Chapter 9
Boy put down his quill and breathed a sigh of relief. They’d been taking exams all week, and they were leaving for the holidays in the morning. Boy was struggling a bit with his feelings about that. He was excited about the four person party tonight, relieved that he’d been able to have a set of robes commissioned in time for the Malfoy Yule Ball, nervous for the Ball itself, worried that his friends wouldn’t like their gifts, and terrified of going back to Potter Manor, especially after what happened when Sir came to the school.
Flexing his cramping hands, he let his scroll roll itself up and vanish with a pop. With his final test finished, he got up, wincing. His leg was not happy.
As soon as they left the room, he climbed on Bear’s back and went up to the infirmary for the salve that helped ease some of the pain. It would never fully go away, but the salve at least gave him a few hours of tolerable walking.
“And how is my favorite patient today?” Madam Pomfrey asked with a little smile.
In response, Boy pouted.
Her smile faded a bit. “Alright, dear. Off with the trousers and onto the bed. You know the routine by now.”
Of course he did. He’d been getting the salve thrice weekly for some time now. As usual, Boy slipped behind one of the curtains, folded his trousers neatly, and covered his lap with the bed linen. “Ready, Madam Pomfrey,” he called without raising his voice. From past experience, he knew he didn’t have to shout. She was always nearby.
“Alright, let’s see what-oh.” She paused, taking a seat. “How long has your knee been this size?”
“Just today,” he assured her, looking down at the grapefruit sized joint. “I had a bit of a rough start this morning and I didn’t get to do my stretches.” It was true. Sleeping in the broom cupboard was getting more and more difficult. While Bear hadn’t grown, he had started to. It wasn’t much, but it was enough to make things uncomfortable. Well, more so than September. It didn’t help that he’d tripped getting dressed and fell to his knees.
“Do you have any exams left?” She asked him, twisting the lid off the ceramic pot.
“No, ma’am,” he said, hissing as the cold salve touched his swollen knee.
“Good,” she said with a nod. “I’ll be keeping you here until the swelling goes down. I can’t combine this salve with an anti-inflammatory, so we’ll have to do this the muggle way. Elevation and compresses.”
“Yes, ma’a-ah!” He clamped his jaw shut, breathing slowly through his nose. “Waitwaitwait!”
Her fingers stopped massaging the salve into his skin. “Let me know when you’re ready for me to continue, dear.”
She helped him lie down and prop his leg up on some pillows. They had to stop twice for a few minutes.
“Okay,” Boy said tightly, giving a quick nod.
In the end, it took about an hour longer than normal to get the salve absorbed into his skin. He felt bad for stopping her so often, but he just couldn’t help it.
Bear lay down next to his bed, his head still high enough to rest within reach of his left hand.
Throughout the entire tedious process, Boy pet his doggy. It was more of a comfort for himself than for Bear, but Bear didn’t seem to mind at all.
A little after three, Bear licked his face and left.
Boy was honestly shocked. His doggy had never left him when he was hurt before. If he was honest, it made him a bit sad.
It didn’t last long, as Bear showed up after about fifteen minutes with his friends in tow.
"Hey, Buh-Harry," Penny said gently. Her face was full of concern. "Bad day?"
He groaned, more in boredom than pain, though he certainly felt both. "You knew just what I needed, didn't you? Good doggy! I've been going mad here." He smiled brightly. "I'm thrilled you're here. Madam Pomfrey is busy going over the inventory so that she can get restocked before the end of the holidays, and I’m so bored."
Olive, who had ridden in on Bear's back, sat next to Penny on the next bed. Amelia seemed content to stand.
"Kitten!" Amelia half-shrieked, wide eyes locked on his knee. "What happened?"
"I learned a hard lesson on why missing my morning stretches is a bad idea," he huffed, crossing his arms.
"Why'd you skip them?" Olive asked, her brow raised.
"It wasn't intentional. I was running late."
"You?" Amelia asked disbelievingly. "For you, ten minutes early is barely on time. How were you late?"
Boy shrugged. "I fell."
Olive looked at Bear. "And just where were you during all this, mister?"
Bear let out a pitiful whine and lay down with his paws over his muzzle.
Boy fumbled around for his 'wand' and floated the unoccupied bed on his other side and settled it against his own. "Come here, Cuddles. Don't listen to that meanie. You are the best doggy anyone ever had, and she's just jealous."
