Harry finally found the book he had been looking for in a little magical bookshop in San Fransisco. He'd been raiding bookshops at every city he visited but this was the first time he had found one which contained a description of the ritual he needed.
It had taken him a long time; weeks upon weeks spent scouring dusty piles of books. Weeks spent trying to decipher old books printed in archaic fonts. Long, long days which usually ended with him collapsed with tired burning eyes in rented motel rooms.
"Still", he thought, "looking back it's been interesting researching this. Not only did I pick up a ton of useful spells along the way but I've also managed to build up quite the collection of books. I bet Hermione would be incredibly jealous."
He quickly squelched that train of thought. Thinking of Hermione just made him feel lonely. His anger towards her had long since faded and when he thought of her now he tended to focus on only the good memories. He did miss her a bit, but what could he do? There was absolutely no way to see her again. He couldn't just waltz back into Hogwarts after all. It was best he put her out of his mind.
For a brief moment he wondered whether he could visit her and Ron after he had completed the ritual. "It should be safe then but it wouldn't be the same", he thought, "Not after I've done it. It would probably be too strange to see them afterwards. No, it was probably best to make a clean break of it. Best to totally forget about Hogwarts and the burrow and...everything"
...
Nymphadora Tonks was exceptionally annoyed. Dumbledore was still insisting that she look for Harry Potter even though the search for him had been absolutely useless so far. Why he couldn't find someone else to do it she had no idea. At least she didn't have to put up with Snape any more since the bugger had to go back to Hogwarts once the school term started.
Remus Lupin was hardly better though. Initially she had been slightly attracted to the quiet bookish man but that attraction had died a quick death once they began spending so much time together on the search for Harry. Really the man was an incredibly annoying wet blanket and she was thoroughly sick of his whole - poor me, pity me because I turn into a werewolf once a month routine.
For gods sake wasn't it high time he came to terms with his condition. Really, that attitude of his was highly unappealing. Why on earth had she had ever thought him even slightly attractive?
He hadn't been so bad when he was around Sirius, then at least he seemed to be infinitely happier and had even been fun to be around. On his own though, ugh!
Sometimes she really wished that Dumbledore hadn't managed to get Madam Bones to sign off on this whole situation. Now she didn't even have the excuse that she had to get back to work and the search was increasingly frustrating.
Dumbledore still was only managing to give them the vaguest of directions. How they were supposed to find Harry like this she had no idea. Vague directions, incredibly large search areas which changed every few days. It was worse than a needle in a haystack. Why on earth was she still bothering?
She was going to talk to Madam Bones and tell her that this whole affair was a terrible waste of time. At least until Dumbledore managed to get his tracker working properly.
...
Cornelius Fudge sat morosely in his office. There was a large screaming mob in the Ministry Atrium protesting the disappearance of the Boy-Who-Lived and calling for his head on a platter. Why on earth were they blaming him? He had nothing to do with the boy's vanishing act. Thank goodness the Wizengamot was supporting him. Truth be told, he didn't know how much longer that would continue to be true. His popularity had taken quite a beating when the whole scandal came to light.
Damn Skeeter and damn her quill. Why couldn't the stupid bint have kept her mouth shut? Well, she at least was never going to get another interview from him.
Only the fact that Dumbledore had always claimed responsibility for the well-being of Harry Potter was keeping him from a quick unceremonious exit from the Ministry. That had redirected much of the ire that the Wizengamot members were currently feeling. For a national hero to suddenly disappear like that was shocking to the public, no matter what the prophet had been saying about the boy the entire summer.
Still, he had managed to shift most of the blame away from him. Dumbledore of course was a prime target, not only for the fact that he had failed to keep the boy safe, but he was also the one to cast the patronus charm that caused the expulsion notice to be sent out.
He'd had to transfer Mafalda Hopkirk from the Improper Use of Magic Office of course. He might have felt regret for that, if she had possessed the good sense to just keep her mouth shut. Unfortunately, she of course had claimed that she had only been following his orders concerning the expulsion notice but luckily he had never put that in writing. Let her suffer for a few years down in floo maintenance. Perhaps he should have her transferred to Misuse of Muggle Artefacts. Yes, that would teach her to keep her bloody mouth shut.
Damn that boy. Nothing but trouble. Ever since he had blown up his aunt he had been nothing but trouble.
....
Join my P@treon FOR FREE and get 5 advanced chapters.
Paid members can get upto 60+ chapters ahead of the public release.
Link : [email protected]/thebookaddict