Chapter 3: Harry
October 2007
"Teddy!"
Harry listened. When no response was forthcoming, he tried again.
"Teddy! Where are you? We need to be going!"
Harry looked at the ceiling above his head, willing the nine year old Metamorphmagus to respond. Silence reigned.
"Ted Remus Lupin! If I have to come up there…"
"Alright, alright, dad! I'm coming! I'll be down in a minute!"
Harry smiled at the predictability of the situation. Teddy was definitely not a morning person, but they had to get an early start if they wanted to make it up to Hope, Scotland-the Muggle sister village of Hogsmeade-before late night. The services were mid-morning the next day, Wednesday.
Harry frowned at that thought and looked out of the bay window at Knightsbridge Road, on which his three-story townhouse was situated. It had been many years since he'd been back to Hogwarts, and now that he was going back, he wished it was for something other than this somber event.
He had not always seen eye-to-eye with the staff and faculty at Hogwarts, but Minerva had almost always looked out for his best interests-or at least much more than anyone else had cared to at the time. He had no idea how she was as a Headmistress, because he had not returned to Hogwarts to complete his seventh year, but she had been an outstanding teacher and a good, albeit strict, Head of House.
He watched the slowly passing traffic as he waited for Teddy to come downstairs. Teddy had never been to Hogwarts since he was not yet of age, so he had been fairly excited to finally go to the castle, but Harry knew that was more in the abstract sense than something concrete. His godson had been attending Muggle primary school since he was five, so he had many non-magical friends with whom to pass the time.
Harry was unsure how Teddy would eventually react when he fully realized he would be leaving all of those friends for boarding school at Hogwarts. Ultimately, Teddy did have the final say in whether he would attend magical school or not, but Harry assumed it was a foregone conclusion. As the child of two magically powerful parents, and the inheritor of a rare and powerful magical ability, his place in Hogwarts had been assured since birth. And even though Harry had purposely receded from the magical world during the last nine years, that didn't mean he wanted Teddy to do the same thing. He would not deny the child his magical heritage, like he had been denied during his childhood.
Footsteps on the stairs focused Harry's wandering thoughts. He turned toward the source of the noise and watched as his godson came into view. Teddy looked like a much younger version of Remus, and there was a slight twinge somewhere in his heart whenever his mind made that connection, but Harry had ceased dwelling on the past quite a number of years ago now. Teddy's face also retained some of the heart-shaped quality of Tonks, but that had started to fade as Teddy approached the beginnings of adolescence.
"Morning sleepyhead," Harry said, smiling at his godson.
"Morning, dad," Teddy mumbled, still looking like he was half-asleep. "Why do we have to go so early, anyway?"
"Because it's a twelve hour drive up to Hope," Harry told him. "And I want to get there before it's very late."
Teddy eyed him for a moment. "Couldn't we just Apparate?"
Harry nodded. "We could. But you haven't had the chance to see much of northern England or any of Scotland. And it's been a long time since I've had the time to drive anywhere significant."
"I guess."
"Oh, don't be a spoilsport," Harry told him, laughing and moving forward to pick up Teddy's luggage. Between them, they only had two small bags, as it would be a relatively short trip. "Besides, you get to spend the day in the DB9 with the top down-as long as it doesn't rain."
That brought a smile to Teddy's face. While October was a bit cool for the convertible, they of course had the advantage of warming charms. Harry could even make the vehicle's interior impervious to rain if he really wanted, but that might be difficult explaining to Muggles why they weren't wet.
"So are you ready?" Harry asked. Teddy nodded. "There is another reason to celebrate, you know: you'll be seeing your grandmother at Hogwarts tomorrow."
Teddy's smiled brightened. "Oh, I can't wait to see Andy!" he said. Harry laughed again and guided Teddy out of the townhouse. Andy, as she wanted to be called, spoiled Teddy rotten whenever she could; and Teddy, the opportunistic little bugger, encouraged her at every turn.
Harry locked up behind them as they left through the front door, surreptitiously locking down the wards around the property as well with some casual movements of his hands. Teddy was already waiting by the passenger door of the black Aston Martin DB9 convertible parked in front of the house-the parking spot had cost 300,000 Pounds, and was Harry's on lease until 2094. Harry clicked the unlocking mechanism on his key chain, put the two pieces of luggage in the small boot, and climbed in the driver side. Teddy was already belted in. He inserted the key, pressed the startup button, and listened with satisfaction as the powerful engine roared to life. It settled into idle at a low rumble after a moment.
Harry cast warming charms over them and pushed the button on the console to lower the convertible top. The gray October skies soon came into view as the heavens opened up above them. He swept his long black hair out of his face with a hand and turned to Teddy, who was still smiling.
"Ready?" Harry asked, grinning fully.
Teddy nodded, now quite excited. The thrill of adventure awaited.
"Then we're off," Harry said, slipping the car into first gear and pulling away from the curb.