Head hung, Bear climbed up on the empty bed and Boy shifted his doggy's head to rest on his chest. Giving him a few licks, Bear eventually let himself settle.
"Don't be upset with Cuddles, Olive. He did exactly what he was told. He helped me up and made sure I kept a hand on him at all times, so it couldn't happen again."
She raised her hands in surrender. "Alright, alright, I give." Kneeling on the flagstones, she was at eye level with the moping Wyhound. "If Kitten believes you're innocent, then I do too."
One of Bear's ears perked up. For a moment, he didn't move, eyeing her suspiciously. Then he licked a slobbery trail up her face.
Olive squealed, wiping the slobber with her robe sleeve.
Boy laughed. "I think he forgives you."
"So," Penny said abruptly. "It's almost dinner time, and our holiday party can either be rescheduled for the first night back, or we could just owl our gifts to each other."
Boy gasped. "We don't have to change our plans! My leg is nearly back to normal, so I'm sure Madam Pomfrey will let me leave soon." He raised his voice slightly. "Madam Pomfrey!"
"Oh!" The matron said, seeing the group. "You're popular today, aren't you?"
Boy grinned.
"Let's have a peek at that leg," she said, tugging the blanket upward. She touched his knee with care and tsk'ed while shaking her head. "It looks like you're in for the night, Mr. Potter. We'll have to wait for the salve wears off and hope the anti-inflammatory helps."
Boy thought fast. "In that case, I have a favor to ask. We planned a little get together to exchange gifts, but now that I'm stuck here…" He let his statement trail off.
"You want me to let you have a party?" She asked, with faux annoyance. "This is a hospital wing- Don't you pout at me, young man!"
Boy stuck his lower lip out further, and his friends copied. "I have something for you too."
Her eyes widened in surprise. "You'd better not have!"
"Will it help if I tell you that it's not actually for you?" He asked innocently, knowing that she felt it improper to receive gifts from the students without being related. "It's for the infirmary."
"Merlin, save me." She sighed, caving.
They cheered and clapped.
A little while later, Madam Pomfrey summoned two house-elves and whispered to them while his friends went to their dorms for something. He didn’t mind. They said they would be back soon.
There was a small part of him that was worried, especially after that misunderstanding with the Headmaster. That had hurt, thinking he’d been abandoned by his friends. Now though, he just felt foolish. Abandoned? Really? Just because they didn’t visit him for a couple of days? Days! It wasn’t like it had been a few weeks or months.
The enormous wooden doors opened slightly and his friends came back, happy and giggling.
Much to his outright astonishment, they were each carrying an armload of gifts. He thought that he was going to give them their gifts and that was it. Now he felt kind of silly, thinking that they wouldn’t want to exchange their own.
Madam Pomfrey flicked her wand and all of the gifts piled themselves on one of the rolling trays.
Boy was pretty sure that the only thing that kept the oddly stacked packages from toppling over was due to the sheer determination of the matron’s magic. “Olive, could you get into the right hand pocket of my robe? It’s over there.”
It was a good thing he’d been able to remember to go for his ‘wand’ any time he needed to do magic. By now, it was an impulse. He flicked his ‘wand’ at the shrunken trunk she’d placed on the floor.
“That eager to head home for the holidays?” Amelia asked, clearly amused.
Boy just smiled, glad that there was a ready-made excuse for having his trunk in his robe pocket. The gifts were all packed right on top of everything, so he didn’t have to go digging around.
Just as she’d done with the others, Madam Pomfrey added them to the pile. “Noppit! Delpy!” She called, and two elves appeared with a pop.
They were carrying several large trays of food and drinks high over their heads.
When the trays were put down, one of the elves looked at Bear. “Delpy is not knowing there is being a Wyhound! Delpy will be’s coming back quickly!”
In an instant, Delpy came back with a huge leg of… something, and handed it to Bear. “You is nice Wyhound. Nice Wyhound be’s getting nice dinner too!”
Bear licked the elf’s face and dove into whatever kind of meat he’d been gifted. Whatever it was, he seemed to be enjoying it immensely.
When the food was polished off, they were all full to bursting.
Penny shot to her feet and declared that it was time for presents, thrusting her fist into the air.
Boy giggled at her antics.
She distributed them by who brought what. Her own had been wrapped in a shiny blue paper, his were wrapped in shimmery silver, Olive’s were in a crazily printed, brightly colored mess, and Amelia’s were in metallic teal.
