Episode 6. Part 1

Episode 6. Part 1

***

- Eleven! We're late! - Dudley lamented. - This is all because of you! - He blamed the twins with a look on his face as if he'd almost conquered the world, but while he was fighting, two former redheaded jerks had managed to lose the capital of HIS IMPERIORITY in a poker game to his own enemies. The twins themselves were on their knees again, begging for mercy in a fake way, entertaining the muggles of the entire station by now.

Harold watched the mundane scene with phlegmatic eyes, thinking that he hadn't decided to help these two for nothing. They were more fun to be with, and the problems of the day were somehow forgotten. The only thing that bothered him was that the twins had managed to become close friends not only to Dudley, but to himself as well. He could no longer imagine life without those snide faces.

- Finished? - he asked when the games were over and the boys were seriously wondering why they couldn't get through the barrier between platforms nine and ten and how they were going to get to Hogwarts now, considering they didn't even have an owl to warn the professors. Harry didn't let them be alarmed though, busily leaving King's Cross Station with his things, stepping out into the nearest alleyway and defiantly dropping his wand again.

- Oh, it's you again? Where to this time? Not to New York, I hope? It's gonna cost you, because they raised the tax on entry and...

- Stan, mate, it's September 1st," Potter interrupted the flow of unnecessary information. - We need to go to Hogsmeade. And give us a discount for regular customers.

- You all need a discount! - Shunpike grumped angrily. - We barely have enough on our taxes... GROWTH, ERN!

***

- Potter, you're just like your father! Arrogant, arrogant, always looking for an opportunity to stand out..." crooked Professor Snape, however, noting the wit of the four Hogwarts students he hated the most. They had the misfortune of falling out of a bus in Hogsmeade right at the feet of a potions master. On the other hand, they didn't have to be stuck under the gates to the school grounds, waiting for a trainload of students to arrive in the village. Harold frowned, but listened to the undeserved rebuke - for some reason only in his own direction - silently. He had realized even in his first year that it was useless to prove anything to this man. Especially considering the fact that Snape only saw him as James Potter, not Harry.

Both Dudley and the twins were outraged by the unfair attacks, but looking at their friend, they remained silent as well. However, on the approach to the school, Harold did raise his voice:

- Professor, tell me, do they have potions labs at Hogwarts for independent study of the subject? You know I don't understand the discipline very well. I would like to practice..." Severus Snape lost his tongue at the insolence, and when he found it again, he told the truth:

- Only in the last two courses, in advanced study of the subject. For the rest, they are only available in the presence of a teacher. - The excitement in the green eyes was intense. The potions professor immediately regretted his words and decided to avoid Potter just in case...

***

- Mr. Weasley, Mr. Weasley, since you arrived early, we have an opportunity to talk," the cat-McGee began a sedate conversation with what she considered to be two talented but not the most disciplined students. - I've heard a nasty rumor about you running away from home. Is this true?

- Yes, Professor McGonagall.

- An irreconcilable conflict with your mother. - Back in the summer they discussed how they could resolve their problem with the family by reconciling, but not returning home. Dudley offered to explain his position to the dean as honestly as possible and get her on his side. Especially since the woman, though strict, still tried to be sympathetic to her students' problems. The twins decided to do just that. They felt no guilt for themselves, only their own rightness, and therefore firmly looked the Catwoman in the eye.

- It happens at your age," Minerva began after a moment of silence, as gently and cautiously as possible. Molly Weasley had put everyone on their toes after the children disappeared over the summer. Everyone who was in the Order of the Phoenix and was considered a staunch supporter of Dumbledore. The headmaster, by the way, at first slyly flashed blue eyes from behind the glasses, reassuring the parents of the missing, but then suddenly he himself became suspicious and began the search, which ended unsuccessfully. Even the owls couldn't find the missing people. Minerva realized that only the school letter had reached the twins, and that was because it had special magic tied to student contracts with Hogwarts itself. Who or what was protecting them from the search? Unknown. The woman, however, was surprised and pleased that her students were found healthy, unchanged, and back at school. Now it was her duty to bring them back to the family: -But you must understand that Molly is just worried about you. And everything she does, she does for you.

- We understand, ma'am," explained George, trying to remain calm, who took the floor when the manner of intercepting each other's phrases was inappropriate. - But she's got a lot of kids, and they're all different. And she has chosen the same pattern of behavior for all of them, including Jean. But we're not like Bill or Percy. She doesn't understand..." The twin snapped emotionally, but when he felt his brother kick him, he pulled himself together: "We agree to make peace with her, to write letters, to visit and communicate as before, but we're not going home, in her custody. That is our condition.

- Mr. Weasley, Mr. Weasley, I'm afraid you're too young to live and decide your own life," McGonagle remarked with a restrained pucker, unaccustomed to the urge to challenge her words. - All the more reason for you to set conditions on your parents. When you reach adulthood, then...

