Hogwarts Grounds, 5/22/1992, 11:29
Harry was overseeing his third-year Gryffindor/Hufflepuff class today while they sat their end-of-term exam. Four of his former quidditch teammates were in this particular class, two of them being the Weasley twins.
If Harry were being honest with himself, he would be very pleased if the Weasley twins decided to drop the class as they were nothing but trouble this year. Over the past school year they had turned his familiar pink, transfigured the Slytherin chasers' underwear into fire ants resulting in the headmaster switching this class from Gryffindor/Slytherin to Gryffindor/Hufflepuff, tricked Kenneth Towler into being stung by doxies, released three nifflers inside the gamekeeper's hut, and generally made a nuisance of themselves whenever they could.
Currently, the class was caring for fire-dwelling salamanders after they had completed their written exams. All they really had to do was keep a small fire containing a single salamander going so it was a fairly simple practical exam in Harry's opinion.
That is until one of the Weasley twins placed a Filibuster wet start firework into his salamander's mouth sending the poor creature zooming through the air as the firework propelled it through the air emitting tangerine stars from its mouth.
"Alright that's it, Fred and George Weasley, get out of my class the both of you!" Harry hissed as the lizard zoomed past him emitting a high-pitched whistling sound.
"But sir," one of them protested sounding surprised.
"I mean it, get out! I am not a babysitter and this is not a daycare. If you aren't going to take this class seriously you're wasting my time and everyone else's. Now leave," Harry exclaimed as he cast a spell that caught the salamander before it could hit the ground and gently guided it into Angelina's fire.
"Yes sir," George nodded dumbly before the two of them walked toward the castle without another word.
"Miss Johnson, I hope you don't mind the extra salamander," Harry asked.
"No sir, mine seems to appreciate the company," Angelina assured him.
"Thank you," Harry smiled before he transferred George's salamander into Kenneth Towler's fire.
Harry was already stressed out a bit from the prospect of having to leave after lunch to begin his rescue mission in the Amazon. He realized that he had probably just taken some of that stress out on the two third years but in a way, that outburst had been coming for a while.
The rest of the class passed rather quickly, after tossing Fred and George out the rest of the students were keeping their heads down and completing their assignment without disruption. Harry made a note to set an example early next year in hopes of not having to put up with more shenanigans like he had been dealing with this year.
At the five-minute mark, Harry went around with a clipboard and placed a check by the name of every student who still had their fire going which was, thankfully, all of them did.
He had already graded their written exams while the students were tending to their salamanders. Granted the flying salamander prank was a bit of a distraction but he still managed to get all of their exams graded by the end of class. This meant he could turn in the third-year's grade sheet just as soon as he put the creatures back in their habitat.
Once the class had left, Harry began the tedious process of transferring the lizards into a special firebox enchanted with an ever-burning fire inside of it and then prepared to make a quick trip to the headmaster's office.
He still had to make a quick trip home so he could get ready for his three o'clock flight to Phoenix.
Harry was just locking up the gamekeeper's hut when he spotted Minerva making her way towards him looking almost amused.
"Messrs Weasley claimed you chucked them out of your class, Harry?" Minerva asked by way of greeting.
"I did, they were very disruptive during our final exam and if I'm honest, that had been coming for a long time," Harry sighed.
"Do you wish them out of your class permanently?" Minerva asked looking at him sympathetically.
"No, but if they pull another stunt like that they can consider themselves out," Harry answered after considering her question.
"Excellent, I was going to suggest you do something similar," Minerva said looking pleased.
"This isn't my first problem students, Minerva," Harry chuckled.
"True, your niece was quite the pest," Minerva conceded.
"She was but even Tonks knew better than to feed a fire salamander a firework in my class," Harry scowled.
"I took the liberty of assigning them detention with Argus for the rest of the term," Minerva assured him.
"How did you find out so quickly, I was planning on meeting with you before I left?" Harry asked as the two of them began walking towards the castle.
"I ran into the Weasley twins in the entry hall and asked them why they were not still in your class," Minerva explained.
"They would have passed their exam before that incident but now I am forced to fail them on the practical. They will still pass overall but just barely," Harry admitted.
"Molly will be livid when she learns of this," Minerva said as they approached the castle doors
"It will serve them right," Harry shrugged.
