Ch. 158

"Hey. What can I do for you?"

"Harry Potter…" Alice Longbottom smiled. "We had a long talk with Neville about what we missed. We just came by to thank you."

Harry shrugged. "I wish I could say it was nothing… but Voldemort was one annoying son-of-a-" he broke off abruptly. "Anyway, where are my manners? Please, have a seat." He gave his wand a quick wave when they had both settled in on the other side of his desk, conjuring up three cups of tea.

"We just wanted to talk to you," Frank Longbottom said as his wife picked up her teacup. "We heard a lot from Neville. We also heard quite a bit about what happened to you lately."

"Your parents would be proud of you, Mr. Potter," Alice added, "Everything you've accomplished, every hardship you've fought through… even against the judgment of the wizarding world." She chuckled. "Especially against the judgment of the wizarding world. You're so much like James…"

"So I'm told," Harry replied with a weary smile. He got that a lot. "I like to think, though, that most of the people I know would've done the same. Your son is a good friend, and a good man. You have every reason to be proud of him, as well."

"We are," Frank said. "Believe me, we are. I almost couldn't believe it when he told us he was heading a secret DADA organization at school. I mean, the last time we saw him, he was a toddler!"

Alice nodded in agreement. "And you sell yourself short, Mr. Potter. Not many people, today or during the first war, would have had the guts and the strength to stand up to Lord Voldemort. It's true, the people around you have stood up for themselves, but I do believe that is mainly because of you. This entire victory, the defeat of Voldemort, was entirely due to you. You inspire the people who follow you. You lead them by example. They're willing to give their lives, not because they believe in their cause, but because they believe in you ."

Harry blinked, trying to digest that. "Now you're really giving me too much credit," he chuckled weakly. "There are a lot of people who have the strength to fight for what's right, if given the right circumstances."

"Then let us just be thankful that it was you who was in the right circumstances, and not someone else."

Harry debated for a long moment whether to tell them of the prophecy. He finally decided that it was something they could do without. They didn't need the burden of knowing just how close Neville had actually come to be in Harry's shoes. "I am," he finally told the Longbottoms. "I am grateful that it was me, because I wouldn't wish this burden on anyone else."

Alice smiled at him. "And that, Harry Potter, is what makes you a great young man."

They remained in comfortable silence for a few moments, before Harry spoke up again. "Did you give your return to the wizarding world any thought? I mean, practically all of them think I've kidnapped you for my own nefarious purposes."

The Longbottoms shared a quick look, before Alice grinned. "We would be glad to inform the public of their… misconceptions."

"Though we hear from Neville that you've made quite some headway with the new Minister, yourself," Frank commented with a knowing grin.

"Bert is a little more… sensible than the rest of the wizarding world." Harry chuckled in agreement. "His help has gone a long way to uniting all the magical creatures and bring us all together enough to fight Voldemort effectively."

"What about yourself, though?" Alice asked, looking around the sparse office curiously. "Have you thought of returning?"

Harry gave the woman a look that clearly said are you kidding me? "I don't think I'd be the most welcome person there right now. In fact, I think my popularity is at rock bottom, possibly even lower than Voldemort." He cleared his throat.

"Seriously? How can that be?" Alice was dumbfounded at his utter conviction. "I mean, you just fulfilled a decades-old prophecy, defeated the greatest dark wizard in centuries, and have united the wizarding world. Surely the people-"

"The people are idiots," Harry cut her off abruptly. "Not to be rude, but you haven't seen first hand how stupid they can be. Print something in the newspaper, and they believe it like it was the holy scriptures."

"From what it sounded like, Voldemort had a surprisingly easy time discrediting you," Alice noted.

"Yes, but that wasn't because Voldemort was good at it. Hell, look at what Fudge made the people believe about me when he was Minister. One would almost think I ate small children for breakfast," Harry explained darkly. "No, Voldemort played to everyone's fears, but those fears were in place long before this whole mess began. No offense, but I've found out the hard way that most wizards are cowards. Whenever someone appears who seems to be able to do something they can't, they immediately fear them. Oh sure, they did hero-worship me for a while after I defeated Voldemort the first time, but that was quickly replaced by the fear that I would replace him. And when I told them Voldemort was back at the end of my fourth year…" Harry shrugged. "Let's just say people didn't want to leave their comfortable little worlds and admit that Voldemort was back."

Frank looked skeptical. "I find it hard to believe the public was so easily swayed…"