And here's the eightieth chapter of "A Year Too Soon"! Enjoy!
* Review Response:
Clavyus, Hudy Leak613, erbkaiser, DarkRavie, Guest, thank you for your reviews, folks!
magitech, probably because some schedule changes due to the Triwizard Tournament and the Yule Ball. I'll go with that.
Brockster550, no, the second task will be changed. Partially because even with enchanted-mirror-CCTV you wouldn't really be able to see Champions doing their thing at the bottom of the lake well. So while there will be a section done in the lake, most of the task will not be in it. And no hostages either. I have no idea how they managed to get away with putting four random people into the lake for an hour. No way everyone had consented to that.
BMS, Harry isn't getting away with taking 'Tori to the ball without getting negative reactions in the press. Though a lot of that will be incited by Barty Crouch.
* AN: This chapter has not been beta-read.
Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!
Disclaimer: I DO NOT own "Harry Potter" franchise. No profit is being made. Same goes for any books, video games, anime or manga I may or may not use for ideas.
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A Year Too Soon
Chapter LXXX: Winter Holidays and Furniture Shopping
Harry, Flora and Hestia spent the next day relaxing and lazing about. And exchanging Christmas gifts. There just wasn't much for them to worry about at the moment: the classes and even the exams were over for the semester and they weren't leaving Hogwarts for the winter holidays until tomorrow morning. Well, Harry was still technically a prefect at the moment, but the other Slytherins were quite content to sit back and not cause any problems, so, thankfully, he didn't have much to do right now.
That is not to say that the day has been completely uneventful. There was some excitement at breakfast when the 'Daily Prophet' arrived and had several of its pages devoted to the Yule Ball and the Triwizard Tournament in general. Surprisingly enough, the articles were professional and mostly unbiased. Mostly. The article that asked the readers to name the best couple of the ball was not-so-subtly encouraging them to vote for Mr. Diggory and Ms. Chang.
Still, there was barely any gossip in the paper today. And Harry was certainly thankful for that. Yesterday was a great night and he'd rather enjoy the afterglow and not deal with random accusations today. Still, knowing the 'Daily Prophet', this respite wasn't going to last.
Elsewhere, Barty Crouch Jr. was also glad the newspaper decided to limit itself to printing mostly objective articles about the Yule Ball today, but for entirely different and much more sinister reasons. It gave him a chance to prepare to continue his campaign to discredit Potter in the most damaging way possible while using a more reliable source of information on what had actually happened during the ball than Wormtail's pathetic spying.
And it looked like Potter managed to provide him with ample ammunition to be used against him by choosing the youngest Greengrass girl as his partner for the ball's opening dance. Junior could use that to paint the brat as the worst scum on Earth. Of course, not everyone would believe that story, even if the 'Daily Prophet' prints his 'anonymous' letter - or ten - in full and unedited, but it will without any doubt do some damage to Potter's reputation. At least in the short term. But that was good enough already.
With that thought in mind, Barty Crouch Jr. reached for his quill and parchment and started writing. He had a lot of 'anonymous', all decrying Potter in some fashion, letters to write. And he needed to finish them all by sunset or the owls wouldn't be able to deliver them to the 'Daily Prophet's headquarters in time to be published in tomorrow's issue.
~/ *** \
'This is gonna suck!' Was all that Harry could think of as he read the 'Daily Prophet' next morning. The wizarding newspaper has posted 'anonymous' letters again and had an entire page devoted to quartering for supposedly cheating on Flora and Hestia, and for stringing Astoria along. And for every other little thing the author of those 'anonymous letters' could think of.
Perhaps, taking 'Tori to the Yule Ball as his official date wasn't as smart an idea as he had thought…
Oh well, it wasn't like he could go into the past and change it. That, of course, didn't mean he wasn't going to just sit and do nothing about this. He was going to owl his Law firm and ask for their assistance in dealing with this problem. The 'Daily Prophet' was shamelessly printing libelous articles about him, and that had to stop. Alas, it would be at least a few days before the newspaper could be exhorted to stop with this crap, and until that happens, he will have to suffer through hate mail, including occasional howlers.
