247 Chapter 247: Meeting the Greenery

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27 August 1994, Greengrass Manor, Greenwich

As the green fire of the fireplace spat out Harry to his destination, he couldn't help but wonder if he should have accepted the Greengrass' invitation. It was probably a bad thing to say, but he would have preferred just hanging out with Daphne in Diagon Alley or anywhere else, really. He wouldn't have even minded if Astoria had come with them.

However, the way the invitation was so formally sent to Arcturus by Daphne's father raised all kinds of red flags, to say the least. It felt more like a medieval summons to a feast than a casual invitation to know him better.

Truth be told, he didn't know all that much about Daphne's parents. She never really talked to him about them. He knew that her father was involved in importing and exporting goods in and out of the country, as well as providing some of the highest quality potion ingredients thanks to his Druidic magic. Her mother apparently used ice magic… And that was it. That was literally all he knew.

Was he a bad friend? He didn't know for sure; this was literally his first friendship.

As he stepped out of the fireplace, he was immediately accosted by a small blonde missile, "Harry!"

His expression softened at the sight, "Hello, Astoria. It's been a while."

And it had. The tournament the previous year had messed up a lot with his time to socialize with his younger peers. Astoria and Luna had seemingly become fast friends with their upper years being distracted by Dumbledore's little tournament.

The young upbeat girl greeted him with a blinding smile, "I'm great. Thanks to you, of course. I haven't seen you in forever. Did you fight your way out to your guardian? Did you beat an army of vampires? Tell me! Tell me!"

The last Potter suppressed the urge to snort at the younger girl's enthusiasm. Astoria really was a breath of fresh air. Her innocence and the lack of care when speaking her mind, just made her a joy to be around. She often made their housemates uncomfortable with her blunt honesty. Living on a ticking time clock must have made the need for discretion look small in the grand scheme of things. In a way, she reminded him of old grandmothers that just didn't give a shit what people thought, but younger, which was a bit sad when he thought about it.

Seeing no reason to indulge her, he responded, "Not really. I just used some obscuring charms to back to our tent and we took our own Portkey out later. Nothing really exciting happened."

The young girl pouted, "I thought you'd had an adventure. I wanted to hang out with you and my sister during the World Cup, but my parents refused. It's like they don't want me to have any fun."

Harry suppressed the urge to tell her that they were probably worried about her condition becoming aggravating. Still, the girl brightened and continued, "I was so excited when Mum told me that you were coming. We rarely get any visitors here except for Tracy and her family."

Harry didn't really know what to say in response to that, and instead, he decided to use his Arcane Hearing to check how she was doing. He hadn't done so in a while. After the third task, his magic became a scarce resource, and he did not waste even a single drop of it.

Now, with the resurrection stone, he could easily spare the magic to check on the girl. His eyes widened slightly when he noticed that the constant drain on her magic and vitality had slowed down. Her song was louder and more upbeat. He focused more and noticed the bracelet. Daphne must be busy.

He wanted to verify it first, "That's a very nice bracelet."

"Daph gave it to me for my birthday. She was weird when she asked me not to ever take it off, but I kinda like it."

Well, that was a confirmation alright. This was probably Daphne's greatest accomplishment to date. Was he so caught up in his own shit that he didn't notice just how much his friend had progressed in her quest to heal her sister? Well, she hadn't really healed her, just mitigated a few of the symptoms, which bought Astoria at least a few years, maybe even a couple of decades of life.

This was huge; from what he could infer, Astoria would have been bedridden in her twenties and probably wouldn't have lived past thirty, and that was his being optimistic.

And yet, Harry hadn't noticed…

What else had he not noticed?

Deciding not to entertain this thought further, Harry just gave the younger witch a pained smile, "Well, your sister has very good taste. I wouldn't take off this bracelet either. Where's your sister, by the way?"

"I think she's still in her room with Mum. Oh, right, I should have told them when you came."

She turned and yelled out, "DAPHNE. HARRY'S HERE!" before turning to Harry, "There, that should do it. We should probably go to the dining room. I think Dad is there."

As Astoria guided him deeper into the heart of Greengrass Manor, Harry felt as if he were stepping back through centuries. The walls were adorned with tapestries that felt oddly alive when he checked it out with his Arcane Hearing. It was faint, It felt like the serene forest scenes, the mythical creatures, were truly there, not mere tapestries. Did the druids find a way to add a mimicry of magic into their arts? He would look at them later…

The floors were laid with stones that could have been plucked from the heart of the earth itself, cool and smooth underfoot, etched with intricate patterns of leaves and vines that were animated to grow and twine with each step he took.

Astoria guided him beneath archways where the stone seemed to grow into elaborate forms, mimicking the intertwining branches of mighty oaks and vines. When she opened the door, he couldn't help but be surprised. Where the corridor felt like the embodiment of nature, the dining room felt colder, more regal. It wouldn't have been out of place in the house of the noble, but it just felt wrong in a room with a manor so connected with nature.

