HP/LOTM: Visionary - 401

Chapter 401: Gifts, Relics, Bill’s Wedding

To attend Bill’s upcoming wedding, Harry stayed on at the Burrow.

Arthursi stayed as well. Someone dozing in the Hazy Realm very much wanted to be there too, but since his real body could not move, he had to ask another Audience to serve as his eyes. As for why he was not using some other converted wizard?

Let’s just say there is still a big difference between a 1080Ti and a 4060, never mind that one of their operating systems is XP and the other is Windows 10.

Over these days, Harry had begun dreaming more and more often of Tom. For most of the past year, Voldemort had severed their connection out of fear of Aiden’s ambushes. Now, after several rampages without that troublesome man appearing to stop her, Voldemort acted with growing abandon.

Through the link, Harry saw her hunting Ollivander and searching for a wandmaker named Gregorovitch.

Green light flashed. Harry jolted awake.

“Hah… hah…” He sat up in bed, breathing hard.

Ginny came in with breakfast. Seeing the state he was in, she walked over and patted his back.

“Thanks,” Harry said, taking the tray and digging in.

Downstairs, Arthursi was helping Arthur prepare the grounds. Together they used Levitation Charms to put up awnings against the rain, set out tables, chairs and cutlery, then lay down carpets.

“Oh, your magic is very skilled… Miss Prewett,” Arthur said.

He hesitated over the name. For some reason, he always felt the trace of his nephew in this girl. Was his magical perception off? Scratching his cheek, Arthur went back inside.

......

“This looks all right, doesn’t it?” Harry asked Ginny, straightening his tie for her inspection.

“It’s a bit crooked,” Ginny said, stepping in to fix it for him.

Bill and Fleur’s reception was to be held that evening. Today was also Harry’s birthday. For his coming of age, Mr and Mrs Weasley gave him a golden watch.

Hermione gave him some new Sneakoscopes. Bill and Fleur gifted him a magical shaving razor. Fred and George, as always, brought a mountain of products from their joke shop.Hagrid sent a tanned leather mokeskin pouch that only the owner could open to retrieve items.

While pretending to fix Harry’s tie, Ginny used the moment to steal a kiss.

George quietly walked up behind them, set down his wash cup and deliberately stuck his toothbrush behind his ear. Ginny and Harry felt a stare on their backs and broke apart at once.

“Morning,” George said, smiling at them in a very aunt-like way.

Harry, suddenly self-conscious, backed out of the room.

He was about to bolt upstairs when Arthursi came in and blocked his way.

Right in front of him, she changed her face. Grey mist wrapped her body. Heterochromatic dragon eyes opened in her sockets. Paired with Arthursi’s fine-boned features, it gave her an odd, striking allure.

“Aiden!” Harry did not need to guess whose eyes those were.

“Congratulations. Happy birthday. I cannot make it into the material world for the celebration, but do you remember the book I gave you?” Aiden said, using Arthursi’s face to smile kindly. Harry, used to her cool expression, shivered.

“I remember,” Harry said quickly, reaching into Hagrid’s pouch to hide his reaction.

“No need to take it out. It’s yours now. It may be a little lively, so bear with it,” Aiden said.

The grey mist scattered. Arthursi’s eyes were blue again.

“Tch. That bastard. Using my face to smile,” Arthursi muttered, rubbing her cheeks in annoyance.

Harry sensed her bad mood and slipped past her out the door.

Outside, he ran straight into McGonagall.

“Professor McGonagall?” Harry said, surprised.

“Potter, where are Weasley and Granger?” McGonagall asked, going straight for the trio.

“I’ll get them,” Harry said, turning to go, but McGonagall stopped him.

“I’ll do it. Expecto Patronum.”

Her wand flicked, and two silver tabby cats bounded away. A moment later, they returned with Ron and Hermione in tow.

“Professor, what did you need us for?” Hermione asked.

“There are things I must give you. Dumbledore’s effects…” McGonagall’s expression dimmed for a moment, then she pulled herself together.

She took out a will and several items, reading aloud.

“I present the last will and testament of Albus Percival Wulfric Brian Dumbledore and the following personal effects. First, to Ronald Bilius Weasley, I leave my Deluminator.”

She handed Ron something like a small silver lighter.

“How do you use this thing?” Ron said, swinging the Deluminator like a sword.

As he did, he thumbed the switch. Arthur, working in the marquee, saw all the lights in the tent snuff out at once.

“Brilliant,” Ron breathed, pressing the switch again to return the lights.

“To Hermione Jane Granger, I leave this copy of The Tales of Beedle the Bard, in the hope she may find enjoyment in it.”

McGonagall passed the book to Hermione. Hermione looked at Dumbledore’s signature on the cover and hugged it to her chest.

“Lastly, to Harry James Potter, I leave the Golden Snitch he caught in his first Quidditch match, in the hope he remembers to win things through sweat and hard work.”

She handed Harry a small golden ball—the first Snitch he had ever caught on the pitch.

“That is all. Dumbledore had also wished to leave you the Sword of Gryffindor, but it vanished of its own accord. We have been unable to recover it,” McGonagall said, giving Harry an apologetic look, as if it were her own poor safekeeping that had cost him.

“It’s all right, Professor. The sword does that,” Harry said, trying to reassure her.

“Well, I have given you what I came to give. The school has not been peaceful. If you can help it, it would be best not to return,” McGonagall said. She stepped out of the protective boundary and Disapparated.

That night, Bill and Fleur’s wedding began. Harry drank Polyjuice Potion to disguise himself.

Luna and her father Xenophilius Lovegood had been invited. Luna recognised Harry at a glance.

Dumbledore’s old friend Doge and Aunt Muriel were there as well.

“She looks a bit sharp-tongued,” Arthursi said, as a half-god on the psychological Sequence, reading Aunt Muriel at a glance.

“But… not… evil… at… heart,” came the same lagging, drawn-out voice in her ear.

While they talked, an unexpected guest appeared: Krum.

He had come as a guest on the bride’s side. During the banquet, he kept staring at Hermione. Ron planted himself between them and glared.

The ceremony began. Bill and Fleur walked in under everyone’s warm gazes, and the officiant pronounced them husband and wife.