Both FriendofMolly and I have been taking a little break. We should be back to more regular posting. The title is again by FriendofMolly.
For my American readers, all the rest of the world calls what American’s call Soccer by its proper name, “Football.” Albus is English. He doesn’t play American Football, but Football.
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Raising Albus | ||||||
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Category: Post-Hogwarts Characters:Harry/Ginny, Hermione Granger, Minerva McGonagall, Neville Longbottom, Ron Weasley Genres: Action/Adventure, Comedy, Drama, General Warnings: Death, Violence Story is Complete Rating: R Reviews: 94 Summary: Raising Albus is turning out to be a challenge. Raising a child that is extraordinarily magically talented is difficult enough, but when the child is the subject of several prophesies the task can be daunting. Harry feels it may have been easier being a child subject to prophesies than raising one. Teddy wants to be an Auror, not the safest occupation. James and Lily pose their own challenges. This story will take us up to Albus and Rose train ride to Hogwarts. Hitcount: Story Total: 95375; Chapter Total: 2756 Author's Notes: |
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The first of September Harry and Ginny again took Teddy to the Hogwarts Express. Molly again had Fred, but to Harry and Ginny’s great surprise Roxanne was not with her. “Where is Roxanne?’ Ginny asked her Mum. “She was at our house, but asked if she could walk over to the Longbottom Mansion to go to the train station with Frank Longbottom,” Molly said. “I think those two spent most of the summer together.” Ginny said, “I know George has been complaining that Roxanne hates to work at the store. She wants to spend all her time over at the New Burrow.” Molly said, “Roxanne loves to garden. I like gardening, and it has been fun to see Roxanne with Frank II. They both like the feel of dirt in their hands, and seeing things grow from seeds to mature plants. They are pretty good sales people too, when it comes to produce. I think Fred Longbottom has inherited his father’s way with plants. “They like to duel too. I know Roxanne said that Frank wants to become an Auror, like his father, and then retire to tend plants after fifteen or twenty years. Roxanne has mentioned that she might like to do the same. I’m not sure if it is the career or Frank. “It is not like Roxanne comes over to the New Burrow to see me! Either she goes over to the Longbottom Mansion or Frank comes over to the New Burrow. They are good workers, so neither Solon nor I can complain. Sojourner, she is really the farmer elf, she is delighted when those two are working on the farms.” About this time Neville and Hanna Longbottom showed up with their three children, Frank II, who was walking with and talking to Roxanne Weasley, Alice II, who was going for the first time, and Dolly, who was going next year. They also had the oldest of Professor Sprout’s rather large brood, Rose, who was in Victoire’s class. Ginny whispered to Harry, “I think Pomona likes raising children as much as she likes raising plants.” “Farmers frequently have large families,” Harry said. “The Sprouts do have quite a brood of children. After a girl every other year they had a boy this year. They have a house on the grounds now, on the other side of the greenhouses. After their children are sorted they have to stay in the dorms, but they do get home, and bring friends over, for brief visits on the weekend.” Ginny looked around, trying to see who else she knew that was going to Hogwarts. They spotted Joan Joy Prewett, Gala Appleleaf and Mark Lionheart. As Ginny saw the crowd that was going for the first time, she turned to Harry and said, “They were all babies, Harry. What happened?” “I expect they grew up,” said Harry, laughing. “Your mother tells me you were a baby once too, a fiery baby redhead. Now you’re a mother. It happens.” Four more years, thought Ginny, and they would put James on this train. She was not sure she was going to be ready for that. Teddy has three more years of school, thought Harry. He wants to be an Auror, and from his grades, and how well he did his first year in the DA club, he will be a good one. Really good young Aurors get the dangerous assignments. It was starting to worry Harry. It was good to have Albus back, after close to four months mostly away. The week when the whole class was at Potters New Burrow and the New Burrow was nice, but Harry and Ginny did not get to see a lot of Al even then. Now every