Inside it, a man with brown hair and familiar blue eyes got up and greeted him, "Ah, Harry Potter. It's an honour to have you in our home."

Harry couldn't help but feel uncomfortable. In the corner of his eyes, he could see Astoria silently take a seat, her earlier upbeat attitude completely gone. Still, why was it an honour to have Harry in their home? He sincerely hoped it was a figure of speech, "It's an honour to be here. You have a lovely home."

The man continued, "Thank you. It's my pride and joy. The Greengrasses have lived in this place for countless generations. I have to admit that I am shocked that we have never had time to properly meet before today. We were in a bit of a hurry the last time we spoke to each other."

The Greengrass patriarch spoke in a formal tone that just felt out of date. Harry tried to turn to Astoria who didn't meet his eyes before continuing, "Well, I'm glad that we all got out safely."

"Ah, that was quite the incident indeed. So far, the ICW have no idea who spearheaded the attack. Do you have any insights on the matter…"

The man looked at Harry expectantly, "Umm, no one knows anything, really. The DMLE and the ICW special forces are butting heads and the Unspeakables can't help because of the bombings. They're practically rebuilding the entire Department of Mysteries from scratch since a lot of materials were destroyed."

The older man scowled, "I've always thought that the ministry was too lenient on the Unspeakables."

Harry simply shrugged, "They can't really do anything about them. The Unspeakables have their own assets and budget. They probably sell a few of their discoveries and reap the benefits that come with them. They're a part of the ministry in everything but in name, but they're necessary because it's currently the only place they do any kind of research in the country, and they have far too much influence and assets to be replaced easily."

The man brightened, "What an enlightening point of view. Now tell me, Mr. Potter, what do you think about the latest Wizengamot bill…"

And so, the man continued to pester Harry with odd questions for the better part of an hour. It felt more like a press interview than an actual cordial meeting of someone meeting their friend's parents. Astoria seemed to get even more dejected as the conversation continued and so far, there had been no sign of Daphne or her mother.

Harry had never been particularly interested in politics. Sure, he knew he would have to tangle with them inevitably when he grew up, but he dreaded the day he would have to do so.

It wasn't hard to deduce what Cyrus Greengrass was like. He's an ambitious politician, who wants to make his family name grow. Every question the man asked was calculating, either to see his position on a subject or to help him gain a 'conservative' point of view. It was a pretty scummy thing to do to your daughter's best friend, but people ruled by their ambition rarely took such things into account.

He had daydreamed when the man kept talking about the issues with the limitations on the sale of dangerous potion ingredients internationally. He seemed to have changed the subject in the middle, "We could set something up during your school year. Your success with the Firebolt has already given me a lot of faith in the matter."

Was the man asking that they become business partners? It was a very bad idea, to say the least, and Harry didn't feel the need to risk his gold for no reason. Instead, he shook his head, "I don't know, sir. I don't think I would be able to give anything my full attention next year. I'm planning on joining the delegation for the European tournament next year. I was always fascinated by other magical cultures, and this seems like a golden opportunity."

Cyrus Greengrass' expression turned displeased for a fraction of a second, but he seemed to stiffen when a soft voice from the entrance spoke up, "Now, now, Cyrus. This isn't a business meeting… There's no need to speak of such things on the dinner table."

Harry turned and saw what seemed like the image of Scandinavian beauty, speaking to him. She was almost as pale as snow with beautiful blond hair and blue eyes. They weren't as deep as Daphne who had obviously inherited her father's eyes. Speaking of his friend, she was wearing a nice blue sundress, and her hair was wavier than usual, "Hello, Mrs Greengrass. Hey, Daph."

"Good morning, Harry dear. Now what was this about you not staying at Hogwarts during your school year."

He shrugged, "It still hasn't been announced but the ICW couldn't decide on a single venue for the European tournament. They decided to hold seven tasks in total, each one in a different country so that students would learn to socialize with people from all over the continent."

"And won't you have to compete?" Daphne asked him worriedly.

"Not really. You just have to sign up for a single task by the end of the tournament. You don't even have to be selected, just signing up would be enough, and I have on good authority that there will be a duelling tournament, which will be a lot less dangerous than any other task. I have to admit to being excited to see how other people use magic outside of Britain. It's very rare to see books in the library that aren't British in origin, and I did get curious about it."

He then turned towards the Greengrass Matriarch, "Say Mrs. Greengrass, you're Scandinavian in origin, right? What can you tell me about how you learned magic where you came from? Daphne told me that you're partial to ice magic…"

The warm smile the woman gave him as she explained her own brand of magic, made Harry hope that the evening wouldn't go badly after the mess with Cyrus Greengrass. In the end, he could only do that, hope.

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AN: Yeah, I kind of wrote that in a rush. I was swamped with work, so I wrote a filler. Don't worry, I have something special in mind for the next chapter.

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I tend to upload drafts of early chapters on there to get people's opinions of them so you can read up to 20 chapters ahead as a bonus.

Thank you guys for your support in these hard times.