Realistic Harry Potter - 59 The Training59 The Training

Bertha led Harry downstairs to the lobby of the hospital. They stepped through the barrier and walked down the street to an alleyway. Bertha held her wand out and waited. A bang was heard, the sound of screeching tires, and The Knight Bus took the corner as if it was made of rubber and skidded to a stop in front of them.

Everything was still soft and bouncy inside, so they paid the fee and enjoyed the ride. They didn’t go back to Hogsmeade, though. They came to a stop at a very nice two storey house and stepped off.

“This is where I leave you.” Bertha said. “Amelia is waiting inside.”

“What? I thought it wasn’t until next week.” Harry said.

“You and Susan taking lessons starts next week.” Bertha corrected. “Go on inside and I’ll expect your letter promptly in the morning.”

Harry nodded and he gave her a hug.

“I just love your hugs.” Bertha said and hugged him back. “Thank you.”

Harry’s ears were a little red as he let her go.

“Hey, Harry.” Stanley said. “You wouldn’t have any more of them cakes, do ya?”

Harry nodded and opened his trunk, climbed down the ladder, then came back up. “I’ve still got three boxes left.” He said and handed one to Stanley.

“Thanks, mate!” Stanley said. “Hey, Ern! Harry had more for us!”

“Stop yapping and hand ’em over.” Ernie said.

Bertha and Harry chuckled, exchanged another hug, and Bertha stepped back onto the Knight Bus. Harry watched it drive away and picked up his trunk, then walked over to the front door of the house. He knocked and waited. The door opened and Amelia stood there in her combat robes and smiled down at him.

“You didn’t have to knock, Harry.” Amelia said and gave him a hug. “You are welcome here, so just come right in.”

“I couldn’t do that.” Harry said as she led him inside.

“I want you to feel comfortable, so I want you to treat my house as if it was the home you always wanted.” Amelia said. “You can leave your trunk here in the entryway.”

Harry put it down against the wall, made sure it was out of the way, and kicked off his shoes.

“That’s considerate of you. Thank you, Harry.” Amelia said and waved her wand. A pair of slippers appeared out of thin air and she handed them to him. “If the rest of you is cold, let me know.”

“I can do the heating charm.” Harry said and put the slippers on. They were toasty warm and he wiggled his toes happily.

“That’s one of the things I’d like to talk with you about.” Amelia said and took his hand as she brought him to the living room. “Now, I don’t want you to tell me all of your secrets.” She saw his face go a little red as they sat down together. “I only want a general idea of what you can do. That way, I can fill in any gaps you have in your skills.”

Harry thought about showing her his spell book.

“That’s the whole point of seeing you today.” Amelia said. “You will be learning all the necessary things you should have learned if you grew up in a wizarding household.”

“Really?” Harry asked, a little surprised.

Amelia smiled. “I know it’s a little odd to offer such a thing to someone who isn’t family; but, I particularly like you.” She said and his face went fully red. She let him think about that for a minute, then spoke again. “You are going to be very important to the wizarding world in the future.”

Harry let out a sigh. “You mean because of Voldemort.”

Amelia shook her head. “No, Harry. I mean you… as a person… are going to be important. You’re going to be a very powerful wizard, I can feel it. You’ve been given some information and you know why you’re famous, which you should have been told a lot sooner than just before starting school.” She smiled at him to take the slight sting out of her words. “I’ve told you everything I could about everything else concerning you-know-who and his followers, because I don’t want you to be ignorant of the dangers.”

Harry looked at her and nodded. He appreciated that she had always been truthful and answered his questions without evading them.

“You’re not going to complain that you’re only eleven and shouldn’t be learning about all of this?” Amelia asked with a sly smile.

“I fought Voldemort as a baby and won.” Harry said with an answering smile, then he told her what Hermione had described.

Amelia laughed and put an arm over his shoulders to hug him. “Gooboo goo! The bane of dark wizards, everywhere! Ha ha!”

Harry laughed, too. After a few moments, he sighed again. “I’ve been without someone to teach me my whole life.”

Amelia nodded. “Not anymore, my dear boy.” She said and held him close. “I’ll do my best to correct that mistake, starting off with the general cost of things in the wizarding world.”

Harry widened his eyes slightly and she chuckled.

