The next day Harry, Ron, and Hermione woke up late in the morning and packed for the next day or two. Harry and Ron let Hedwig and Pig out of their cages to hunt and Hermione let Crookshanks run around freely (except for in Harry and Ron’s rooms). After having breakfast, they began walking to the street away from Grimmauld Place.
Harry reluctantly raised his right hand and then came a loud BANG. Once again the Knight Bus came down the street and stopped right in front of them and Daniel stepped out.
“Welcome””
“We know,” Harry interrupted and began climbing onto the bus with Ron and Hermione following. “Godric’s Hollow.”
“Right away! You heard them Ern, Godric’s Hollow,” said Daniel enthusiastically.
Ernie closed the doors, there was another BANG, and the bus was off. Harry paid Daniel sixteen Sickles when he recovered and was about to join Ron and Hermione in looking for the farthest seat possible when he was called back.
“Hold on a sec!” yelled Daniel, running up to Harry.
Harry breathed in hoping to find patience and turned to him saying, “I’m not up for any jokes at the moment, so no thanks.”
“It’s not that. Just wanted to give you a little tip.”
“And what would that be?” Harry asked without caring.
“If you’re looking for a place to stay at Godric’s Hollow, the only place for a witch or wizard to stay at is the Witch’s Wand--mind, it really is the only place to stay for a witch or wizard,” he added.
“I’ll make sure to remember that,” said Harry, hoping to take leave of Daniel’s presence.
“You’d better. I’ll tell Ern to drop you off there. Oh yeah, make sure to mention me to Larry; he’s the owner and an old friend of mine. He should give you a nice discount.”
Harry thanked him and a minute later found Ron and Hermione at the far end of the second floor.
“What did he”” BANG “”want?” continued Ron, sitting himself back down.
“Nothing. He just gave me some lodging advice. Looks like we’re going to stay at the Witch’s Wand.”
“I’ve heard of that place,” said Hermione. “Lavender told me that she stayed there with her family a few summers ago while they were on a trip. It’s supposed to just as good as the Leaky Cauldron and the Three Broomsticks.”
“That’s nice to know,” muttered Ron, trying to lay his head back. BANG. He fell off his chair again. “Blimey, isn’t it possible for someone to take a five minute nap around here?” he yelled, getting up to his feet.
“Didn’t get enough sleep last night?” Harry asked.
“No! That damn buzzing wouldn’t stop.”
“You could have just found somewhere else to sleep.”
“I was too tired,” he said, trying the same thing again. He was only interrupted again by the bus, which suddenly swerved violently to the left and to the right. It seemed that nobody was able to hold to anything and toppled off their seats.
There was a scream of pain followed by whimpering. A man had caught his leg on the leg of his chair and they both broke. His friend then came up and healed the leg with a tap of his wand.
“Old bus driver,” the man complained after seeing his leg was fine, “isn’t fit to operate a toy broomstick. I’m sure these jumps would go easier with someone younger.”
“I don’t think so,” said his friend that was now looking out the window. “It wasn’t a jump because we’re still in Sheffield.”
Later, two people came to the second floor and everybody found out that Daniel had scared Ernie from behind as a joke.
“Git,” Ron muttered. “Honestly, trying to scare the operator of an already unstable bus. We all could have been killed.”
It was another hour or two before Daniel came up and announced their arrival at Godric’s Hollow. “Here we are,” he said, taking Harry, Ron, and Hermione’s bags. “Now remember to mention me to Larry; he usually charges too much because this is the only wizarding pub in town.” He handed the bags back to them as they got off the bus. “Come again!”
“Only if serious misfortune comes our way,” Hermione said under her breath.
BANG. The bus was gone.
In front of them stood a cozy shack. Above the door there was a sign of a hand with painted fingernails holding a wand that was emitting sparks.
“The Witch’s Wand,” Hermione read from under the hand.
“We won’t get anywhere by just reading will we?” said Ron, hitching up his bag. “In we go.” Harry and Hermione followed.
