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HP408- Grim
🕑 Added 2025-04-11 23:22:34 +0000 UTCLeaving the house, Harry apparated straight to the alley behind the Leaky Cauldron. The smell of baked stone, beer, and faint magical residue drifted through the air—normal for the place. Inside, the bar felt packed tighter than usual. Not rowdy—just tense, like a pub waiting for bad news to walk in. The sort of hush where people talked quieter and watched the door too often. Since the Ministry already acknowledged Voldemort’s return, Diagon Alley had been turned into a warded maze. Tom's pub was now one of the most warded public places outside the Ministry itself.
Yet, Harry spotted a few familiar faces tucked into the corners of the Leaky Cauldron. Parents of some of his friends were scattered around the place, most of them watching the door like it might explode. He didn’t linger long at any one table, just stopped by each, gave a nod or exchanged a few words.
“Back from the dead?” Cyrus asked, eyeing him with mild amusement.
Harry smirked. “Something like that.”
He shook a few hands, gave a few dry remarks about how South America hadn’t managed to eat him alive, and then moved on. He made his way to the back booth where his lot had gathered.
Tracey was the first to spot him. “There he is. I was about to place a second bet.”
Harry slid into the booth next to her, nodding at the others. Daphne gave him a quick once-over but didn’t say anything. Astoria leaned forward from across the table, arms folded on the edge like she’d been waiting hours.
“You didn’t even bring me back a cursed idol or something?” she asked.
“I’ll wrap up a poisonous frog next time,” Harry mock saluted.
Susan and Hannah were next to Astoria, both already halfway through drinks. Susan raised her glass. “Cheers to surviving whatever nonsense you got into.”
“Didn’t even lose a limb.” He grinned.
Neville and Hermione were crammed in on the other side, Ginny wedged between them with a butterbeer. Luna sat beside her, quietly fiddling with a spoon like it might turn into a beetle.
“Tell us,” Hermione said, not bothering with a greeting, “what was the most important thing you learned?”
Harry raised an eyebrow. “That climbing mountains in the rain is a terrible idea.”
Ginny rolled her eyes. “Seriously?”
“Dead serious,” Harry replied. “Selena nearly hexed a monkey for stealing her quill.”
Tracey snorted. “Bet it was the highlight of the trip.”
“It’s top five,” he admitted.
The conversation was light at first—catching up, snide comments, a few jokes thrown around. Fred and George arrived soon after, each carrying drinks that looked vaguely illegal. Fred gave Harry a mock salute.
“Glad to see you still exist,” he said.
George added, “We were starting to plan a memorial sale in your honor.”
“Charming,” Harry chuckled.
“Could’ve made a fortune,” Fred replied.
Draco, Blaise, and Theo strolled in carrying pizza boxes stacked almost to Theo’s chin. Blaise tossed a smirk toward Harry as he dumped the pile on the nearest empty table.
"Still warm," he said. "Be grateful. We could’ve stopped for kebabs instead."
“I would’ve hexed you,” Tracey said, pulling the top box open. “Muggle pizza or nothing.”
“Is this the place with the garlic crust?” Astoria asked, already reaching for a slice.
Harry nodded. “Yeah. Same one near the record shop. Blaise swore off their pepperoni for a week after burning his mouth.”
“That was once,” Blaise muttered, sitting down. “And it was lava.”
As they passed slices around, Harry reached into his bag and started pulling out the gifts. Nothing dramatic—just small, carefully wrapped packages. One for each of them.
Ginny raised an eyebrow. “What’s this?”
“Souvenirs,” Harry showed his ware, handing her a flat parcel. “Figured I might as well bring something back since Tracey’s expecting cursed frogs.”
“You promised,” Tracey pointed out.
“Next time,” he said.
Susan tore hers open first. It was a tiny stone carving—some kind of bird mid-flight. “This is pretty.”
“Handmade,” Harry nodded. “Some old man outside Cuzco sold them. Said they were lucky.”
Neville got a pouch of oddly shaped seeds. “Supposed to bloom under moonlight. Could be rubbish, but the seller had some in a pot and they glowed. Thought you’d have fun figuring them out.”
“Cheers,” Neville grinned, already pocketing them.
Luna’s package held a woven charm of multicolored thread and bone beads.
“It’s for memory,” she said without reading anything. “Thanks.”