"Don't worry, Harry." He heard Flora say as she put her hand on his shoulder. "You… We'll make it through this… mess." It was quite clear that she wanted to use another word here, but they were in the Great Hall, so swearing was a no-no. "And we will do it together."
"I… We might not be exactly comfortable with showing our affection so openly in public, but…" Hestia spoke up next. "People will doubt that what the 'Prophet' is printing is true if they see us… If they see how happy we are together."
"You don't have to do anything you aren't comfortable with." Harry told her.
"It's alright." His girlfriend reassured him. "We can do it. And we want to help you. This is part our fault as well, isn't it?"
"If you're sure…" The young wizard began, only to be silenced by a brief kiss from Flora. The girl then looked at her sister, communicating something silently to her. After a few moments, Hestia nodded. Flora then looked straight into Harry's eyes before saying:
"We're sure." Her tone left no room for arguing.
Of course, the three of them weren't the only ones who read the 'Daily Prophet' this morning. Pretty much everyone in the Great Hall. And they all could see that, no matter what was printed in the newspaper, the lover trio was still very much together and their relationship showed no signs of cracks or falling apart. In other words, what that 'anonymous letters' said was just wrong.
Thus, most people simply treated this article as yet another instance of cheap sensationalism the 'Daily Prophet' was known to publish occasionally. Not everyone was like that though. There were some who would use these articles to mock the subject trio and razz them, except they had a very recent reminder of how vicious Potter and Carrows could be in response to attacks upon them. And, having no desire to be on the receiving end of their wrath, they too stayed silent.
One could only hope that people outside of Hogwarts will be just as easy to convince that the 'Daily Prophet' was printing baseless lies about them or, failing that, make them keep their thoughts and opinions locked firmly within their heads.
The train ride to London was surprisingly peaceful with the biggest disturbance being a pair of sixth-year Ravenclaws getting a bit too much into Charms show-off competition with each other and accidentally creating a dispelling-resistant thunderstorm in the next train car over. And Harry, who was still a Prefect until Hogwarts Express reached its destination, had to go and help with cleaning that mess up.
Still, the things were mostly quiet, letting Harry spend a good deal of time with Flora and Hestia. As well as Daphne and 'Tori with whom they were sharing a compartment. And since Blaise and Tracey had decided to spend the holidays at Hogwarts this time around, it was just the five of them.
Eventually, the Hogwarts Express arrived at its destination, platform 9¾ at Kings Cross. And then the Clique enacted their little plan to prove the lies the 'Daily Prophet' had printed about them false. There weren't too many people on the train, so they didn't have to wait for long before the rush of those trying to get off quickly was over and they needn't deal with a crush in the corridors.
And even though their exit onto the platform wasn't announced in any way, somehow it was still noticed pretty quickly. Quite a few adults - mostly middle-aged witches - turned their attention towards them, and what they all saw was five teenagers being friendly with each other, with absolutely no signs of anything straining their friendship. Definitely something quite to the contrary of what the 'Daily Prophet' was printing about them.
Of course, only a tiny fraction of British Magicals was currently present on the platform, but hopefully they would be enough to start the rumors on just how wrong the 'Daily Prophet' has been about the five.
After they bid a friendly farewell to the Greengrass sisters, Harry escorted Flora and Hestia to the fireplace through which the guests of platform 9¾ could access the floo network. Their grandmother, Regent Carrow had warned them in a quick letter this morning that she wouldn't be able to pick them up and asked them to floo home at their 'earliest convenience'. Which they were about to do now.
But not before giving Harry some goodbye kisses. Ones that were longer and deeper than they've ever given him in public before. And also gave any doubters watching them a proof that the 'Daily Prophet' has been printing utter rubbish about them and the state of their relationship.