"I couldn't agree more," Minerva said as the two of them began walking up the grand staircase.
"So I take it you are turning in your third-year grades for the year?" Minerva questioned after the two of them walked in silence.
"I am, the fourth-years should be finished on Tuesday," Harry added.
"Excellent," Minerva praised.
"I tried waiting until after O W.Ls last year and it was a major headache," Harry said as they stepped off of the stairs onto the second floor.
"With an elective class, you have a bit more leeway. In the core classes we have to keep them learning until the very last day," Minerva smirked.
"I suppose that makes me the fun professor," Harry quipped.
"The Weasley twins would disagree with that assessment," Minerva countered.
"Their opinion is a bit biased," Harry chuckled as they came to a stop in front of the gargoyle statue.
"Lemon drop," Minerva said causing the statue to move out of the way revealing the stone staircase that led up to the headmaster's office.
Harry and Minerva quickly stepped on the escalator-like set of steps and rode them up to the landing the sound of stone grinding on stone echoing through the tower as they rose higher.
As soon as the stairs came to a stop they stepped onto the landing and Minerva knocked smartly on the door
"Enter," Harry heard Dumbledore call from the other side of the door.
Minerva pushed the door open and stepped inside, Harry following right behind her.
"Ah Minerva and Harry, to what do I owe the pleasure?" Dumbledore asked by way of greeting.
"The Weasley twins are up to mischief again, I came to file their detentions into the logs," Minerva answered.
"I have the third-year final grade reports to hand in," Harry said as he set his clipboard on the headmaster's desk.
"Excellent," Dumbledore beamed as Minerva began jotting the Weasley twin's punishment down in the school logbook.
"The boys aren't in too much trouble, I hope?" Dumbledore questioned.
"One of the two boys fed one of my fire-dwelling salamanders a wet-start firework during the exam," Harry sighed.
"The creature isn't hurt?" Dumbledore asked sounding genuinely concerned.
"No, but why are the salamanders always the target of these pranks?" Harry asked not expecting an answer.
"They do seem to draw the students' ire," Minerva agreed as she closed the thick leather-bound book.
"I have no idea why, they are quite docile creatures," Dumbledore chuckled as he began reading through the third-year's marks.
"Tell me about it," Harry agreed.
"Well this looks in order, I suppose I will let you go on your way," Albus said as he looked up at his care of magical creatures teacher.
"Thanks, I need to go home and see what trouble my own twins have caused in my absence," Harry agreed as he took a pinch of floo powder out of the bowl on the mantle.
"Have a good weekend," Minerva said looking amused at that statement.
"You as well, Minerva. Have a good day, Headmaster," Harry said as he tossed the powder into the fireplace.
"A good day to you as well, Harry," Dumbledore chuckled as Harry stepped into the flames and was sucked into the floo network.
Potion Processing Facility #3, Brazil, 5/23/1992, 00:35
Harry slipped out of the processing facility feeling disappointed that he hadn't found what he was looking for.
Getting here had been simpler than he had thought it would be. He had caught a flight to France and then taken a portkey to Arizona. From there he had portkey hopped south to avoid the Brazilian government knowing he had been in the country. The ministry was putting plans together to monitor muggle travel hubs but at the moment they were still reeling after the assassination of Augusta Longbottom.
Chuppacabre Potion Suppliers had potion warehouses spread out over four countries. Even more frustrating was the fact that Narcissa didn't know for certain which one the basilisk was being kept in.
This meant that Harry was having to search the warehouses one by one to locate the basilisk and he had less than forty-eight hours to do it! Harry only had the weekend to find the basilisk, rescue it, drop it off at the reserve and return to Hogwarts before his first class started at ten o 'clock on Monday.
The warehouse he had just checked was full of venom samples but none of them were from any magical species and he was preparing to apparate to the next warehouse.
Knowing he was on a time crunch, Harry consulted the list of warehouse locations Narcissa had given him and apparated to another warehouse about twenty miles away from this one hoping he didn't have to spend all weekend on a scavenger hunt.
Potion Processing Facility #6, Bolivia, 5/23/1992, 02:39
Harry observed the workers moving around from his place hovering near the ceiling of the hanger-like warehouse. He was currently on his broomstick and hidden under a powerful disillusionment charm while he searched for any signs of a holding facility that could contain large magical creatures.