“Who’s handing out first?” Boy asked.
“ME!” They all called out excitedly.
He watched as they bickered to each other for a few minutes and rolled his eyes. While they were distracted, he handed out his own.
“We’ll go clockwise,” he said, cutting them off. “Go ahead and open them.”
They were surprised to see silver gifts in their laps.
For Penny, there was a complete set of autobiographies of every successful Minister for Magic that started out as an activist. It was oddly specific, but she wanted to spend her time making waves before becoming Minister at the age of thirty-five.
For Olive, there were four leather bound romance novels (including a copy of the one he'd told them about). She denied it, but those stories turned her into a total Hufflepuff, and she was constantly trying to (not so-)sneakily convince him to tell other stories.
Amelia received a large makeup kit that was specifically for her skin type and tone, plus a tiny wrapped package that she hadn’t noticed. When the tiny package was nearly discarded with the wrapping, Boy made sure to point it out, not bothering to hide his grin.
As the wrapping was removed, she burst out laughing. "Absolutely not! You have to do it properly!" She thrust it into his hands and waited.
"Oh, my sweetest, dearest Amelia," he began, as overly-dramatic as possible. "Will you take this three sickle ring as a promise of my undying love and devotion? Will you marry me?"
Wiping away imaginary tears, she agreed. "Of course I will, my darling Kitten!" She held out her hand expectantly.
He placed the awful ring on her middle finger. It really was ugly. It had a plain steel band, which was perfectly fine, and an oversized rock that was literally just a random rock. The rock was crudely broken in half to fit the band. He would know, having been the one to get the rock and form the ring.
Madam Pomfrey, who had just been walking past, stopped in her tracks and stared at them in horror.
"It's just a joke, I promise!" Boy said hurriedly. "I have no intention of getting married before thirty."
The matron let out an uncharacteristic snort. “Children,” she said with an exasperated sigh.
“Adults,” he said in the same sighing tone.
His friends giggled.
“Oh, Madam Pomfrey!” Olive sang. “It looks like there’s another gift here!”
As she approached, her eyes were narrowed in suspicion at Boy. “This had better not be for me.”
“Nope!” Boy said happily. “Well, for your sanity, maybe. I can’t imagine hearing ‘I’m bored!’ over and over again is good for your mental health. I’d be driven mad within a week of hearing that all the time.” He resized the trunk and dug around in it for the last box. What she had in her hands was an envelope, and it was only half of the gift.
Tugging on the seal, Madam Pomfrey opened the envelope. “Oh!” Her eyes scanned the page.
“What is it?” Olive asked curiously. Okay, it wasn’t simple curiosity. Olive was nosy.
“A voucher for three magazine subscriptions of my choice for a year.” She replied. “I appreciate this, Mr. Potter.”
“Here’s the other half,” he said, handing over the shoebox sized package. “You’ll need to resize it.”
Her brow raised, but she did as bid. Inside the box was a veritable treasure trove for the residents. Two chess/checker sets (in wood, not glass), six decks of playing cards, a handful of spinning tops that changed color with the speed of the spin, a stack of random fairy tale books (that varied for all ages), several sets of gobstones and a pile of various stuffed animals. She held up a teddy bear with a questioning look.
“On my first visit, you asked if I was suffering from homesickness. I figured that it must be a regular occurrence, so something to hold onto might help.” He didn’t mention that one of the teddies hadn’t made it into the box, and was currently under an obscuring charm in his trunk. And it had nothing to do with homesickness. If anything, it was a comfort when he thought about going back to the manor.
“You’re such a sweetie,” she said, patting his hand. “I’m sure my patients will be very glad to have these things.”
“And as an added bonus,” he said with a smirk. “I made sure not to get anything that would be loud and disruptive to anyone else that happens to be here. It’s a good thing I decided against the decks of exploding snap, I guess. Oh! The regular cards are anti-cheats.”
“That’ll certainly save me from arguments,” she said knowingly. “Thank you, Mr. Potter.”
“Oh, I get it,” Amelia said as the matron walked away. “I’m not special. You just have a thing for older women.”
“What about us?” Penny and Olive demanded playfully.
“Pomfrey gets a huge crate of stuff, ‘Melia gets a gift and a ring, and we just get one gift each!” Olive wailed, trying not to laugh. “Are we not old enough for you? Is that what it is? I-” She couldn’t do it. She burst out laughing.