Then, once the twins flooed away, it was Harry's turn to depart from the platform. Which he did shortly, the 'Leaky Cauldron' being his destination. He would be renting a room there for the holidays as the new Potter manor was not yet ready for habitation. Hopefully, he'll be able to change that soon. But right now there was still so much to do before he - and, hopefully, Flora and Hestia too - could move in.
The next morning, much like the young Potter had predicted, began with a small storm of angry and hateful letters arriving via owl post. Nothing truly harmful though, thankfully. And he had to thank the pretty impressive mail wards the 'Leaky Cauldron' had for that. As for why those wards were so good, well, getting your clients harmed through owl post inside your pub/inn was rather bad for business.
The 'Daily Prophet' continued to print the 'anonymous letters' about him, all painting him as the worst scum to ever be born in Magical Britain. This time, though, they also included a couple of signed letters - Harry didn't recognize the names, but these clearly were the people who had seen him and the girls on platform 9¾ yesterday - that tried to defend him and his character and called the newspaper out on printing such blatant lies about him and his ladies. So maybe some of those 'anonymous letters' were written by actual people who just really really hated him for whatever reason?
Anyhow, Harry was going to try and put a stop to that as soon as possible. He had already sent an owl to his Law firm yesternight, and he was going to drop by their office in the Diagon Alley later today to hash out the finer details of the actions they were going to take against the 'Daily Prophet'.
Hopefully this will work and he and his friends won't have to deal with this bullshit again at least for some time.
And in the meantime, he wanted to work a little bit more on solving the puzzle of the 'treasure' he had 'stolen' from the dragon during the First Task. He felt like he was really close to finally getting the damn chest open. The Tournament officials had said that inside there was something that would help with the Second Task and Harry certainly wanted to get that. No, he still didn't truly care about winning the competition, but anything that could make it easier for him to make it through the Tournament alive and in one piece was something that he would very much like to have.
He also needed to visit the Ministry for Magic at some point during the holidays to finally connect the rebuilt Potter manor to the floo network. But that could probably wait a couple of days while he dealt with other stuff.
Finally, he needed to brew some potions. Doing so inside of an inn room was probably not the best idea, but he didn't exactly have the ability to rent a proper Potions laboratory here, so…
It took the Law firm Harry had contracted a couple of days to do their thing, but they successfully convinced the 'Daily Prophet' to stop printing those libelous 'anonymous letters' about him. Not that the newspaper would actually admit to that.
Instead, they claimed that they had to put a stop to it because authors of those letters started throwing insults and threats at each other. Which, apparently, was a no-no even if insulting and threatening Mr. Potter himself was perfectly fine.
Either way, the 'Daily Prophet' wasn't printing any more of that stuff, for now at least.
That didn't stop the stream of hate mail Harry was receiving completely, but it did reduce it to just a small trickle. Really, did some people have nothing better to do with their time than sending 'I hate you!' mail to strangers?
Thankfully, most of that hate mail was sent his way and Flora and Hestia barely got any. But, in turn, they had to deal with something equally annoying. And definitely more disgusting. A few too-old men send them letters, practically demanding the twins to dump Harry and come to them for 'consoling'. With details of how this 'consoling' would go provided. Quite explicitly, in a couple of cases. And one letter even all but stated it directly that the man's friends will be 'helping'.
House Carrow might not be as politically powerful or financially secure as it used to be in the past, but such an insult to its heiresses will not be left without an appropriate response. Regent Carrow swore that she will visit rightful punishment upon those disgusting creeps. And Harry, who was just as outraged by this, promised her any help he could give.
~/ *** \~
Finally, the day of their long-awaited trip into the non-Magical world had come.
At five minutes to eleven in the morning Harry, dressed in his most 'Muggle' winter clothes and carrying a leather-bound document case with him, stepped out of a fireplace within the Carrow manor. His arrival still couldn't be called graceful, but he was definitely getting better at it.
