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Hogwarts: A Theme Park? | ||||||
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Category: Reconstruction Challenge (2007-5) Characters:None Genres: Action/Adventure, Angst, Drama, Humor Warnings: None Story is Complete Rating: PG Reviews: 9 Summary: "Bucking Broncos" and block-expelling walls wasn't really what Harry had signed up for. But with a pillow-fighting, Doxy Powder sneaking Hermione standing over him, he has no choice but to get the job done. Hitcount: Story Total: 29073; Chapter Total: 4609 Author's Notes: Once again, I'd like to thank Mojomig for beta reading this chapter for me. Thanks!! |
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Chapter 5: Harry could hardly remember the last time he’d been this busy. He hadn’t been so over-worked during his OWLs, or even during his search for the Horcuxes and the Hallows. But now, he hardly had a single spare moment. He’d barely sit when someone called him to do some sort of task for him. Cuthbert, especially, seemed to have taken a liking to asking for his help each time a problem, never mind how small it was, occurred. It didn’t help that teachers started flooding in towards the end of the week, and that they were all curious to see how the repair works was going. Several professors had actually come up to him, asking to have a look at the Elder wand — Harry found that rather intimidating, especially after knowing after the wand’s bloody history. They also weren’t giving him the privacy he needed to work on his projects. He didn’t know how powerful the Elder wand’s magic was, and how long would the Invisibility shield he’d created around his work area would last. Furthermore, Hermione was getting suspicious because he was spending a lot of time in the library. “What’s that?” she asked casually, as he quickly withdrew his working plans inside the pocket of his robes. “Nothing, nothing,” he replied a little too quickly. “Just a list of…what I’m planning to do once all this work is over.” He knew it didn’t make sense to hide this from his friends, but he was sure that Hermione would probably try to stop him. Even though it wouldn’t be harmful to tell Ron, he was sure that Hermione would probably wheedle the plans out of him, either by threatening or seducing him — Ron was pretty easy to convince. Ginny wasn’t asking any questions; as far as she was concerned, her boyfriend was working on the thing she had asked of him, and seemed to be totally clueless about his legacy to Hogwarts. The one person who did know what Harry was working on was Professor McGonagall, and she certainly didn't take up Ginny’s approach. She kept tailing him in the corridors, pestering him with questions and making suggestions. It was clear that she didn’t want him to build something which would create chaos while she reigned as a headmistress. In the end, Harry found it so difficult to escape from her, he had to resort to using his Invisibility Cloak. Stepping around tiny Professor Flitwick, who was busy repairing window panes, Harry took a staircase and climbed to the third floor. He couldn’t believe he hadn’t though of it sooner, but the Room of Requirements would make the ideal spot for him to work in private. Wondering whether it was still working after the cursed fire Crabbe had produced in it, he started walking past the wall, concentrating on what he needed. ‘I need a place to work in private. I need a place to work in private.’ Suddenly, a door materialised before him. He cautiously reached for the door handle and pushed it open. He poked his head inside, expecting to see a state of chaos in there, but to his surprise, the room looked perfectly alright, as if nothing had happened in there. There was a large wooden desk, which was covered with rolls of parchments, bottles of ink and quills. Behind the desk was a large bookcase, and upon further inspection, he found that it was filled with books concerned with construction and wizards’ imprints on famous architectural sites, and books with charms and incantations useful for his tasks. There was also a small cabinet, which Harry opened to find it filled with refreshments and snacks. Grinning happily, he shrugged off the Cloak, sank down on the comfortable chair behind the desk and pulled out his plans from his pocket. He laid them on the desk and started working. - The 31st of August finally came around. All around the castle, professors, engineers and builders were making the final touches. There was always that forgotten window, or that door which had squeaky hinges. In other words, Hogwarts was buzzing with life, which could only be definite proof that life always rises where destruction struck. Hermione was getting edgy. Harry had left them yesterday night, saying that there was something he needed to get finished, and hadn’t returned since. She rounded on Ron and Ginny, who were both having a peaceful breakfast. The three of them were sitting at the one of the four tables in the Great Hall, and had been joined shortly