Inside they were met with the same atmosphere as the Leaky Cauldron. There was a man in the corner who was completely indulged by the Daily Prophet, a large group of witches were chatting along and taking up three tables, and some figures who were sitting in the back blowing smoke rings. But unlike Harry’s first visit to the Leaky Cauldron, nobody was making a fuss over him.
Observing the scene, Harry led the way over to the bar where a pretty young witch not much older than them was serving drinks. Ron inhaled a large amount of air when he saw her, but gagged it out when Hermione elbowed him hard in the ribs.
“What can I get you?” the bartender asked smiling as they came up.
“Nothing, we only want two rooms for the night,” answered Harry.
“Ouch…two you said?” she said, with a pained expression. She took out a quill, ink, and parchment from under the counter and dipped the quill in the ink. “One is pricey enough, but that’s what happens when you’re the only one in town that provides lodging. Names?” she asked preparing to take them down. Her eyes then moved to Harry’s scar, and she shamelessly said, “Oh, its Harry Potter of course.”
“Hold on, does a person named Larry own this place?” Harry asked quickly before she took down his name. Daniel’s advice might be worth something.
“Yup, he right over there,” she said pointing to a table where two people were sitting. “He’s the one with in red.”
One of the men had on a red robes and wore a pair of furry boots. His gray hair had signs of going bald, but was still pretty full. He seemed to be talking business with another man sitting across from him.
“You can’t find a better location,” Larry said, as if trying to sell a product.
“I don’t care, other places are giving me a better offer,” said the other man.
“But do those places have better rooms than us? What about service? And drinks?”
“Well no…”
“So what’s the problem? Sure, we may be a tad more expensive””
“A ‘tad’! The Burning Castle charges half what you do!”
“Fine,” Larry said, putting up his hands in mock defeat, “tell the Weird Sisters that they have to stay in some worn down, dirty shack to prepare themselves for their next concert. It’ll be your head.”
The other man looked flustered and seemed to give up. “Oh…very well,” he said, holding out his hand.
“Excellent!” Larry said taking his hand and shaking it. “Tell you what. I’ll cut down my prices by ten percent.”
“Thank you,” he said, but still not sounding very happy.
After the man left Larry now turned his attention on Harry, Ron, and Hermione, who were standing close by. “What can I do for you three?” he asked with a cheery smile.
“Yes, we are looking for two rooms for the night,” answered Harry.
“Ouch.” Larry put on the same pained expression that the witch wore. They were clearly not trying to hide how expensive this place was. “That will defiantly put a hole in your pocket. Go to my young bartender. She will set them up for you.”
“But the thing is that Daniel sent us,” Harry held his breath and hoped this would work. If not then it sounded as if he would have to empty his vault at Gringotts.
But luckily, Larry’s eyes widened to the size of dinner plates and he put on an even cheerier smile. “Well, well, you know old Danny! Knew him since he was a lad. To think, that he knows Harry Potter is remarkable. Taught him everything I knew about jokes.” He didn’t notice Ron annoyed scoff and Hermione trying to cover it up.
“Did you now!” said Hermione, putting on a smile.
“That one about the Muggle and the hag was hilarious,” continued Harry.
“Very,” agreed Ron.
“Claire!” Larry immediately shouted to the young with at the counter.
“Yes?” answered the witch.
“Give these three the one night special at half off!”
“Right away,” Claire responded looking confused.
“The special includes rooms, free meals and a tourist map of the town,” he said turning back to Harry, Ron and Hermione.
Some special, Harry thought.
“Tourist map?” questioned Ron.
“Yup. After You-Know-Who disappeared folks have been coming here to pay their respects to your parents at the graveyard, Potter. Of course, they mostly come around Halloween time, so you should have some privacy when you go there.”
“That obvious where I’m going?” Harry asked, smiling grimly.
“Sure is! You haven’t been here in almost sixteen years. You gotta go see your parent’s graves.” He then reached under his robes and pulled out what must have been the tourist map. “After that I suggest you visit your old house.”
“I thought it was destroyed.”