Flora and Hestia were already waiting for him, too dressed in their best winter robes that wouldn't make them stick out like a sore thumb in the non-Magical world.
"What's the deal with that folder?" Hestia asked once the greetings were exchanged.
"I made non-Magical copies of the manor's floor plans yesterday. If we find some furniture set we really like, we will be able to get the designers at the store to start working on fitting it into a room immediately." Harry replied.
"Good thinking." Flora said.
"Also, before we go." The young Potter continued as he reached into one of his pockets and produced three vials with greenish liquid inside. "We should drink these."
"Aging potion?" Flora asked, recognizing the contents of the vials.
"It would look rather strange if we window-shop for furniture as fifteen years olds. I'd rather not attract unnecessary attention to us." Harry replied. "But no one would bat an eye if we look just five years older." He paused for a brief moment before adding: "These vials should last until evening, so time shouldn't be an issue for us."
"Alright." The twins said before taking two of the vials from him. "Bottoms up!" Flora called then. The trio then clinked the vials before drinking up the potion. It took a few moments to take effect. And, quite honestly, the changes weren't really that drastic. The three of them did become a little taller and looked more mature, but they didn't suddenly grow a head taller or anything like that.
And as far as Harry was concerned, getting aged by a few years made Flora and Hestia look even hotter.
"Let's get going?" He asked next. The girls nodded and the three of them made their way to the Carrow manor's entrance hall and then stepped out of the building. A relatively short walk later, they passed through ornate gates denoting the edge of the property. Once there, Harry pulled his wand and summoned the Knight Bus. It certainly wasn't the most comfortable form of Magical transportation, but since neither he nor the twins could apparate yet, it was the only way for them to reach a location in a non-Magical area in a reasonable time.
And their destination was Grangetown, Cardiff.
Which was quite some ways away from the Carrow estate. And since the Knight Bus would make a handful of other stops all over Great Britain before finally getting there, the trio had to endure the uncomfortable ride for the whole fifteen minutes. Thankfully, there was a nice park next to their stop where they could catch their breath before heading for the large furniture store located down the street.
To Flora's and Hestia's silent disappointment, the said store looked like a giant flat concrete-and-metal box, painted in the franchise's colors and with a giant logo above the entrance. The sheer size and simplicity of its exterior made this store very much unlike anything one would see in the wizarding world. And the fact that a building this big - one could probably fit every shop in Diagon Alley inside of it - was dedicated to selling just furniture, homeware and other related goods was mind-boggling for the twins.
And speaking of furniture, the very reason the three of them came here. Nearly two thirds of the store's giant floor-space was turned into dozens upon dozens of furniture set displays, covering everything from bedrooms to dining rooms and from kitchens to bathrooms. And there was an incredible variety of styles and colors too. There were furniture sets that wouldn't look out of place in a centuries-old pure-blood family manor, and there were ones that were too 'modern' and brightly-colored even for an average non-Magical household.
Harry, Flora and Hestia spent the next hour or so just wandering among the displays. They did find a few sets that caught their interest, but none of those appealed to all three of them enough that they'd agree to buy it right away. Indeed, the twins have grown up in the Carrow ancestral home that had all this old, elaborately-carved furniture, and would rather be surrounded by something that felt familiar to them. Not that they were adamantly against other styles, but they didn't like them nearly as much. Harry meanwhile had more 'modern' tastes and found Art Deco and similar styles to be more to his liking.
Eventually, one of the many shop assistants - a young man in early twenties, wearing a vest in the shop's colors - approached them and asked whether there was anything he could help them with. Harry told him that they were simply looking for something to catch their interest at the moment. The shop assistant accepted that with a nod before telling them that they shouldn't hesitate to ask for help should they need it. Then he stepped back into the background and went back to looking for other people that might be in need of his assistance.