after they’d sat by Professor McGonagall, who also looked edgy. “Doesn’t anyone know where he is?” Hermione asked quietly, while prodding the pancake on her plate. “That’s what I’d like to know, Miss Granger,” Professor McGonagall put in. “I desire a word with Mr. Potter before term starts. Miss Weasley, Mr. Weasley, do you happen to know of his whereabouts?” Ginny shook her head, but Ron’s response wasn’t as graceful. Forgetting that it was full with food, he’d opened his mouth to talk, and accidentally sprayed bits of food on the table. As one, the three females pushed their plates away from them, and he hung his head, embarrassed. Hermione had just opened her mouth to rebuke him, but was cut off as Harry squeezed into the empty space between her and Ginny, and started hauling food onto his plate, but not before giving a cheery, “Good morning!” to everyone. He began eating, all too aware that everyone was watching him, if not for the same reasons. “Good food,” he finally said, after demolishing his breakfast and leaving his plate empty. “So, does that mean we could finally get some answers?” Hermione said reproachfully. Harry smiled at her. “Yes, although I don’t suppose I could get a tiny little nap first?” he said, rather meekly. “No!” Hermione and Professor McGonagall intoned. “Yes, I thought not,” he said, nodding. He draped an arm around Ginny’s shoulders, and looked around at them. “Well, shall we proceed to the Entrance Hall, then?” Intrigued, they all got up from the table and followed Harry, who was probably feeling more excited that any of them, out to the Entrance Hall. It was fairly empty now — most of the builders were in the castle’s upper floors, hunting for minor spell damage and cracks in the walls. It also looked pretty normal, just like any other day. There was nothing remotely different about it. “Well?” Hermione said impatiently. “Those past few days I’ve been working on two different things, and I’ve been doing it in secret so that no one would interfere with what I’m doing,” he said, smiling graciously at Hermione and his Headmistress. “There were records to go through, spells to be looked up, and consequences to be considered, but I finally nailed what I was looking for. I present to you my first piece,” he added, and with a wave of his wand, the Invisibility shield vanished, revealing what was hidden. To any Muggle, this would’ve looked like a simple monument. It was a simple rectangular shape, made of white marble, and had the following words engraved on it: We wouldn’t be here without you And following was a list of names of all the wizards and witches who have fought and died in the battle against Voldemort. But to a wizard’s eye, to each individual eye, it was something different. Harry looked around at the others. Ginny and Ron were staring at the monument, their eyes filled with tears. Ginny caught Harry looking at her, and she managed a small smile, before turning to cry into her brother’s shoulder. Hermione looked somewhere between a sob and laugh, and he couldn’t imagine why, whereas Professor McGonagall had taken out a handkerchief, and was dabbing at her eyes. The students’ request Ginny had informed him of was just having a simple monument built to remind them all of the sacrifices that have been made during the final battle, but he strongly believed that those sacrifices deemed worthy of more than just a “simple monument”. Using the basic idea of showing what one desired, from the Mirror of Erised, and the switching concept of the memorial that had been built in the town’s square in Godric’s Hollow, Harry had constructed a monument which showed each wizard the person he most desired to see. He guessed that Ron and Ginny were now watching Fred, who was undoubtedly sticking out a tongue at them now for being so tearful. Professor McGonagall was probably looking at Dumbledore, and Hermione...well, he had no idea who she was seeing. And when he looked, his saw his parents, both beaming proudly down at him. At that moment, Hermione chuckled, and they all stared at her. She smiled apologetically. “I’m sorry, it’s just...Tonks,” she explained helplessly, and wiped her tears away with the back of her hand. “She just made the pig-snout nose at me.” McGonagall had suddenly clasped his hands. “My dear boy, this is just so incredible,” she said earnestly, and Harry took a moment to consider whether he should be more shocked by the fact that she had called him ‘dear boy’, or by the fact that she’d given him a compliment. “Was this it, then? This was your imprint?” Harry grinned. “Oh, no, Professor,” he replied. “I made this based on the students’ request.” “There’s something else?” Ron asked, patting his sister on the back. “Sure there is,” he said, and once again, he brandished his wand. He glanced at them, and added, “I wouldn’t stand there if I was you.” - A/N: I didn't know how to do Monotype Corsiva for the monument's quote. *grins sheepishly* One more chapter left to go! Please review! |
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