Harry was starting to get annoyed, this was the third of these potion warehouses he had checked and he was beginning to wonder if he would be able to find the basilisk in time. He was currently in a warehouse that was at the foot of the Andes mountains not far from the Amazon river and it contained mostly magical pants and botanicals collected from the rainforest.
Deciding it was time to move on, Harry flew back out of the warehouse door and over to a wide spot in the nearby jungle so he could apparate to the next location on the list.
Once he touched down, Harry checked that his disillusionment charm was still holding. He couldn't but wish that he could set just set up his tent and get a few hours of sleep but he didn't have the time to waste.
Once he was satisfied that he was still in visible Harry turned on the spot and disappeared with a barely audible 'pop.'
Hogwarts Grounds, 5/23/1992, 12:38
Harry and Susan made their way out of the castle after enjoying a light lunch. The two of them were heading out onto the grounds to get some fresh air and waste away a brilliant afternoon. The end-of-year exams started on the coming Monday and Harry had somehow managed to convince Susan to not study this afternoon.
"So what are we doing?" Susan asked curiously pulling Harry from his thoughts.
"I thought we could use the school brooms," Harry said as he gestured to the Hufflepuff and Gryffindor first years that were flying over the quidditch pitch.
"As long as we aren't stealing broomsticks," Susans said only half-jokingly.
"Not bloody likely! Those were some of my worst detentions ever," Harry assured her.
"Good, it looks like Hannah is already out there," Susan said sounding relieved.
"She's a pretty good flyer," Harry said as he looked to where Susan was pointing.
"If you had gone over to the Abbotts with me sometime then you would already know that," Susan snorted.
"Well the last time I went over there, you and Hannah made me have a bloody tea party," Harry shot back.
"We were four," Susan sighed.
"Well it scared me off," Harry shrugged as they stepped onto the pitch.
Harry noticed that Madam Hooch was sitting on the lowest level of the stands supervising the flyers looking almost bored.
"Potter, not planning on pillaging the locker rooms again, are we?" Madam Hooch asked when she spotted him and Susan crossing the pitch.
"No ma'am, I was hoping to borrow one of the school brooms," Harry said ignoring the snort from Susan.
"Help yourself but try not to get yourself hurt," Madam Hooch said as she pointed to the open broom shed on the other side of the pitch.
"Thank you," Harry said before he practically dragged Susan over to the shed and grabbed a pair of Comets from the rack.
"My arm's attached you know," Susan grumbled as she snatched the broom he offered her out of his hand.
"Can it, Bones," Harry said before he mounted the broom and kicked off hard.
"That was just rude," Susan scowled as she followed after him... or tried to.
Harry knew that Susan wasn't a fan of flying. She could fly alright but it wasn't really her thing. He figured if he took her flying enough, it would eventually grow on her. Though lately, he was starting to have his doubts that this tactic was working as she never seemed very enthusiastic about anything broomstick related.
"Susan," Hannah exclaimed happily as she flew over to him and Susan.
"Hannah", Susan said somewhat distractedly as she focused on hovering the broom fifty feet over the pitch.
"Oi Potter, want to play a pickup game?" Ernie McMillan asked as he flew over with Justin Finch-Fletchley trailing behind him.
"Sure," Harry agreed as he spotted Wayne Hopkins and Neville Longbottom making their way towards them as well.
"Excellent, Bones and Justin can play keepers and we can pick teams and play three-on-three chasers," Ernie beamed.
"I want in," Hannah said looking excited.
"Can you even play?" Justin asked sceptically.
"She can probably play better than you, Finch-Fletchley," Susan smirked.
"You can be on my team then," Harry said at once as he glanced over at Hannah.
"Then I get Hopkins," Ernie countered.
"Fine, It looks like Neville is with me but who will be your third?" Harry asked.
"If you lot are playing, I want in," Ron Weasley exclaimed as he made his way toward the group hovering in midair.
"Great, you can be on my team," Ernie answered looking pleased with his team.
"Alright, let's go grab a quaffle," Harry grinned.
"I'll get it," Neville volunteered.
"Thanks, mate," Ron said to Neville"s back as the blond-haired boy was already flying toward the ground.
Harry watched as Ernie's team huddled up about twenty feet away from where he, Susan, and Hannah were hovering before Susan got his attention.