---
Their route took them north out of London on the M1. They passed Luton, Milton Keynes, and Northampton. At junction 19, they veered west and took the M6, passing north of Birmingham, where they turned in a more northerly direction. They got off at junction 34 around Camforth to get something to eat. After returning to the road and the comfortable luxury convertible, they continued on the M6 until it turned into the A74 at the border of England and Scotland.
The scenery around there was mostly flat with some lightly rolling hills; it wasn't until they were north of Coatsgate that they began to see some of the rocky formations for which Scotland is famous. The A74 became the M74 at Abington, and they continued on their northward trek. The DB9 drove like a dream; it was still overcast, but there was no rain, and it even seemed like the skies might have been lightening a bit as they approached the interchanges around Glasgow. The M74 turned briefly into the M73, then the A80, the M80, the M9, and finally the A9 once they were north of all the trailing suburbs of the Edinburgh region.
The A9 was where the fun really began, because they were entering the Highlands region of Scotland. Teddy had never been up here, and he stared out at the wonderful scenery with something approaching awe. The A9 took them through the western reaches of The Cairngorm National Park and up through Inverness, where they stopped again for some food. It was now approaching sunset, as their journey northward had a marked effect on the length of day, so they returned to the road north of Inverness with the sun setting in the southwest behind them. It lit the beautiful, somewhat desolate landscape of the Highlands in many wonderful hues, as the clouds had given way to mostly clear skies up here.
After using B9176 briefly as a bypass, they turned onto the A836 for the last leg of their journey. Harry was glad for the bright halogen lamps of the Aston Martin's headlights because it was quite dark up here. With very few residential areas between there and the North Sea, night fell with a certain finality over the land. What they could see was still beautiful, but Harry was more cautious now on these unfamiliar stretches of road.
Eventually, around 8pm, they came to the intersection of A836 and A838 at Kyle of Tongue, at Tongue Bay on the North Sea, and turned on the westerly route. Ten miles later, they arrived in the small hamlet of Hope at the northern tip of Loch Hope. The Wizarding village of Hogsmeade was a few miles south of Hope on the eastern shore of Loch Hope, and Hogwarts was just a bit further south of Hogsmeade. Harry knew no one could ever find Hogwarts on a map, but Hogsmeade was not so similarly Unplottable (on magical maps), so it was simple logical deduction that located the castle.
Harry had already secured lodging for the two nights they would stay in Hope, so they pulled into the drive of the rented cottage and stretched their legs after a long day in the car. He pulled the key that been mailed to him from his pocket and gave it to Teddy, to go on ahead and open the house, while he pulled their luggage from the boot.
---
"Dad?"
"What is it, Teddy?" Harry wondered. They had settled in at the cottage and were mostly ready for bed. They were both reading in the sitting room.
"Why don't you like Hogwarts?"
Harry felt his eyebrows creep up his forehead. His godson was staring at him intently.
"What makes you think I don't like it?"
Teddy looked uncomfortable for a moment. "You hardly ever talk about it," he pointed out. "And you seemed like you didn't want to come up here at all."
Harry laid his book aside. He wondered when he would be having this conversation with his godson. A younger Teddy had asked some pointed questions about his biological parents, but they had never really discussed Harry's past in too much detail.
"You know that if you ever have questions about Hogwarts or anything else about the magical world, you can ask me, right?" Harry asked. Teddy nodded. "Just because I prefer not to talk about those things much doesn't mean I won't answer your questions."
Teddy nodded again. "But why don't you want to talk about it? I mean, you can't hate the magical world because you're always with the goblins…"
Harry inclined his head and smiled. "You're right, Teddy. I don't hate the Wizarding world. How could I when I'm magical and you're magical and I grew up at Hogwarts?"
"I don't know, dad."
"But you know what I did at the end of my seventh year," Harry continued. "I've told you the real story; and I'm sure you've read the more fantastical versions in all those books you're always reading," Harry lightly teased.
"Some of them are pretty wild," Teddy agreed. "But I know the true story."
"All seven years I spent attending Hogwarts were filled with events leading up to that final battle with Riddle, most of which were dangerous, stressful, and unnecessary. I had very little chance to live a normal life until after I left Hogwarts, so my memories of that place aren't exactly my fondest.
"There were good times, sure, but they were few and far between with long stretches of problems in the middle. I was also a rather mediocre student, which I could partially blame on being distracted most of the time, but the point is that I think I wasted a lot of my time at Hogwarts. I know you won't do the same thing when you go because you're already much smarter and more motivated than I ever was in school."
Teddy smiled. "Thanks dad. It'll be hard to live up to your reputation, though."
"You don't have to," Harry told him. "And that reputation is mostly rubbish, anyway. I made it through those years on luck, really, and with the help of some of my good friends at the time."
"Was it hard to make friends?" Teddy asked, sounding a bit nervous and genuinely like a nine year old.
"Not really," Harry answered, chuckling. "You'll get sorted into your house and usually the first years kind of stick together for a while after that. Eventually you'll split into smaller groups when you figure out each other a little more, but by then you'll have settled into something of a routine and you won't even realize it's happening."
Again, Teddy looked a bit uncomfortable, even though he was nodding at what Harry was saying. "Dad…?"
"What is it?"