Hermione received a slim leather-bound notebook with faded glyphs pressed into the cover. “Looks old,” she said, flipping through blank pages.
“It is,” Harry replied. “Supposed to absorb magical intent. Miranda thinks it was used for silent spell practice.”
“I'm going to test this immediately,” Hermione said, already halfway distracted.
Everyone unwrapped theirs. Small things—local trinkets, little enchanted items, nothing that screamed expensive, but none of them cheap either. It wasn’t about the price anyway. He just wanted something in their hands from a place they’d never been.
“Should’ve brought more,” he said, watching Ginny examine a miniature obsidian knife. “The market near Tiwanaku had dozens more, but I didn’t want to carry a full bag of sharp objects.”
“You thought about it,” Pansy said.
Harry didn’t deny it.
The food kept coming, and the noise grew louder—jokes, interruptions, sauce being flicked across the table. It felt like normal for a while. But normal didn’t last.
It started when Susan mentioned that Megan Jones had transferred out. “Durmstrang. Her mum didn’t want her here anymore.”
“Another one?” Daphne said, not even surprised.
“Yeah. Heard McMillan’s family’s thinking about it too. Said they’d decide before the train.”
There was a short silence. The kind that slipped in between bites and flattened the mood a little.
“Anyone else?” Theo asked, eyes on his plate.
“Corner’s parents sent in a formal request,” Hermione said. “Beauxbatons.”
“Corner always struck me as the type to run from a sneeze.” Tracey said.
“It’s not about being jumpy,” Susan replied. “People are scared.”
Harry leaned back, watching them. No one said it directly, but the list was growing. A few names missing from Hogwarts next term wasn’t new, but these weren’t the usual troublemakers or last-minute transfers. These were steady students—ones with families high enough in the Ministry or deep enough in the magical networks to know more than they were saying.
“I don’t blame them,” Blaise said eventually. “Some parents think leaving’s the safest play.”
Harry nodded. “Yeah. These families actually think about their kids. Hogwarts doesn’t exactly scream safe, does it? A Death Eater taught there for a whole year and no one noticed—not even the so-called Greatest Wizard alive, Dumbledore. Voldemort used the Triwizard to crawl back from the grave. An Animagus Death Eater hid in the castle for two bloody years. And Quirrell with Voldemort growing out the back of his head? That never even made it to the Prophet. Voldemort’s back now—no wonder parents are pulling their kids.”
Tracey took a swig of her butterbeer. “Put like that, Hogwarts sounds less like a school and more like a cursed labyrinth with a dining hall.”
Daphne let out a short laugh. “They should print that on the welcome scroll. ‘Enjoy your studies, and mind the murder.’”
Astoria leaned on the table, her chin on her arms. “So what, we’re idiots for going back?”
Harry glanced at her. “We’ve got reasons. Influence, legacy, real power. Most of them just want their kids to grow up and become wandmakers, not get buried in school robes.”
Hermione folded her arms. “It’s just... rubbish, isn’t it? Hogwarts is meant to be where we learn spells and sneak sweets, not dodge curses.”
Susan gave a shrug. “My aunt hasn’t said anything straight out, but I could tell she considered pulling me. Still reckons Hogwarts is the safest place left.”
Blaise slouched, arms folded like a cat in sunlight. “Might be the best protected, yeah. But that also makes it the biggest target.”
“Exactly,” Harry said. “Everyone knows the layout, the wards, how things run. Predictable’s easy to hit.”
Theo jabbed his finger at a stray crust. “Some families are talking about setting up private lessons. Just a few kids, quiet homes, stick to core subjects like Runes and Potions.”
“That’s only if you’ve got the gold,” Pansy said, flicking pizza sauce off her nail with disdain. “Most of the Hogwarts crowd can barely afford their standard books.”
“And that’s why they stay,” Daphne added. “Even with the risks, Hogwarts is still the best shot they’ve got.”
“Best for who?” Ginny asked, eyes narrowing. “The ones who don’t get hexed into the Hospital Wing?”
“Don’t pretend the others are better,” Neville said. “Durmstrang teaches blood magic and Beauxbatons is halfway across Europe. Not everyone’s packing their trunks for a cross-country move.”
Harry grabbed another slice. “Right. It’s not about good choices anymore. Just the ones that won’t get you killed.”
Susan turned her glass slowly. “Honestly, I don’t blame the ones leaving. Just because we’re used to this circus doesn’t make it normal.”
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