The trio ended up wandering through the store for another hour and a half. They did come across a few more furniture sets that looked quite nice, but still nothing that would be an instant buy. A couple of bathrooms and one dining room did come pretty close to that, though, and the young wizard was quite sure that the three of them would be able to reach an agreement on exactly what they wanted for those furniture sets after a little more talking. Perhaps, even today.
Right now, though, it was the middle of an afternoon and they were getting quite peckish. The store did have a small cafe inside, but it was packed with people and didn't have anything they would've really liked right now on the menu. Thus they left the store, grabbing a couple of catalogs as they did, and headed deeper into Grangetown looking for a nice cafe to have some lunch at. It wasn't long before they found one.
The trio of Magically-aged-up teenagers spent their lunch enjoying the surprisingly-great food and doing some small talk. Flora and Hestia were still a bit awed by the size of the store they had visited earlier and the variety of furniture and homeware it sold. Magical world didn't have any shops that came even close to that. Not for furniture, nor for any other sort of goods.
After they finished their meal, the trio decided against going back to the furniture store and instead spent the next hour or so exploring the nearby parks. It was fun and they would've certainly liked to do it some more, but unfortunately the time for them to return to the Carrow manor has come.
With a bit of reluctance they left the park and went back to a quiet side-street where the Knight Bus had brought them earlier. One raised wand later, and the purple triple-decker appeared before them once more.
Some twenty minutes of uncomfortable ride and some more walking later, Harry, Flora and Hestia arrived at the Carrow manor. They weren't saying goodbyes just yet, though. While they did talk about it a little at the cafe, they had agreed to discuss what they saw at the store today, and what they might find while perusing the catalogs, in detail after returning from the trip.
Plus, the Aging Potion they drank in the morning was still active. And this gave the teens some ideas, which they were quite interested in exploring in the privacy of the twins' room.
~/ *** \~
The next morning saw Harry finally dropping by the Ministry for Magic in order to fill in the necessary parchmentwork - and pay the required fees - to register the rebuilt Potter manor with the floo network. It was exactly as boring a way to spend nearly an hour of one's life as it sounds, but something that he needed to do sooner or later. And since he would be traveling around today anyway, he decided he might as well get over with this now.
Once he was done with the bureaucratic formalities, Harry made sure that everything was working as it should by flooing to the manor first before finally getting back to the 'Leaky Cauldron'. He stopped at the pub area for a quick brunch before returning to the room he was staying in. There, he took a dose of Aging Potions from yesterday and changed into his mundane clothes. Then he left the inn once more, this time taking the Knight Bus to Cardiff: it was the time to do some furniture shopping for real.
Indeed, after he, Flora and Hestia finished exploring what their fully-adult bodies would be like yesterday, they spent a couple of hours going over the ideas and wishes they had in regards to furnishing their future home. Harry even ended up having dinner with the Carrows because of that.
Anyway, the twins managed to convince him that the dining room needs to cater to the 'pure-blood tastes' at least a little bit. He did shoot down a couple of their initial suggestions because he felt that they were going too far into the direction of heavy and elaborate styles and thus wouldn't fit well with the overall atmosphere of the new Potter manor. Then they found an apparently-new design that wasn't on display at the store that appealed to them all in one of the catalogs.
Meanwhile, Harry won the argument when it came to the bathrooms, at least the smaller, guest ones. Flora and Hestia still insisted on something more 'classy' for the bathrooms meant for the permanent residents of the manor.
Either way, Harry now had some furniture to buy, and winter break was ending pretty soon so he either did the purchase now or postponed it till summer. He, of course, chose to do it now, and even contacted the Finewoods last night after he returned from the Carrow manor. The builders said they didn't have any jobs at the moment and would be able to help him with transporting, assembling and installing the furniture.
All that Harry needed to do was to actually buy it.
Which is why he was making this trip to Cardiff today.
Purchasing furniture for several of the manor's rooms was going to take time, though, even with all of the planning and preparations he made last night. Harry was certain of that. He just hoped that it wouldn't take the entire day.
That's all, folks!
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