"Why don't…how come none of your school friends ever come around the house?"
"What do you mean?"
"Those books always mention Ronald Weasley and Hermione Granger-the Golden Trio."
Harry forced himself not to react. He had not expected Teddy to question him directly about his two schoolmates.
"I know Mr. and Mrs. Weasley and George, but what about Ron? And Hermione?"
"Well, Teddy, that is a bit difficult to say, really," Harry replied, unsure if he wanted to just deflect the question or actually try to answer his godson. He was pretty sure Ron or Hermione, or possibly both of them, would be at Hogwarts the next day, so it might be better to try to explain some of it.
"Why?"
"The end of the war was a…tremendous time," Harry explained, carefully. "The magical world was suddenly yanked back from the brink of destruction. Everyone was a bit out of sorts for a while, and there were certain expectations placed upon me and my friends that we had perhaps been unconsciously moving toward for quite some time…" he trailed off, seeing that he'd lost Teddy.
"Think of it like this," Harry said. "The world as we knew it changed completely overnight. Something that many of us had been preparing for in some way or another for seven years was finished. There were extremely upsetting losses on our side," Harry went on, thinking of Fred and Teddy's parents, "which put more strain on everyone."
"Like my real mum and dad," Teddy said, quietly. Harry nodded.
"Yes, Teddy. Like Remus and Tonks."
Teddy indicated that Harry should continue.
"So we suddenly had the world at our feet, so to speak, but none of us had really made any plans for after the war. We all had ideas of what we wanted to do, or found ourselves in circumstances that we had not anticipated, so we had to eventually put aside what we wanted-what was easy-for what was right."
"So what happened?"
"The three of us were at odds for a few weeks after the war," Harry said. He could still remember that time vividly. "We all wanted different things. Eventually, and for reasons you might not understand until you're a little older, we had a spectacular row and went our separate ways."
"And that was it?" Teddy wondered, looking at Harry with wide eyes. His innocent concern warmed Harry's heart. "You never talked to each other again?"
"Not quite," Harry said. "We kept up letters for a little while, but we soon had our own lives and responsibilities, so they slowly came to an end. Ron and Hermione also do not live in Britain anymore."
"What do they do?"
"Hermione's studying to become a Muggle professor in Australia and Ron works with his brother, Charlie, at a magical creature preserve in the mountains of Romania."
Teddy considered this information. This was actually the most that Harry had ever talked with Teddy about his past. It was easier than he imagined, but that might have been because Teddy was so smart and perceptive.
"And you work for Gringotts," Teddy said.
"Eh, not quite," Harry corrected, though he was smiling. "I don't work for Gringotts… more like with them."
"What do you mean?"
"Well, you know how well off we are, right?" Teddy nodded. As the sole heir to the Black and Potter fortunes, Harry was one of the richest individuals in the world. Teddy didn't know quite that much, but his godson did understand they were very wealthy.
"And that Gringotts is a bank?"
"Of course," Teddy scoffed.
"Well, even banks sometimes need to borrow money, and I provide that service to Gringotts. It's a little more complicated than a normal loan, but the essence of it is the same."
"So you're a…"
"Venture capitalist," Harry supplied, watching with some amusement as Teddy internalized the new words. "Capital being the money and other resources I have."
"Hmmm," Teddy intoned, thinking about everything. Harry just watched him. Sometimes his godson's intelligence reminded him of Hermione. He knew that Teddy would be a formidable wizard, especially because he would not have Voldemort and the Second War hanging over his head for his seven years at Hogwarts.
"Are you going to see Ron and Hermione tomorrow?" was the eventual question posed by Teddy. Harry was surprised by the insight, even though he knew he shouldn't have been.
"It's possible," Harry responded, shrugging. "Probable, actually."
"And how do you feel about that?" Teddy queried, looking intensely at Harry, who had to suppress laughter at being psychoanalyzed by his nine year old godson.
"I don't know, Teddy. Fine I guess. I'm not too worried about it. It's been a long time since all of that. And speaking of a long time, it has been a very long day. Don't you think it's about time for bed?" Harry asked.
"Ok dad," Teddy agreed, closing the book in his lap and placing it on the side table. He stood up and walked over to where Harry was sitting. They hugged each other.
"Sleep well," Harry told him, ruffling his brown hair.
Teddy smiled lightly before turning away. "You too dad. See you in the morning."
"Night," Harry said, watching as Teddy disappeared from the room. Moments later, he heard the door to his godson's room softly close.
Harry leaned back and sighed. Though he had not lied to Teddy about how he felt, if he was completely honest with himself, he had no idea how a reunion between the Golden Trio would go. He knew he was a vastly different person from that surly teenager of 1998. He imagined Ron and Hermione had undergone similarly profound changes.
But perhaps that was for the better. Maybe now that they were older and had their own lives, they wouldn't feel the pressure from all sides they had felt back at the end of the war. Maybe Ron and Hermione wouldn't even show up at Hogwarts. Or maybe only one of them would.
Harry cut off all conjecture there and turned in for the night. Only time would confirm or deny his thoughts.
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