CH 12
Harry - James - Potter - Harry - James - Potter
A couple of days later Professor Dumbledore was irked that the Philosopher Stone had been destroyed along with the Mirror of Erised. According to his spy the mirror was completely destroyed by Quirrell who did it in frustration at not getting the Stone from it.
The Potions Master then reported to the Headmaster that Quirrell had died when the parasitic vapour known as the Dark Lord Voldemort, left the man's body, leaving the school in frustration at the failure of getting a living body back. The Headmaster believed his spy, after all there was no reason not to believe him, plus he'd seen into Severus' mind and saw the magical separation of the two.
Still the old man was also irked because Harry Potter had been appropriately placed in Hufflepuff House. The boy had not been out of bounds after hours the day Quirrell had disappeared. True the boy had earned fifty points for his House and explanation had been sketchy, but that wasn't something that hadn't happened before.
'Courage under fire,' the Headmaster thought. 'That's kind of catchy, but I'd rather that the boy have more Gryffindor-like qualities.' He sighed and looked over the sea of students waiting for the last speech of the year. He smiled benevolently and said, "Another year has come and gone. Let's praise the winners of the House Cup, our Slytherins."
Harry clapped loudly along with the cheers and a few other sparse congratulations among the loud yelling snakes.
There was a call to clap for Ravenclaw House that had won the Quidditch cup this year through several of sneaky legal plays that left the Slytherins gasping in shock when the total score had been called after the Snitch had been caught. There were more people clapping.
Then finally, "Now as you've all been warned, you're not to do magic outside of school and I'm sure the Professor Flitwick has double checked your wands for the standard Ministry Tracking Charms. We do not want to see any of you fined for underage use of magic. Be safe this summer children, the year is finished."
Everyone threw up their pointy hats up in the air and said, "Yay!"
Then they left the Great Hall to catch the carriages that would take them to the red steam engine train that was prepared to carry them back home.
Harry was in the rear car train again, only this time Neville had joined him immediately and so had Draco. He was looking at photographs in an album given to him by Hagrid, who'd collected them from friends of his parents. He'd a small smile on his face and then he put the book away, saving it for later.
"So what are you doing this summer Harry," Draco asked, while petting Midnight. He was surprised to have been allowed by the snake, but loved the feel and weight of him.
"Hm," Harry paused to switch his glasses for darker ones against this sunny day. "I think this year I have to go to a conference with my guardian. I don't know where it will be, but I'm hoping that it'll be in Asia somewhere."
"Why," Neville asked, double-checking that his toad, Trevor, was still in the special terrarium expandable pocket that Harry had given him for the Yule Holidays. He sighed in relief at the blank stare and croaking noise coming from it.
"I'm hoping to learn some new Runes," Harry said without elaborating. He had The Dreamer out in his lap and was petting the snake, giving the sleeping creature some attention that he knew the snake felt, even if it was in hibernation.
"What Runes do you know," Draco asked out of curiosity.
"A lot," Harry said. "I've been studying them for a long time now." He put The Dreamer in his pouch and took a sleepy Midnight back to tuck away. The train was slowing down.
"I wonder if my father will get me a snake," Draco eyed the dark snake with a bit of envy. "Can I Owl you two this summer? I don't want to be stuck with just the grunts of Crabbe and Goyle or the whining Parkinson."
"Sure," Harry said. "I won't mind. I'll let you know when I leave the country and if I'm leaving it."
"Me too," Neville said. "Hey, Harry, if you're going to other place, can I ask you to pick up plant books and seeds related to the books. I'll pay you back."
"I'm not going to commit to that, but I'll see what I can do," Harry agreed. "What about you Draco? What kind of books do you want me to look for, foreign potions, hexes or curses?"
"Potions," Draco said immediately, which generated good-natured laughter. "Followed by charms, but only if you find something unique, of course."
"Of course," Harry said as the train pulled to a stop. "I make no promises," he said, putting what seemed like a Feather Weight charm on his luggage and those of his friends.
"What about..." the other two started to say, but then stopped.
"We're still on the train and officially this is last day of school," Harry said.
"That spell's a third year spell," Draco said.
"No it's a goblin spell," Harry explained. "I haven't even purchased any third year books."
"You're not going to take third year Runes are you," Neville asked.
"No," Harry confirmed.
"Arithmancy," Draco asked.
Harry nodded and said, "Yes, I'm thinking about that class and Care of Magical Creatures. I still have a year to think about it though."
"Right," Draco said. "Come on I want to introduce the two of you to my parents." He led them to two blond snooty looking individuals. "Mother, Father, this is Harry Potter and Neville Longbottom. Harry, Neville these are my parents, Narcissa Malfoy née Black," the woman curtsied and the boys bowed politely which cause her silver-blue eyes to twinkle slightly. Neville's grandmother watched the exchange and joined them, along with Ollivander. Draco continued, "This is my father, Lucius Malfoy."
