Musings
Location: The Great Hall, Hogwarts
Date: 31st August 2008
Time: 9.30pm
The Great Hall was absolutely still. The enchanted ceiling mirrored the clear, star spattered sky outside. Harry hadn’t been here since his graduation nine years ago. The castle was in a much better state now than it had been then. The magical damage caused in what had come to been known as the ‘Battle of Hogwarts’ had taken a long time to repair and there had still been signs of renovation and shadows of scars when Harry had graduated. But now the Hall looked just as it had when Harry first entered, a scared, excited boy of eleven.
He’d never imagined then that he’d be returning one day to teach, or that he’d be holding this small bundle in his arms. He looked down into Lily’s peacefully sleeping face. Even after having had three children the miracle that was these tiny, little things destined to grow up to be fully functioning people amazed him. He’d seen James and Albus grow into sturdy, young boys, it was hard to imagine they’d been as fragile as this not so long ago. They, and Ginny, had been his reason to live ever since he’d given up the Auror business. Now that had been a hard decision to make, well not to make but to follow through with. He knew he’d had to give it up; being an Auror was not something you did when you had people relying on you at home. Up until then, yes, Ginny had been there, but she understood the risks and was there through her own choice. His children wouldn’t understand if one day, Daddy just didn’t come home, or like Neville, he wasn’t their father anymore. One way or another, he’d seen too many lives hurt by children losing parents. Neville, himself and most recently poor Teddy Lupin; the lad had grown up to be fine man, but still, he had never known his mother and father. That, Harry knew, was an awful thing to inflict on a child. So he had quit. It was walking out of the office, leaving behind people that had become as close as family to him. And then…a desk job. Harry shuddered as he thought of those years, pencil pushing, knowing what still needed to be done in the world, but unable to do anything.
That was finished with now, he thought as he wrapped Lily more tightly in the blankets to protect her from the cold draughts blowing through the empty hall. Thanks to some very astute family and friends he had been saved from the pit he’d been falling into and was back where he belonged. The new term started the next day and he was going to be teaching Defence Against the Dark Arts. He was nervous, more nervous than he’d been in a long while. Earlier that evening he’d come across his old school trunk while moving in the last of the things into the new cottage in Hogsmeade. Out of the trunk he’d dug out old notes he’d used for teaching the DA and they were coming in surprisingly useful. His mind was filled with shield charms and disarming spells, things that had come as second nature to him as an Auror. Breaking these things down to a level where they could be taught was the hard part. He’d also had to read up on ways to deal with vampires, how to avoid being tricked by a Will o’ the Wisp and what seemed like a million other things. The Ministry syllabus covered a wide range of subjects. Harry had spent most of the summer reading. He’d read more books in the past 3 months than he had in his entire school career; Hermione would be amazed. As Harry’s mind turned to his former schoolmate a shimmer of silver from the corner of his eye made him turn. A beautiful pale spectre of a silver mare stood only a few feet away from him. A female voice emanated from the horse. ‘Sweetheart, Albus has woken up and is asking for you’ With that the vision faded away. Shifting Lily to a more comfortable position in his arms Harry walked from the Great Hall.
Date: 31st August 2008
Time: 9.30pm
The Great Hall was absolutely still. The enchanted ceiling mirrored the clear, star spattered sky outside. Harry hadn’t been here since his graduation nine years ago. The castle was in a much better state now than it had been then. The magical damage caused in what had come to been known as the ‘Battle of Hogwarts’ had taken a long time to repair and there had still been signs of renovation and shadows of scars when Harry had graduated. But now the Hall looked just as it had when Harry first entered, a scared, excited boy of eleven.
He’d never imagined then that he’d be returning one day to teach, or that he’d be holding this small bundle in his arms. He looked down into Lily’s peacefully sleeping face. Even after having had three children the miracle that was these tiny, little things destined to grow up to be fully functioning people amazed him. He’d seen James and Albus grow into sturdy, young boys, it was hard to imagine they’d been as fragile as this not so long ago. They, and Ginny, had been his reason to live ever since he’d given up the Auror business. Now that had been a hard decision to make, well not to make but to follow through with. He knew he’d had to give it up; being an Auror was not something you did when you had people relying on you at home. Up until then, yes, Ginny had been there, but she understood the risks and was there through her own choice. His children wouldn’t understand if one day, Daddy just didn’t come home, or like Neville, he wasn’t their father anymore. One way or another, he’d seen too many lives hurt by children losing parents. Neville, himself and most recently poor Teddy Lupin; the lad had grown up to be fine man, but still, he had never known his mother and father. That, Harry knew, was an awful thing to inflict on a child. So he had quit. It was walking out of the office, leaving behind people that had become as close as family to him. And then…a desk job. Harry shuddered as he thought of those years, pencil pushing, knowing what still needed to be done in the world, but unable to do anything.
That was finished with now, he thought as he wrapped Lily more tightly in the blankets to protect her from the cold draughts blowing through the empty hall. Thanks to some very astute family and friends he had been saved from the pit he’d been falling into and was back where he belonged. The new term started the next day and he was going to be teaching Defence Against the Dark Arts. He was nervous, more nervous than he’d been in a long while. Earlier that evening he’d come across his old school trunk while moving in the last of the things into the new cottage in Hogsmeade. Out of the trunk he’d dug out old notes he’d used for teaching the DA and they were coming in surprisingly useful. His mind was filled with shield charms and disarming spells, things that had come as second nature to him as an Auror. Breaking these things down to a level where they could be taught was the hard part. He’d also had to read up on ways to deal with vampires, how to avoid being tricked by a Will o’ the Wisp and what seemed like a million other things. The Ministry syllabus covered a wide range of subjects. Harry had spent most of the summer reading. He’d read more books in the past 3 months than he had in his entire school career; Hermione would be amazed. As Harry’s mind turned to his former schoolmate a shimmer of silver from the corner of his eye made him turn. A beautiful pale spectre of a silver mare stood only a few feet away from him. A female voice emanated from the horse. ‘Sweetheart, Albus has woken up and is asking for you’ With that the vision faded away. Shifting Lily to a more comfortable position in his arms Harry walked from the Great Hall.