Do You Know Where You're Going To?
For minnabird
From erised1810
Title: Do You Know Where You're Going to?
Fandom: Harry Potter
Rating: PG-13
Author's Notes: Set sometime between the last chapter of DH and the epilogue. Praying to the gods that this extrapolation-of-canon works well within the framework. It did feel snug and comfortable inside Percy's head though. Thanks. :D
It was Percy's third assignment and for once it didn't seem boring. After three weeks of sifting through piles of old parchment from various archives, it was high time for him to go outside. It hadn't helped much that he'd shared an elevator ride with his dad most of the days. That reminded him all the more of the fact that it definitly wasn't thanks to him that Thicknesse hadn't chucked his father out of his office. The remarks from people like Mafalda Hopkirk during lunch breaks were something else.
"Half of those signatures are yours, I assume," she'd said once, 'not to mention the various reports and minutes that are all in your handwriting." It made some others either look away or clear their throat (he'd recognized some of them from Umbridge's front office).
"Didn't we all just do our job," someone commented once after another "I can't believe you wrote this yourself," from Hopkirk.
Oh yes, he'd done his job from the get-go. It started wit Harry Potter's trial before his fifth year, after which Dumbledore had quietly said "I am curious if you will ever regret this," and then nodded at Amelia Bones and left. Percy was convinced he was doing his duty while working for Scrimgeour, for Umbridge... and what about Thicknesse? "Just one sign that tells us how dim-witted you actually are," Fred would have said. "Or maybe you're just naive."
Now though, he was finally out of there. from the atrium of the ministry building to a small office where Kingsley Shacklebolt of all people instructed him and various others as if they were trainee aurors.
"Why should we do this in pairs," said one, and Percy remembered one of Moody's favourite sayings moments before Kingsley himself said it out loud. "We can't be careful enough these days..."
It even had a bit of Moody's tone of voice. If Tonks were here she'd sigh 'constant vigilance' or wink at one or two of them. But no, this wasn't the Order of the Phoenix, this was the ministry, where everyone seemed to have easily slipped back into their work mode as if nothing had happened. Except for the frowns in Percy's direction of course, and the fact that he didn't even dare to be glad that no-one had kicked him out of the building as soon as the battle of Hogwarts was over.
And was the war over with that? There he was, in the far back of the old Hogwarts Express with the specific instructions to look out for Death Eaters along the abandoned railroad. Oh good, he'd raised his hand once they got their last warnings before going onto the platform. "We should also make sure that the muggle-repelling charms are still intact."
"I thought you'd never mention it," sighed the woman next to him as they climbed aboard, and Percy could only register that it felt weird to squeeze through this door without a heavy trunk.
Now that he was on speaking terms again with those of his family who lived near enough, he'd had to catch up on everything too. From 'Weasley is our king' to Bill and Fleur, to the twins' newest inventions.
"A portkeyring," they'd chorused. Again, Fred had the brilliant idea and George seemed to have recognized it and nodded.
"Nothing wrong with wearing a ring these days," he'd continued, "People even pierce their ears or their nose for that, and not just Muggles too."
"So you wear this ring," added Fred, and he held out a large jewelled one, "and once you find something left in the streets that you don't trust, you can tap it and once it glows red you'll of course have to drop it at once or you'll leave the ground."
Typical Fred and George. They'd finished part one and only then had thought up part two. At least their shop had changed from being pure fun into being useful. Well, Percy had time enough left to become as useful as that.
"And you haven't been on this train since..."
"Since my seventh year at Hogwarts," replied Percy and he thought 'why does this feel like a job interview?' "And you?" he stammered.
"No need for that," she laughed, "lived in Hogsmeade all my life."
"That meant Hogsmeade weekend all the time," said another girl and several people laughed.
The clattering of many feet. The excited squeals of first-years as they bumped into each other. Several owls hooting loudly. No-one opened their compartment door. No-one poked their head around the corner to ask if he knew where Harry Poter was.
The woman who came on board with him started talking to someone else. It was just as well, for Percy began sifting through images in his mind. There was the wand in the pocket of his robes, and he saw his parents as they proudly walked out of the shop with him and tried to catch up with their oldest sons. Hermes, his first owl (why had he never let Ron or Ginny use it? What sane person would send an old owl from Egypt to England with a stack of birthday cards and presents?).