month, for two to four days, the class would spend four to eight hours in front of big magic mirrors practicing their language skills with each other, but at home, not away. Next summer there would be a three and a half months long language training session, with monthly refreshers thereafter. Ginny was enjoying her life. Harry thought in some ways she even enjoyed the fights with Lily. Those two really loved each other, despite the occasional (well sometimes more than occasional) fireworks. They both loved Quidditch, as did James. The only one of the children really interested in all that Harry did, not only the Auror work but everything else, was Albus. The first week in September Molly asked Harry to meet with Narcissa again. They met at the restaurant in Ottery St.Catchpole where Molly and Narcissa frequently met, in a small private dining room. “We had a visit from Cleo’s grandmother, Lilith,” Narcissa said. “She is furious that Draco and Astoria are not teaching Cleo and Scorpius. She met with everyone in the house, well everyone except the house elves. Somehow I think that was a mistake. Most witches and wizards don’t pay much attention to house elves, do they?” “No, they don’t,” said Harry. “I think not paying attention to the house elves is a big mistake. Don’t suggest it to others in your household, please.” “Scorpe and Cleo are already real good friends of the house elves, and sometimes I even teach the house elf children as well as Scorpe and Cleo,” Narcissa said. “No one else in the family knows that I have the house elf children in some of the classes. I know that the children are learning Elfish, although I don’t think they know I know. I do not think anyone else in the house knows.” “Do the grandmothers help with the teaching?” Harry asked. “Godiva tries. She is better at talking to Cleo, and does call her by name and tries to be friends. She has taught the children about the Malfoy family history, glossing over some of the nastier parts of it. All in all she is a little help.” “Is Cleo’s grandmother happy with the job Godiva is doing?” Harry asked. “Not really,” Narcissa said. “Godiva and her house elf Gritrude are just not very good at being mean and nasty, and I get the feeling that Lilith wants tough teaching that will make the children unhappy in some way. “Godiva also has a lot of contempt for Muggles, and is trying to teach that. It hasn’t seemed to work. Both Scorpius and Cleopatra are fascinated by Muggles. They know enough history to know that your mother’s parents were Muggles, and Hermione’s parents were Muggles. Besides, Draco hates Muggles, and Hermione especially, and that seems to make the children want to like Muggles.” “Your mother Druella?” asked Harry. “She still has not gotten over Cleo not being Full Blooded,” Narcissa said. “She can hardly look at Cleo. She may be my mother, but she is not being a nice person right now.” Harry asked, “Are the house elves still helping with the Dementors?” Narcissa said, “Yes, and I know there are other house elves, ones not from the Malfoy household, involved. House elf society seems to be a lot more complex than I was taught.” Harry said, “It always was, but things are also changing. I am very glad the house elves are keeping Malfoy Manor safe from Dementors.” Molly asked, “How are the children holding up?” Narcissa said, “If Cleo’s family thought that living with the Malfoy family would break her spirit, they were badly mistaken. She bounds up and down stairs, a big smile on her face. I think she speaks in exclamation marks and underlines. She flails away at the organ once she has learned a song, putting more emotion into her playing than I knew you could. She is absolutely, utterly irrepressible.” Narcissa looked at Molly, and said, “I think she would fit into your family. She is not exactly a Malfoy. “Scorpius is doing all right. He is a lot more studious than Cleo, although she seems to know almost as much as he does. He reminds me a little of Draco’s descriptions of Hermione, actually. He is a lot quieter, but ever since I started hugging and kissing those two before bed we have has some sort of understanding, and all three of us are doing all right.” Harry asked Narcissa, “How are you holding up, Narcissa.” Narcissa said, “Did you know that Andromeda and I have been seeing each other? Molly brought Andy along one meeting, shortly after Andy came back from San Francisco, and we meet about once a month with Molly. We have even met at this restaurant without Molly, and I know we will do it again. “I just hope that I can have Andy over at Malfoy Manor, and