Only because he saw his name on a couple of packages, he spoke. “I don’t know why you’re upset. I haven’t gotten any gifts.” He sniffled dramatically and hid his face in Bear’s fur. “Even from my own fiance!”
They all held out packages with grins on their faces.
Boy snapped out of his so-called ‘despair’ immediately. Honestly, he didn’t know what to think. He’d never gotten a gift before! Ever. Well, that’s not quite fair. He might have gotten them before that Halloween, but he had no idea.
Olive put hers down first. “Open it! Open, open, open!”
Entirely unsurprised by her excitement, Boy reached for the crazily patterned box. It was light, but not tiny. Peeling back the paper, he found a box of… headbands? With kitty ears. There were about two dozen of them, all in different colors and patterns.
“When you put them on, the band vanishes and you just have sweet, little kitten ears that wiggle sometimes!” She said happily.
“These are brilliant!” He said, taking a pair of white ones with black cheetah print. When they were on, he looked at his friends. “How do they look?”
“Awwwww!” They cooed.
“We can all wear a pair for the rest of the night!” He declared, handing them out.
Penny had a pair of red ones with little flowers, Amelia had on a black pair with purple stripes, and Olive got a pair in neon orange with tufts of long green fur that stuck out in odd places. When Bear sniffed, Boy gave him the other white pair, but they had rainbow zebra print.
There was a flash of light and a puff of smoke.
Whipping around, they saw Madam Pomfrey with a large camera.
Immediately, she was fitted with a brown pair that had black tips, like a lynx.
"Okay, okay, my turn!" Amelia said loudly, cutting off the chatter.
Boy opened the package. It was a small chest. Inside this one, however, was a bunch of different kinds of art tools! Pencils, pens, paints and brushes and it never seemed to end! “I love it, ‘Melia!”
Penny handed him her gift. It was also a medium sized chest, but it was pretty heavy, so he popped the clasp up and gasped. Inside the chest was an incredible array of hair styling supplies. Brushes, combs, clips of all shapes and sizes, curlers from tiny to massive, potions for hair softness and sleekeazy's, a few sprays he didn't recognize and a tin full of elastics and ribbons. "Penny! This is fantastic!"
Over the next few hours, at least thirty more photos had been taken, mostly by Madam Pomfrey, but she was in a few of them.
Boy was starting to understand why people liked holidays so much.
Penny and Olive each heaved Boy up by the armpits and deposited him inside the carriage. This was it. They were headed toward the Hogwarts Express.
The girls were so excited.
Boy did his absolute best to hide his fear.
He stayed quiet, but reacted to their conversations. Even when they double checked that he was wearing his brace so that Amelia could piggy-back him to the train. Even when they had to wait to be last because Bear was too big to maneuver the narrow corridors with the students. He hadn’t noticed that Olive had told Freya and Percy to save them a compartment.
“You going to stock up on chocolate when the trolley witch comes around, Buh-Harry? You won’t be able to get any all throughout the holidays.”
“That’s a long time to go without sweets, Kitten,” Olive said, flipping through her magazine. “I don’t envy you there.”
He shrugged, barely listening. He was going to be back in the manor. Back into the attic. Back under the same roof as Sir. For nearly three weeks. No teachers to have tea with. No playing around with his friends.
What was Sir going to do? Would they be too caught up with the news of the new baby? Sure, they found out a while ago, but maybe? Maybe they would go to other peoples’ houses for the day. Boy was reminded why he didn’t like the holidays in the first place. New Years Eve and New Years Day were bad. Christmas was always the worst.
--Flashback--
“That was the day my lovely Lily told me that she was expecting you. Did you know that?” Sir slurred, staggering into the empty triple decker bunk bed frame. “Answer me when I speak to you, you little bastard!”
Boy shook his head desperately, knowing better than to speak.
“Your birth was the day that ruined Christmas.” He took another step, slowly closing the distance between them. “Forever. It’s not all bad, right? We got Jamie out of it, which was perfect… but we still got saddled with you! You are the embarrassment of the entire Potter Line! How the hell you lived after Jamie defeated Him, I’ll never know! I wish I did. I would go back and change it! Hell, I wish I had left you there by your fucking self that day! Oh, sure, He would still be alive and killing people, but you know what? If it meant that you were gone, I’d invite the fucker to tea!”