"Marvelous landscapes," said someone, and in his mind's eye Percy watched Fred and George fly around the Quidditch pitch, and cheeering Harry on. Fred and George racing through the corridors sending spells after him, or trying to topple Flitwick's hat, or snatching the pins out of McGonagall's hair. His mother's knitting needles. The loose ends of yarn, and all those scarves and... Percy remembered the Christmas package he'd sent back, the owl he'd sent to Ron and Harry...
There was a fmiliar sound outside the compartment door and his ears snapped open, people raced each other to the door of the compartment. Percy cleared his throat and stood up.
"Are we even allowed to buy-"
"I'm curious about the new Chocolate Frog Cards-"
"Maybe she's just handing us the leftover-"
"Or we'll just get tea and cakes. We're ministry personnel after all."
Gads, ministry personnel. How often had he proudly shown of that badge (and many others before that-one)? The formal speeches, the atitude of 'don't you know who you're speaking to?' Again he wished he was a student with just a few sickles in his right pocket and an insane urge to buy his favourite sweets. Now he was nibbling on a cauldron cake, and only just registered the back of a head behind the trolley before the door closed.
"Hard to get used to that," said the woman opposite him, "Always connected that cart with this plump elderly woman."
"Well, let's hope she still lives," a boy next to him grumbled. "Did any of us even make sure this guy actually belonged on this train?"
"Well he's not good at legilimency," said a dreamy voice from the far end of the compartment. Percy didn't even need to look. Luna Lovegood. He used to joke with Oliver that she was sorted into Ravenclaw by accident. But she was the tiny first-year who'd pointed at his prefect badge that day and said "You need to keep an eye on your sister. She's the only one you have and you're the oldest of the lot here," Good god, Ginny and that diary. And all that time he thought she was going to spread the news that he'd been kissing Penny when he thought no-one was looking.
Penny. He'd left the Burrow that night, hired a flat in London, reported to Fudge, and never given Penny a second thought. Until now he hadn't even tried to find out where she was. He'd ignored her, ignored his family, he'd embraced his ambitions instead. So here he was crumbling the last bits of cake and faking interest in a puffskein someone had discovered under one of the seats.
"What can we do," said the same dreamy voice, "Breathe life into it before we decide it's fake and then kill it again?"
Ten minutes later, it was curled up next to him (it was something from his brother's shop after all) and several people pointed out of the window and smiled. "The whole station is still intact," he said.
"And the safety charms as well," added a man a few seats away. Indeed, it seemd as if something had inexplicably made the train come to an abrupt halt. There was a loud hooting sound outside the door followed by a signal that rang in Percy's ears. "That's a funny example of things working normally," he muttered.
"What I said, safety charms," said the man. "Someone's tried to teach this train to give a sign once it's arrived. Let's hope it's not a remnant from when those Carrows where still running the place..."
At last their compartment door opened, and Kingsley bustled in looking as if someone had pushed him through a long tube. "Sorry about that," he said flatly. "Apparated too soon."
"There's the glitch then," said Luna, "Though it's the only one on the whole journey as far as I can tell."
"There'll be time for reports later," said Kinglsley. and he directed them all towards the door where they squeezed through an emergency exit and stumbled onto the platform.
Percy moved to the side of the platform with the rest of his group, watching the students as they climbed into the small carriages.
Hagrid's voice faded away towards the lake, several small boys and girls running after him. Excited students keeping track of their trunks and pets, and then the silvery gleam of about fifteen horrid beasts and was he the only one who felt like screaming once they came into view? One of the best lessons Hagrid had taught the school, he thought.
He'd read about thestrals during his newts, but even now he'd hardly expected to be able to see them himself. Kingsley silently pointed to the last carriage, which seemd slightly bigger than the other ones. One by one, they filed into the coach, Luna absentmindedly waving at one of the beasts before she sat down.
"Look," said Luna as Percy sat down next to her, that's Teddy Lupin!" Then she hopped up and down, "And there's Neville! Fantastic, your first year teaching at Hogwarts and you're taking the train!"
Meanwhile Percy spotted someone else, someone with a freckled face and a veil of long hair. "Yes, there will always be at least one Weasley starting at Hogwarts," said one man. Percy gave a sigh of relief. It seemed the only sign he needed to be sure that all seemed right with the world, at least for now.