“You’ve only bought expensive things in Diagon Alley while preparing for school, so your ‘money sense’ is a little skewed.” Amelia said. “So, I’m going to show you the base economy stats and then…”

Harry was a little surprised about how right she was. He really did think of things as all being a certain price and above, which was not how he should be looking at things. He had been buying everything with galleons as a base currency and he should have been using silver sickles and even knuts.

In fact, he still had piles of silver sickles and bronze knuts that were just sitting inside his money pouch that were completely untouched. When Harry counted them out, making stacks of 17 silver sickles, he had just over eighty galleons worth of them. He did the same with the bronze knuts and found out that he had over five galleons worth. So, he had about eighty-five galleons worth of money that he had completely forgotten about.

“Wow.” Harry said and stared at the coffee table that was covered in stacks of money.

“You’ve been carrying all of that around and not using it.” Amelia said. “So, do you know what that means?”

“I like expensive things?” Harry asked with smile and she laughed.

“It means…” Amelia put her arm back around him. “…that you need to be a little smarter about asking how much something is before offering to pay galleons for it. Most people, even normally honest people, will not correct you and will just take what you offer as the price without telling you.”

Harry nodded.

“Good. Now you can get all this wealth out of my sight. The piles of shiny silver are hard on the eyes!” Amelia said with a chuckle.

Harry smiled and started shovelling it all back into his money bag and Amelia helped. Once the table was cleared, Amelia made tea and desserts appear.

“We’ll take a short break and then I’ll continue your training on household affairs.” Amelia said and the two of them sat there in companionable silence as they drank tea and nibbled on the delicious desserts.

*

Severus Snape was a master at steeling his facial features and even he had a hard time not expressing himself when he talked to all of the shop owners. The worst one was when he went into Madam Malkin’s and saw the enormous full sized portrait of Harry Potter behind the main counter. Everyone who entered the shop saw it and there was even a small gathering of witches at the counter.

They had made small purchases, just so they could stand there and interact with the shy and bashful handsome young man in the picture, who blushed every time one of the women complimented him.

To Snape, that was almost as sickening to watch as Voldemort tormenting someone that irked him. He ignored the portrait and took Madam Malkin aside. He questioned her about her interactions with the boy and was once again surprised that Harry showed no signs that he was traumatized by vaporizing a man after touching him. He had even made a special trip back to Madam Malkin’s for the portrait.

That was not something the boy should have done. Snape thought. With the way he grew up, a woman in authority should have terrified him. He contemplated the situation and looked into Madam Malkin’s eyes. “Tell me what you did the first time you saw him again.” Legilimens!

Snape saw the interaction and Harry being shown kindness and getting a pat on the head and a hug. The thing that struck him as surprising was what Harry looked like. His aunt had described him perfectly. Black greasy and messy hair and he wore old dirty clothes and had slightly dirty skin. The only thing he didn’t see was a scowl. Harry had a bright and inquisitive face and his interactions were not those of a killer.

Madam Malkin saw that Snape was listening intently and went right into the second visit, so Snape saw that event, too. The child laughed as he bounced around The Knight Bus, needed help with his new school robes, getting ice cream, then the portrait reveal.

He had no idea. Snape thought and ended the spell. He really didn’t know anything about the wizarding world before that first day. “Thank you for your time, Madam Malkin.”

“It’s no trouble.” Madam Malkin said. “I’ll tell anyone that wants to know about that boy! He is such a delight!” She walked off and went over to the counter. “Goodness Harry! You’re just as handsome as the last time I saw you.”

Portrait Harry’s face and ears turned bright red and a collective ‘aww’ came from the witches at the counter, then some laughed and giggled as they discussed things that Snape wanted no part in listening to. He strode out of the shop and thought about going to the bank to interview them about Harry, then decided that they wouldn’t tell him anything about one of their clients.

Snape apparated away and appeared outside the gates of Hogwarts. He tapped them with his wand and stepped through the opening gates and tapped them again to close them before they fully opened. He walked back up to the school and debated talking to Hagrid to get his side of the story. He dismissed it as a waste of time. Hagrid was particularly resistant to both Veritaserum and magic spells in general, so interrogating him would require actually listening to him.

It’s not worth the time or the effort. Snape thought and entered the school. He had a few things to prepare before he went to the headmaster to report his findings. A small smile broke through his grim expression as he thought about what the old man was going to say to defend himself.

The students in the hallway that Snape walked down, saw his smile and walked faster in the other direction. It was not a smile to be trifled with.