, and that if he wanted a larger room they had one available. Harry didn’t like to send Suku back to London straight away, so borrowed Hedwig, who also had to take a letter to Andi at the ministry, to send back his desire for the little attic room.
The leaving feast, at which Professor Dumbledore announced Slytherin to have just pipped Ravenclaw for the house cup, was otherwise delightful. Harry ate until he was stuffed, and then found some room for dessert. Nagara poked her nose out of his collar to demand bites of roast beef and he wrapped some chipolatas in a tissue to give to Suku. Then they traipsed upstairs, groaning under the weight of dinner, to pack their trunks and have their last night in the castle.
Neville fretted the following morning about the young aconites in greenhouse six. Harry sensed Ron’s frustration with Neville and volunteered to take his friend to see Professor Sprout about them. Professor Sprout seemed pleased that Neville had thought about the plants. Neville explained sorrowfully that, as he was no longer living with his gran, he had nowhere to put the plants over the summer.
Professor Sprout assured him that she would care for them, but Neville wanted to keep up their growth record and make up the report that had been requested. Professor Sprout acknowledged the difficulty of this.
“Can we come to see them by floo?” Harry asked.
“By floo?” Professor Sprout sounded dubious.
“From the Leaky Cauldron or somewhere like that,” Harry explained, warming to the idea. “We could come in once a week and keep measuring like we have been.”
“Please Professor Sprout?” Neville asked, overjoyed to have such a solution. Professor Sprout hummed and hawed but agreed that they could, provided they arrived punctually at 10.00 on every Friday and behaved themselves while in the grounds. Harry and Neville nodded vigorously.
Professor Sprout gave Neville a fond smile, gave Harry a more resigned one, and sent them off to “get to the carriages, or you’ll miss the train!”
***
The carriages waiting to take them to the train were pulled by the most disgusting creatures Harry had yet seen in the wizarding world, but the others didn’t seem bothered, and he didn’t want to make a fuss. Nagara twined herself around Harry’s chest and arm once they were inside a carriage and eagerly tasted the air outside the castle grounds. Harry had to try quite hard before he could convince her to get back under his cloak while they, along with the hundreds of other students, packed onto the train. He let her out once they had found a compartment and drawn down the blinds, however, she was then content to drape herself over the luggage rack next to Suku and Hedwig and snooze for the bulk of the journey.
The trip back to London felt much shorter than the journey to Hogwarts had done. The four first years laughed and joked, teased Hermione about her perfect exam results and needless fears, teased Harry about what dangerous creature he would bring to school next year, teased Neville about his concern for the aconite plants, teased Ron about his visions of a summer filled with Fred and George’s pranks and Percy’s lectures.
Hermione remembered that Ron had been attempting to turn Scabbers yellow when they had met on the train before, and, after his ‘success’ in his Charms exam, encouraged him to try again. Ron did, which seemed to displease Scabbers, and the rat stayed just as grey as he had been all year. Harry remembered thinking that Nagara might be able to eat Scabbers by the end of the year, and looked at her to check the size. He was fairly certain, however, that the rat was still too big. Nagara had caught a few rats in the forest, but they had been juveniles.
Hannah and Susan came to join them as the train passed Sheffield, both out of uniform and looking unusually colourful. Susan talked to Hermione about the ministry and the department her aunt headed up. Madam Bones was a very important person, Harry gathered, and leading the Department of Magical Accidents and Catastrophes was seen as a steppingstone to greater things. This caused some discomfort to Ron, whose dad had to work with Madam Bones, but was in a ‘dead-end’ position as Head of Misuse of Muggle Artefacts.
To Harry, who had never considered the ministry beyond Andi Tonks, it was staggering that there were so many departments and divisions and committees. He and Ron eventually left the topic of the Department of Magical Games and Sport, to discuss quidditch teams. Harry then began worrying about what broom he should get, as the newest member of Gryffindor’s quidditch team. Ron promised to send him a copy of ‘Which Broomstick’ over the summer to help him choose.
As they entered the outskirts of London Hermione, Ron, and Neville, on Hannah’s advice, went to change into mufti for their passage through the muggle world. Harry would travel by floo to the Leaky Cauldron and didn’t need to change until he got back. Harry and Hannah now laughed at some of Susan and Ron’s misunderstandings about the muggle world, Susan sticking up good naturedly for herself and the absent Ron.
Finally, puffing and squealing, the train pulled in to Kings Cross Station. Harry coaxed Nagara down onto his lap as they waited for the throng of students in the corridor to thin out a little and allow them a chance to disembark with ease. Harry watched out the window as Mrs Abbott greeted her daughter and Neville with hugs. An elderly woman was with them, who embraced Neville with a look of sadness. From Neville’s description, Harry guessed that this was Mrs. Longbottom. She was wearing bright green robes, and an enormous hat reaching a full two meters above her head. Harry heard Nagara telling herself that one day she would be big enough to eat the bird sitting on the hat in place of a point. Mrs Longbottom watched Neville, Hannah, and Mrs Abbott through the barrier into the main station then turned and vanished.
Ron’s family, all redheads, were easy to spot. Their mother, a large, comfortable looking woman in flower-print robes greeted each of her sons with a hug and a kiss, and their little sister, in a dress of similar material, attached herself to one of the twins in a manner not to be denied, while the other twin ruffled her hair.
Eventually Harry and Hermione disembarked, helping each other with their trunks. Hermione had to cross the barrier before she could see her parents, or they could see her, and Harry had to queue for the fireplace to take him back to the Leaky Cauldron. They said goodbye in the queue, therefore, Hermione giving Harry a quick hug, and promising to ask her parents about his birthday, and he watched her until she disappeared through the wall.
***
The Leaky Cauldron was busy when Harry stumbled through the floo. It was seven o clock and dinner was underway as well as the regular after work drinkers. Harry didn’t see either Tom or Dave as he pushed through the crowd towards the stairs, but waved at the pub’s single waitress when he caught sight of her. He heaved his trunk up the stairs, wishing he was allowed to use magic again, until he reached the little door leading to his attic.
The door was unlocked when Harry tried the handle and he pushed in. Inside the bed was made, the window open to let in the late afternoon light. A table had been squeezed into one corner on which stood a card. Harry dropped his trunk and hopped over to it. The room key lay next to it, and on the card were the words Welcome Home in Dave’s neat handwriting.
Harry stared at the card for a long time, felling something like warmth in his chest. Eventually Suku, who had flatly refused to travel by floo, snatched it out of Harry’s hands to demand attention. Harry stroked the little owl affectionately before starting to unpack.