"Harry, I am not sure I want to do this," Susan said sounding very nervous.
"Trust me, you can do this. This isn't a world cup game, so just relax," Harry encouraged.
"But if I am awful-
"You won't be, you always play goalkeeper in football this is pretty much the same thing," Harry assured her.
"Thank you for picking me, Harry," Hannah said softly while Susan looked at him uncertainly at his last statement.
"I saw you on my way here, you're a very good flyer," Harry shrugged.
"But I've never played quidditch before," Hannah admitted shyly her cheeks flushing a rosy pink at the compliment.
"It'll be fine," Harry said giving the girl an encouraging smile as Neville flew towards them with a quaffle tucked under his arm.
"Okay, are you all ready," Hannah asked as Ernie's team flew over to join Neville hovering over mid-pitch.
"Yeah, why don't you go ahead and take up our goal, Bones," Harry said as he glanced over at Susan.
"Alright but if I get myself killed I'm blaming you," Susan said softly.
"Just relax Bones, you'll be fine. Tomorrow we'll do whatever you want to," Harry promised.
"Fine but I'll hold you to that," Susan warned before she flew over to their hoops.
"I just hope it's not a bloody tea party," Harry muttered causing Hannah to giggle beside him.
"Is your team ready?" Ernie asked as Justin flew over to the other set of hoops looking just as unsure as Susan was.
"Yeah, let's do this," Harry beamed noticing that the two teams were facing off at mid-pitch just like professional teams did in a real game.
"So how do we start things off?" Wayne asked curiously.
"I believe I can help you there," an adult voice called from down at the pitch.
Harry looked down to see Madam Hooch mounting a broomstick looking thrilled to have something to do other than watching firsties playing tag.
She soon rose into the air so that she was in the middle of the group of six with Harry's team to her right and Ernie's team to her left.
"I want a nice clean game from all of you. The last thing I want is to be trotting you lot up to the infirmary so no showing off and no roughhousing," Madam Hooch warned as she gestured to Nevile to throw her the quaffle.
"Yes ma'am," all six of them chorused.
"First team that makes twenty goals wins," Madam Hooch added as she easily caught the quaffle Neville tossed her.
"On my count, one...two... Three... Begin!" Madam Hooch called before tossing the quaffle into the air.
Harry zoomed forward and smacked the quaffle so it flew back over his head. He looked back in time to see Hannah snatch it out of the air and rush towards the goal. Harry flew alongside her making sure he was close enough to her if she needed to pass while Neville flew on her other side so they were flying in a 'V' formation.
Ron rushed to intercept Hannah and she passed quickly passed to Neville Neville rushed forward but was blocked by Hopkins and passed left. Harry swooped forward and snatched the quaffle out of the air and put on a burst of speed as he neared the hoops. Harry aimed for the middle hoop and let the quaffle fly, the red ball sailed through the hoop between Justin's outstretched hands.
"Way to go," Hannah squealed as Justin threw the quaffle to Ernie and Harry's team was now playing defence.
Harry flew towards Ernie who quickly passed throwing the quaffle toward Ron. Before Ron could catch it Hannah smacked the quaffle so it flew toward Neville who just barely caught it before making another run on the opposing hoops.
The game was pretty evenly matched as Wayne and Ernie were pretty good. Both of the keepers weren't very good at saving goals and Neville and Ron were good flyers but not very good at handling the quaffle.
In the end, Harry's team ended up winning but it wasn't a slaughter by any means.
Harry touched down after their team was declared the winner and was immediately engulfed in a hug by Hannah before Neville and Susan piled on as they landed both looking ecstatic.
Harry couldn't help but grin as their impromptu group hug broke and he spotted the others landing not far away from them.
"You were amazing, Hannah!" Susan beamed as she pulled the blonde into another hug.
"Oi, what about us?" Neville demanded in faux offence.
"You did okay... I guess," Susan smirked.
"And that is why you aren't team captain, Bones," Harry said as Ernie'steam made their way over to them.
"Well, I definitely underestimated Abbott. Good game you lot," Ernie beamed as he offered Harry his hand.
"Same, it's just too bad we couldn't play a real game," Harry said as he shook Ernie's hand.