Again the two boys bowed, but noticed the different reaction. "Mr. Potter," Lucius said with a frown at the bandana that hid the boy's infamous scar. "I did not think I'd be meeting you here."
Harry smiled and said, "It was bound to happen sometime."
"Neville," Lady Longbottom said.
"Grandmother, this is Draco Malfoy, one of my friends from school," Neville said. "These are his parents."
"We've already been introduced," she said to the two blond adults. "We must be leaving now."
"Yes ma'am," Neville said picking up light trunk. He left quickly following his grandmother.
"Harry," Ollivander said. "We need to leave too."
"Yes sir," Harry said. "Write to you soon." He followed his master into the station house in order to use the floo back to the store. It was a frivolous indulgence, but his master only chose it because of the Malfoys' presence on the platform, Harry was sure of that.
Back on the platform, Draco was carrying his trunk to his family's magical carriage. "Harry Potter seems to be a likeable young man," his mother observed. "I'm curious, why does he hide his scar?"
"He claimed that he didn't want to be stared at," Draco said. "He forgot his bandana a few times in the beginning and the scar was visible under the school hat. The students did stare and were quite rude about it." He grinned and then said, "When they did that he stared right back at them with a fierce glare and called them, 'Mannerless apes' and 'Uncivilized worms'," he snickered and continued. "Even to the girls and boy did they not like him for that."
Lucius smirked at that and figured that the boy had heard something like that from Severus Snape. "What would you like to do this summer, Draco," his father asked. "Within reason, of course."
"Of course," Draco said. "I'd like to experiment with potions for a bit and I'd also like to go on expedition to hunt for potions ingredients. Not too far, but maybe someplace unusual."
"Why unusual," Narcissa asked.
"Well Harry thinks he's going to some conference," Draco said. "He's hoping it's in Asia, so I was thinking we'd go to India or Africa. Just for a couple of weeks. I'd study up on the plants and creatures ahead of time."
"I think India is not a bad idea," Lucius said, thinking of a few Dark connections that he had in the area. He'd let his wife travel with his son and then asked, "Do you want to invite your godfather for those two weeks?"
"Can I," Draco asked eagerly. Having a Potions Master along would make things easier.
"I'm thinking the first two weeks of August," Lucius said. His wife looked at him and nodded. That was a free time on her social calendar. "I'll make sure that we have all the Ministry Forms for Ingredient Harvesting. Make sure that you study, Draco."
"Yes father," the blond said excitedly. He looked out the window and mentally planned his time in order to study and find ingredients. He might even think about looking for rare books and seeds for the other two boys, if he chose to think about it.
Harry - James - Potter - Harry - James - Potter
Neville already made his plans and most of his time would be spent in the greenhouses and gardens of the Longbottom estate. But that was not to say he wouldn't be doing the same as the other two boys. He too was thinking of looking for useful books and potions ingredients during the time his grandmother actually managed to pull him away from his favourite activity.
Harry - James - Potter - Harry - James - Potter
Meanwhile our intrepid Hero, the Boy-Who-Lived, was listening to a lecture on being careful with those Marked like Lucius Malfoy. The he was asked, "Did anything happen at the school that I should know about?"
"Yes," Harry said. "Do you know a Nicolas Flamel? Is he a friend of yours?"
"He is," Ollivander said. "In fact you're going to be meeting him at the Wandmaker Conference this year, why do you ask?"
"Well," Harry said. "I think that this needs to be returned to him." He held out the dark red, gem like magical item up for his Master to get a good 'look' at it. Alwin his elf, had put it in his pocket when they arrived home so that the boy could make a dramatic reveal, which is something he was getting used to doing as his Master liked to do the same. "It was in the school behind the weakest excuse for protection that I'd ever seen."
"You're going to have to tell me that story," Ollivander said staring at the thing. "For now go put it and your things away. We'll discuss your summer schedule and leave your Holly wand out. I need to remove that stupid tracking charm that I can sense is on it." He'd already advised his apprentice that this was going to happen. "They didn't get it on your other wand, did they?"
"No sir," Harry said pulling out his Holly wand and leaving it on the table. "Would like me to leave that one out too so you can set the protections on it too?"
"Yes," Ollivander said. "Bring back a note book and be prepared to tell me what your summer schoolwork is, so that we can work in time for you to do it. Also I want to know how you ended up with Flamel's stone."
"Yes, sir," Harry said. He raced up the stairs to put most of his school things away and mentally prepared himself for one busy summer. "Alwin," he called to his house-elf, who popped up on the boy's bed. "I made two friends this year…"
The house-elf smiled and listened to his Master tell him tales from his first year of school at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry.
Harry - James - Potter - Harry - James - Potter
END
(…Final note…) This is the true end of this odd "What if" tale. I know that more can be done and that I possibly left some unanswered question. But at this point in time I believe that I'll leave the rest up to your imagination and hopefully it will inspire someone to write a "What if" of a different nature.
Hope you all enjoyed this foray into a "Alternate Year One" genre.
Lil Nezumi