Boy curled up, protecting as much of himself as possible as Sir drew closer still.
He was only five. What could he have done? He didn’t yell anymore. He didn’t cry anymore. He stopped trying to go downstairs a long time ago. He did what he was told. What had he done wrong?
--End Flashback--
Boy jerked back in his seat as something peach colored knocked rapidly on the window, just inches from his face. Gasping in surprise, he mentally shook himself. “Sorry, Freya. What did you say?”
Freya eyed him suspiciously. This was not the little boy that Amelia had told her so much about. She’d met him. He had been sweet and shy and giggly, especially with Penelope. This little boy was staring out the window, looking like his best friend was dead. “You okay, Harry?”
He nodded, reminding himself to pay attention. It would be a while before he saw them again, so he should savor it. Without a second thought, he leaned over, resting his chin on Penny’s shoulder. “So,” he cleared his throat. He had to act naturally. “How mad are you?”
“Mad about what?” She asked, totally lost.
He smirked. “Didn’t Amelia tell you?”
Amelia, for her part, acted worried. “Don’t do it, Kitten!” She cried out, her wrist poised against her forehead in faux fear. “I haven’t told her yet!”
“Told me what?” Freya huffed.
“‘Melia’s going to marry me!” Boy proclaimed, then pouted. “Sorry, Freya.”
Freya snorted, rolling her eyes. “Did you at least get a rock out of it? We can pawn it and have a little fun with the money.”
Laughing, Amelia nodded.
“Yeah,” Olive chimed in. “She got… a rock.”
Only Percy and Freya didn’t crack up.
They explained the ugly ring and the other two got the joke. Freya laughed, while Percy smiled slightly.
Boy wondered what Percy was even doing there. He was so clearly uncomfortable that Boy almost felt bad for him. It didn’t last very long, as Percy had done his best to steer the conversation toward the current grade ranking. He also might have insinuated that it was biased, because there was no way he wasn’t first.
Everyone in the compartment went silent, glaring at him.
Well, everyone aside from Boy. He simply sighed and sat upright, resuming his window gazing.
“Olive, don’t!” Penny said, looking at her friends. “This is apparently my mess to clean up.”
Confused, Boy faced her.
Penny was mad and she obviously had no intention of curbing it. “What the hell is your problem, Percy?!”
Percy blinked, shocked.
“What little time you carve out of your busy life for me is spent ragging on everyone about how you should be first in the year. No one cares! You were beaten out for it by an eleven year old that is twice as mature as you are! And he's twice as bloody smart! Did you know that Harry repeatedly mentioned failing assignments so he’d be kicked out of the top spot? Do you know why? For you, you self-important, egotistical little prat! Because this child felt guilty over your pathetic whining! Until you can grow the hell up, you can consider yourself single. Now get out!”
Silence fell over the compartment once again. It was several minutes before anyone dared break it.
“Well, at least now you can get a man with a personality.” Freya shrugged.
For a moment, Penny was silent.
Boy bit his lip, clenching his hands tightly together.
Much to his shock, Penny laughed.
The others joined in, but Boy couldn’t. They had broken up because of him. It was all his fault. If he had just failed an exam or two, they would still be together. They would be happy. Just because Penny seemed okay now, didn’t mean she really was. If he knew her half as well as he thought he did, she would wait to fall to pieces in private.
“It looks like you’ll have to marry me too, Buh-Harry,” Penny said, pulling him close.
“I’m sorry, Penny.” Boy said guiltily. “I should’ve just-”
“Done exactly what you did.” Penny interjected. “You didn’t do anything wrong, okay? He did.”
Boy nodded, not believing the lie for a second. He wanted the teddy that was stashed in his trunk, and to be back in his broom cupboard, snuggled up with Bear. Why hadn’t Sir filled out the consent form for him to stay at the castle? Sir definitely hadn’t wanted him to come back for the holidays, so why not sign it? He sent the note telling Boy not to come back, but wouldn’t sending the consent form have been easier?
Was it just another ploy to upset him? If so, it was definitely working. Aside from Ma’am and Jamie, hurting Boy seemed to be Sir’s favorite thing.
“Can you make these into one big couch, Kitten?” Amelia asked, standing.
Without even waiting for an answer, Penny and Olive got up too.
Letting out a sigh, Boy pushed up and leaned on his walking stick. “Go wait in the corridor. This will only take a minute.”