"No thanks, bludgers don't sound like that much fun," Justin said as he shook Harry's hand while Ernie shook Susan's hand.
"I think I want to have a go at keeper next time," Ron admitted as he and Harry shook hands.
"I wouldn't mind trying seeker," Harry admitted before offering Wayne his hand.
"You couldn't be worse than that seeker the Gryffs are using now," Wayne said as he shook Harry's hand.
"Thanks... I think," Harry chuckled as the two teams finished shaking hands.
"Alright, I think I am going to go to the library," Susan said as she watched Madam Hooch land back in the stands.
"Mind if I join you?" Ernie asked.
"Sure, are you coming, Harry?" Susan asked.
"Not a chance," Harry snorted as he mounted his broom and prepared to kick off again.
"Fine if you fail your exams don't come crying to me," Susan said as she turned to leave and all but Ron Weasley and Hannah followed after her.
"You two up for a race?" Harry asked as he watched most of their group leaving the pitch.
"Sure," Ron agreed.
"If you two don't mind getting your butts kicked," Hannah quipped.
"Dream on, Abbott," Harry smirked before kicking off and soaring to goal height.
"Where are we racing?" Ron asked as he and Hannah joined him.
"I would say around the grounds but I bet we would get in trouble for that," Harry admitted remembering the last time he had gone flying over the grounds.
"We would, Madam Hooch says we have to stay on the pitch so she can watch us," Hanbah said sounding a bit upset about this.
"Then we can do ten laps around the pitch," Harry suggested.
"Sounds good but no cutting across the pitch," Ron put forth.
"Okay and no shoving," Harry said giving Hannah a pointed look.
"You about flew into me, I didn't have a choice," Hannah defended.
"Whatever you say," Harry chuckled as they lined up in front of the Ravenclaw stands.
"On your mark," Hannah said as she leaned forward on her broom a determined look playing on her lips.
"Get set," Ron said as he clenched his jaw.
"Go!" Harry yelled and all three of them shot off down the field.
The rest of the afternoon the three first years messed around on their broomsticks. They didn't stop until Madam Hooch got their attention to let them know it was time to go in for dinner.
As the three of them walked back to the castle, Harry made a note to go with Susan to visit Hannah over the summer or at the very least see if she wanted to attend one of Professor Peverell's beach parties.
Potion Warehouse #8, Peru, 5/24/1998, 19:39
Harry was pretty sure that he'd finally hit paydirt!
This had been the first warehouse he had checked in Peru he'd found this warehouse set on a mountaintop.
Well, technically that wasn't true. He'd had a very close call checking the wrong warehouse a few miles south about an hour ago.
Harry had accidentally stumbled onto a hidden warehouse where a bunch of muggles with machine guns were overseeing the production of 'sugar' and he had just barely gotten away without being seen... or shot.
This warehouse was the largest one yet and was filled with ingredients from magical creatures. Another good sign that this was the right place was there were dozens of workers here and all of the other facilities had minimal staff.
The building itself was constructed of steel and had to be at least a hundred feet wide and just as long taking up most of the top of the mountain.
Harry was currently making his way through the tall shelves as he avoided running into workers who randomly placed new ingredients on the shelves or took some off.
One side of the complex was gated off and even from this distance, he could see something very large moving around on the other side of the chainlink fence.
§Let me out of thisss cage you filthy hairless monkiessss!§ Harry heard an angry voice hiss.
Harry quickly made his way over to the fence noticing that the snake was fitted with a type of blindfold that conformed to the shape of its large round eyes similar to what falconers would use. Harry could instantly tell the snake was male since the patch of red scales on its head was a dead giveaway. Harry was just guessing but from the look of this snake, Narcissa's figures were low. This specimen had to be at least forty feet in length and hundreds of years old.
§Are you here going to steal my venom again you disgusting two-legs?§ The snake hissed angrily as it flocked its long tongue, no doubt smelling Harry's approach.
§No, I am here to take you with me§ Harry answered as he checked the gate for any type of alert wards.
Harry was a bit surprised to find that there weren't any security wards over the area but the fence itself was emitting a curious humming sound.
§A speaker, I have never met a speaker before§, the basilisk hissed curiously as it turned its head in Harry's direction.
Harry stared at the fence for a moment trying to figure out where the sound was coming from. it only took him a moment to figure out the reason for the strange sound. There were electrical wires attached to the posts that framed the fence.