“It was,” Larry said, starting to sound guilty, “but the town decided to have it rebuilt and turned into kind of a museum. Hope you don’t mind.”
“I guess I don’t,” Harry exhaled out. “I think I will stop by.”
“Great. Now you can go pay Claire and she’ll give you the room keys.” He shook all their hands and went off to see he could do anymore business.
Harry would have had to practically empty his moneybag to pay for the rooms at regular price, but it wasn’t so with the discount and Ron and Hermione chipping in. Claire gave them the keys to two rooms and they went up to the next floor to put their things away. Hermione took the second door to the right past the first landing, so Harry and Ron took the one next to it.
Once they got inside it was easy to see why Larry was saying the Weird Sisters would be happy with staying in one of his rooms. The floor was made of Mahogany and was so polished that one see their reflection in it, but it wasn’t slippery. There were velvet drapes hung in front of the bay windows, despite the lack of a bay, and two very comfortable looking beds. They had thick, warm blankets with fluffy pillows. The two dressers were cut from ash and also polished, and each had a mirror.
“Very nice,” Ron complimented, tossing his bag onto one of the beds. “The Galleons this place makes obviously doesn’t all make it into their pockets.”
“That’s no lie,” Harry said, throwing his bag on the other bed.
They both met back up with Hermione a minute later and decided to have one of the meals that were promised to them. Within moments a large, juicy roast was brought to their table, along with mashed potatoes, gravy, salad, and three flagons of butterbeer.
“Hey,” Larry interrupted, as Harry, Ron and Hermione were about to start on the roast, “since you guys love Danny’s jokes, I have a new one for you three to hear.”
“Let’s hear it,” said Harry anxiously, but groaning inside. Ron and Hermione seemed to do the same.
“Okay, how many Muggles does it take to change a candle on a high banister?”
“How many?” Hermione asked, feigning interest.
“Three,” he answered enthusiastically. “One to put in a new candle, and two to hold the ladder.”
Harry and Hermione laughed weakly and Ron seemed slightly amused, but didn’t make too much out of it and ripped a leg off the roast.
“That was great,” Harry lied. Keep it up, he told himself, or he might change his mind and charge full.
“Can’t wait to tell that one to Danny. We had about a dozen guests that got the discount because of him. Mostly because he got that job on the Knight Bus.”
“Wouldn’t have if the Ministry didn’t lock up Stan Shunpike,” Harry said darkly.
“Yeah, it should have been obvious in a second that he wasn’t a Death Eater,” Ron said, biting into the leg.
Larry’s eyes widened again, but with surprise rather than delight. “Blimey, didn’t any of you hear? Shunpike confessed to everything! Been sentenced to years in Azkaban.”
“What?” Harry and Hermione exclaimed together. Ron started to choke.
“I don’t see why you’re all so surprised. He’s been held for almost a year now. The Ministry wouldn’t hold anybody unless they were sure that person was trouble.”
“But the guy is an idiot,” Ron forced out, clutching his throat.
“Well, you have to be to join You-Know-Who,” Larry stood up and smacked Ron on the back. “Better?”
Ron took a large swallow. “Yeah, thanks,” he gasped.
“Anyways, things turned out for the best,” Larry said going back to all three of them. “A Death Eater is locked up, Danny got a good job, and you three got a very nice deal.”
After Larry left, Hermione urged Harry and Ron to eat as quickly as possible. She was the first one to finish and was waiting impatiently for the other two. After about ten minutes they got up and left
Before Ron closed the door behind him he saw Claire wink at him. He let out a sound of being punched in the stomach and took a clumsy step out the door.
Hermione seemed very annoyed by that, but tried to ignore it and took out the map that was given to them. “You know why Stan confessed, don’t you?” she asked Harry and Ron.
“No,” they answered in unison.
“Dumbledore,” she said fiercely. “It’s all because he was killed, even with all the protection set around Hogwarts. I’m sure of it.”
“Why?” Ron asked.
“Because Dumbledore was a large figure against Voldemort,” Harry answered this time. “People are even more unsure about the Ministry and their security.”