From erised1810
Title: Do You Know Where You're Going to?
Fandom: Harry Potter
Rating: PG-13
Author's Notes: Set sometime between the last chapter of DH and the epilogue. Praying to the gods that this extrapolation-of-canon works well within the framework. It did feel snug and comfortable inside Percy's head though. Thanks. :D
It was Percy's third assignment and for once it didn't seem boring. After three weeks of sifting through piles of old parchment from various archives, it was high time for him to go outside. It hadn't helped much that he'd shared an elevator ride with his dad most of the days. That reminded him all the more of the fact that it definitly wasn't thanks to him that Thicknesse hadn't chucked his father out of his office. The remarks from people like Mafalda Hopkirk during lunch breaks were something else.
"Half of those signatures are yours, I assume," she'd said once, 'not to mention the various reports and minutes that are all in your handwriting." It made some others either look away or clear their throat (he'd recognized some of them from Umbridge's front office).
"Didn't we all just do our job," someone commented once after another "I can't believe you wrote this yourself," from Hopkirk.
Oh yes, he'd done his job from the get-go. It started wit Harry Potter's trial before his fifth year, after which Dumbledore had quietly said "I am curious if you will ever regret this," and then nodded at Amelia Bones and left. Percy was convinced he was doing his duty while working for Scrimgeour, for Umbridge... and what about Thicknesse? "Just one sign that tells us how dim-witted you actually are," Fred would have said. "Or maybe you're just naive."
Now though, he was finally out of there. from the atrium of the ministry building to a small office where Kingsley Shacklebolt of all people instructed him and various others as if they were trainee aurors.
"Why should we do this in pairs," said one, and Percy remembered one of Moody's favourite sayings moments before Kingsley himself said it out loud. "We can't be careful enough these days..."
It even had a bit of Moody's tone of voice. If Tonks were here she'd sigh 'constant vigilance' or wink at one or two of them. But no, this wasn't the Order of the Phoenix, this was the ministry, where everyone seemed to have easily slipped back into their work mode as if nothing had happened. Except for the frowns in Percy's direction of course, and the fact that he didn't even dare to be glad that no-one had kicked him out of the building as soon as the battle of Hogwarts was over.
And was the war over with that? There he was, in the far back of the old Hogwarts Express with the specific instructions to look out for Death Eaters along the abandoned railroad. Oh good, he'd raised his hand once they got their last warnings before going onto the platform. "We should also make sure that the muggle-repelling charms are still intact."
"I thought you'd never mention it," sighed the woman next to him as they climbed aboard, and Percy could only register that it felt weird to squeeze through this door without a heavy trunk.
Now that he was on speaking terms again with those of his family who lived near enough, he'd had to catch up on everything too. From 'Weasley is our king' to Bill and Fleur, to the twins' newest inventions.
"A portkeyring," they'd chorused. Again, Fred had the brilliant idea and George seemed to have recognized it and nodded.
"Nothing wrong with wearing a ring these days," he'd continued, "People even pierce their ears or their nose for that, and not just Muggles too."
"So you wear this ring," added Fred, and he held out a large jewelled one, "and once you find something left in the streets that you don't trust, you can tap it and once it glows red you'll of course have to drop it at once or you'll leave the ground."
Typical Fred and George. They'd finished part one and only then had thought up part two. At least their shop had changed from being pure fun into being useful. Well, Percy had time enough left to become as useful as that.
"And you haven't been on this train since..."
"Since my seventh year at Hogwarts," replied Percy and he thought 'why does this feel like a job interview?' "And you?" he stammered.
"No need for that," she laughed, "lived in Hogsmeade all my life."
"That meant Hogsmeade weekend all the time," said another girl and several people laughed.
The clattering of many feet. The excited squeals of first-years as they bumped into each other. Several owls hooting loudly. No-one opened their compartment door. No-one poked their head around the corner to ask if he knew where Harry Poter was.
The woman who came on board with him started talking to someone else. It was just as well, for Percy began sifting through images in his mind. There was the wand in the pocket of his robes, and he saw his parents as they proudly walked out of the shop with him and tried to catch up with their oldest sons. Hermes, his first owl (why had he never let Ron or Ginny use it? What sane person would send an old owl from Egypt to England with a stack of birthday cards and presents?).
