"Wednesday works," Lichfield said with a nod. "I'll tell them and be on the lookout for you. Did we have anything else?" he asked as if mentally reviewing things himself.
"I don't think so," Harry said. Maybe he should start carrying around a list.
With a nod to Mr. and Mrs. Weasley, the wizened old bailiff left in another gout of green flames.
It was only after the Litigator left that Mr. and Mrs. Weasley spoke again.
"Harry," Mrs. Weasley started delicately. "We wanted to thank you for being so understanding about the whole book issue. I tried to get rid of them for years but they kept disappearing and popping up again."
"It's alright, Mrs. We- er - Molly," Harry said before an idea came to him. "If it's not too much to ask, I actually had one other thing to ask you for."
"Just name it, Harry, and it's yours," she said kindly.
...
"You left at the wrong time, little brother. We learned a lot after you left," the twin the thought was George said - or was that one Fred? They should have to go around together all the time so no one would have to guess like that.
"It doesn't matter what you learned," Ron said stubbornly. "I know all I need to know. So much for him being a true friend."
"There's nothing wrong with telling a thief to stop stealing from you, Ron," Freorge said. "And that's all Harry did. How could he know what the thief was going to do with it, or how much other people were counting on it happening?"
Ron tried not to listen, they were only trying to confuse him.
"And Harry has been a true friend - to this entire family," Percy said.
What Percy was doing hanging around with one of the twins, Ron didn't know, but he certainly wasn't going to spend his time thinking about it.
"You have no idea what he's done for us," his stuffy brother continued. "Paying for Ginny's school this year is only the start of it. He has this whole family in the palm of his hand and he's more concerned with having to leave and losing your friendship than anything else!"
Tha-that didn't sound right to Ron. How could it be? Why would Harry care about him more than he did money? Money was everything.
"And worse for you," the Geored-twinthingy said, "is you've got Mum miffed at you, and seeing as she just faced down Albus Dumbledore and threw him out of the house, her bad side is not a good place to be at the moment."
If the rest didn't make any sense, the last bit was loony. Mum loved Dumbledore and never heard a word against him. What could make - It just didn't - And Percy didn't go along with-
"What the bloody hell are you going on about?" he asked.
...
"I can't even talk to him! Not a single word?" a distressed Ginny asked.
"Not. One. Word," her mother reiterated.
"Not even to say 'thank you'?"
"You can say 'thank you,'" her mother said, "by not saying 'thank you.'"
Ginny couldn't believe it. How could things have gotten even worse? The moment Harry came through for her when she needed help the most, the moment that showed he might one day grow up to be the Harry from the stories - that's the moment she can't talk to him any more?!
"But my birthday's on Tuesday," she said anxiously. "He'll be there, won't he?"
Harry had to be there on her birthday. It was the day she became eleven, when she really became a young woman of Hogwarts age.
"He'll be spending the day in his room, alone, and probably writing to his girlfriend," her mother said, twisting the knife inside her. "I'll be casting a spell on the stairs myself to make sure you can't get up to his level."
"But Mum!" she cried.
"No buts," her mother said. "You've had your chance to get to know him and you've blown it. You'll stay away from him from now on. He's been incredibly generous to even let you go to Hogwarts at all, so you'll keep your mind on your books when you're there. Your brothers will be watching to make sure you don't bother him when you're at school too."
"They know?" she asked, shocked at the betrayal.
"Of course they know," her mother said. "How could they not know. You creep him out! You've been creeping them all out. The sooner you forget about Harry and find people your own age to talk to, the better off you'll be."
Ginny glared mutinously at her mother with her hands folded across her chest until the woman left her room. Her mother wasn't happy she had no books anymore, she just had to take her imagination and any possible hope from her too. Now she didn't have any friends at all and no one to talk to.
...
Frail old Albus looked back at the cheerful little house with scarcely any cheer in his heart. The Greater Good had presented Harry with an opportunity to do its will, and though he had acted on its behalf, he had done so halfway, and for something in return. Perhaps if he had gotten here sooner, or if those goblins hadn't worked against him, greedy as they were, he could have achieved more for the Greater Good.
As the thought weighed heavy on his heart though he contented himself with the knowledge that there was still plenty of time left for the boy. Years lay ahead of them before Harry had to do what must be done, and the lad was well on his way. There was still plenty of time to guide the boy until he was ready to make the ultimate sacrifice for the good of all.
Still, one thing did trouble the kindly old grandfather of the wizarding world. So much of what young Harry had said were but twisted parts of the truth of things. Should his trusted allies hear those twisted beliefs before he could make the truth known to them then there was a chance, however small, they might believe them, just as Harry did. Perhaps it was time to take them into his confidence.
With a weary heart, Albus turned for home. It hadn't been the outing he'd been hoping for, but everyone deserved a second chance.
.....
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