“Purple!” Olive called out as she exited the compartment.
“And super fluffy!” Penny added.
“With pillows?” Freya suggested, not having much first hand contact with his abilities.
“May I have your cloaks, please?” Boy asked politely.
When they were handed over, he pulled the screens down. He didn’t want them to see him doing it wandlessly. Using his fake wand wasn’t exactly enhancing his magic. Holding up both hands, he focused on merging the benches close to the window. From there, he flicked his wrists, making it all bright purple. That was the easiest part. It took a fair amount of concentration and energy to make the benches into something between a couch and a giant pouf. He wound up changing the upholstery into an impossibly soft fleece. To keep from ruining their cloaks, he only turned them into pillows. He didn’t change their color or the fabric itself.
A thought occurred to him. Digging out his ruined school robe, he held it up high and used a sticking charm. Now that it was anchored in place, he cast several engorgement charms on it, then changed it to a gauzy black fabric for a canopy. It closed in front, but didn’t block the window.
He yawned and gingerly eased down into the fluffiness. “Come on in!” He called, and let out a quick whistle. Now that everything was rearranged and Percy wasn’t taking up any space, Bear could sprawl out too.
It only took a few seconds for Bear to come trotting in.
“I can’t get used to seeing something so massive and scary being so snuggly,” Freya said, watching Bear curl up at their feet.
She was on one end, then came Amelia, Boy, Penny and finally Olive at the other end.
Boy cuddled up to Penny and was asleep within minutes.
Something tickled his ear.
“Kitten,” someone whispered gently. “It’s time to get up.”
“‘M sl’ppy,” he mumbled, burrowing further into the warmth.
“I know,” someone else whispered over stifled giggles. “Come on, cutie. We’re at the platform.”
The platform? What pl- Boy sat up quickly, surprising his friends. He rubbed his eyes, fighting the urge to just stay on the train with Bear and go back to sleep. Until they headed back to Hogwarts.
Groaning, he cast a finite, changing everything into its original form… and dropped heavily onto the floor between the benches. He winced, pushing up on the wall, his injured knee sticking out to avoid putting pressure on it.
Amelia crouched in front of him, facing away. “Climb on, Kitten.” When he did, she warned him to brace himself so that she could adjust him a bit better.
Resting his head on her shoulder, he tried to stay awake. He noticed that she was walking more slowly than normal and doubted it was because of the foot traffic. She was making sure he wasn't jostled around.
“...of course. I’ll take him.”
That was Sir’s voice.
Before he knew what was happening, Boy was being lifted and was all but dropped on the floor. Staggering blindly, he smacked into something firm and fluffy. “Good doggy,” he said blearily, struggling slightly to upright himself properly. He whimpered in pain and held onto Bear’s neck. Where was his walking stick?
“Are you okay, Harry?” Penny asked, handing over his things.
Boy nodded.
“Mum! Dad!”
Turning, Boy saw Jamie running through the crowd. He knocked into several people in his haste, but didn’t apologize to a single one of them.
“Did you see?” He asked breathlessly, his brown eyes bright with excitement. “The press is here!”
“They must want to know all about your first term!” Ma’am cooed, trying to smooth out his hair.
Jamie beamed and dragged them away.
“You’d better fucking stay put, you little shit.” James hissed at him.
For over an hour Boy sat on a nearby bench. Everyone was long gone, along with the train. He wondered where the train went when it wasn’t needed. From his spot, he could still faintly hear the clamor of the press, shouting questions at Jamie, Ma’am and Sir. There was a lot of polite laughter every once in a while.
Boy couldn’t say for certain, but the majority did sound forced.
After another hour, the noise picked up and died down completely. He waited for another fifteen minutes, and finally realized that they weren’t coming back for him.
“Alright, Cuddles,” Boy said determinedly. “You won’t be able to fit into the floo. So, if I floo to the manor, can you apparate to my side?”
He licked Boy’s face and walked with him to the floos that were set up for public use.
“Are you absolutely sure?” Boy asked worriedly.
Cuddles wagged his tail.
Boy cautiously stepped toward the grate and took a pinch of floo powder. He’d never done this by himself before, and was worried. There were so many things that could go wrong. What if h- no. Nothing would go wrong. Steadying himself mentally, Boy took his place and threw down the powder. “Potter Manor!”
With a rush of emerald flames, he was swept away.