The fence was fucking electrified!
§Why are you here, speaker?§ The snake asked getting Harry's attention.
§I work with snakes from all over the world and I had heard that you were being held here§, Harry said distractedly.
Looking around it didn't take long before he found a shut-off lever mounted on the wall next to the electric fencing. As soon as he switched it into the off position, the humming sound immediately stopped.
Tentatively Harry walked over to the four-foot wide gate that led into the pen. Taking a deep breath to calm himself, Harry reached out and lifted the latch. He let out an audible sigh of relief when he didn't experience any negative side effects upon touching the latch. The gate swung open with a soft squealing sound and he quickly stepped into the basilisk's pen.
Looking around the pen Harry noted that the electric fencing ran parallel to the building's exterior walls to prevent the snake from forcing its way throw the flimsy metal the building was constructed from. The pen was sixty feet by forty feet which sounded like a lot but was nowhere near adequate for a snake of this size. The floor was rough concrete and was lit with large halogen lights hanging down from the ceiling above.
One thing Harry would say was that the pen was immaculately clean and it seemed that the workers were making the effort to keep the snake healthy.
§You are definitely a very old basilisk§, Harry muttered as he cancelled his disillusionment charm and began walking closer to the snake that was coiled in the middle of the pen
§Have you met others like me§, the snake asked as Harry came closer.
§Yes quite a few§, Harry answered as he studied the leather blindfold before he found the buckles that strapped it around the snake's head.
§Where are you going to take me§, the basilisk asked sounding almost excited.
§I plan on taking you to an island full of snakes just like you§, Harry said as he tentatively began undoing the buckles on the blindfold.
§Anywhere is better than here I haven't seen anything for sooooo loooooong§, the basilisk complained.
§I am going to take the blindfold off. close your eyes. It is very bright in here and it will hurt if your eyes are open§, Harry warned before he gently began pulling the blindfold off of the snake's massive head.
§Thank you, speaker I haven't seen anything but the inside of that thing since I was a hatchling§, the snake hissed appreciatively as he slowly opened his large vibrant green eyes and looked around curiously.
§We have to be quick, I need you to get inside my suitcase§, Harry said as he pulled one of the suitcases he had borrowed from Newt out of the magically expanded pocket of his robes and set it flat on the floor.
§I will not fit in that§, the snake hissed sounding almost amused.
§This is a magical suitcase it is much larger in there than it is in here. There are even a few sheep for you to eat while I get us out of here§, Harry chuckled as he adjusted the combination lock on the side causing the suitcase to expand in length and width.
0within seconds the suitcase expanded to be four feet by four feet and Harry threw open the lid so he was looking down into a wide green meadow with sheep grazing about.
§I can smell them, I also smell a female§, the snake hissed as it flicked its tongue excitedly.
§I rescued her from a cave many years ago, she is on the island I am taking you to§, Harry explained as he heard footsteps getting closer to the pen.
Apparently, the basilisk heard them too as he raced into the case at a speed Harry didn't think was possible for such a large snake. Within seconds the snake's tail disappeared into the case and he heard the sheep bleating in terror.
§It's warm in here§, Harry heard the snake exclaim before he hastily shut the lid.
Crouching down Harry flicked the combination dials on the suitcase causing it to shrink from four feet wide to about the size of a child's lunchbox. Picking up the case he slipped it into his pocket before standing upright and pulling his hood over his head.
Harry had just stepped out of the pen when he heard screaming and a spell flew by his head. He had cancelled the spell on his unspeakable robes so the snake could see him which unfortunately meant that the workers could see him as well.
The door to the warehouse was almost a hundred feet away and workers were blocking every avenue of escape.
Harry tried to think when he was forced to parry a piercing hex upwards the spell blowing a hole in the tin roof and giving him an idea.
Using a familiar tactic, Harry cast a spell that quickly filled the warehouse in thick grey smoke obscuring the room in an impenetrable mist. Next, he cast a lumos maxima as he shut his eyes very tight but the light through his eyelids was still almost blinding in its intensity.
Taking the workers' screams of surprise as his cue, Harry transformed into his smoke-like form and burst his way through the roof sending tin panels falling into the building he had just exited.