she will feel welcome, some day. I know I am welcome at the New Burrow, but the situation at home is tense enough. I don’t dare try that yet. “I feel very good about the boy Scorpius is growing up to be, and it is real hard to be too down around Cleo. I am going to be all right.” One Sunday in September Albus asked his Aunt Hermione, “How can I get Mrs. Ursula Umbridge Crabbe from bothering me and Mum?” Hermione asked, “Is she still accusing you of underage magic?” “About twice a week we get a letter from her,” Albus said. “Are you doing underage magic, Albus?” Hermione asked. “I never do anything that shows magic to Muggles,” said Albus. “I guess sometimes when I am handling things, lifting them, I use some unconscious levitation, but it is not anything that shows magic to Muggles. “I’m pretty good at playing my guitar, and a couple of the other students have accused me of having ‘magic fingers,’ but it’s just a lot of practice. Every time I am teased about my ‘magic fingers’ we get a letter from Mrs. Crabbe. It is STUPID! She is stalking me!” “Have you documented this?” Hermione asked. “What do you mean, document?” asked Albus. “Do you have all the letters Ms. Crabbe has sent you?” Hermione asked. “I think Mum throws the letters away,” Albus said. “That is not helpful,” Hermione said. “I need to talk to your Mum. Maybe we can make this a lesson for you.” Hermione got her mother, Albus and Rose, as well as Harry and Ginny, together and laid out a plan. “I would like you to keep all communication you get from Ursula Umbridge Crabbe,” Hermione said. “I would also like Albus to write a paper on what he had been doing at the time he is accused of something, each time you get a letter. Mum, you and Rose should read the papers, and Rose, if you were there, I want you write a paper about what you saw as well. “I want you to build a documentation file to prove that Ursula is obsessed with you, and that you have done nothing wrong.” “I set off magic meters unless I work real hard to suppress it,” Albus said. “It is hard to reach for something without doing a little summonsing. I’ve got to be real careful when I play catch with Muggles, to make sure I don’t summons the ball when I am catching it.” “That is another reason you all need to document what you do for me,” Hermione said. “We cannot keep you from being a Magi, or from having more than a normal amount of magical power. And Albus, you do need to work even harder than most to keep your powers hidden. The only way we can prove that you are being unfairly targeted is to build a carefully documented case against Mrs. Crabbe.” Later that evening Harry and Ginny met with Hermione and Jean. Ron was at the store. “Writing is a lot to ask of a six year old,” Ginny said. Jean said, “Hermione was reading young adult books, and some very adult books, at six, and writing at way above her grade level. She skipped two years ahead in primary school, and was still the best student in her class. We were not sure what to do with her. In some ways the letter from Hogwarts was a relief. “Rose and Albus have been taught from a very young age. They were both reading well at two, and are way ahead of most six and seven year old children. Having them write is pushing them, and especially Albus, but it is good for them.” “Was primary school really that bad?” Harry asked. “You have no idea how bad it was,” Hermione said. “I do not know if you noticed, but I did not invite a single boy or girl that I went to primary school with to my wedding, “I had no idea how to make friends with people my own age, until a couple of my fellow classmates thoroughly corrupted me.” “And now you are just a mild mannered Ministry employee,” Ginny said. “That is not what I hear,” Harry replied. “House elf controversies are heating up again,” Hermione said. “Between what is going on in North America and Europe, and the discussions our children are involved in, we are looking at a big controversy at the International Conference of Witches and Wizards next spring.” “Still a troublemaker?” Ginny asked. “Your brother and your husband corrupted me,” Hermione said with a laugh. The documentation of Ursula’s harassment of Albus went on all autumn. One autumn day Albus was out at a Muggle park with the whole family, and ended up in a game of football with the boys in the area. He scored a goal, and it looked like the ball curved into the goal. Albus realized that the ball had some spin on it, but he had probably made it curve a little more by magic. Rose saw the goal, and both of them carefully watched to make sure that no