- We live with Harold and Dudley," Fred interrupted her, causing her even more displeasure. - They've been living without adult supervision since they were nine years old, ever since the Dursleys died. They ran away from the orphanage because they were mistreated. They weren't fed there and..." The transfiguration professor was so surprised she couldn't believe it. But the Weasleys weren't lying, she knew that with her feline instincts, too. It confused her, and so she resolutely called Potter and Dursle into the study, who were waiting for their friends outside the doors.

- Mr. Potter, Mr. Dursle, is it true? Have you really been living like street children since you were nine years old? - Harold and Dudley cast disgruntled glances at the twins, thinking that they could have done without divulging this information. But, since this was the scenario they had discussed over the summer, the resentment was limited to glances. Yes, the guys are well prepared...

- Professor, we all have great respect for you. We respect your concern for us. I know you already want to try to rectify the situation. I'm just asking you not to do that. We have all really escaped care, but we have learned to live on our own. We are used to managing our own lives, and we like it. We won't tolerate custody anymore, and we'll just run away again if we have to," Dudley began to explain calmly.

Minerva McGonagle was listening to her students very carefully, and that was her mistake, for behind her words she failed to notice the emotions of the children, who openly pressed for pity. Dudley, with deference to herself, Harold rattled off arguments and laws that he had carefully studied over the vacations, secretly from everyone. The twins actively acquiesced, citing family examples to corroborate their cousins' words. Not surprisingly, the Transfiguration professor, stunned by the amount of information dumped on her, gave up and decided not to interfere or insist. The Weasleys convinced her that leaving the family brought them relief financially. The cousins convinced her that it might not be easier for them to live on their own, but it would be worse for the adult national hero with a relative. And yes, after asking a few questions, she was convinced that the four of them could take care of themselves and each other.

- What's wrong with your hair color? - She asked the twins one last time before she let the boys go to Gryffindor Tower. They looked at each other slyly, ignoring Harry rolling his eyes and Dudley chuckling softly, and started their favorite rant:

- It says in Witchpolitan that red hair is out of fashion.

- So we decided...

- Professor, they make fun of me like that," complained a wailing Potter. - They spent three weeks in the summer dragging around the streets with green lenses and a painted scar. - Minerva didn't immediately remember what "lenses" were, but when she did, she smiled mentally. Yes, and since the children hadn't lost their ability to have carefree fun, there was really nothing wrong with them...

***

- Lokons is our ZOTI professor?! - everyone who didn't already know it exclaimed at the festive table. Some cheered, some were disappointed. The newly minted professor himself was staring at the Gryffindor table, trying to kill the gaze of his long-time abuser.

- Harry, he will avenge his humiliation," Dursle whispered in his cousin's ear while he was busy with the battle of looks. - The school will support him in this...

- Public opinion is not permanent, and depends, like a flock of sheep, on the shepherd," Potter whispered back, ignoring his friends' attempts to distract him from the important confrontation. And in essence: what do they care why he and his cousin weren't on the Hogwarts Express, how they got to school, and where they'd been missing all summer? Harry wanted to find out what his fame was capable of, and what pleasant and unpleasant bonuses it brought to his life. A confrontation with Locons, whose fame was as artificially inflated as his own, was, in his opinion, the perfect way to test it.

- First of all, you've read too many dubious books that people have left on park benches," Dud sighed. - Don't you think they were throwing books around for a reason?! Secondly, he has the Third Order of Merlin and a reputation for fighting dark creatures and evil spirits.

- And I have the fame of a national hero, the conqueror of the Dark Lord, lord of the dark creatures," Harry brushed off lazily.

- Public opinion is fickle, cousin," Dursle grimaced, realizing that this was one case where his brother was impenetrably stubborn. The psyche of their fellow students was at risk...

***

— ФРЕД И ДЖОРДЖ УИЗЛИ?! КАК ВЫ ПОСМЕЛИ СБЕЖАТЬ ИЗ ДОМА?! МЫ НЕМЕДЛЕННО ЗАБИРАЕМ ВАС ИЗ ШКО… — письмо-Громовещатель не успело поведать близнецам всю гневную отповедь Молли Уизли, так как сгорело, не оставив за собой и пепла. Поттер продолжал невозмутимо завтракать.

— Спасибо, Гарри! — искренне поблагодарили его близнецы, прекрасно зная, кто балуется разжиганием костров силой мысли на досуге.

— Знаете, вам стоит разобраться с этой проблемой самим, — заметил Гарольд, когда дожевал свои тосты с арахисовой пастой. — У ваших родителей есть полное право вас забрать, и даже слава Мальчика-Который-Выжил на них не сможет повлиять.

— Нужно выяснить, как создают Громовещатели… — решили близнецы, переглянувшись.

***