LGHTNOVELBOOK Chapter 24: Chapter 24
Chapter 24
"I'll be writing to Dumbledore in the morning about this," James groaned. "I ought to report this to Amelia Bones…"
"Dumbledore often has his reasons for such things," Lily said diplomatically. "He took charge of protecting the Longbottoms during the war—"
"And look how that turned out!"
"He couldn't have foreseen them being betrayed!" Lily said adamantly. "He's a brilliant man, but he can't account for everything."
"He also can't account for a stupid cloak," muttered James, taking another deep swig of Firewhiskey.
Harry's ears perked up at this. "What cloak?" he asked eagerly.
"Oh, don't start about this again—" Lily groaned, but her husband was undeterred.
"It was meant to be your birthright, Harry," James said forlornly. "Passed on through generations of Potters for centuries. An impenetrable Invisibility Cloak. And Dumbledore lost it!"
"Lost it?" Harry asked, frowning.
"He borrowed it during the war," said James. "Asked to study it, just for a few days. Then the Longbottoms were killed, and many things were happening at once, and the next time I remembered to ask about it, Dumbledore said he'd 'misplaced' it!"
"Like you said, many things were happening," Lily said, attempting to calm James down. "He's a very busy man, and he made an honest mistake. He even offered us compensation for it—"
"It's not about the gold!" James spat, slamming his fist on the table. "It was a priceless family heirloom! He should have known better than to be so careless...and now he's letting trolls attack his students? His mind is going, I swear it!"
"Easy, Prongs, I'm sure there's an explanation," Sirius chuckled nervously, clapping his best friend on the shoulder. "Dumbledore's a good man. He wouldn't let these things happen on purpose."
James seemed to take Sirius' words to heart more than even Lily's, and he took a steadying breath. "Course not, he wouldn't do that," he agreed.
"He was a great help in passing your werewolf legislation last year," Remus pointed out helpfully. "I owe him a great deal for that."
"Certainly," James nodded, looking marginally calmer than before. The tension in the room was palpable, as everyone seemed braced for another outburst. Harry wondered if this was a common occurrence when he and Dahlia weren't around; Lily certainly looked more stressed than he had ever seen her before.
"So, Harry, how's the Gryffindor Quidditch team looking this year?" Sirius asked loudly to clear the air.
"Haven't seen them play yet," Harry shrugged. "But they got thrashed pretty badly by Slytherin last month." He hadn't attended the match himself, but he heard through the grapevine that Angelina Johnson was forced to play Seeker due to lack of better options, and she hadn't even come close to catching a Snitch.
"Ah, shame," Sirius lamented. "I thought we had a chance last decade with that Charlie Weasley fellow, but I don't think they've won a Cup since we graduated."
"'Course, it was a different game back then," James cut in unexpectedly, an edge of humor creeping back into his tone. "A better one, if I daresay so myself—"
"Oh, enough of that already!" Sirius chuckled. "You're just mad Seekers can't monopolize an entire match and end it in seconds anymore!"
"And you're just mad you didn't get enough chances to knock people off their brooms," James fired back playfully. "You just had to get your revenge on me with the rule book…"
"Wait, that was you?" Harry asked, turning to Sirius in surprise.
"Changing the Seeker rules? Sure was," Sirius said with a note of pride. "During my brief stint working in the Department of Magical Games and Sports after the war. Course, I had to twist a few arms and pull some strings in the Wizengamot to get the changes through—"
"Such a waste," Lily muttered, shaking her head in disbelief. "The head of an Ancient and Most Noble House, using his influence to change the rules of a stupid children's sport."
Both James and Sirius took offense to this:
"It is not a children's sport!"
"Since when did you care about pure-blood politics, Evans?"
Fortunately, this succeeded in defusing the tension, as everyone seemed to relax enough to enjoy the rest of their dinner in peace. Soon James and Sirius were back to their usual boisterous ways, trading jabs and anecdotes as though they were still schoolkids. Harry had always pictured his father as a mature, responsible adult, much like Arthur Weasley had been, but he still behaved much like a teenager, full of energy and mischief. Sure, he was a good father and husband, but he was far from the model adult Harry had once pictured him to be.
"Say, Harry, have you had a chance to say hello to your Uncle Peter at school?" asked Remus during a lull in the conversation.
"Yeah, I have," Harry said eagerly. "I visit him every Friday in his office."
"Really? That's great!" Remus beamed. "Peter really is a good person once you get to know him."
"How is old Wormy doing?" asked Sirius with a twinkle in his eyes. "He following you around like a lost puppy dog yet?"
"Oh, stop it—" Lily sighed, but James had already jumped on Sirius' lead.
"He hasn't guilted you into spending time with him, has he?" James asked. "You're free to have other friends, you know, Harry."
"I like hanging out with him!" Harry protested. "He's a good person, and he listens to my problems and gives good advice."
"Yes, he's a lovely bloke," James agreed, throwing up his hands in feigned resignation. "I'm just saying, don't feel like you need to be held down by him."
"He was never the most ambitious type," Sirius agreed. "He's reliable, sure, but you have the potential to be much more in life."
"Maybe he never had the proper support system to encourage him to try," Harry retorted. "Maybe he needed better friends to push him."
James looked surprised by this comment. "You mean us?" he chuckled. "Look, Harry, he was our dorm mate, and we always treated him with kindness. But we weren't obliged to be lifelong friends with him."
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