Muggle attributed the goal to magic. None of them did, although they did see it curve more than it normally would have. The family had just gotten home from the playground when Ursula showed up at the Potter’s front door. “More blatant underage magic, and in front of Muggles, Albus,” Ursula said on the front steps. Ginny pulled out her wand. “Mum, please stop it,” Albus said. “Please, Aunt Ginny, don’t hex her,” Rose said. “Just let us inside so we can write out what happened.” Ginny opened the door, let everybody else inside, and then slammed the door shut in Ursula’s face. Mitzi led Ginny to a nearby chair. Jo, the other house elf who helped shadow Ginny, watched at the door, making sure that Ursula didn’t make a scene. “We need to write about this,” Albus said. Rose nodded her agreement. “I think we should each go to our own bedroom, and write what happened in our own words,” Albus said. Sue Shook was on the outing with Ginny, along with her children Sheryl, Christy, and Marvin. They were all the same age as the Potter children, and Sue was credited with being only a part time or extra Auror when she accompanied Ginny with her children. “I will write what I saw, or didn’t see,” Sue said. “I will write down what my children saw as well.” For three days the next week Jean Granger worked with Albus and Rose to help them compose their stories of what happened. Those reports, and others, about one a week, were added to the complaints from Ursula that Ginny was now saving and handing over to Jean. The first part of November the Potter children were again in the park, with Rose and Hugo, and also the Shook children. The older children choose sides and started a game of football, and Albus was again kicking the ball. Albus and James were on opposite sides, a not uncommon occurrence. The ball took a bad bounce as it headed towards James, and Ginny spotted Ursula writing something down. Sue had a Muggle video camera, and she was recording the game. During a pause in the game Ursula went up to Albus and said, “I have seen you change the direction of the ball. That HAS to Stop!” “Just because the ball takes a bad bounce does not mean I did it,” Albus replied. Sue walked over to where the confrontation was taking place, recording everything. Ursula sat down, put her face right next to Albus, and whispered, “You are a wizard. You have no business playing with Muggles.” “You should not be saying that word HERE,” Albus said. “DON’T YOU DEFY ME?” Ursula yelled. One of the Muggle mothers came over and said, “Is this lady bothering you?” “She bothers me all the time,” Albus said. By this time Sue was right on top of the confrontation. She said something to one of the other Aurors who was watching the group, and the other Auror took Ursula by the arm and led her away. They had just entered a nearby building when they heard Ursula cry out, and before the door closed a bat flew out of the building. Sue said, “GINNY!” Ginny looked a little ashamed. When they could talk privately Ginny told Sue, “I stopped it right away. Sue said, “You had better tell Harry and Hermione as soon as possible. No Muggle saw it, but that was close, and you have already been in trouble for your Bat Boogey Hex.” When Hermione heard what had happened she told Ginny and Albus, “We need to file charges against Mrs. Crabbe as soon as possible, or Ginny, you are going to be in big trouble. You may still be in trouble for your Bat Bogey Hex. It is not a good idea to keep Bat Bogey Hexing a Ministry official, no matter how unfair they are being.” Ginny didn’t say much. She knew she had lost her temper, and this time it could get her in trouble. Ginny and Ursula were both called to a hearing before a prosecutor, to see if either of them had violated any law. Ginny did point out that no Muggle had any idea what had happened when she cast the Bat Boogey hex, although she did not dispute that she had cast the spell. Jean and Albus, with the support of a large number of other people, had carefully documented Ursula’s harassment. Ursula was told that she could no longer have anything to do with Albus .Ginny was also reprimanded. The prosecutor let her know that she was very close to being put under house arrest for the Bat Boogey Hex, and she was on informal probation. Ginny was relieved that she was let off with a warning. She was thrilled that the target for the hex was being forbidden to have contact with Albus. Ginny could reserve the use of the Bat Bogey Hex for her brothers if they gave her a hard time. |
| Reviews 94 |
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