Harry flew off to the east away from the setting sunlight as he made his way to the clearing he'd arrived in an hour earlier.
Harry could hear the sounds of incoming apparition all around him as he rematerialized in the clearing and didn't waste time in activating his portkey that would take him to the XXXXX reserve in Greece.
As Harry felt the pull behind his navel and he was sucked into the blue vortex of portkey travel he thought he could make out the form of green-robed aurors appearing all around him with their wands drawn.
Peverell Beach House, Cornwall, 5/25/1992, 03:29
Harry appeared on the beach in the wee hours of Monday morning with a soft 'pop'. Due to the six-hour time difference, Harry had just barely completed the mission before he was expected to be at work.
He had just barely managed to get it done though so to his mind it was a success. Harry had just finished releasing the basilisk on the island which had made the job worth the aggravation in his opinion.
The basilisk had been thrilled when Harry had opened the case and told him he could come out. The snake had been amazed at all of the open space and the warm soft sand under his belly as he explored his new home. Truthfully Harry had wished he could have stayed and talked with the new basilisk some more but he was already cutting things a bit fine.
As it was, Harry had taken a portkey to one of Narcissa's properties in Nice and then apparition-hopped across France to Normandy. Once on the French coast, he had flown over the channel in his smoke-like form which thankfully could not be detected by the ministry detection wards. As soon as he landed on British soil he had apparated home.
Harry made his way into the dark house unsurprised that nobody was up when he stepped into the sitting room.
Well almost nobody was up as he spotted movement on the floor and saw a familiar set of brownish-red looking up at him.
§I am glad you are home, Harry§, Athena hissed as she slithered closer to him and Harry knelt down and picked her up.
§What did I miss?§ Harry asked as he began walking up the stairs.
§The hatchling caught a mouse that was living in the kitchen§, Athena said as she curled around him soaking up his warmth.
§See even tiny snakes have a purpose§, Harry chuckled.
§Were you successful?§ Athena asked curiously.
§I was, the snake has been set free§, Harry assured her.
§Good, serpents don't belong in cages§, Athena hissed.
§No, they do not§, Harry agreed as he stepped through the door to the jungle room and took a seat on the earthen floor.
§You look exhausted§, Athena hissed as she slithered onto the floor and coiled herself up.
§I am§, Harry agreed as he lay on his back looking up at the simulated moonlight on the ceiling.
Harry wasn't sure when it happened, one minute he was watching the moon as he chatted with his familiar and the next thing he knew he was drifting into a deep sleep.
Harry was woken a few hours later by his wife who was prodding him with her slippered foot.
"What?" Harry asked groggily as he looked up at his wife's amused face.
"Why on earth are you sleeping in here?" Bellatrix asked.
"I was talking with Athena and I must have fallen asleep," Harry answered as he rubbed the sleep from his eyes.
"Well Athena informed me that you were sleeping in here," Bella said as Harry clumsily got to his feet.
"I was planning on coming to bed," Harry said noticing his wife was still dressed in her nightgown.
"How did it go?" Bella asked as she took his hand and led him toward their bedroom.
"I got the basilisk but just barely, I spent most of my time looking for the right warehouse," Harry admitted as he stepped into the room and slipped off his Reaper robes before tossing them on top of the trunk at the foot of his bed.
"Good so now there is nothing standing in our way from going to Bulgaria next weekend," Bella beamed as she began to help him undress.
"No, we should be good to go," Harry agreed as he kicked off his boots.
"Good, Bella gets to play," Bella giggled as she unfastened his belt and let his trousers slide to the floor.
"What time is it?" Harry asked after Bella had pulled his shirt over his head.
"Six thirty, now come along Bella has to clean up her filthy husband," Bella cooed.
Harry stepped out of his trousers pooled around his ankles and allowed her to lead him to their ensuite.
Bella adjusted the water and gestured for him to get in which he eagerly did, he was just about to close the sliding glass door but she stopped him.
"Wait for me," Bella said before she began pulling her nightgown over her head.
As Harry watched Bella getting undressed he realized that getting clean was the last thing on his mind right now as he was only thinking dirty thoughts at the moment.
He knew that the day ahead was going to be rough with him only getting a few hours of sleep for an entire weekend but right now he wasn't too concerned about anything other than the water cascading over Bella's womanly curves.