“So the Ministry really wants to be seen doing something,” added Ron, finally catching up.
“Exactly,” said Harry. “I bet anything that Scrimgeour was even more desperate to have me on the Ministry’s good side back at the funeral.”
“I have a feeling that the confession was forced,” Hermione said, disgusted, while pouring over the map. “Take a right here.” She led the rest of the way and after passing a few more streets they found themselves in front of the entrance to the graveyard. The large metal gate was glooming over them, casting a barred shadow over them. “And I have a bad feeling more bad things will come our way than expected,” she said, dismayed, and looking up over the gate.
Behind the gate there was a large field filled with trees and tombstones of different sizes. Some had large parties of mourners standing above them for a funeral; others had fewer visitors, filled with just as much sorrow. In front of the gate there stood two cabins on either side. The one on the left most people who were looking for directions to a certain grave, but the one on the right was practically deserted.
Harry instinctually made for the cabin on the left, but Hermione stopped him.
“Don’t you see?” she asked.
“See what?”
“The one on the right works the same way as the Leaky Cauldron.”
Upon further inspection Harry saw that she had a point. Nobody was even glancing at that cabin on the right.
“Good point.”
Harry, Ron and Hermione then went into the cabin on the right. Inside the wizard behind the desk was aroused by their appearance.
“How may I”” He stopped and looked from Harry to his scar. “Northwest corner. It should be pretty obvious which one it is.”
“Uh…thanks,” said Harry, not sure of what to say.
After leaving the cabin and entering the graveyard it did not take them too long to find the graves. The man had been right about it being obvious which graves belonged to the Potters. They were the most noticeable tombstones that were sitting side by side in the Northwest corner. The one that was labeled JAMES POTTER had a large marble stag standing on its hind legs. The other labeled LILY POTTER had a marble angel. Around the graves many dried up flowers littered the ground.
When Harry got closer he saw that there was a small plaque under the stag that read Personally Requested by Remus Lupin.
Harry then noticed that he was alone, for Ron and Hermione stood back in hopes of giving him some privacy.
“It’s all right,” he called them over, “I don’t mind some company.”
Harry took out his wand and with a wave produced flowers from the tip and placed them on top of both graves. Ron and Hermione followed suite.
Mum…Dad. “Wish I got to know you guys better,” he said in a carried whisper.
“I know they feel the same way,” said Hermione, who was now laying her head on Ron’s shoulder and looking sadly down at the graves.
The three of them didn’t spend too much more time at the site. The sun was beginning to set and they realized how open to attack they were. But before they left Harry went between the graves and kneeled, placing one hand on each of the graves.
I know I’m putting myself in danger by going after Voldemort, but it’s something I have to do, he thought desperately. “Bye,” Harry got up and rejoined Ron and Hermione.
Harry stepped forward with them and felt the pressure of Apparation come and go. They then found themselves back in front of the Witch’s Wand. Inside the population had increased and people were now starting to stare at Harry.
“It’s rude to stare!” yelled Ron at one of the people close by.
“Forget it, Ron,” Harry said, waving everybody off. “I’m used to it.”
“I should have guessed that people we saw in here earlier couldn’t be all the guests,” inquired Hermione. “Everybody here was just out for the day.”
“Whatever,” Ron said, shooting another nasty look at another person. “How about some drinks? My treat.”
Hermione quickly stood up and refused the offer. “No, that’s not necessary. I’ll pay.” Without another word she left for the bar.
“What’s gotten into her?” asked Ron.
Harry looked over to the bar and saw that Hermione was having a chat with Claire.
“I think it rhymes with ‘pear’,” Harry suggested.
“Come off it. It was nothing. It didn’t mean anything,” he said indifferently, though his ears were pinking. “She’s a looker and all, but I’m not gonna ask her out.”
Hermione returned with three flagons of butterbeer and looked even more annoyed than she had earlier.
“It’s nothing,” she replied instantly.
“Nobody asked yet,” Harry said.
“You were.” She took off the top of started to drink.