"Marvelous landscapes," said someone, and in his mind's eye Percy watched Fred and George fly around the Quidditch pitch, and cheeering Harry on. Fred and George racing through the corridors sending spells after him, or trying to topple Flitwick's hat, or snatching the pins out of McGonagall's hair. His mother's knitting needles. The loose ends of yarn, and all those scarves and... Percy remembered the Christmas package he'd sent back, the owl he'd sent to Ron and Harry...
There was a fmiliar sound outside the compartment door and his ears snapped open, people raced each other to the door of the compartment. Percy cleared his throat and stood up.
"Are we even allowed to buy-"
"I'm curious about the new Chocolate Frog Cards-"
"Maybe she's just handing us the leftover-"
"Or we'll just get tea and cakes. We're ministry personnel after all."
Gads, ministry personnel. How often had he proudly shown of that badge (and many others before that-one)? The formal speeches, the atitude of 'don't you know who you're speaking to?' Again he wished he was a student with just a few sickles in his right pocket and an insane urge to buy his favourite sweets. Now he was nibbling on a cauldron cake, and only just registered the back of a head behind the trolley before the door closed.
"Hard to get used to that," said the woman opposite him, "Always connected that cart with this plump elderly woman."
"Well, let's hope she still lives," a boy next to him grumbled. "Did any of us even make sure this guy actually belonged on this train?"
"Well he's not good at legilimency," said a dreamy voice from the far end of the compartment. Percy didn't even need to look. Luna Lovegood. He used to joke with Oliver that she was sorted into Ravenclaw by accident. But she was the tiny first-year who'd pointed at his prefect badge that day and said "You need to keep an eye on your sister. She's the only one you have and you're the oldest of the lot here," Good god, Ginny and that diary. And all that time he thought she was going to spread the news that he'd been kissing Penny when he thought no-one was looking.
Penny. He'd left the Burrow that night, hired a flat in London, reported to Fudge, and never given Penny a second thought. Until now he hadn't even tried to find out where she was. He'd ignored her, ignored his family, he'd embraced his ambitions instead. So here he was crumbling the last bits of cake and faking interest in a puffskein someone had discovered under one of the seats.
"What can we do," said the same dreamy voice, "Breathe life into it before we decide it's fake and then kill it again?"
Ten minutes later, it was curled up next to him (it was something from his brother's shop after all) and several people pointed out of the window and smiled. "The whole station is still intact," he said.
"And the safety charms as well," added a man a few seats away. Indeed, it seemd as if something had inexplicably made the train come to an abrupt halt. There was a loud hooting sound outside the door followed by a signal that rang in Percy's ears. "That's a funny example of things working normally," he muttered.
"What I said, safety charms," said the man. "Someone's tried to teach this train to give a sign once it's arrived. Let's hope it's not a remnant from when those Carrows where still running the place..."
At last their compartment door opened, and Kingsley bustled in looking as if someone had pushed him through a long tube. "Sorry about that," he said flatly. "Apparated too soon."
"There's the glitch then," said Luna, "Though it's the only one on the whole journey as far as I can tell."
"There'll be time for reports later," said Kinglsley. and he directed them all towards the door where they squeezed through an emergency exit and stumbled onto the platform.
Percy moved to the side of the platform with the rest of his group, watching the students as they climbed into the small carriages.
Hagrid's voice faded away towards the lake, several small boys and girls running after him. Excited students keeping track of their trunks and pets, and then the silvery gleam of about fifteen horrid beasts and was he the only one who felt like screaming once they came into view? One of the best lessons Hagrid had taught the school, he thought.
He'd read about thestrals during his newts, but even now he'd hardly expected to be able to see them himself. Kingsley silently pointed to the last carriage, which seemd slightly bigger than the other ones. One by one, they filed into the coach, Luna absentmindedly waving at one of the beasts before she sat down.
"Look," said Luna as Percy sat down next to her, that's Teddy Lupin!" Then she hopped up and down, "And there's Neville! Fantastic, your first year teaching at Hogwarts and you're taking the train!"
Meanwhile Percy spotted someone else, someone with a freckled face and a veil of long hair. "Yes, there will always be at least one Weasley starting at Hogwarts," said one man. Percy gave a sigh of relief. It seemed the only sign he needed to be sure that all seemed right with the world, at least for now.