But in between gulps Harry heard her distinctly murmur things like “thinks he’s kind of cute,” or “two years older than him.” Having the knowledge that Ron wouldn’t be dumb enough to ask out Claire, Harry was to a certain extent enjoying the situation due to all the times Ron messed him up in talking with girls.
“So we’re heading for your old house tomorrow, Harry?” asked Ron, trying to ignore Hermione’s muttering.
“Yup. That way we could leave early and head for Hogwarts later,” answered Harry, hoping that would slightly please Hermione.
But after finishing their drinks she ushered Harry and Ron to get to bed early.
“It’s only eight at night!” complained Ron.
“So what?” she said earnestly, making a face that he
couldn’t refuse.
“Fine, but I’m going to be lying awake for hours.”
“At least we’ll be getting our money’s worth out of the rooms.”
Harry and Ron did lay awake on their beds for a few hours before falling asleep. During that time Harry’s mind was back at the graveyard. He came and did what he had to, and now going to Hogwarts would be his, Ron, and Hermione’s first steps in searching for the Horcruxes.
Thinking about his parents had caused Harry’s dreams to be consumed by the old thoughts that were given to him by the dementors. He heard James order Lily to run away with Harry and how he must have fought off Voldemort. Then he found Voldemort finding Lily holding Harry and telling her to get out of the way. She refused. He killed her and went for Harry. There was a flash of green light Harry awoke with a jerk.
The sun was starting to come up and Harry was drenched in sweat, almost as if a dementor was close by, but there were none. He ran his fingers across scar, not because it hurt, but because Harry could almost feel the Killing Curse against his forehead.
Not many people could say the same, he thought dismally.
Harry lied back down and fell asleep again, only to be awoken by something soft impacting his head.
“Get up,” came Ron’s voice. He had thrown his pillow at Harry.
“Why?” he asked, sandwiching his head between the pillows.
“Hermione said so,” he yawned.
“Speaking of Hermione, shouldn’t you tell her that you don’t fancy that Claire person? Unless you do of course.”
“I don’t,” he said hotly.
“Then say something,” Harry demanded, getting out of bed.
Harry and Ron got dressed and went downstairs to have the breakfast that was also included with the rooms. Hermione joined them a minute later and the three of them ate the large stacks of pancakes placed in front of them.
“The house isn’t far,” Harry said, looking at the map and eating at the same time.
“That’s good,” Ron said, taking another bite.
After finishing they went outside and turned right. The sun had risen properly now and the streets were beginning to fill with people. Hermione was leading again and she stopped when they got to a comfortable looking brick house.
There were already a few others that were making their way in and out of the house. Some were walking across the lawn and admiring the house and others seemed to bend over to get a good look at something.
Harry crossed the fence first and was followed by Ron and Hermione. People started to gawk at him, but then looked away. Inside the house looked as if somebody was actually living there. Nice furniture filled the living room, there was a good table in the dining room, and the appliances in the kitchen actually worked. The only things that the place was missing were the pictures in the frames.
In the hallway there was a plaque that got the attention from the people around. Harry made his way forward, and it gave was a theory about what happened when Voldemort attacked. He was rather impressed by description, and how the rubble was checked for spell damage to get clues.
Harry read it over again and sighed. “I already knew all that.”
“We should go upstairs,” suggested Hermione. “Your old room is supposed to be there.”
Harry, Ron and Hermione climbed the stairs and went into the room at the end of a short corridor. The room was filled with many baby things like a crib, toys and bottles. Prints of birds circled around the room.
“This is nice,” complimented Ron. “Wonder where these people got the idea of how the house was decorated.”
Hermione thought about it for a second. “Maybe””
Crack.
The three of them whipped around and looked for who just came, but nobody was there. The sound seemed to have come from downstairs. Suddenly, the people below started to scream. More sounds of Apparation followed and the screams got louder and desperate.
Harry Potter and the Secret Spell by Phoenix 86
Chapter Notes: A big thanks to Allamensia for becoming my new Beta in my time of need.